INDIANANGLER

Sometime ago I had mentioned that we had caught 'another' kind of sol/murrel and somebody wanted to see pictures to identify these fish. Well after a long time and a lot of hard work here is a picture. And a little bit that I have see and learnt talking to the locals.

These fish like lots of grass and generally hang around in a foot of water.
They don't grow very big, up to 2 kgs. I have not seen any bigger though the locals swear they get to 5 kgs.
They are better eating than the regular sol. But then isn't everything that is hard to catch/find or get. My Bengali neighbours chose this one despite the fact that it was the smallest out of the three fish (the other two were the spotted ones).

Gobra, less than 1kg


A regular Sol/Murrel for comparison.

yummmmmmmmmmmm

hi ken...

isnt that channa striatus ( striped murrel).

looks like ive seen one too. stuck in a net ..... let it swim again.. was aroung 200 gms...

Hello Ken,

The first picture is of a fish i have caught loads of in Assam.. locally known as ' Goroi'. They inhabit weedy banks and grow upto about 2 kg. During the spawing season.. thier fry leave tell tale signs as they coststantly browse the surface in a large group and look like a moving mass of tiny tadpoles. The mother is inevitably a few inches below the surface, ready to defend her brood !! I would never take one of those Moms out now,,, btu as a kid they were always easy to spot and target.

The next door bengalis were right in their choice. They are a very good tasting fish indeed. Roast it over a wood fire and then grind it in with fresh chillies, garlic, coriander, ginger and some mustard oil. Makes for the yummiest fish chutney !!! enjoy

cheers,

vikram

The Gobra fish

check it out

http://www.deccanherald.com/CONTENT/Sep22008/state.asp
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Ali, I guess you meant the channa barca...

Yeh;

Thanks Bop..

Regards,

Ali.