82 How, When, and Where to Fish far Mobster. Chapt. VI 



meat hooks. I wish I knew who he is that I might shake hands 

 with him. 



But the heading of my chapter is How, when, and where, and 

 the next point is when to fish. When as to season of the year, 

 when as to time of day. The season of the year must necessarily 

 be dependent on whether the place in question is subject to the 

 influence of the south-west or of the north-east monsoon, for the 

 time to fish is from the time the rivers clear down after monsoon 

 floods till they are again discoloured by the rains.* This on the 

 West Coast is from the end of September, at the very earliest, till 

 the end of May, though September can scarcely be relied on, 

 because of the occasional showers that come down and spoil sport, 

 and May is apt to be a trifle feverish in the interior, so that you 

 will stand a chance of catching something else besides fish. The 

 time to fish in a gentlemanly comfortable sort of way, with 

 security of sport, and immunity from fever, is from the 1st of 

 October till the falling of the April or mango showers, or till the 

 end of April. During this time every day is good for fishing for 

 six or seven months without interruption, and the fish are not so 

 variable about taking as are the trout at home, which will take 

 well one day, and the next, or perhaps during a part of the very 

 same day, will take a tit of sulks, and will not look at a fly, because 

 forsooth their delicate sensibilities have warned them, or the 

 natural fly, or both, that there is a thunder storm coming on, and 

 instead of trout rising, you see innumerable eels lying lounging 

 about the bottom, like coast guard men before a storm. There is a 

 ohange in the state of the atmosphere, less ozone in it according to 

 one observer, and the consequence is the trout have lost their 

 appetites. But you will not be cften troubled in that way in 

 India, for the climate is not so variable, you are sure of line 

 weather for months together, and you are fairly sine of taking fish. 

 Theii's your time, airpc diem, for you will get a carp a day, or 

 rather several Mahseer. You must not, therefore, mind the one 

 drawback of your sport being spoilt by discoloured water, because 

 it almost always occurs during fixed periods which you can 

 calculate on beforehand, and during the months which I have 

 named, it only troubles you once for about a fortnight in the end 



* In Bengal t lie fishing is liable to be spoilt bj the discolouration of the water 

 from the melting of the Himalayan Bnows, 



