CHAP. vi. Season for Fishing. 103 



now died a natural death in the face of the reasons given for using 

 a pliable rod. 



When to fish. 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 is everywhere 

 practically governed by the same principle, being the season when the 

 river begins to clear after being in flood, and this necessarily varies 

 with climatic differences in different localities over such a wide area as 

 all India. 



On the west coast of Southern India the flood time of the rivers 

 debouching on that coast is governed by the South-west Monsoon 

 commencing from 5th to i5th of June, and keeping the rivers in high 

 flood till the end of September. The rivers are sometimes fishable 

 near their sources at the end of September, but are seldom to be relied 

 on till ist October, because of the occasional showers that come down 

 in September and spoil sport. The sooner after clearing the better the 

 fishing, just as trout take best at the beginning of the season. From 

 ist October then till the mango showers in April, or till the end of 

 April, Mahseer may, generally speaking, be taken, but the best months 

 are October, November, and the first half of December, because when 

 the cold of December comes on, and the east winds prevail, Mahseer 

 are a good deal off their feed, indeed generally quite off, though they 

 may occasionally be taken in the deeper pools, where they seem to find 

 the temperature of the water less influenced by the cold wind. In many 

 places also fever sets in with increasing virulence from ist January till, 

 in June, there has been a week's heavy fall of South-west Monsoon. 

 The best season then on the west coast of Southern India is from 

 ist October to i5th December. 



For the larger rivers of the east coast of Southern India the season 

 is the same, because they are governed by the same monsoon, the 

 Cavery, the Bawanny, and their affluents having their sources in the 

 mountain ranges which arrest the force of the south-west monsoon. 



Going farther north the sources of the Tungabudra and the Kistna 

 are subject to the same south-west monsoon. 



For the Godavery I am told the season is " in the cold weather and 

 up to June," which I suppose means from December to June. But 

 any one living in the locality can easily learn when is the time of the 

 abating of the floods. 



