The Sporting Glory of the Grand Himalayas
by Misty Dhillon

In my own opinion, and in that of other whom I have met, the Mahseer shows more sport for its size than the Salmon. The essence of sport, or in other words the enjoyment of a pursuit lies, I take it, in the exhibition of superiority there in, whether of skill or courage, not the exhibition for others to see, but the difficult attainment of it for our own satisfaction. It would be a tame affair to the pork butcher to a village pig, but to spear the “mighty boar” is quite another thing. – (Henry Sullivan Thomas, in “The Rod In India” 1897)

India’s considered an outlying destination for most anglers, a majority of us of do not even bother exploring sporting possibilities when planning a trip here, one thinks of the prehistoric shrines, and the rich culture, least to state the adventure or the fishing bit of it, though, the Himalayas have long been considered the true land of adventure, for their celebrated snow capped mountains.

Mostly, the lack of information on the fishing possibilities here makes it rather uninteresting for any one to look forward to a sporting experience. Out of the many rivers draining the Indian Himalayas there is sport to be obtained in almost all of them, some more than the others, however the timing and the right area are most vital.

The Himalayas are indeed the perfect setting to take a Mahseer, and if one is keen on spinning or the fly, its just very well, need less to say that there are few fresh water fish in comparison to its sporting aptitude and which inhabit such torrential waters. – (Misty Dhillon, in “The Mahseer of India” 2004)

A majority of the Himalayan rivers in their due course down from the glaciers, drop rapidly in elevation, hence becoming quite turbid, which makes fly fishing in their upper reaches not very viable, and its only once the rivers reach a particular altitude are they fishable, with the fly.

Here both glacial and spring fed rivers are productive in sport fish, the spring fed rivers by and large are more apt for fly-fishing as they run very clear for most of the year, the glacial rivers however are large and emerald green, they too, are clear for most of the year except in the peak summer months and in the rainy season. The temperatures of the spring fed and the glacial river vary tremendously. However, the glacial rivers produce fish on fly but are better for spinning, a technique, which is unquestionably rewarding.

Spinning is the more killing and extensively practiced methods for taking fish in these rivers, and one of the reasons which attributes to that is the Mahseer’s fondness for turbid water, which in most instances discourages the fly from reaching the intended target.

Though with the state of the art fly lines, manufactured in current times, makes it a little simpler, but still not quite as accurate. It is also the lack of availability of appropriate fly tackle and hence, the fly-fishing exposure in India, which perhaps has been a discouraging factor for most from perusing it.

Some statistics might convince a lot of us of the sporting possibilities on fly in the region of the Himalayas, not only for the trout but also for the Himalayan Mahseer. On examining the stomach contents of the Himalayan Mahseer, it has been often observed that a major portion of its diet is aquatic insect. For a fish, which has proved from time to time to be a fierce minnow eater, which is clearly evident from its lure-taking propensity, this statistics is quite encouraging to the fly angles.

The old classic books of anglers who’ve travelled at length in the forests of the north and northeast speak mostly about spinning for the Himalayan Mahseer, thought, they do mention the Fly spoon often, something which worked tremendously for Mahseer. Thomas in “The Rod In India” goes on to vaguely describe the some patterns of flies, though most of them would not be taken without the correct fly line.

Mentions of flies have been included in a few accounts on the Mahseer, but without the rite fly line most of them would be worthless for the Mahseer, as the ground basis for it to work indeed, would be getting it to where it is meant to be, close to the river bed, as it might be already known to most of the readers that the Mahseer is more comfortable feeding at the bottom, or matter suspended deep.

So what fly line? The basis of it has to be the sink rate, #3 - #4 - #5, in a weight forward of a shooting head taper, which ever one fancies. The faster the flow, the faster the sink rate should be. That’s with due regard to trying for the bigger ones. The big Mahseer will only take deep.

