INDIANANGLER

MM-Hard head and soft skirts? Thought it applied universally
Dont worry about disinformation-by the time the murrel stop laughing at my lures, the'll be headed your way, no sweat
Bst
Axx

Rustam-two freebees coming up - soft feathers and silicon-drool away -stuff dreams are made of!!
Best
Axx

Excellent! Off to Shiva this weekend, so will give them a spin or two and report.

Main priority being that the boys hook into the numerous cat fish that are around. Now that should really drive you up the wall.

Rustam

I can only make the stuff if i can get off the walls-stop cease, desist -telling me-until I get there-or I'll be attending the headbangers ball all week long!

Oops, must have touched a nerve.

Now that should have you planning your first foray for the coming weekend.

Rustam

Rustam,

Am still on the Left Coast but here are some early attempts at spinners. First one is a Mepps knock-off (#5 dressed silver squirrel tail) above the real thing. Second is of various experimental Maral Magnets.

Hi Mm,

Thanks a ton for the pics.

Just wondering...do they also double up as Christmas decorations?

Just what i was thinking !

Only if you're dreaming of a maral Christmas!! Note the jingle-bell on the lure, second row, second from right. Cabela's actually had a 12' tree adorned with lures. It looked quite festive. The shiny stuff is "Flashabou" used in making pike and muskie lures and very popular in the north and Canada.

Mm

Wow, thats quite a collection.Is it normal contents of a tackle box?
Senor MM, used your surgical glove suggestion...cut up thin ribbons , version 1.1 has been interspersed with finely cut 'metallic-ised' polythene curently in vogue for gift wrap,one side silver, other side red.
if I dont get a bite, may have to inscribe it in braille!!
In touch with Rohit(perazzi) for a trip,lets see what comes out of it.
Best
Axx

Groooannnn...

Really walked into that one.

Rustam

Hi Asif ,

Spoke with Pat this morn and told him that we ( you / self ) wud love to join in fr the next fishing trip.

Pat said that he keeps going to Chandi ( Chandigarh ) pretty often and goes fishing thereabouts with his friends.

Hopefully Pat shall invite us for the next outing.

Cheers Rohit.

Eljefe,

Normalmente no. Recuerda que en el pais de ciegos el tuerto es re.

Suerte,

Mm

Senor MM!
Muy bien for the snaps (foto?)
I dont know if I'm delving on sticky wicket here, is there some native/indegenous method of murrel fishing in Hyderabad
using an oxen horn- No i heard it in english and didnt have to transliterate it from spanish or telugu


Rohit
Cant just jump in buddy, need a bit of a heads up-have a 4 mo old son and a preschooler daughter!even an air ambulance call means major logistics,forget party times!Gimme a shout?
Best Axx

Marc did mention this when he had come over. Bit hazy about the details, so will leave it for them to expand upon.

Rustam

Asif ,

Will surely plan the trip well in advance.
No getting up and getting out stuff as i also have a daughter who's 9 and is Type 1 so cant just be left with anyone except my wifey/her mommy.

lets plan something sep/oct this year.

Cheers Rohit.

Eljefe/Rustam,

I have posted a rather long winded description of the Hyderabadi style of fishing in the Carp fishing section.

The reason is that the style of fishing using a Buffalo Horn rod was developed in Hyderabad specifically for Carp fishing and any other fish caught on this rod is purely by chance.

Hope it does not bore you guys.

Cheers,

Cauvery Cowboy

Yes. I find that my method, which differs somewhat from that of the PC-correct Cauvery Cowboy, has produced excellent results. Being a visitor to that fair city I have to depend on a few locals to take me to productive waters. Incentives such as increasingly expensive single malts, blatant gifts from "the abroad" etc were returning tepid results until I devised The Horn Technique (patent pending).

Simply put (if you'll pardon the expression), I threaten to use a water buffalo horn like a proctologist would use his middle finger. It works wonders. No, lose the vaseline. Else they seem to enjoy it. QED.

Mm

MM,
Ah, the original man with the horn-Where's miles davis when you need him?
Great, I can do a fair imitation of your method-so, I still have my secret weapon-evil cackle.
Lets see what Marc has in for us...thought I had misheard when this was first mentioned-I did tell the speaker about my prowess with (non) fishing and photographing semi finished lures, but he insisted on carrying on.I lost interest and moved on as he would definitely be DUI in a few min
Thanks
Axx

Eljefe,

Pray tell, who? Although DUI is pretty much the status quo in Hyderabad, I know it can't be Cauvery Cowboy as he doesn't touch the stuff (he has other pernicious vices to compensate).

Mm
"Helga, being a slut, I'm uncertain that little Werner is my son"-Wolfgang Heisenberg

MM,
this cattle horn technique was described to me at a party here in Delhi (unless one of you chaps happened to be here last week!)
CC-great to know about your pernicious vices-as a fellow 'to be' angler, I will PM you and we can exchange notes ??

Reg: Heisenberg Sr, he musta been a bit confused- Werner was born of the second wife Elle, after Helga died of mysterious causes..

