Fishing For Mahseer in India

smokin_reels
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Fishing For Mahseer in India

Post by smokin_reels » Fri Jul 14, 2017 1:58 pm

I visited India recently , it felt good returning home. I sneaked a short fishing trip over a weekend, but a fruitful one. Got to spend some time with my Father, we both were looking forward to this trip for a long time .
The target fish was a hard hitting endangered native species called the Deccan Mahseer (Barbus Tor Khudree). A fish that grows over a 100lbs . Sadly the larger specimens have been decimated and now exist only in sacred protected locations within wildlife sanctuaries.

Traditionally , they are fished for with bait/live bait and spoons/spinners.
But considering they are an active aggressive species that are piscivorous and the place I was fishing served as a nursery for Juveniles, I broke out the trusty ultralight and bream lures.

Soft plastics, spoons , blades , hard bodies , even had a a few on top water walk the dog style lures at dusk/dawn.

I had an absolute blast, these fish had never seen these lures before and I caught them on everything I chucked at them and the little stradic was screaming all weekend. I did have some jig heads opened out and leaders torn to bits, but landed 95% of the fish.

Enjoy :)

Reaction Strike on an EVO Shad
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Dad with a fish caught on a pop-up boilie, there was some baitfishing as well for the less lure inclined.
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Good Old Grubz

A jighead that got destroyed on the take, these fish pound for pound are the hardest fighting fish ive hooked in freshwater. Built to live in fast , rocky rivers and hunt.
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The ZX35 worked pretty well, I even had a snakehead on it that slithered away before a picture, nIce
to see my fav lure for Albert Park Lake doing the damage abroad as well.
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TopWater Mahseer, They hunt baitfish at dawn/dusk. Little walk the dogs , absolutely slayed.
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All in all , it filled me with happiness to see the fish of my childhood at the end of my line again and this time on the Ultralight.
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Mahseer on a grub.png
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Last edited by smokin_reels on Fri Jul 14, 2017 2:14 pm, edited 2 times in total.
There is always more to learn , fish to catch , places to see and friends to make.

purple5ive
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Re: Fishing For Mahseer in India

Post by purple5ive » Fri Jul 14, 2017 2:04 pm

I hate you Man, seriously i do....

Those are one of the best fighting fish you can ever catch... its on my list to do when i go back to India Myself
what part of India were you fishing, im guessing south, which is also where i am from.
I cant see any of the Pics, but im sure they are awsome.
ill have to take some bream lures myself next time i go there.

smokin_reels
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Re: Fishing For Mahseer in India

Post by smokin_reels » Fri Jul 14, 2017 2:16 pm

purple5ive wrote:I hate you Man, seriously i do....

Those are one of the best fighting fish you can ever catch... its on my list to do when i go back to India Myself
what part of India were you fishing, im guessing south, which is also where i am from.
I cant see any of the Pics, but im sure they are awsome.
ill have to take some bream lures myself next time i go there.

Haha sure was fun!
Let me know if you are going down again, I am from Bangalore and this fishing is at the Wildlife of South India Cottage about 2 and half hours from Bangalore. If you let me know in advance , ill get one of my buddies to take you out.
It was ridiculously good fun.
Pics uploaded now :)

I'd say about 50 fish in a weekend landed, 6lb mainline, 15lb leader, FG Knot.
Shimano Travel Raider Bream , 2500 Stradic Ci4+ (poor little drag got molested).
There is always more to learn , fish to catch , places to see and friends to make.

purple5ive
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Re: Fishing For Mahseer in India

Post by purple5ive » Fri Jul 14, 2017 2:27 pm

smokin_reels wrote:
purple5ive wrote:I hate you Man, seriously i do....

Those are one of the best fighting fish you can ever catch... its on my list to do when i go back to India Myself
what part of India were you fishing, im guessing south, which is also where i am from.
I cant see any of the Pics, but im sure they are awsome.
ill have to take some bream lures myself next time i go there.

