Fishing the Maharashtra coast, Western India

The Blubber Lipped Snapper. Not a very common catch on the west coast, but look in the right places and  you will be rewarded with one of the hardest fighting dermersal reef species in India. Here Jochen shows off a good specimen that took a home made buck-tailed jig worked around some structure.

Trolling a small lure near the rocks rewarded Sam with this stunning Grouper.  

The legendary Yo-Zuri Tobimaru lure that tempted the fish into striking.

Sunset on the Konkan

Flat Head are pure ambush predators and will rarely move far to secure a meal. Surprisingly this one came off the bottom to take a relatively large hard minnow. There's always a surprise around the corner in fishing!

The Maharashtran coast is dotted with commercial fishing harbours with boats targeting a a variety of fish and sea food. These guys had just brought in a good catch of Mackerel, which is one of the most popular species with the locals. 

An incredibly hard fighting Barra which will be remembered for a while. The fish ripped into a Yo-Zuri minnow  and took off high speed. With Barra there is often a pause after the initial bite as the fish computes what is happening, but this fish  tore off at high speed directly out to sea. After thirty or forty metres it suddenly changed course and turned back towards the rocks - again at high speed - with me winding frantically to try and keep up and avoid a slack line. The fight wasn't over yet and the fish continued to go hard, kiting to the left looking for sanctuary in a shallow reef, but the tackle held and we were able to land the prize.

Markus casts an X-rap into very productive water. As the tide changes, current increases and the fish feed hard.  Markus soon landed a lively little Trevally and next came a Mangrove Jack for me and then Sam took a nice small Malabar Grouper. The only downside to a shallow area like this is the toll it can take on the lure box.

Silver bar of power for Markus from the shallow water rip!

Steven and I soaked some sardines one night in the river but action was slow. We had left the lures at home in a bid to resist the temptation of casting, but regretted it later in the night when Barra started busting up on the bait fish.  We arrived to a fairly low tide but, as the flood progressed, fish activity increased. At first a few small fish jumped here and there, but as the night went on more joined and the activity increased. Still nothing had touched our baits, but, with the increase of water, one of my rods tore off as something took the whole sardine.  This beautiful crimson Mangrove Jack was the result, and soon after I had another enquiry on the same rod. The bite was far more tentative and I quickly figured there was a high chance of being one of the big estuary eels that inhabit the rivers. As the bite progressed and became more positive I struck into a solid weight and, sure enough, a huge writhing mass of slime and body slowly came to the shore. Luckily, the hook pulled;  for those who haven't experienced one of these creature, it's not much fun trying to unhook them. As the night became older the bait fish movement increased until thousands and thousands broke the surface. Barra followed closely behind and 'boofs' echoed all around us and this is when we cursed for not bringing any lures. Next night we were back, armed with shads, minnows and poppers, but of course the fish decided to feed somewhere else! typical!

The lower courses of the rivers along the Maharashtra coastline are one of the main sources of  building sand , which is often removed illegally. I noticed at this time of year (April/May) some boats are working at night due to the unbearable heat during the day. The sand is removed by hand and loaded into boats like the one pictured above, before being offloaded onto the shore and then loaded into trucks.  It's incredibly hard work for a very small wage.

A very good reason to fish the coast of India - gold and silver treasure for Sam!

It's very satisfying to catch fish on homemade lures! A bucktailed jig tied earlier in the day was the downfall for this fantastic Blubber Lipped Snapper caught by Jochen.

Sailers (Neptis spp.) are always a joy to see along the Konkan coast. Upon seeing one flying, the reason for their name will quickly become clear.

Local fishermens' nets are unselective, but this Remora was one of the lucky ones that got released!

Steven and the kayak fleet taking a rest.

When conditions are right, the 'Rapan' net will be brought out to the beach. It's a  traditional and productive way of catching fish along the coast of India and, once the net has been paid for, it's relatively inexpensive. When the fish, often Sardines and Mackerel, are spotted, a large group of people will gather to help with the netting, which is hard work and can take many hours to complete. The end of the huge net is pulled out to sea by boat and, once far enough, will be brought back in further along the beach creating a 'u' shape. Then the two ends are slowly hauled by the fishers.

This unfortunate Sardine couldn't escape the Rapan.

The netting is immensely interesting to watch and there is always a very lively atmosphere as the fishermen wait to see how successful they have been. In this case the catch was huge and consisted mainly of thousands of Sardines, which will be shared out between all those involved.

Very slowly the net is drawn onto the beach. The net alone is extremely heavy.  Add the weight of fish and it becomes a serious task to remove it from the sea.

