Family Fishing Camp 2000/2001

This trip was Grandma's idea for a family get together and vacation, a 10 day outing in south India centered around fishing for the big Mahseer at the fishing camp on the banks of the great Cauvery.

The trip to south India began right after Siddharth's wedding in Calcutta. We took the train down to Chennai, then to Tirupati and on to Bangalore. A major disaster was narrowly averted after we left Howrah without the all-important fishing rods! However, they were couriered on to Bangalore and arrived before we did. PHEW ! ;-)

We drove to the fishing camp from the Kabini River lodge, arriving well after dark after a nerve wracking drive. The Galibori camp is located about 90km (two and a half hours) south of Bangalore. It is one of three fishing camps run by the state owned 'Jungle Lodges and Resorts'.

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Camp View

The Galibori tented camp in a magnifcent Tamarind grove on the banks of the Cauvery. Without electricity, it has running water and hot water by the bucket. There are hammocks strung between the beautiful trees that were very popular in the afternoons.
Camp Beach
The famous camp beach from where the grandsons pulled out a bunch of fish while the others slogged it out in more exotic locations. This was also an ideal spot for evening fishing and watching the morning sun break through the mists. 		 
 
Golghar
The golghar where we were served delicious hot meals by the attentive staff of the camp. This was also the venue of afternoon card games where the grandsons took on their grandmother and taught here the finer points of being card sharps ;-)

The golghar also doubled as a dance floor on new year's eve.

Coracles
The coracles were used for fishing as well as ferrying people around the river. They are traditionally made by stretching buffalo hide over a bamboo frame. This makes them light, hard to destroy and easy to repair. You see here the bamboo frame, The complete Coracle with the oiled buffalo hide and a fiberglass replica. The fibreglass coracles are heavy, have no give and are not preferred by the locals. 		 
 
Coracal Fishing
Being lightweight, the coracles can be transported by a single person. This makes them very useful to have around in sticky situations such as hooking a big fish in the rocky Mysore Madda rapids. The coracles are then used to navigate the rapids to free the line from under rocks where otherwise the line would be severed.
.. Landed
two hours later the beautiful fish gives in - for the moment. This Mahseer weighing in at 49.5 lbs is Ajay's personal best. 		 
 
Pranav's First Fish
Pranav, the youngest of the group was the most sucessful angler in terms of the number of fish pulled out in the short time the Kochhars were at the camp. Here he proudly displays his first catch while elder brother Dhruv (already successful) is amused by the size ;-)
Pranav eventually met the big one which broke him! The shikaree (ghille/guide) saw it and put it down as 20lbs. Pranav's first question when this one (33 lbs) was landed by granddad was "Is my hook in it?"

An angler is born!

 
 
The big one ..
Granddad with his 88 lbr.
Hooked in Mysore Mada it took off down a narrow chute thru the rock outcrop at the tail of the pool and was eventually landed a hour and 5 mins later, after a hot pursuit of half a mile, in the run below the next rapid.
Cheers !
 
 

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And now for the records ...

Fishing Log Cauvery 31 Dec 00 to 10 Jan 01

Date Angler Species No Wt. Location Time Remarks
31-Dec Dhruv Mahseer 1 4.5 Galib. Camp Pool 5:30 PM Dhruvs FIRST Mahseer
Arti Mahseer 1 1.5 Galib. Camp Pool 6:30 PM Pranavs FIRST Mahseer
01-Jan Ajay Mahseer 1 27.5 Galib. Camp Pool 9:15 AM Left bank little above camp beach
Pranav Carnatic 1 1.5 Galib. Camp Pool 9:30 AM
Mahseer 1 2 Galib. Camp Pool 5:45 PM
Carnatic 1 1.5 Galib. Camp Pool 6:00 PM
Catfish 1 0.7 Galib. Camp Pool 6:30 PM
02-Jan Ajay Mahseer 1 49.5 Mysore Mada 11:25 AM Took him down chutes below pool. Had to to fetch coracle. Took 2 hrs to land
Cheri Mahseer 1 2.5 Galib. Camp Pool 7:00 PM
Dhruv Mahseer 1 8 Galib. Camp Pool 6:30 PM
Pranav Mahseer 1 2 Galib. Camp Pool
Carnatic 1 1.5 Galib. Camp Pool
Mahseer 1 4 Galib. Camp Pool 12:30 PM 4lb-1oz!
Mahseer 1 3 Galib. Camp Pool 6:45 PM
03-Jan Dhruv Mahseer 1 3 Galib. Camp Pool 6:45 PM
Pranav Mahseer 1 2 Galib. Camp Pool
Mahseer 1 1 Galib. Camp Pool
04-Jan Dhruv Carnatic 1 2 Galib. Camp Pool 11:15 AM
Mahseer 1 2 Galib. Camp Pool 11:45 AM
Carnatic 1 1 Galib. Camp Pool 6:00 PM
Pranav Mahseer 1 1.5 Galib. Camp Pool 11:30 AM
Mahseer 1 6 Galib. Camp Pool 6:30 PM
Mahseer 1 0.5 Galib. Camp Pool
Indu Mahseer 2~ 1.5
Arti Mahseer 1 ~ 2 Galib. Camp Pool Arti cast, Dhruv hooked the fish and handed rod back to Arti saying "Your fish!"
05-Jan Moni Mahseer 1 33 Rainer Point 11:00 AM "L=40" x G=27.5" (15.25kg)
Ajay Mahseer 1 12 Crocodile Rock 6:15 PM
Mahseer 1 25 Crocodile Rock 7:30 PM
Catfish 3 ~ 4 Crocodile Rock
Cheri Mahseer 1 1.5 Crocodile Rock
Mahseer 1 2 Crocodile Rock
Mahseer 1 2 Crocodile Rock
Catfish 1 2 Crocodile Rock
Catfish 1 2.5 Crocodile Rock
06-Jan Moni Catfish 2 ~ 3 Crocodile Rock
Indu Catfish 1 6 Crocodile Rock
Ajay Catfish 3 ~ 4 Crocodile Rock
07-Jan Moni Mahseer 1 88 Mysore Mada 11:30 AM L=52" x G=33"
Cheri Mahseer 1 7.5 Mossle Halla Centre 10:30 AM
08-Jan Moni Mahseer 1 47 Mossle Hulla 12:30 PM L=41" x G=27"
09-Jan Moni Mahseer 1 2.5 Crocodile Rock
Mahseer 1 2 Crocodile Rock
Mahseer 1 3 Crocodile Rock
Catfish 1 2 Crocodile Rock
10-Jan Cheri Mahseer 1 26.5 Mossle Hulla