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Tours and expeditions for golden mahseer and other fish in the Indian Himalayas

 

Sportfishing | Species | Locations | Programmes | Conservation

 

 

65lbs Golden Mahseer, Saryu River

 
 

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Welcome to the online home of Otter Reserves, angling guides and outfitters for golden mahseer and other fish in the Indian Himalayas. We specialise in sportfishing expeditions for 2 to 4 anglers or naturalists to rivers and places of fabulous natural beauty. Whether its specimen fish you're after or just need quality fishing time in remote wildernesses, we're here to make every tour a journey of a lifetime. We prefer small groups to keep the crowd low, fishing good and the environs unspoilt. When you fish with us, proceeds from the tours go towards keeping a 5km stretch of the Sarju River free from net and dynamite, thus aiding conservation of mahseer directly.
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Mahseer fishing is a state of the mind where we expect grand surroundings, great water and some serious fish. Whether you'd like to catch many mahseer or just big mahseer or even other fish, we have the location and advice if you have the time. Experts can expect quality fishing time in unspoilt locations chasing specimen size fish while novices can expect a fruitful initiation into the game. Fishing with us ensures there will always be space for sporting anglers who do not want to kill mahseer.

There is only one kind of Golden Mahseer- the Barbus tor putitora and it lives only along the Himalayas- from Uttaranchal and Himachal in the West to Assam and Arunachal in the East. We guide for and organise fishing expeditions and other trips to where the best fish swim in Uttaranchal and Himachal.

There are two ways to go about catching mahseer- the first is to land up at a perpetually baited pool full of fish that can be whistled up. The other is to head for parts where the fish are still wild, cautious and challenging. At certain times and locations, getting into a wild mahseer can be reasonably easy. Outside of these times, it's a matter of waiting for the fish to show an interest in your efforts.

As fishing guides, we know where, how and when to catch the what. As conservators, we know what we are doing will keep it that way and even improve. To see our expertise in managing the fishing and conservation, look us up on Discovery Channel UK, in 'Jungle Hooks India'. If it doesn't show in your part of the world, just land up at one of our camps and we'll screen it for you. If we managed to score fish for Discovery Channel that BBC couldn't find, guess what we can do for you.

Current status
Like all of India's wildlife, the golden mahseer is in decline, both in sizes and numbers. Where available in numbers, they run small, when it comes to size, some of the biggest have been killed off, especially the great females which grow the biggest. In light of modern day environmental disasters and heavy poaching, we are fortunate enough to know some of the finest, most unspoilt patches of water where the fishing is still good because of lack of easy access, healthy conservation practices and protection from poaching. We're here to make good fishing available to sporting anglers and will go to any ends to make sure there are no blank days.

Since the mahseer is an endangered animal, we strongly urge all anglers to release all specimens caught. We are based in Pancheshwar in East Kumaon but fish along the Himalayas. Pancheshwar is our base for our Golden Mahseer Project and we communicate out of Dhikuli in Kosi River Valley, outside Corbett Tiger Reserve.

We maintain angling sanctuaries, train local people in safe handling of fish and spread the word about having fish in the rivers among other practices. Fishing with us helps ensure there's always some place for a good angler to fish and good fish for anglers. For us mahseer fishing is just a great way of life with a fantastic creature and we're happy sharing it with fellow anglers, wildlife people, naturalists and conservationists.

Thanks to our intense rapport with Nature and dedication, we helped provide locations, information and characters to the Discovery Channel programme 'Jungle Hooks India' which has been repeated on air in the UK.

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Sportfishing | Species | Locations | Programmes | Conservation