Fishing Monsoonal India

View from train window

Having not been in India during the Monsoon before, my recent was quite exciting as I landed smack bang in the middle of the west coast monsoon. Stories of mumbai flooding, beaches washing away and fish going on holiday to far off climes made me a little apprehensive. In reality things weren't too different. Tropical rain fell hard at intervals throughout the day, vegetation sprang from every crevice and the fish seem to still be there. The landscape had been transformed from the dry season browns to vibrant million wet season greens. A truly spectacular landscape unfolded before me as I rode the train from Mumbai to Goa.

Women weeding the rice crop

Sitting in Goa reading the Times of India I discovered that high spring tides were occuring in Mumbai which when coupled with high rainfall could result in another devasting flood for this low lying city. Luckily nothing came of it. Hearing stories of the 2007 floods when half the city was under water made me realise what a fine line there to this huge city flooding.

Rice paddy

Flying along on a rented scooter I passed through the emerald green rice paddies dashed with the bright colours of womens saris who weeded and finished planting the crop. Coconut palms swayed in the gentle breeze as a dark black cloud skidded towards the coast from far out at sea. Down at the beach I found Stefan fishing the breakers. Just five minutes before his rod had lurched over and a lovely scorching run ensued only for the line to snap when nearing its end. The next thirty minutes were quiet before we scarpered to hide form the approaching rain storm.

Goa backroads

The village was quite now it was monsoon. A handful of tourists hung out, the usual shops selling tourist tat were long since shut and only a couple of restaurants remained open. The locals fished and took it easy between downpours. Sitting sipping a cold beer late afternoon a flash caught the corner of my eye followed by a dull thud. I looked up the road and saw four dogs piling on to a Grey Langur that lay motionless on the road, under the electricty wires. Ashok and some other guys quicky drove the dogs away that were busy attacking the helpless monkey and for a couple of minutes it seemed that he might recover. Unfortunately it wasn't to be so I carried him up onto the hill away from the village.

Tiger fish

Stefan Beach Casting

Next day I was back on the beach with Stefan, a big bag of prawns and the hope of a few decent fish. We hoped that after the decent run Stefan had hadyesterday we might get lucky and hook into something big. Things were slow and we ended up with only a couple of catfish and a tigerfish before the rain and wind drove us to find shelter.

Picnic Seabream

With the rough conditions rock fishing proved tricky so Ashok and I decided to try the estuary where the water was calmer and the fishing more comfortable. Light lines and prawns as bait saw an array of species coming our way, including Mangrove Jack, Russells Snapper, Malabar Rock cod and Picnic Seabream.

Malabar Rockcod

Russell's Snapper