Fishing Report from India

The west coast of India starts at the province of Gujarat in the north and makes its way right down to the province of Kerala, which is at the southernmost tip of the Indian peninsula. The area that we will be concerned with here is called the Konkan Coast, which starts in Maharshatra.

The Konkan Coast consists of the picturesque Arabian Sea, which hugs the rugged coastline formed by the towering and alluring Western Ghats. The Western Ghats are a lofty range of mountains ranging about 3,500 to 4,000 feet that run north to south covering the states of Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka. They also run along the coast, breaking into the sea to the west. Hence we have before us this rugged but beautiful coast line. There are numerous bays and estuaries that are isolated and make great fishing spots if one can get to them.
 

In India, angling is a sport that is yet in its infancy, but the waters provide some very good game fish. Snapper, grouper, barracuda, jack crevalle, threadfin salmon, Spanish mackerel, tuna, dolphin, sailfish, blue marlin, shark and barramundi are some of the game fish available here.

There are two major banks between Maharshtra and Karanataka that are situated about 250 to 100 kilometers off the coast. These banks offer some big game fishing. A few fishing guides and charter companies operate in these spots during the November to March prime season. Most of the sea fishing in India is done by trolling.

Fly-fishing is done by very few individuals, mostly where there are rivers stocked with trout (which the British introduced and the Indian Government has preserved) and mahseer. Mahseer is India’s big game river sport fish, both in the north and south of the country. The rivers are stocked with the fish and a license is required for angling. A government-run company called Jungle Lodges (www.junglelodges.com) organizes and runs the mahseer fishing in the south. Mahseer can grow larger than 100 kilos, and the fight they put up tends to run about a minute for every pound.

Getting back to our sea fishing on the west coast, there is a place called Ganpatiphule which is 350 kilometers from Bombay, the city I currently live in. Ganpatiphule is a paradise for anglers and beach lovers alike with its winding coastline and pristine, isolated beaches. Fifty kilometers to the north of Ganptiphule is a large bay that converges eventually with a river inland. At the mouth, there are huge cliffs that fall right into the sea, offering deep waters close to shore. Here is where we often go fishing. One can fish both the incoming and outgoing tides. The threadfin salmon (locally called Ravas) enter the bay with the incoming tides to feed further inland and can be fished on their way out on the ebb. The dark waters around the cliffs offer refuge to huge snappers, groupers, barramundi and barracuda.

Now for a description of our last fishing trip…. After a long drive, we had reached the spot rather late, 9:45 pm. Night fishing has always been fun and exciting to me, especially at Ganpatiphule. I chose to fish under the looming and ghostly lighthouse with its jagged rocks that make it rather difficult to negotiate. The water here is dark and turbid, and this is where the big barramundi love to hang out and grab any unwary baitfish that may lose control in the currents. As we made our way down towards the water, the huge beam from the lighthouse swept over us almost startling us. It looked like a scene from the Second World War, except here we had an eerie-looking lighthouse and turbid water below churning around like a washing machine. We had to get used to the beam and keep our concentration on the rocks before us.

When we finally got to the water, my fishing buddy, Jude, got his rod ready. I checked the drag settings and made sure the trace line and spoon was fine. It was a bit chilly, but there was no wind, and the tide was just starting to rise. I stood alert with the landing net and gaff, offering all required assistance. The first cast went off into the dark night and a slow retrieve was on, the deep-diving Rapala doing her job just right. My sixth sense was ticking away, and our nerves tightened as Jude reeled in. On the third cast, we heard a huge splash very close by but the dark night offered little visibility. Jude threw in a quick fourth cast and bang! A huge splash and something hit hard as soon as the spoon hit the water. The drag was screaming as 15 yards of line began to spin off. The fish was running hard and diving deep. I cautioned Jude that the fight had to be tight and quick as the fish could cut the line among the rocks. Jude fought back, gaining line. Was it a barramundi or a grouper? It didn’t fight like a threadfin salmon. The rod tip bent further, and the drag was still screaming as the fish came in. Then it dived again. Finally, after 35 minutes, the water below us was splashing and even in the flashlight I could see that something big was down there.

I rushed below with the landing net and roped myself up in case I slipped into the sea. Jude played his fish as close as possible to me and with a final lunge I managed to get the landing net right under the fish. It was then I realized it was too heavy to lift. In the net, we had a huge 25-kilo grouper thrashing away. Both Jude and I struggled in the dark with it. Exhausted but excited, we weighed the fish with a portable scale and in the next five minutes released it back to the sea. We could have kept the grouper if we wanted, but Jude just smiled as we released it. It was his first grouper of the season, and it was a good omen to set it free.

The best season for threadfin salmon is May through July. From October to March is the best all round season for sea fishing. In much of India unregulated fishing is taking its toll. Places like Goa have been systematically fished out of nearly all big game because of the easy availability and access to sea via high speed boats and nets. The Maharashtra coastline is preserved because of its rugged coastline and lack of infrastructure. - Dean Gonsalves (passageenclave@yahoo.com).