The Rapan net in the last stages of the process becomes difficult to handle and patience is needed to remove the catch from the waves. The fishermen start to sing and, in time with the rhythm of the song, slowly pull the net the final distance.

There at last - with a great catch of Sardines!

A popper-attacking GT for Sam. Not the giant we were after, but very welcome all the same.

Mangrove Jacks' voracity  is legendary.  When in the mood bait fish had better be alert!

Happy days indeed. A great Blubber-lipped Snapper that liked a deep trolled lure. Unfortunately as always with trolling for such fish the fight can't really be enjoyed thanks to the boat taking time to stop and the heavy tackle that usually has to be used to deal with the snaggy underwater terrain.

Mangrove Jack are always a joy to catch and this one surprisingly put in an appearance when conditions looked far from perfect. Wind over the previous days had churned the sea to a dirty brown, but the colour had started to drop out by the time I fished and the Jacks seemed to like this. Two more followed a large mackerel Rapala until the very end of the retrieve, but just avoided the hooks as they struck.

Jigging a white shad from one of the river bridges along the coast produced this fiesty little Mangrove Jack for Jochen.

Sam displays another solid Barramundi that sucked up a slowly retrieved, small, soft plastic shad. A great fight ensued with long runs and jumps before the fish was tired enough to be landed, photographed and released.

Micro jigging proved very successful for all manner of species, including Groupers, Trevally and Snappers.  When the fish are really 'having it' the jig hardly gets time to settle before some toothy reef resident launches an attack!

A collection of hard body lures suitable for targeting a number of species on India's west coast. Rapala Skitter pop and  Savage gear silver stick bait will tempt Trevally and Queen Fish if they are around. Lucky craft, Bomber and Yo-Zuri are great all round lures for a variety of conditions and the smaller XPS, Conrad and Hokkaido minnows are great for Barra in the rivers. The deeper Halco 90 is a good bet to troll for Jacks in snaggy areas.

In the UK, fishing is classified as the most dangerous sport and it's no different anywhere else in the world.  The combination of sharp hooks, angry fish, excited anglers and water can sometimes be a potentially dangerous mix.  So far I've managed to hook myself three times, which isn't bad going considering I've fished for over twenty years. On this occasion Sam was unlucky enough to hook the back of his hand. As he unhooked a six kilo Barra , the fish jumped and the hook connected. I had seen the fight from afar and when I heard Sam shout I assumed it was in celebration but in fact it was the opposite. Some brute force fixed the problem and the fish was released, and luckily little damage was done. It's worth remembering to carry suitable equipment to be able to deal with any problem should it arise. A decent pair of side cutters that can cut any gauge hook you might be using is the minimum.  At least, if the fish is still connected, the hook can be cut and dealt with later, whether it,s by you or a medical professional.

Ashok was pleased with this large Grouper that took a trolled lure.  Not my idea of  enjoyable fishing, but sometimes a productive technique, particularly for novices.

A brute of a Jack that smashed my lure and proceeded nearly to pull me from the kayak because the drag was locked and the underwater terrain was unforgiving.  The power of these fish never ceases to amaze me! Unfortunately for this one, he ended up as dinner!

Barracuda will never win an award for fighting hard, but they are great looking fish. Just beware when they come aboard the boat and suddenly wake up and start gnashing those formidable teeth!

There is hardly a more beautiful time to be out fishing on the Konkan coast than when the moon is full. Head torches can  be discarded and sometimes, if the fishing is slow, a book can be brought out and read in the moonlight!

Markus explores the river at the magical time of day.  We searched for deeper holes and were rewarded with some Mangrove Jacks.

While out in the kayak one day I came across a large shoal of bait fish pushed up hard against a reef. With it being low tide the fish seemed to think this was the safest place to be and it was, considering they were protected on one side by the rocks. However, they weren't completely safe and  what seemed like a battalion of small Blue Lined Groupers continually attacked the shoal. A silver curl tail squidgy matched the bait fish and proved to be a devastating lure for the small Groupers. After catching around twenty six and one lone, small Trevally I called it a day and headed back to shore for a late breakfast.

Early morning is a great time to be out casting lures from likely spots on the rocks. As soon as the sun rises too high the sport will usually tail off and it's time to seek some shade.

The three amigos searching for new water!

With a little help ,Aurelie managed to land her first Barramundi!

Good territory for Jacks and Barra.

Another beautiful Maharashtran beach.

'No there aren't any leopards in this area' says a local guy. Well, these fresh spoor along a deserted beach seem to contradict his opinion. After seeing this evidence, sleep was of course a little fitful, but we woke to see another day. Maybe I'll soon get to see one of these leopards in the flesh.