INDIANANGLER

hey guys...im pretty much a newbie...and have never used chilwa for masheer......how do u put one of them onto a hook..?
any tips suggestions...?
what size do they have to be?
appart from masheer wat other fish would take it?
why is it that chilwa and crabs are predominantly used near the rapids?
do u have to have a wieght on a line that has live bait?
how many of u use chilwa?

sorry for the barage of questions...im still on a learning curve..

Hi Aaron,
you say you are still on a learning curve.. Well who is not.. , As for your use of chilwa, beside mahseer gooch will also take chilwa as bait but be aware that it is almost impossible to dislodge this fish from under the rocks where it invaiably dives when hooked. The size of chilwa depends on the size of fish you want to catch. Mahseer and gooch hide behind big rocks and wait for the small fishes to pass by and with a sharp run and catching the fish they return to the same place. the best place to catch them is where two streams are meeting. If you have seen chilwa run in a rapid you will know that they stay just underwater or jump over some time. As for your bait you too want it to act as naturally as possible. I do not know what is the standard practice of using chilwa as bait but i prefer a treble hook placed just behind the tail and bleave it or not i use a medium size potato as a weight placed 10 to 12 inches ahed of my bait.

Hope u can try this;;

Let me know if u catch some thing

Regards.

Ali

P.S. Have any one heard or seen Phandi (Loop) fishing in Himanchal;;

Hi Aaron,

A chilwa of between 3" to 6" works very well for mahseer, mulley, silund and some of the other catfish.

I use a single 6/0 hook mounted just below the dorsal fin (have we been down this road before)

There are many other interesting ways of mounting a chilwa that need to be seen done live.

I disagree that crabs are used only in rapids, as crabs are very light and get swept away in the current, making it very difficult to place your bait in the right spot.
You may need a lot of lead weight in such cases which is not always a good thing when fishing snaggy fast water.

I usually use crabs in deep pools,or places where the rapids even out.
Chilwa always needs lead, and i would say more than what is used for ragi, as ragi in itself is pretty heavy stuff.

Chilwa tends to float on the surface and attract more birds than fish if it is not weighed down properly.

The idea is to bump the chilwa down the rapids, so that a waiting mahseer can have a go.

I would say that chilwa is more productive in rapid water compared to slack water, where it takes on a rather dead appearance.
Regards
Owen