Best
Axx

Eljefe,

In all seriousness, the horn-tipped rod technique of catching carp has always baffled me. It is one of those things that is nonsensical in theory but allegedly works very well in practice (like the internal combustion engine). Enough people have caught enough fish with this ancient method for it to hold sway in Hyderabad among the grizzled old codgers that ply this art. CC has comprehensively covered the technique but the probability of repeatedly foul-hooking a fish still seems minute. I guess it begs the question of how many strikes actually result in a hookset

Re our friend Werner, whose cute quote about reality actually refers to subatomic particles (some even small enough for photons to displace) has nothing to do with the "reality" that we are used to. As marketing types remind us: perception IS reality. If A. Rai to you is the lovliest creature, then that is your own private reality. I can discourse on this for hours but wont take up Mr. B.P's valuable bandwith doing so!!

Mm

yes, that was a good account by CC, now that I understand the terminology a little better, the 'sing chadi' vets amongst them should be able to translate the 'quiver' into a hook set with fair amount of certainity?
I dont know about fish, would fish come back to a bait/lure after a close brush? say a failed hookset which didnt harm the fish at all?
As for the ethics of intentional Foul hooking-I can only comment that this technique is sure to have originated when the intention was to get food/survive-I guess sport fishing evolved later with the concepts of conservation and catch and release.
Initially,explosive filled tubers were used in TN and other places to deter wild boar and other foragers who damage crops-now, not to deter, but to lure them !akin to dynamiting in fishing?



NO sweat, lawrence Livermore its not.there was a post a while back about a 20lb mahseer taking a coracle 100m-had I been in that coracle, I would have been screaming blue murder and expect to see a great white surfacing! My perception, my reality!
Now I read in Owen's post about fresh water shark in the Cauvery...
We shall surely expend personal bandwith when I make it to Texas or you're down here?
Best
Axx

Yes, I've also heard the "freshwater shark" moniker. This is applied to the patan or walleye in Hyderabad. The only thing it has similar to a shark is the colour of it's skin. I have caught both shark in the Pacific and this walleye in the Cauvery and there ain't a quark (or boson, if you like) of similarity. You will have discovered that hyperbole is almost mandatory in fishing lore. Baron Munchausen was a green amateur by contrast.

There is one snakehead website that shows a flat fish (tilapia?) bitten clean in half allegedly by a snakehead. This, I presume, is intended to give the viewer the impression that snakeheads (maral) are vicious attackers with an array of incisor teeth capable of shearing flesh. Danger, danger, danger. Let's book a trip Muffy, so we can corral this horrible monster. What a joke. Maral have caniniform teeth designed for gripping (like crocs) slippery prey. But this is boring so let's assign them attributes to make them piranha-like. Did you read the book by Kenneth "I-never-fib" Anderson "The Malicious Mauling Maral of Mekadat"? Gripping.

Caveat emptor, much more than a grain of salt is required.

Mm

MM,
Read about walleye in various catalogues(the sole source of my fishing knowledge until i got here ) besides a dummy's guide to fishing type book-great read.
So Wall eye are indigenous to India too? Wall eye as in description of a nag?
Any book on indian Fish-easy ID or something like that?

Finished all of KA's books while in school, visited his house and met his son-Don, must have been in 77-78. Right now I have a book of his lying around-not the more popular 9 maneaters and 1 rogue or black panthers of sivanapally, but one of the lesser known ones.cant remember the name.
Very apt, your description of the book and maral teeth-'gripping'.. The 'ferocity' of a maral i hope to see when I catch one!Right now ,I'm the one gnashing my teeth at the lack of fishing action.

What shark was this in the pacific?

Going by the good baron's mention of using a 2 flyweight rod for all his action, including landing a 100 pound mahseer while visiting India, it is obvious -he was an avid angler


When I was a kid, heard a lot of fishing stories, where the size and stamina of the fish grew by the paragraph (pre - viagra days,snicker snicker)-hence the signature about ol werner and reality(kind of find it apt no digicam or Indian angler.com those days )

In the passing, a question-How do you guys hold the hook while tying a line on it? any instrumentation or hands-on? asking because need to have my hands relatively unpunctured-hi risk of handling infected persons at work,inspite of gloves.I know that must be pretty high on the 'funny question of the day' list, wot the 'ell, had to ask!!

Best
Axx

A blue. Rather small but very unusual in it's fight. Best I can describe it is a "seamless tug", not the herky-jerky fun of other fish. Also, it started rolling rapidly and ended up wrapping line all over itself.

I don't think the walleye of N.America is remotely similar to the desi version. There is a picture of one in Mr. Bana's collage (no, not Xavier's) with it's tail characteristically curling upward. The ghillies were ecstatic at receiving the one I caught on the Cauvery. They're second class citizens in Hyderabad waters, the maral taking top honours.

