INDIANANGLER

Hi Guys, I need a bit of help with this one..... I happened to have a chat with a fisherman who's netting Oxeye Tarpon up to about 2ft long quite close to where I live. He's told me they can't be hooked, which I'm sure no one here has tried. I plan to give it a shot. Any ideas? Suggestions?

Regards,
Mighty Marlin.

Hi Mighty Marlin,

The Megalops Cyprinoides can not be caught on a hook is a big Myth. I reproduce below a paragraph from that Classic " The Rod in India" By Henry Sullivan Thomas, published in 1897:

" Megalops Cyprinoides", which it is as easy to call Megalops as anything else, alsotakes a bait well at times. I have come across them coming up an estuary in a shoal, and it was like hauling in Mackerel; and they run about the same size. There was a fish on as fast as ever you could get your line into the water. But the fun was short-lived. It was in mid-stream, and they were all past the boat in a very little time. I have also taken tem on a May fly and a Carnatic Carp fly, in a pond which was connected with the Adyar estuary. Some of them sprang a foot in air and all fought well. I have also taken them with a dead bait and float."

Regards,


Arun

Hi MM,

Arun is right. The Oxeye is a very game fish that will go for any bait fish imitations like small spoons, spinners plugs and small bait fish. We have caught a few at cochin in the backwaters.

Jeen

I would use a sabiki rig with no bait whatsoever, people catching them by the dozens using the sabiki and vertical jigging technique from bridge tops around cochin

Vincent

Hi Arun, I just read the same chapter out of 'Rod in india' this afternoon Also snapped the tip section of a Ron Thompson 7 weight fly rod this afternoon ...... light drag takes a little getting used to after all the GT , Doggie fishing we've been doing. So fly fishing for them is no longer an option.

Hi Jeen, We've found some lovely water for light fishing that apperently teems with Oxeye Tarpon. I'm going to start with the smallest plugs/barra plugs I have and bump troll them. If that doesn't work I'll try dead bait. Some how can't bring myself to use a float here yet.

Hi Vincent, I use sabiki rigs on a reglular basis to catch bait fish or to keep myself amused on days I'm not fishing offshore. It's amazing the wide variety of species one can catch on sabiki off a jetty here. The areas I'm looking at for the Oxeye Tarpon are an average depth of 2 to 6 meters making it a bit diff/impractical to use a sabiki.

I'll try and send you guys a pic of the inflatable we use and the waters I fish for them. Heading out tomorrow morning, so will let you know what I catch.

Warm Regards,

Mighty Marlin

I've had then on small silver minow plugs fished at night but I was fishing with a guy who was hooking them on fly tackle.
Pound for pound I've never hooked anything like them, they are isane !
Do I take it that you are fishing a creek ?

Hi Ken, I'm fishing a huge expanse of water.... more like a bay/mangrove/creek system in Port Blair. We've caught small grouper and GT slow trolling there. The fishermen regularly net mullet, mangrove jack, barra and taropn in this system.
I'm off in the morning tomorrow so will keep you all posted if I do catch something.

Mighty Marlin.

Why not chuck out some bread to see if there are any milkfish present.
They may not be glamorous enough to chomp on lures but they are another pint sized speedster and if nothing else, chasing them might give you another rough weather option.

Have you had any luck with Bonefish yet ?
I know they're present on the flats in your part of the world because I briefly hooked one but the Andermans don't seem to really feature on the international bonefishing scene yet.

Hi Ken, Overslept, so never went out this morning
Nothing on the bonefish front, I hardly fish out of Havelock anymore.

Regards,
Mighty Marlin.

Don't forget the good old popper of nothing else works. I have taken several ladyfish on popper when they were not taking anything else. They are pretty close to the oxeye.

Use ulra light line, 6lb mono, attach the lure with a spider-hitch or bimini twist then a uni-knot with the double end (together). Don't forget to break a couple of feet after you land each one and re-tie the entire thing. At least that is what I do when I am after these type of fish and it has been very successful. I have never taken Oxeye but I reckon they will be the same as ladies, savage on the take and making continuous runs. That is why you need the knots I suggested when fishing ultra light to cussion the take, or the line will cut into itself on the take.