INDIANANGLER

Hi Rajat,

Welcome to BIG GAME club. Your passion and unyielding sprite is second to none. Congratulation on such fine catch. As you have landed this beauty and felt the tension of drag on your hand and mind, and you have also experience the unexplained joy associated with such fight, savor the feelings and thank the fish for giving you so much joy. Best of luck for future and you may land many more biggies.

Regards,

Ali.

Great Going Rajat .... Nice fish and Nicer smile mate .... now onto bigger things

Thanks a ton for the words guys it was really a great experience


you will mate looking forward to see you here soon

Fred I am just waiting to get me my next big a "salty" and looking forward a trip with you guys

Congrats Rajat.. that’s a very fine catch. From here on you would only want bigger & bigger fish



Ready for Malvan..??

rajatmukherje,

Great going welcome to the club.

Must have been one hell of a fight. Hope to see bigger ones in the future.

Thanks shaphan



you bet ready for ever when we are hitting the spots partner?

Guys,
With this report, I am very happy to conclude this thread. Though I was not part of the drama unfolding on the 3rd of September 2008, in Powai, as I was tied up with some work and was not able to join Rajat, Vishal and Babloo, who where fishing there. At approximately 11 a.m., I called up Vishal to ask what was happening but he did not pick my phone. After some time he called me back and informed that he was not able to pick the phone as he was fighting a Fish.
“Good, what fish”- I asked?
“Guess Ali Bhai-Just guess” came his singing voice.
As he was sounding very excited and happy, my natural conclusion was that he has landed a Catla but what he told me was really amazing.
“It is not a Catla, nor a Hybrid nor a Rohu, It’s a Silver of 6-1/2 Kg.on Goli”
Now it was my turn to sound excited. What Vishal call as goli is a combination of size 14 hooks, duly plumbed, critically balance float with 12lb line. He explained that this Silver was properly hooked in mouth and gave hell of a fight.
It is a common perception that Silver never takes bait in its mouth. Catching a Silver of 14 Lb, with a size 14 hook, properly hooked in mouth was really accomplishing mission impossible. Very well done Vishal. Once again, congratulation.
As we were chatting on the phone, suddenly Vishal shouted, “Oh-One more fish-I will call you later Ali bhai”.
Some time in the evening, I received a call from Babloo, his voice shaking with excitement, and he babbled-“Ali bhai – Rajat ne maar diya.”
“Wow- very good, what Fish”- I inquired?
“Don’t know, he is still fighting it” came his reply.
“Ok- on what rig”- I asked.
“On feeder rig”- he said.
Later, after some time Rajat called and narrated the complete episode that how he was resting on the dam when the reel started singing the happy sound of line ripping off spool and how he jumped on the boat from the dam, injuring his legs, almost capsizing the boat, and how he fought the great fish and landed it. He was babbling like a child and was very happy. He informed me that the fish was a hybrid of 14 lb. Mean while Vishal and Babloo had also landed some more fishes.
The total count of fish was like this-
• Vishal Silver 14.5lb, Rohu 2lb, Mirgal 6 lb + 4x 2lb, Talapia 2x 1 lb and two big fishes lost after a good fight.
• Rajat Hybrid 14 lb, Rohu 2 lb
• Babloo Mirgal 5 lb, Rohu 2lb.


Well a very nice day of fishing but I do not conclude this topic because of fishes caught. I conclude it because of a phone call from Santosh where he said, after hearing the above episode and I am quoting his words..

“All fishes eat and it is Bull S**t that some can only be hooked by foul method.”

Well, here in Powai, now the myth of fishes not taking the bait has been exposed by these fine catches and now it’s a matter of choice whether one want to fish, using fowl mean or use proper fishing techniques. No one can now claim that it is essential to use fowl techniques to land a fish in Powai.

Mission Impossible Accomplished.

Regards,

Ali.

Vishal’s Silver



Vishal Complete Haul.



Vishal,s son marveling his haule.




Rajat with his beauty of fish.


And His Rohu


Husaini (Babloo) with his Rohu and Mirgal

The Feeder rig in Powai is now a big mystery and is called as Ali bhai Ka Gola by other members..