How to hold a hook? Carefully. Even seasoned anglers will occasionally stick themselves. You've got to pay your dues. Don't look away, don't be distracted, keep an even footing, and common sense. I had a Mepps embedded in my ear and neck after an errant cast by a fellow angler (who continued tugging). It ain't fun. Thank goodness it was a Mepps hook (bad) and not a Matzuo. Competent surgery performed by the ever prepared CC upon a rock in the Cauvery extracted the hook. But the feeling of his blade cutting into me still gives me the shivvers.

Mm

Hahahaha....



So, a chupplimeen is a walleye? If so, why do the Americans make such a big thing about it or do they grow much bigger?

Rustam

P.S.: I am a Ruia boy. Folks thought that would make me take my studies a little more seriously.

Of all freshwater fish I have caught walleye, and I could not understand that either Rustam. Why do Americans make such a big deal about them?

All Walleye I caught fought as hard as a dirty rag in water!

As alluded to earlier, the American walleye looks nothing like the local version. No, size isn't everything. Minnesotans love it because of it's elusiveness and flavour of flesh. But then they're just Minnesotans. No idea why it's called a walleye in Hyderabad. Also, the ghillies called it quite a different name than chupplimeen......can't remember what.

While a 8 to 10 lb "walleye" is considered very respectable and will give you quite a thrill, a mutual friend of CC's and mine caught a 23lb brute of a fish, that played him for a long 20 minutes or so. They usually give a mad rush towards deeper water then tire. But this behemoth refused to throw in the towel. I recently heard a story of one, caught in a net, that, lengthwise "took up a good portion of a lorry". Hmmmm....

Mm

Let me know when you have made up your mind.

Mr. Bana,

You, sir, stand guilty of the Fallacy of Propositional Logic, or what jurisprudence refers to as modus ponens in argumentative discourse.



The "one" referred to is the principal, ie. the Indian variety, of which you have a picture. If you had but perused Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics at Ruia this conundrum would not have occured.

Anything else I can clarify this morning?

Regards,

Mm

Well, yes, where did you learn to obfuscate like that?

You have well and truly given me a headache.

Rustam

University of Dallas. A wondrous place dedicated to inculcating the Western philosophical tradition into all, irrespective of major (I read Physics), but full of colourful characters. For example, I've had many a chat with the president, who regularly fishes the Amazon for Peacock Bass, on piscatorial pursuits.

I'll post pictures of some interesting lures I once made once I return to the Lone Star State.

Got a headache? Take two Megabass and call me in the morning.

Mm

Rustam:
Walleye, wet rag, chappli meen...
I thought I had myself a walleye in the Hindon earlier today...encouraged by Dev(Indians-for-guns-dot-com) who was chaperoning my first 'cast the cast' session earlier today!
We had to cajole a local kid to wade in and retrieve my treble from a-biggish carpet...
Well, MM, tied a blood knot , duly wet with saliva and it held
Tied a couple of quick hooks with uni's and they held-no instrumentation(!)
So things are working out-no more talk of pussying around with instrumentation for hook tying!
Between Dev and me, did not transfix each other, or the dozen onlookers, once-had a couple of close calls though...had a comment like -Yeh to padhe likhe machal hare dikhte hain-make my day!
This angling/fishing is a great thing-glad I'm in , however late...
Best
Axx

hi all,

total amateur would like to bow to the sultans of casting.

the good Doc was fabulous in ensuring that we got out of our dangerous encounters with 50 pound rags and catfish

not to mention the acidic wit of the local experts.

plant to learn lots more from you all.


regards,

Dev

Mr. Bana,
Here are some lures I made a couple of years ago that may come in handy at your Forbes lake. With all those weeds, a topwater may be just the ticket. I will be there later this year to give them a spin.

CC, just above 10 o'clock, in The Baci box, you can see the purple anodized tubes from which I fashioned the bushing (re. Megabass) on which you cast aspersions.

Mm

I am sure our murral will be delighted to see all that shiny and colourful stuff. They will never be the same again.

Thanks for the pic.

Rustam

Hi Mystic,
Those froggy looking lures is just what they adore. No need of spinning them, just dangling them is enough to get their interest.
Regards
Owen

Hi Guys,
After looking at Mysticmaral's stash I'm praying to God, hoping I won't come back in my next life as a murral

Cheers,
Mighty Marlin.

Hi Mm my wife says she wouldn't mind a pair for her ears.
Owen

Senor MM,
am more than happy to 'test fish' your scum frog
Whats the knife in the baccy box?
Best
Axx

MM: those were lures from two years ago. Practically obsolete. The latest devices, currently undergoing refinement, are designed to make the maral nation go get their imperial leader.

Owen: The Mrs. is welcome to a pair. Just don't get too romantic though. Remember, I use Matzuo trebles.

Eljefe: That thing is just a skissors. If you want to see real knives I'll have to PM you with pictures. Don't want to bore the gentle readers of this august forum. Or invoke the wrath of the explosively volatile Mr. Pattada.

Mm

Come, come don't be coy....

You guys are welcome to post reviews of Knives and other outdoor gear under the Fishing and outdoor gear forum. I think this post is getting a little too long.

Bops