112 Live Bait Fishing for Mahseer. Chapt. ix- 



"room to swim about If he wishes, and then the end of the fishing 

 "line, with bait and bullet, is deposited in any likely place in 

 " the river, and the rod is ' set' on the hank, with reel free to run 

 ,: when required. The best place to put in your live bait is in 

 " one of the eddies near the head of a rapid ; a favourite place is 

 "in the backwater, of 2 feet or so in depth, between two 

 "channels of a rapid. In the deep pools Bowahs, a fresh water 

 •shark kind of fish, and eels (I once caught one of the latter 

 " 18 lbs. weight in this fashion) are likely to take the bait and 

 ".give trouble. It is not improbable that Mahseer can feel* 

 ■• about well with their leathery mouths, if they cannot see in heavy 



water. Anyhow, the above is a very successful way of catching 

 ■ Masheer when the water is too thick for spinning or a fly, for, with 

 "close upon thirty years' experience of fishing in India, I have 

 " invariably found that neither minnow nor fly are of any use in 

 "heavy water. I never lose time myself in trying them; but it is 

 " difficult to persuade others till they have tried their own 

 • patience in the matter. I have caught very heavy fish with live 

 "bait thus used, and this is not surprising, for, as you mention, 



Mahseer arc bottom feeders — and I have, moreover, caught nearly 

 "as many m a day in muddy water with live bait, as I have in 

 "bright water by other means. 1 mention cue instance only, 

 ■Major S. . . . fished a few miles up stream fn>m Xaoshera 

 "on the Towi River (which is met on the Bhimbur route to 

 "Cashmere), and, though a really good fisherman, could not get 



either run or rise; before his return, in less than four hour's 



lime, I had caught and landed five good fish in the pool close to 

 "our camp; the water \\a^ like pea soup, and the flsh were all 

 "caught, as above, with live bait I might probably have caught 



"double the number it' 1 had set a couple of rods. I have caught 



" many large fish varying from 1(1 His. to ."at lbs. in this way. and 



"what more could be wanted from the river, when trolling or 



tl\ fishing is impossible? The bait, it' neatly put mi, and not 



* I should incline to tlio conclusion that it is by thi smell that they 



arc mainly guided, for a live fish leaves t Jer water as much as a live animal 



docs on land, — witness the way in which an otter will follow a li\e Bah BCenl under 

 water, as 1 have Been, 1 think thai Bah are also guided mainly by th 

 smell in talcing bail on oighl lines, for it is verj certain thai fish oannol see as well 

 at night as they do by day. Native fishermen know tin- well enough, and accord- 

 ingly spread their nits at night. 



