INDIANANGLER

These 2 fish fed at the same time, my mate and I decided who should go for which one and landed them both of the first cast at the same time:

What are they, Bobby?

Lovely pic as well.

Rustam

Hi Rustam,

Thanks, I like that picture too...that is why I posted it

The black...is a Rock Cod called Gobra in Hindi and Ekroo in Marathi
The Red.....Mangrove Jack (some people call it Red Snapper, incorrectly) Tam / Chavwara locally

Thanks, Bobby.

Heard a lot about these Mangrove Jacks but never saw one until now. Considering the name, are these estuary fish?

Rustam

Hi Rustam,

Yes they are Estuarine Fish, they hit the lure very hard or will just grab from behind (especially at night), once while night-fishing I had one make a run from one end of the jetty to another and try to cut me of on the edge at the other end, it succeeded, in fact it cut right through the 60lb mono trace at the end tied to the lure. It had rubbed it so against what it could find much that when I got the line back the swivel (that was at the other end) just disintegrated in the palm of my hand. It just fell apart into several crumbs ("chuda" for want of a better word); it was a good Yo-Zuri swivel. I have never seen anything like that in my whole life.

Another thing about this fish is that if there are a few of them let’s say 3 - 4, they always hit in a hierarchy, where you will land the largest one first then the next and so on. If they are all over the place, it does not matter, only once can I recall where we caught the smaller one first and then the larger one. But still I had seen the Larger one hit first for a couple of times before I landed the smaller one.

Interesting stuff, Bobby. What sort of tackle would be the barest minimum for these blighters?

To get an idea of scale/size, how long are the lure bodies shown in the pic?

Rustam

Hi Rustam,

The fish in the pictures are very small, the lure there should be more than 3".

The MJ's grow to a decent size of 20lb+...anything over 10lb will give you a run for your money, they are hardnosed street-fighters..

The rock cods get huge, massive, a friend of mine told me a story where he had caught a Barramundi of about 40lbs and tied it through the gills as you all do Mahseer and let it into the water. After some time he heard a huge splash and when he looked behind he managed to see the Barra just get out of the jaws of this huge cod, he pulled the barra up to find that the scales on either sides of the flank had come off, i.e. where this monster grabbed it.

As far as tackle goes, depending on the size of fish you are expecting. With the MJ they dive straight to try and cut you but you can give them some leeway, you will have to estimate what kind of line you would like to use. I have even fished as low as 4lb but be prepared to loose plenty of lures, with this kind of line your knots must be real good, I only tie spiderhitch or bimini twist knots for line below 6lb.

With Rock-Cods, you don’t want to give an inch, I would say nothing lesser than 20lb with locked drags, if you get anything over 10 lbs will be near impossible to land if it gets a slight, chance to duck for cover and then he is gone.

Most saltwater anglers do not fish anything lesser than 20lb tackle for any fish, sort of a rule of thumb.

Thanks, Bobby. Very interesting stuff.



How much line (yardage) is the norm for such fishing and what type of rods does one use?

Rustam

Hi Rustam,

I would say min 220 yards will be fine, inshore, I have not heard of a single angler who has been spooled in my lifetime. I have heard some ridiculous stories but I put them down to exaggeration. (Interesting episode which I have on tape, a very famous Australian fishing personality, fishing in the Andaman for dog tooth tuna on fly gets a strike and he goes on to say “taken 200, wow 300, 350!!” and the guide butts in and says “you only got 250 yards of line on your spool mate”).

Rods are a personal preference, I like medium action / medium-fast action rods but a very good angling friend of mine likes fast action rods. When you fish for Rock Cod you need real stiff rods.

For me the ideal Rod would be a medium action 10’ 2 piece, casting wt of 30 – 60 grams with 15 - 20lb line class….

Interesting stuff to us land lubbers Bobby!
Regards
Owen

Thanks for all the answers.

Rustam

Hi Rustam,

When anyone tells me they got spooled, I take it with a pinch of salt

Once while trolling I let out about 250 meters of 130lb line behind the boat that was doing about 7 knots, you will not believe the amount of stress/resistance the water puts on the line.

I hear that a lot of people get spooled fishing for Mahseer, what I think happens is the water and fish moving rapidly in one direction contributes to this. It is the exact effect what I have described above...water -> Fish -> Line

Where as in a normal situation without the rapid, the fish is fighting the water’s resistance against itself and the water's resistance to the line + the angler. Going down the rapid she is only fighting the angler and got the other factors working in her favour the more line she takes out down a rapid the more it works for her.