Lot of talking going on in the club due to catches like these

This one was caught on evening of 29th August by Ali. (12 lb Hybrid)

Indeed Sir it is accomplished and let me thank you from all of us for painstakingly tolerate our frustration of not catching a fish and in turn threatening you with "going back the old ways" . You have also taught me personally the most important thing in the art of Angling the thing called patience I am a much better angler and a human being because of that.

Cheers for a accomplished mission partner

some of the moment s when i waited for fish to take the bait could not help but to post them here.The place just never stops to amaze me


By rajatmukherje

By rajatmukherje

By rajatmukherje

By rajatmukherje

By rajatmukherje

By rajatmukherje
cheers

Congratulations To all on the Mission Impossible team. Amazing pics

Great going and it has been fantastic following this quest. I think we all learnt a lot. Thanks to the entire cast and crew!


Mission Impossible 2?

Thank you Ali Bhai for the post.
I must admit that 3rd Aug was indeed one of my best fishing days..

I took me time to switch from the traditional foul fishing technique to the ‘goli style’. But it finally happened… Thanks to the wise old Henry…
During his visit to Mumbai, Henry gifted me a barbless hook (size 12) and the technique to set the float right. Ever since then my success rate with my ‘goli style’ has been amazing.
Some of the oldies at Powai laughed and commented looking at the hook size..but it wasn’t too long as they would see me land fish every time.

Then one fine day while setting up my rod, I lost control of the hook and it fell in the water. My lucky hook was gone. I called Santosh and told him about lost hook. We planned to go to masjid bunder to buy some of those hooks. Meanwhile Ali bhai gave me one such similar hook.

Then on 2nd Ali bhai called me at around 8.30 pm, I was on my way home. He told me to come over to his place as Keyur had brought us some hooks. I went to Alibhai place and he told me to take some of the hooks. I selected the size 12 hooks as I was quite confident about it.. (Hey Keyur thanks for the hooks). Back at home I showed the hooks to family (they were busy watching the sas bahu episodes). Told my mom I am going to bring home some big fish with this hook.

The next day, I woke up early as I had to drop my wife to the airport and then go to the fishing club. Bablu bhai was to join me at the club. At 8.30 am I got a call from Bablu bhai, he was already at the club and I was an 1 hr away from the club. Bablu bhai and Rajat decided to sit along the damn wall and fish. Finally I was at the club at around 9.45 am. I decided to fish from a jetty which is in the centre of the lake. Well I had a special bait prepared and wanted to try it so all excited I baited the area and then first put the feeder rig. The next was my favorite ‘goli style’. There wasn’t any activity for an hour or so. But then..my float comes up and a slight strike and there goes the sound of reel…querrrrrrrrrr.. first straigt, then right towards the club house and then straight towards me then back again left…my my, it was all over the place.. I had to remove the feeder with my left hand while fighting the fish with the other hand. What an awesome fight.. I wandered what it would be.. would it be a catla ( the dream fish to catch on my ‘goli style’) or would it be an hybrid. Couldn’t think of the rohu as the fish dint jump during the fight. Finally seen the head of the fish after a great fight. I could believe my eyes..it was a silver carp on goli.. with the hook in the upper lip. After landing the fish. I called Ali, Santosh and Bablu bhai and told them about the catch.

Immediately I set up the rod again and waited.. within next 10 min’s action again.. my float was moving…striked again..1 kg mirgal.
The next half hour was action packed… looking me land fishes; as it is customary, I was surrounded by fellow anglers they all tied their boats near mine and started fishing. Next 1 hr was nothing..
I decided to change the fishing spot as it was getting quite disturbing with 3 boats and 6 people around me. Just then..the float reads my mind and pops up again… a little strike and the queerrrrrrrr it was a fish again.. Within a couple of seconds it moved towards my right ( the club house) and was around 100 mts away.. I had to move on the other boat as the fish took another right turn and was just moving on and on.. requesting my fellow anglers to step on their boat I moved on.. they were very cooperative and were shouting..sambhalo..sambhalo bada hybrid hai. Managed to bring the fish close to about 10 ft and then.. it moves straight under the boat..and under the jetty…areee necha gaya .pair mara..bahar nicalo usko.. were the shouts from the fellow angers. We all started banging our feet and making the sound so that the fish moves out..just then…the hook is off… but I enjoyed the fight and thanked the fish for that.. a real fighter he was..

