“My big fish must be somewhere,” believed Hemingway’s Santiago.
Ask any angler and he will tell you the same. “My dream is to fish in the Amazon and catch an Arapaima,” says angler Pratap G., senior director HR at a leading conglomerate. The freshwater fish is certainly on most anglers’ bucket-list, it is among the biggest in the world but there are other options, equally enticing for the man who fishes for sport.
“I love catching all fish but the most satisfying chapter in my angling life was developing a system to catch the best of the Indian Major Carp, Catla properly hooked in mouth. It took me more than two years to catch it which was hitherto believed impossible to hook using ethical angling techniques,” adds Ali H. Hussaini, president of the All India Game Fishing Association, a not-for-profit, charitable organisation that promotes sport fishing in the country.
What drives people to fish for sport, also called recreational fishing. Sudeep Kumar, who has been angling for over 20 years says, “It is the combination of the peace and quiet of being in the river at the break of dawn and the sudden adrenaline rush of trying to land the mighty masheer which will test both your skill and strength to its limit. To an angler there is no sweeter sound than the sound a reel makes whilst the fish is ripping line from it.”
Dhananjai Golla, of the Chennai-based Angler’s Club agrees, “For me it is a spiritual thing. You are so close to Nature, it is beautiful. And it is also very scientific, to land a fish you need to understand its lifestyle, its movement and breeding pattern.”
Ali adds, “The mysteries and intricacies of this sport is what draw me to it. The lure of water, blending with Nature and the uncertainty involved make this sport even better. The satisfaction of outwitting a specimen after careful planning, observation and persistence and at the end watching your catch swim away unharmed makes this sport desirable to me,” he says.
The number of sport fishermen have increased says Prithvi Raj of the Thiruporur Gamefishing Farm, a fishing camp located on the outskirts of the city, that trains newbies and also conducts weekend fishing getaways. “I see at least 100 new anglers every week. Also, a lot of people come down with their family to unwind.”
If you want to completely switch off from life and be one with Nature for a bit longer, you can always opt to stay at one of the numerous fishing resorts that now dot the country — Himalayan Trout House in the Thirthan Valley, the Pancheshwar Fishing Camp in Kumaon and the Galibore Nature Camp and KRS fishing camp in Karnataka, are some of them. According to Ownen Bosen, who has been managing fishing lodges in Maharashtra and Uttarkhand for the past three years, “There is no better stress buster than taking a trip out into the wild to fish. Living on basic essentials, being isolated from all your worries and living in hard terrain teaches you a lot,” he says adding “Fishing at resorts means that you are looking for certain species of fish, and this usually brings in anglers who can afford spending upto a week or 10 days targeting these species. For instance, people come to Pancheshwar for the Himalayan golden mahseer.”
Peter Carroll of the KRS Fishing Camp, says, “There has been a massive increase in interest in angling over the last few years. I run a fishing camp on the banks of the KRS backwaters near Mysore, one of the few places in South India where you can fish. I think people love to get out of the big cities — the catching of fish is not the end; it is the being there that counts.”
Though an occasional fish does get cooked for the table, the majority of the catch goes straight back into the water body from which it comes from, a technique called CPR — catch, photograph, release, “The rule of sport fishing demands that all game fish be released and I follow it stringently,” says Ali.
“When people begin to fish ethically, they become more aware of their environment and more disposed to conserve it,” believes Prithvi, “Also, we hope to mobilise and provide alternate employment to local fisherfolk by encouraging the growth of this sport,” he says, adding that one of the biggest impediments is difficulty in obtaining fishing equipment.
Ali agrees, “The duties levied on the import of fishing goods is very high, buying equipment off the shelf is costly and most anglers ask friends and relatives abroad to buy lines, reels and rods,” he says. “A state-wise comprehensive policy is required to draw clear guidelines if we want to promote this sport. Bringing the duties on a par with import for commercial fishermen will be a good step in promoting this sport which is instrumental in increased awareness and is a proven tool for preservation of our water resources.”
