CHAP. ii. Landing a Mahscer. 19 



tail as you can a salmon, as that member is not so conveniently shaped 

 for the purpose in a Mahseer. 



The Gaff. In Mahseer fishing the gaff is not without a dis- 

 advantage, a disadvantage which is not present in salmon fishing. The 

 scales of a Mahseer are so extraordinarily large and hard 

 that if the point of the gaff-hook happens to enter the 

 hard exposed part of a scale, it will not penetrate more 

 than half an inch or so, and the scale comes away and 

 not the fish. And if you do not observe it and free the 

 point of the gaff-hook of the transfixed scale you may try 

 in vain to get the hook to enter anywhere. But this does 

 not happen often if you gaff the Mahseer in the belly, 

 where the scales are softer, getting the gaff under the fish 

 from the side near you, and striking upwards. I know 

 some salmon fishers prefer to drop the gaff over the far 

 side of the fish and strike shorewards ; but by so gaffing 

 you are more likely to strike against the hard scales of the 

 side than against the softer scales of the belly, which, 

 with the Mahseer, is the danger to be avoided ; and as 

 your gaffing would ordinarily be done for you by a native 

 attendant, many think the danger too great, and never 

 allow a gaff to be used on a Mahseer ; and I am free to confess that 

 neither would I ever use it myself on this particular fish if I could 

 possibly shelve or handle instead. But there have 

 been occasions on which I have been glad of its aid, 

 because the position allowed of none other. I have 

 been in pools so steep-sided and overgrown with 

 forest that there was no possible landing-place for 

 more than half a mile. Then a gaff was invaluable. 

 I have also been with another who had got hold of 

 a 1 9 Impound Mahseer in such heavy water that it 

 was most difficult to keep the boat in it, except in 

 the one position of vantage that had been secured, so 

 that the fisherman dared not change his position lest 

 he should be swept away, and the line cut round 

 one of the many rocks. The current too was so 

 strong that if the fish had gone down he could never have been 

 recovered. It was altogether a cramped position in rough water. From 



C 2 