I had to apologize to my fellow anglers as they had to take their rods off the water while I was fighting the fish. ‘Chalega- no problem’ was the prompt reply from them.

Got back to my boat and relaxed..checked the phone, it was Santosh, told him about the fight.. Back in the water went my rod..no action… ordered for some food.. (my favourite at the club is chicken fried rice with lots of soya sauce). It was getting too hot and windy. The float was drifting away with the wind and it was getting difficult to concentrate. I decided to change the setup. The food arrived. I took off the goli rod.. ground baited the area again.. and sat to eat. After lunch I set the rod again. This time it was bottom fishing with a heavy weight (so that the float does not drift away and I could focus). I put on the hook bait and was ready to strike.. this time the float goes down.. and querrrrrr ...zup.. off comes the hook

Good game at that spot..but the sun was too hot and the rays were directly on me. Could take it any more and I decided to move to Ali bhais machan. Here I caught the 2 ½ kg mirgal and 2 talapias.

Too tired.. I decided to call it a day.. called Ali bhai and Santosh and gave them the report. They were very happy for me.

Every one at the club house were surprised and amazed to hear and see the silver carp being caught on the ‘goli setup’. While the fish was officially being weighed at the club house, I proudly showed them all the setup.

This time I had to take all the fish home as I had told my mom I was bringing home the catch. After the photo shoot at home, called my friends and distributed some of the fish.
Took a shower, had some coffee liquor with lots of ice and roasted -salted -cashews. Dinner was my favorite dried prawns chilly fry with pao.
What a day…..haaaaaa.

MK your rite its been a treat watching the whole adventure.

Thumbs up to all the crew

Made very nice reading Vishal..

lovely fishing guys!!

Excellent report Vishal and really sorry that i did not get it when Bablu bhai told me that it was on goli that you caught the Silver .
When Ali told me I had just finished fighting my own fish so congrats once again to achieve the impossible "a silver on Goli!!!" hats off to you mate well there could not be a nicer conclusion to the mission impossible other then the mighty Catla we all are waiting for, but I am sure one of these days it would happen too
cheers partner

Thanks Bobby, Shaphan, Aaron and Rajat... I seldom contribute to writing in posts/ forums, but couldnt stop myself writing the experience i had on 3rd Sep.

Mission impossible 2?.. Well for now it is to give fishing a break!!



Regards,

Ali.

Mission impossible 2?.. Well for now it is to give fishing a break!!



Regards,

Ali.[/quote]

Give the fishing a break. I can almost hear the fish celebrating with relief.

But get serious Alisahib, you and I know that cannot be done really. [/i]

Give the fishing a break. I can almost hear the fish celebrating with relief.

But get serious Alisahib, you and I know that cannot be done really. [/i][/quote]

I know I would ditto that pal, just because he was busy with some really serious work shit for couple of days he thinks he was taking a BREAK!!! If i am right the man would be back any day to powai

Awesome stuff Vishal & Rajat,

I wish I was there with you guys.

your welcome ....for the hooks. Do let me know if you need any other sizes.

Fishing here in Dubai is a drab & there is too much construction happening on the water front in Sharjah too......just trying to explore some more places. Lets see what kind of luck this season brings me.

Partner "when there is will there is a way" I am sure you will fing what you are looking for and you will be rocking this season

HI Partner,

the only thing rocking is my baby.......... I need to find fish !

excelent pics and a nice fish
Cheers
M

I use ''atta'' for catlas and Rohus, it works pretty fine for me :) !

it does absolutely right partner

:) Nice to hear that it works for others too, the people of north India is often using atta and also the people in Bangladesh
We got a lot of ponds in India and Bangladesh with all type of carps and snakeheads etc. I use atta for tilapia,catla,rohu,chitala and other type of carp fish.

