250 Fishing in Estuaries. CHAP. xvm. 



the back. Plate xvi. will aid recognition. The young have not the 

 humped back seen in the adult fish. 



I have done not a little business with these fish myself, but Colonel 

 Osborn seems to have had more opportunities of watching them, so I 

 will quote his kindly contributed paper : 



" When the S.W. monsoon is at its height, and the rivers are very 

 much discoloured by the floods from the western mountains, the Nair 

 fish enter the backwaters, which are then quite thick from the inland 

 floods, and congregate about the bridges in company with the Bahmeen : 

 during the day they seem to take best when the water is most discoloured, 

 coming in with, and feeding on, the flood tide ; they have a large and 

 very brilliant eye, and possibly can see well in thick water while they 

 themselves are concealed from other fish whose vision is probably not so 

 perfect in muddy water, and I am strengthened in this opinion by having 

 noticed the nocturnal habits of the Nair fish, and observed them feeding 

 during a good portion of the night." 



The tackle I would recommend is the same as for Mahseer, and 

 Freshwater Shark, and Bamin, illustrated on pp. 69, 70, except that as 

 the water is coloured, and the bait larger, you can put on a third hook, 

 leaving a clear space of an inch below the other two, and your bait may 

 .be 5 inches long. If you so fancy you can increase the size of your 

 trebles two sizes, from No. 8 to No. 6, as I believe Colonel Osborn 

 would. But I would not, I should stick to No. 8. 



" The bait should also be larger than that used for Bahmeen, as this 

 fishing is carried on in thick water and at night. Rod, line, trace, snood, 

 and hooks, should all be strong, for when the Nair fish really finds Dut 

 that he is hooked, he starts off on a journey which is a pretty long one 

 before he stops. I allude here to the large sized ones. I once struck 

 one that must have weighed about 50 Ibs., and off he started up the river ; 

 I only had a medium sized gimp trace and snood, so dared not check him. 

 I managed to jump into a canoe from the bank, and followed him for about 

 400 yards before he stopped. In a subsequent struggle he broke my snood 

 and I lost him. A friend of mine followed a fish of similar size for about 

 the same distance up the river before he came to a standstill, a few days 

 before. I mention this incident to show that, when these fish make their 

 first run, after being struck, they go far. Let them have their run out and 

 keep them going afterwards if you can. 



" In spinning for the Nair fish you should spin slowly ; he takes the 

 bait, not with a rush like the Bahmeen, but slowly and deliberately, as 

 compared to the hurry of the other fish. And sometimes, while fishing 



