The next morning they are joined by Asif (Eljefe), Arif (Asif's younger brother) and me. This is Arif's first fishing trip and once the fundamentals of casting, striking and reeling have been explained, he is left to practice his casting and get us a murrel or two for dinner. Within a few casts he came very close to doing just that but the murrel sensing what was in store for him spat out the lure. I believe this happened twice more during his first session, so he was definitely not a candidate for 'beginners luck'.
Here's Arif casting out for the first time.
Indian Gypsy, GG, Asif and I then cross the canal to fish the lake from the other side and fortune favours me by giving me a pretty big rohu at the end of my line.
Following this, GG and Indian Gypsy get into the coracle and paddle off to the opposite end of the lake. Not long after this GG hooks into and lands a good size rohu and it is all the more special as it his first.
Shortly after this we break for tea and lunch and Asif makes us a super country chicken curry which goes down a treat.
4 p.m. finds Asif and Arif heading to Forbes whilst GG, Indian Gypsy and I leave for the Headworks. By this time the conditions had changed from warm and sunny to windy and cloudy. However, just before the rain hit us, Indian Gypsy caught himself a mahseer.
Since the fishing at Headworks did not look promising, we decided to join Asif and Arif at Forbes Sagar. Unfortunately, neither of the Ali brothers had caught a murrel for dinner, so I tried for one from along the bank but the conditions were just awful for spinning - bad light, wind, rain, thunder and lightning on the horizon. For those that don't know - despite what you read in the next paragraph, please do not fish in such conditions as the rod acts as a lightning conductor.
GG and Indian Gypsy wisely pushed off to the restaurant overlooking the Shivasamudram waterfalls and I decided to pack up as well. The thought of not having one of Asif's murrel creations was so disappointing that I asked the Ali brothers to follow me in the car whilst I walked along the embankment spinning for murrel. The God's must have finally taken pity on me and sent one murrel darting for the lure. Poor chap! Whilst I practice catch and release most of the time, this fellow was destined for the pot. A big thumbs-up from me and a shout of "DINNER" had Arif out of the car and at my side in a flash. Beyond a doubt this will be one of my most memorable catches as it was caught in adverse conditions and to say I was chuffed to bits would be an understatement.
The temptation to catch another was too great and I was joined by the Alis and though we spun for an hour, Arif was the only one who had a couple of murrel going for his lure.
After an hour the rain ceased and the three of us decided to fish for mahseer but by the time we got to the casting point it was raining again. We ledgered for half an hour or so but without any encouragement from the fish.
We reached the cottage around 8 p.m., got the tea going and changed into much welcome dry clothes. After this Asif put on his chef's hat and made us the murrel for dinner. Prima!
With dinner out of the way, we went down to the lake to catch some catfish. Finally, after a full day of trying, Arif caught his first fish and as it happened the only fish amongst all of us.
By mid-night we were all in bed and even the symphony of assorted snores was not enough to keep any of us awake.
Next morning we are joined by Pran as breakfast is being prepared. GG, Indian Gypsy and Arif pack up and head back to Bangalore whilst Asif and I head to Forbes Sagar and Pran to Headworks.
Asif and I catch a few murrel amongst us and Asif even got himself a small mahseer on spinner but other than that, it was pretty slow going. We put an end to the fishing at 2:30 p.m., pack-up and leave for Bangalore. And so endeth another enjoyable weekend of fishing.
Sanjay, you were missed! Asif is planning another trip in July/August. Please contact him and work something out.
