20G Fishing in Estuaries. Chapt. xvii. 



" Bahrneen run up to, the largest I have landed was one of 9 lbs., 

 " but I have seen many larger than this which have been caught in 

 " nets. Si mie of the latter having scaled 11 and 12 lbs. A Bah- 

 " meen of this weight would give very good sport." 



I have seen thousands of Polynemus Indicus brought ashore 

 by a fleet of netting boats: 12 lbs. was quite an outside weight. 

 They averaged 10 lbs., and were all very much of a size. Day 

 gives much larger sizes for P. tetradactylus as will be seen 

 below. 



" When taking your bait, the Bahrneen does so with a violent 

 " rush, in the most determined manner, and away lie goes at his best 

 " pace as soon as he feels the hook. After he has gone a few yards, 

 " and you can safely do so, strike him twice, so as to drive in the 

 " hooks, for he is by no means a leather- mouthed fish, like a Mahseer, 

 " and without some such performance on your part, he is apt to get 

 " rid of the hooks, as soon as the line slackens, which by-the-bye, 

 " you should always endeavour to prevent. Be careful to have your 

 " line clear, ami free, for if there is a check of any sort when the 

 " Bahrneen has made up his mind to go, you will probably have to 

 " lament the loss of both fish and tackle." 



I never could be persuaded to endorse this striking of any fish 

 after he is booked, my own belief being that if you will only keep 

 on sufficient pressure his struggles will do all the jerking you can 

 possibly desire, and that it is very dangerous for you to slacken 

 ever so little for the purpose of getting up a jerk. 



Before parting with the Ba-min, 1 will quote from M., whom I 

 have already quoted as a member of the Ba-min committee: "We 

 " are agreed that they run stronger than Salmon for their size; 

 "but with gimp, and 100 yards on a good reel, the only danger 

 " of being broken is their charging the piles under one's feet. The 

 " first one that tried that broke me, but 1 find that with judicious 

 " use of stones they can be kept oil', and one gets down at last onto 

 " the shore of the river and brings them to the landing net. " But 

 the same writer had rather a rough time of it afterwards, as the 

 following letter will show : — 



" I had rather a disastrous morning with the Ba-meen the other 

 " day. A peon on watch reported they were feeding at daylight, 

 " though d was then almost high tide, just beginning to run out. A 

 " lot of fry were tinder the bridge, the Mullet were eating them, and 