Haha sure was fun!
Let me know if you are going down again, I am from Bangalore and this fishing is at the Wildlife of South India Cottage about 2 and half hours from Bangalore. If you let me know in advance , ill get one of my buddies to take you out.
It was ridiculously good fun.
Pics uploaded now :)

I'd say about 50 fish in a weekend landed, 6lb mainline, 15lb leader, FG Knot.
Shimano Travel Raider Bream , 2500 Stradic Ci4+ (poor little drag got molested).
Cheers man,
That would ahve been a hoot on 6lb line.
i guess you can sort of compare it to fishing for carp that aggressively take lures lol.
i am from Kerala, so might not be enough time to travel to Banglore and have a fish, but i know some spots locally that might have some.
That snakehead would have been awsome as well.
remeber fishing for them when i was lot younger, and also for The various Cichlids that live in the area.
im suprised the trebles didnt get mangled up hahah

smokin_reels
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Re: Fishing For Mahseer in India

Post by smokin_reels » Fri Jul 14, 2017 2:40 pm

purple5ive wrote:
smokin_reels wrote:
purple5ive wrote:I hate you Man, seriously i do....

Those are one of the best fighting fish you can ever catch... its on my list to do when i go back to India Myself
what part of India were you fishing, im guessing south, which is also where i am from.
I cant see any of the Pics, but im sure they are awsome.
ill have to take some bream lures myself next time i go there.

Haha sure was fun!
Let me know if you are going down again, I am from Bangalore and this fishing is at the Wildlife of South India Cottage about 2 and half hours from Bangalore. If you let me know in advance , ill get one of my buddies to take you out.
It was ridiculously good fun.
Pics uploaded now :)

I'd say about 50 fish in a weekend landed, 6lb mainline, 15lb leader, FG Knot.
Shimano Travel Raider Bream , 2500 Stradic Ci4+ (poor little drag got molested).
Cheers man,
That would ahve been a hoot on 6lb line.
i guess you can sort of compare it to fishing for carp that aggressively take lures lol.
i am from Kerala, so might not be enough time to travel to Banglore and have a fish, but i know some spots locally that might have some.
That snakehead would have been awsome as well.
remeber fishing for them when i was lot younger, and also for The various Cichlids that live in the area.
im suprised the trebles didnt get mangled up hahah
Towards the end the walk the dog lures had bent treble points lol.
I also found a big school and had them taking freelined bread flake on a hook. sightcasting. Next trip, got to make some videos. lol
There is always more to learn , fish to catch , places to see and friends to make.

purple5ive
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Re: Fishing For Mahseer in India

Post by purple5ive » Fri Jul 14, 2017 2:50 pm

yeah they love bread. videos would be awesome.
im hoping i can get a chance to go for a fish, between catching up with family members, unlimited invites to weddings and other functions, catching up with mates and so forth its going to be a hard ask for me.

smokin_reels
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Re: Fishing For Mahseer in India

Post by smokin_reels » Fri Jul 14, 2017 2:52 pm

purple5ive wrote:yeah they love bread. videos would be awesome.
im hoping i can get a chance to go for a fish, between catching up with family members, unlimited invites to weddings and other functions, catching up with mates and so forth its going to be a hard ask for me.

Story of our lives. Even i went for a wedding . lol
There is always more to learn , fish to catch , places to see and friends to make.

purple5ive
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Re: Fishing For Mahseer in India

Post by purple5ive » Fri Jul 14, 2017 3:21 pm

smokin_reels wrote:
purple5ive wrote:yeah they love bread. videos would be awesome.
im hoping i can get a chance to go for a fish, between catching up with family members, unlimited invites to weddings and other functions, catching up with mates and so forth its going to be a hard ask for me.

Story of our lives. Even i went for a wedding . lol
Let me guess, you didnt even know or vaugely knew who was getting married. :rofl:

smokin_reels
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Re: Fishing For Mahseer in India

Post by smokin_reels » Fri Jul 14, 2017 3:23 pm

purple5ive wrote:
smokin_reels wrote:
purple5ive wrote:yeah they love bread. videos would be awesome.
im hoping i can get a chance to go for a fish, between catching up with family members, unlimited invites to weddings and other functions, catching up with mates and so forth its going to be a hard ask for me.

Story of our lives. Even i went for a wedding . lol
Let me guess, you didnt even know or vaugely knew who was getting married. :rofl:

lol. Thankfully, this time around it was a school buddy of mine who I grew up with.
I have a couple of the vague ones next year. LOL.
waste of precious annual leave.
There is always more to learn , fish to catch , places to see and friends to make.

Lightningx
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Re: Fishing For Mahseer in India

Post by Lightningx » Fri Jul 14, 2017 4:47 pm

Top report mate!
That's one thing a mate of mine has been talking about for quite sometime now. Targeting mahseer in India! Hopefully one day I get around to doing that!
Awesome pics! Thanks for sharing :thumbsup: :a_goodjob:

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