Mahseer adventure

At the confluence of two rivers on the border of India and Nepal monster fish can be found – if you can take your eyes off the scenery

- ROGER SHARPLEY

EVER since I was regaled by a friend with stories about the golden mahseer, its illusiveness and fighting prowess, a trip in pursuit of it has been on my bucket list. In October, I decided the time had come to strike it off.

The mahseer is India’s iconic sporting fish, offering enormous sporting potential and requiring much skill to catch, spinning or on the fly. It lives in fast-flowing rivers and is renowned for its power, with specimens as large as 100lb having been caught. Traditionally, the local population caught them for food by bait fishing, but there has been a significant decline in stocks. Consequently, in recent years a strict catch-and-release policy has been adopted.

The weather conditions in October are far more to my liking than earlier in the year. I arranged the trip through Field Sports Travel, run by my partner, Liz Cavell-Taylor. We wanted to experience the remoteness of the Himalayas so we decided on a tented camp on the border of India and Nepal. After 48 hours in Delhi to recover from the culture shock of our arrival in India, we were met by Mickey Sidhu, the owner of Himalayan Outback, whose camp we were fishing at. He had not recommended the overnight sleeper from Delhi to Kathgodam but it was an unforgettable experience, although the Orient Express it definitely was not.

HIMALAYAN FOOTHILLS