Fishing For Mahseer On The Cauvery River, India

I have just returned from a fishing holiday to India. In answer to the questions 'Did you catch anything?' my pride has come up with the line 'Yes - lots - but only small ones'. The aim had been to get a photo of me holding up some monster Mahseer for my fishing holidays website, and the Cauvery River (aka the Kauveri River) seemed like my best bet. Unfortunately, the largest fish there weighed less than 4 kilograms. I have included a tale of 'The one that got away' below just to keep with angling tradition.

The Cauvery River flows down from the Deccan Plateau out into the Bay of Bengal on India's East coast. The section I fished was between Bangalore and Mysore - Bangalore being the better access point as the airport has many more connecting flights. My transfer took about 3 hours by private car.

There are 3 government run fishing camps on this section of the Cauvery River. The furthest upstream is a remote and basic camp called Dodamakkali. There is a larger camp at Bheemshwari in the middle and the one I stayed at, Galibore.

The camp at Galibore has 12 tent blocks. Each of these is a 2-person canvas tent under a permanent roof. A front porch with two comfortable chairs offers you somewhere to chat and sort tackle though you are never far from one of the communal shelters if you want to get together with others.

Each block has a toilet/bathroom block at the rear. The running water is cold but you can request a bucket of hot water at any time for bathing. You are probably best off drinking only bottled water. Some even prefer this for brushing teeth etc. Towels, soap and toilet paper are all provided so you need not carry these.

There is a fan to keep you cool though I had the opposite problem with the nights being quite chilly. Fortunately, there are blankets as well.

Meals are taken in one of two round shelters. The one in the centre of the camp has a 'Hall of Fame' showing some of the most impressive fish caught in recent years. You'll need to get above 100 lbs to join the elite.

For fun there are rope swings and a framework of nets. I found that sorting tackle and photos and making notes took up most of my spare time. I also took a few strolls from camp as there is an amazing array of local bird life. You are warned not to stray too far on your own as there are some nasties out there - the crocodiles for one thing.

There is considerable confusion as to the naming of Mahseer species, even amongst ichthyologists.

The name Mahseer may be derived from the Sanskrit word for fish as used in the Vedas - usually transcribed as 'Matsya'. Others think it stems from 'Maha Sir' meaning 'Big Head' as all Mahseer have large heads and extremely large mouths.

Locals tend to use colours to denote different species when in fact the colouration is largely irrelevant - being more a factor based on the habitat that one particular fish frequents. I caught Golden Mahseer on the Ramganga River later in my trip just a couple of hundred metres apart where one was the classic golden colour and the other a very dark olive. The former was living in a deep, sandy bottomed pool and the latter in rapids flowing over dark algae-covered rocks. Copper, Chocolate, Black, Golden and other terms are therefore not a good guide.

According to fishbase.org the only two species of Mahseer to be found in the Cauvery River are the Deccan Mahseer (Tor khudree) and the Humpback Mahseer (Tor mussullah). Of these the Humpback Mahseer is noted as the one growing to immense size so that is the species I suspect the local fishing guides have been calling Golden Mahseer. There is a note that Deccan Mahseer were known to reach much larger weights in the past and I wonder whether in fact they still do - but are just not identified correctly. Perhaps an ichthyologist will take up the challenge and sort out this matter once and for all. I know the camp director at Galibore is interested in finding out. Certainly the fish on display in the 'Hall of Fame' are not Golden Mahseer (Tor putitora). Just look at the shape and compare.

Mahseer aren't the only fish in the river. We caught lots of annoying little catfish but, being tasty the guides kept those for the staff. I caught a few Pink Carp and also two Carnatic Carp. These could easily be mistaken for Humpback Mahseer except that they have a smaller mouth. There are also Murrel (Snakehead) but, apparently, we would have had to use entirely different tactics to catch those.

The fishing is a delight.

There are two sessions each day, from 07:00 to 11:00 and 16:00 to 19:00. These are not just the best times for fishing but also the only sensible times to be out in the sun. Even in November I got a heavy tan. We took packed breakfast and usually ate this about 09:00. Lunch and dinner were served at camp.

Coracles are used to get about. There will be one fishing guide per coracle and one or two anglers depending upon numbers. Sometimes we fished straight from the coracle. Where we couldn't find a convenient point to attach ourselves we went ashore and fished from there.

I had two rods with me - a short boat rod and a longer uptide rod. Both would have been capable of playing a decent size fish. The uptide rod proved the most versatile. It was manageable from within the coracle yet was much better for casting big balls of Ragi into the current. I used a multiplier on the boat rod and a baitrunner large-capacity fixed-spool reel on the uptide rod - both loaded with 40 lb line.

Since the bait of choice is a big ball of Ragi it was pretty much unnecessary to add any weight to the rig. The guides liked one small weight and the hook tied directly to the mainline.

Ragi needs a little explanation. It is a millet flour paste boiled up to become a tough dough. Some guides add extra ingredients which they believe leads to more bites; 'hing' or Asafoetida being my guide, Madil's, favourite. Another guide, Cheluvaraj, liked to keep old balls of Ragi and let them 'mature' - yes, really, like an old cheese. Each to their own!

Being my first time fishing for Mahseer I asked how to strike - whether to strike early or whether to give the fish time to run and take the bait a bit. The answer was quite surprising and worth telling here. My guide, Tomraj, said only that it was necessary to 'wait until your rod is bent half way and then strike'. I soon learnt what he meant.

I won't bore you with a day by day account of the catches. There are plenty of photos and the story below for you to get a feel. The final tally for 7 sessions though: 20 Mahseer, 7 catfish (ate one) and 3 carp. I certainly want to go back and dream of one of those three-figure fish.

I should add that I tried spin fishing, without success. The guides all reckoned that this would only work when the water level was much lower and the water was clearer.

We used chicken guts with considerable success. It is a hardy bait that casts well. The only downside was that it was just as likely, perhaps even more likely, to attract catfish and other species. There's something to be said for a lump of Ragi the size of a tennis ball. It needs a big fish to take it in one.

OK - here it is - the tale of a fish that left me gutted.

We landed the coracle by a huge boulder as we had the previous day and I cast out about 30-40 metres into the current. The line was soon swept down to a deep pool. Shy bites suggested more catfish and I caught 2.

It was hot and sunny and very plaesant just to be out by the river. I took a few photos before the line started to get some more interesting tugs. Patience, I had to remember patience. The line kept moving and several times I almost struck thinking that was it ... then I did.

At first it seemed liked I'd done the right thing. My rod went up and to the right ... the fish just carried on downstream and away from the bank to the left. The line was tight and being stripped off the reel in a way that had me hoping. Then ... it got away ...

I brought the line in to find just two large scales on the end of the hook. I was already gutted when my guide, Mandil, looked at them and said I'd just missed a 50 pounder. Ahhh!!

I have the two scales as a momento, and a reminder that I need to go back one day and catch that dream fish. I'll try and make the trip a bit later so that the water levels should be a bit lower. January and February are considered the peak months.

Until then ...