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.

rajatmukherje,

Great going welcome to the club.

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

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)

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?

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

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]

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.

:) 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.

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

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