Unfortunately, it’s the smaller Mahseer; that show more enthusiasm to the fly. Though you might fish intermediate depths, its more likely you’ll be successful with the smaller ones. Insects are noted mostly form the bellies of the adolescents, perhaps as they feed more rapidly on flies than the mature fish. Still that is no reason for us to conclude that the mature fish will not take a fly as readily, then it is just question of the rite fly.

What mostly makes it even more challenging is the flow, which the Mahseer for understandable reasons uses utterly to its benefit. The flow of some of these rapids is so intense that one can barely hear.

The Mahseer - what a name to conjure with, and what recollections he awakes in the hearts of those who have been so fortunate to have seen something like him – ( Skene Dhu, in The Mighty Mahseer 1923)

Besides the Mahseer, the Goonch a distinctive catfish is found in the vicinity of some of the spring fed rivers in the foothills of the Himalayas. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a fondness for the fly, besides most of us would rather prefer the playfulness of a Mahseer to the sluggish head butting of a giant catfish. Some of these Gooch are gigantic and if not anything else, one enjoys watching them in the sparkling waters of these spring fed rivers.

Some of the sport fish one can encounter in the Mahseer lakes, are large Grass carp, which attain weights of up to fifty pounds and put up a tremendous battle.


The Trout Of India:
The English introduced the Brown Trout somewhere around the turn of the century, first in the stream of Kashmir in Northern India. Kashmir is a land of some immensely beautiful valleys, it mustn’t have taken much for them pick the streams of Kashmir to introduce the trout as some of these rivers, just seem to be strait out of the fairy tales.

The conditions made a perfect breeding ground for the fish and the fishery thrived in India from there on. Kashmir set an example to the rest of the nation, thanks to the introduction of this wonderful fishery in its water. Soon enough it attracted the attention of several enthusiasts from all around and shortly enough other states too followed the introduction of the Trout in their waters.

Neighbouring, Himachal Pradesh sleeked the seed and soon enough had it going well for them selves too and so did some other regions in the vicinity..

Perhaps one of Himachal Pradesh’s more successful fisheries has been the river Baspa, of Sangla Valley. The Brown trout taken here are consistently sizable. And the beauty of the valley tops it all. The region has one of the better-established fisheries, which stalks the river with seed.

The trout is found in most of the tributaries of the rivers it has been introduced in, some of the more isolated beats are further into the valleys, produce the better fish for obvious reasons and due to the torrent and heavy cover are fished best on spinning.

Some of the Productive Rivers and Lakes of the Indian Himalayas:

The River Ganges:
The River Ganges has provided tantalizing sport, which over the years, has been relished by sport fishermen from all over the world. Mentions of this river could be found in most accounts available to date on the mighty Mahseer – its significance, from the Mahseer fishing point of view, elevates it high amongst the fishing rivers of India, with excellent fishing potential.

The point where the rivulet Nayar meets the Ganges is one of the more famous fishing beats of the river. This place is called Byas Ghat, and is a great attraction for all anglers who want to take on the Mahseer of the Ganges. In 1989, international angling figures John Bailey and Paul Boot shot the hour-long documentary called “Casting for Gold” at Byas Ghat. A number of monstrous Mahseer have been taken from this beat in the years gone by.

In the past the Ganges and its tributaries have been the ground, for a fair amount of field research by various ichthyologists too.

The River Mahakali:
Located on the border of India and Nepal, the river Mahakali is a torrential and voluminous river. Its location has ensured that it remains relatively isolated and perhaps this has been a major factor for it being one of the most productive rivers in North India for the Mahseer fish. The Kali is a snow fed river, just like most other Himalayan rivers, and originates from rivulets draining glaciers both in India and Nepal. It flows along the Indo-Nepal border and is joined by various tributaries along the way.

