Mark Nicolaides with Day 3 of his mahseer adventure

Sometimes when you travel abroad to go fishing (well…what else would you travel overseas for?) all the tackle is supplied for you. This is generally the preferred option because taking a load of fishing tackle through customs is a real pain in the neck… and expensive. These days, some airlines will charge you extra for taking on more than one piece of luggage and then, of course, there’s the weight limit. When I traveled to India earlier this year, I booked through Angling Direct (who were excellent, by the way) but none of the tackle was provided for the trip. As I’ve already said, taking a load of gear abroad can be a real pain because not only is there the extra expense of buying all the new bits of tackle, there’s the other problem you have of not knowing exactly what to take in the first place. The sort of information you get when you ask what sort of tackle you need to take, tends to be very bland and general. Something like, “uptide rods and a good multiplier”. Information like that is okay, it’s kind of a start, but we need specific information, don’t we?

There’s the question of how good is the information that you’re getting told. After all, you want the information from someone who actually knows what they’re talking about and has actually been out there and done it for themselves. Someone telling you that you need to take ‘this and that’ is no good, if they’ve not really been there and done it for real. Armchair anglers are no good. What I’m going to do in this piece is run you through what I found out from my week’s fishing in February, earlier this year.

Rods

You need a rod of around 8 to 10 feet long and capable for casting out balls of past of the size of a grapefruit. The best tool for the job is an uptide rod used for sea fishing from a boat. You don’t need expensive one, but you need to remember that you could be holding for the rod for hours at a time, sometimes, up to your chest in fast running water. The rod needs to be as few pieces of possible because any extra joints in the rod blank will be prone to breaking due to rough treatment it’s likely to get… not only when you’re fishing, but also when being transported around in jeeps, etc…

Reels

You could get away with a large fixed spool reel, as long as it holds around 200 metres of 40lb line. If you think you’re likely to get into all sorts of trouble with a multiplier, then that’s probably the best way to go. But the fixed spool must be in good condition and hold loads of line (200 metres of 40lb is a minimum). If you can use a multiplier, then a multiplier reel if definitely the best way to go. Once you’ve got the casting sorted out, a multiplier is less likely to tangle the line plus there’s fewer things to go wrong than with a fixed spool. With a fixed spool, the bail arm can suddenly flick open if the line gets caught around the wrong part and this could give the fish a chance to get deep into the rocks losing you the fish. Not good. You may think 200 metres of 40lb line is a bit excessive and that you can get away by using a reel that holds slightly less. Provided you only hook small to moderate fish, then the chances are, you’ll probably be okay. Not necessarily so for the bigger fish though.

Although I didn’t land anything huge, I did hook a big fish one night which really tore line from the reel, however, it ended up pulling the hook after it had been on for a few minutes and ending up well over 100 metres from where it was hooked. The point being, these fish can take lots of line off you. This incident is by no means uncommon and many anglers have sob stories like this…so, I reckon 200 metres of 40lb line on your reel is about right. So, what actual model do you go for? It doesn’t really matter, as long as it holds the right amount of line. I used a Shimano Calcutta, which is a multiplier.

Line

First of all, don’t use braid unless you’re sure it’s got outstanding abrasion resistance properties. The areas you’re fishing over are full of rocks and snags, etc… so, you must be using a line that you’re confident has exceptional ability to stand up to getting rubbed and scrapped over rocks. The best line to use is Berkeley Big Game nylon, monofilament. You’ll need a minimum of 40lbs breaking strain.

Hooks

You’ll be using live baits around 6 inches or so and balls of ragi the size of oranges or small grapefruits. Go for 6/0,7/0 and 8/0. The best make are Owner SSW’s. The hooks need to be razor sharp since these fish have quite tough mouths and the stretch in the heavy duty nylon, can cousin the impact of the strike. You’ll end up hair rigging the baits so take a large and sturdy baiting needle.

Weights

I took flatten 2 to 3oz drilled bullets with me, but Ade Kiddell (who was also in the group) suggested I use some of his weights that consisted of lead strip wrapped around about 4 inches on hard rig tube. The total weight of the sinker was round 2oz, but the advantage of the lead strip was that you could easily add or remove weight by adding or removing some of the lead. If was going again, I’d use these weights again. You’ll need around 20 for a week’s fishing, since you will loss a few in snags, etc…

Other Bits

You will need some Powergum and beads to create a semi-fixed lead system on the line. That’s about it really, except if you want to use a few spinners, etc… I didn’t do any of that, so I can’t really say a lot about spinning… except to say that you’ll get snagged up a lot and be prepared to lose a load of them!

All along the stretch, there are hundreds of baby mahseer. Ade Kiddell and Ken Scott took a set of carp like tackle and fished for these smaller mahseer in the afternoons using small balls of freelined ragi and caught loads of fish. So, if you’re wanting to have a go at that, it’ll be worth taking along some carp tackle and catching a load of small mahseer. Honestly, there are hordes of these small mahseer just waiting for a ball of soft ragi to eat. Guaranteed action.

It's a good idea to take along a 3 to 4m length of soft, cord to be your stringer. When you want to retain a fish for a photograph, the cord is threaded through the mouth and out of one of the gills and the line tried to something solid to retain the fish. In many of the photos of mahseer, you'll notice line hanging out of the fish's gills and mouth, that's the stringer. 

Also, take along a small headtorch since you’ll do some night fishing and having both hands free, is a real help. By the way, night fishing is great fun because you’ll hear all sorts of blood curdling sounds coming from the jungle behind you. And if you’re really still and quiet, you’ll get crocodiles gliding silently along the surface, just out from the rod tip. The first time you see it, you’re not sure what’s happening because it’s like there a log slowly drift along the surface… upstream!! You then shine a torch on them and they usually bolt away in a powerful vortex… really exciting stuff.

Part 4 coming soon

Mark

PS. The 4 piece travel rod I took was no good, but Dave Plummer lent me his personal fishing tackle which he has landed mahseer 98lb on. Dave Plummer is the best freshwater guide I've fished with and would recommend him to anyone.