After giving lot of time to target this elusive Catla, I am of the opinion that as such Catla do not feed on any solid substance and only filter the water through its gills to take nourishment from micro substance present in the water. My above statement may seem very illogical in the face of facts that many have landed Catla on varied baits, including Atta, bread Paste, Earth worms and what not.

I do not contradict the above statement and agree that catla can be hooked in mouth by using solid baits. All who have landed Catla will agree with me that special ground baiting is required to catch this fish. To me if one can create a cloud of particles and smell through his ground bait and place his hooks there, the catla will suck the hooks while filtering the water through its mouth. I will recommend such hook bait for targeting this fish, as create a cloud of fine particles and a pleasing aroma around it. To me catching a Catla on earth worm is mere accidental.

As this article is revived again I will try once again to target this fish. It is really a challenge to land a real big catla by hooking it its mouth.

Regards,

Ali.

Sir count me in on this new endevor of yours ...

All the best Ali...

Do any of you know of people taking Hilsa by Hook? Someone once sent me a Bangladeshi Hilsa, believe me it was the tastiest fish I have ever eaten.

bro it is the tastiest fish believe me nothing like a good original Hilsa from Bangladesh you can not get them better any where else. I don't think any one has ever caught a Hilsa by hooking it in mouth but still if some one has even I am very interested to know about it. God damn it man i miss this fish in Mumbai

Miss Hilsa in Mumbai! Dog I am missing it here. When you get here you know what you will be doing...

Yes we got an farm where they grow Hilisa !

I havn't visited that farm they grow all types of tropical fishes there I've heard...

It's my dad's and my uncle's farm. But I'm also one of the owners ^^
Bobby if you ever visit that place, I will promise you tons of Hilisa !
This fish won't be any hard for us to catch..Just concentrate and use spinners and jigs.

Thanks mate, conditioning has got a lot to do with good Hilas.

Yumm

You are most welcome Fredd.

Regards,

Ali.

Thank you Booby.

regards,

Ali.

Np, you're always welcome, the sad thing is that I got an allergy of this fish so I can't eat it, I can only hook this fish hehe

Mmmm, Poddar Hilsa. Yummy.

Hi,

I have taken Hilsa(Shad) on fly in California.
They can also be taken on spinning gear, using weighted lures called shad darts.

The fish are caught in freshwater, where they migrate to spawn.

tight lines

Makarand

Marakand, I do not believe we are talking about the same fish.

Bobby, check the picture in this post

http://www.indianangler.com/viewtopic.p ... ight=hilsa

Dear Makrand
Even I don't think it is Hilsa the mouth of the fish looks different then the Hilsa of Bangladesh or even Gujrat ones for that matter, guys any Input Mken? Bobby?

That is close but do not think that is a hilsa, check this picture and quote from Wikipedia:

Quote
"In North America (where Hilsa is not always readily available) the shad fish is sometimes used as a Hilsa substitute, especially in Bengali cuisine. This typically occurs near the East coast of North America, where fresh shad can be fished. The substitution is possible because of the fairly similar flavour and consistency of these two fish."
Unquote

India Hilsa: family - clupeidae under the genus Tenualosa

The North American Shad: family - clupeidae under the genus Alosa

So the Hilsa is a kind of Shad but the North American Shad is not a Hilsa

I would agree with you bobby and the fish in the picture is what a true Indian continent Hilsa looks(yumm mouth is watering) thanks for the input mate made things clearer

Thanks for the info.

It is possible that the techniques used for catching the American shad, may work on the Indian Hilsa.

Any takers in West Bengal ?


tight lines

Makarand

Hi Marakand,

I am sure people would be very interested in catching Hilsa or Pala as it is known in Bombay. I have been curious. I agree with you that techniques on North American Shad should work on Hilsa. However I do recall reading a post from someone who claimed that Hilsa go completely off the bite when they come in the rivers to spawn. This could also be an incorrect observation because the correct techniques may have never been used to catch them. I have also observed something among Mumbai anglers of the past (at least) that they stuck to a certain dogma of how something was done (as far as fishing goes), no one wanted to experiment to broaden their horizons, perhaps that is why no on has succeeded catching the Hilsa with a hook.