Pancheshwar, is the Kali’s most famous beat, this is where the Saryu and the Kali converge. Over the years the finest fish have been taken from this beat. Its fame spread in the 60’s when some officers from the Indian Armed forces discovered it and found the fishing to be extraordinary.The River Yammuna:
The Yammuna is another one of the more productive Mahseer rivers, it originates and flows mainly though the state of Utttaranchal, along the way it is joint by various tributaries, some of which hold great promise for the Mahseer. A lot of these spring fed tributaries are not very large, and run clear for most of the year – it’s a typical Mahseer river. Besides the Mahseer the river also sustains a population of Indian Trout.

The Govind Sagar Reservoir:
The Govind Sagar Reservoir lies in the state of Himachal Pradesh, bordering Punjab, in North India. This is a gigantic reservoir that stretches along for some sixty square miles, into the heart of Himachal Pradesh. This starts from Bhakra, where the Bhakra Dam is situated, all the way to a place called Bilaspur, - the river Sutlej primarily feeds this reservoir. The Sutlej is a turbid and voluminous, glacial river, which runs murky during most of the year. The reservoir is an ideal place to fish it and is one of the prime habitat for the Mahseer, Grass carp, Silver Carp, Catla and various other Barbells and Catfish.

Once the sun is out or when the fish are out in the deeper water, its best troll for the Mahseer - sometime the biggest fish of a trip can be taken while trolling. Fly-fishing is successful as well, but more so for the smaller fish. There’s an assortment of sport one could go for in this reservoir.

The Ranjit Sagar Reservoir:
The Ranjit Sagar Reservoir lies in the state of Himachal Pradesh, bordering Punjab – it stretches along for some fifty square miles, into the heart of Himachal Pradesh, creating a huge reservoir. The Ranjit Sagar Dam is more commonly know as Pong Reservoir. This reservoir is fed by the river Beas, one of the true holds of the Himalayan Mahseer. Some old records mention the capture of some gigantic fish from the surrounding areas. The Mahseer here are in abundance and the aquatic life is flourishing making this an ideal place to take on the hard fighting Mahseer.

Since the fishing area is large, its a good idea to use a boat in this reservoir. Spinning is the most effective way to be fishing the reservoir; this is both from the shore and from the boat. Once the sun is out or when the fish are out in the deeper water trolling is very successful.

The Baspa River:
This is perhaps one of the best place to fish for the trout in Himachal Pradesh and even neighbouring Uttaranchal, Sangla Valley has only recently been opened for foreign travellers, it is close to the indo Tibetan border. The Baspa River is a tributary of the Mighty Sutlej. It joins the Sutlej at a place called the Karcham. The river Baspa forms some wonder pools at the point where it is fish; the fish populations are sustained by an old fishery established a few decades back. The river is host to some fantastic trout – I’ve caught and heard of other take some fine fish from here in the past few years. You can expect to catch fish from 1 to 5 lbs. Mostly Brown trout and even rainbow.

The Pabbar River:
The Pabbar has long been a favourite amongst anglers for guaranteed sport for Brown trout. A tributary of the Yammuna, it flows through the state of Himachal Pradesh and is fished best at a place called Dhamwari, with is on the upper reaches of the river. This stretch is pristine, very pictures with apple orchards and lush hills on either side of the river and is not fished very often.

The Pabbar runs clear through most of the year. It is well stocked with brown trout and rainbow trout by a Trout farm situated close to the beat. The River Tirthan:
A productive tributary of the river Beas is the Tirthan, a fine looking river with excellent prospects for trout, both Brown and Rainbow. The Tirthan is stocked by a well-established fishery, which has been around since some years. The river is renowned for sport both on fly and on spinning, some of the larger fish caught here are Brown trout.

The larger fish stay in more undisturbed area and are to be found in the sub tributaries. There is some trekking involved in getting to the more isolated beats where some large Brown trout could be caught. The trout caught typically range from one to four pounds, though in the recent past the results have only gotten better, lately a Brown trout of eight was taken from this river.

If there any other information you'd like on fishing or fly-fishing in the Himalayas, do drop me a line and I'll be glad to provide you with the information.

Misty Dhillon - mahseer.info@mailcity.com