I note in your post where you discuss catching the Shad you have mentioned sending a PM about the techniques used to catch Shad. I am sure our members on IA would be obliged if you could post the details on the open forum for all to view and have a go, should the opportunity present itself to catch the elusive Hilsa.

Seasons Greetings,

Bobby

Hmmmmmmm

I am all ears now. Kindly elaborate more on this topic.

Lets see..

Regrds,

Ali.

Before starting this report, let me confess that this catch merits a new post and the only reason I am including this in mission impossible (After taking permission from Vishal) is that the fish caught is part of the effort we all are making to change the perceptions of fellow anglers that there are some fishes which can not be hooked cleanly. It is to demonstrate, as this subject goes, that any fish can be caught cleanly, subject to one has the patience and is ready to evolve his techniques based on the type of fish he is targeting and particulars of water body he is fishing in.

I was sitting in my office and attending to some important paperwork when I received the call from Vishal, asking me the size of the biggest fish I had caught on a feeder rig. As he was sounding very excited I immediately realized that he has caught something big. How big was the catch and what fish was it, I do not new then but when Vishal explained that he has hooked and landed one Silver Carp, much bigger than my feeder rig record, I was dumbstruck. There is a common perception among all the anglers that catching a Silver is almost impossible and the only way to land them is by foul hooking them and here was Vishal, on the other end of my phone, telling me that he had landed the monster of a fish, one a size #8 hook, using a feeder rig. Immediately delegating the work I was doing to one of my assistant, and grabbing my Camera, I rushed to Powai. In the hurry to reach the lake, I forgot the measuring tape and realizing my folly, called up Rajat to reach The club with a measuring tape.
As I reached Powai, and after taking a short boat ride, landed on my machan, I was greeted by a beaming Vishal and immediately he started narrating how he had a back breaking and nerve shattering fight with the monster and won in the end. The fish, Very carefully tied to A rope string was swimming under the Machan and as I gently pulled the string up, something dark an big rose up on the surface. As the fish came up, I was really shocked to see the fish. It was not a big fish Vishal has landed, it was HUGE!. Gently letting the fish go under water again I hugged Vishal and asked him to narrate his experience again so as to share his excitement and thrill once more. As we were sitting and chatting under the light of stars, Rajat came with his wife Gita and after seeing the fish, they both were also shocked and Rajat immediately took Vishal in his bear hug while Geeta vigorously shook hands and congratulated Vishal.

The first thing we wanted to do was to weigh the fish and take measurements as it looks to me as a world record fish. I called up Bops, the only IGFA representative I know and requested him to find out the world record for a silver carp. The good friend as he is, he immediately promised that he will find out the same and inform us immediately.

As we took the fish to Club house and gently lowered the fish on the weighing Scale, we all were keyed up with anticipation. It was really hard to hold the fish on the weighing scale and after some effort it was successfully weighed. A mammoth 25 Kg. 400 Grms. (56 Lb)!. Hats off to you Vishal for landing the record fish on the 4 feet rod and a bend size #8 hooks. Heartiest congratulations once again.

Following are the measurement of the fish.

From tip to tip over curve 45 inches.
Width over the curves 16 inches.
Circumference 32 Inches.

Tip to Tip straight 44 Inches.

Width Straight 13 Inches.

Meanwhile we learned from the Bops that the world record for Silver Carp was 70 Lbs. so this fish was well short of the world record but surly it is the record for Powai. As per as I know, The biggest Silver carp landed, Properly hooked, in our subcontinent is not more than 18 Kg. so to me this fish is An Indian Biggest Silver Carp Record. Hats off to you Vishal, For landing such monster on the rod you were using and the type of hooks you were using.

The Monster rising above water.


Fish on the Scale


Measuring the Fish


Measuring the Fish


The Monster

The Monster


Record Book


Now I will request Vishal to post the story of his catch so as all of us can enjoy it once again.

Regards,

Ali.

That is a monster. I remember that evening when the calls kept coming about the record. I had tried to visualise the fish and had pictures a monster. BUT THIS IS BIGGER!!!

Congrats Vishal for catching this titan. And Congrats Alibhai for making Powai what is today.

baap re baap