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If you're looking for the heaviest catchable (?) fish, this one is as big as they go. Meet the Goonch, some specimens tip the scales at upto 200kilos. Catching one is reasonably tough, landing them is another story.
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Classed as vermin of the river by Raj-era and Indian anglers, the goonch is one of the heaviest fish that swims in the freshwaters of India. Considered a nuisance by anglers after more nobler game such as the mahseer, the goonch fell afoul of people with more spirited attitudes to the idea of a fighting fish and suffered much persecution in the past. Spearing them in shallow water was considered fair game. The attitude has survived and today electricity and dynamite are considered fair means. Most anglers also destroy without eating specimen they catch.

A lack of awareness of it's position in the riverine system also led to an utter lack of regard towards controlled removal or even its status as a gamefish. Today the goonch is as endangered as the fish that it compares weights with- the mahseer. In rivers where they are found, local human beings are the prime consumers of the goonch. Modern day methods have been refined to dynamiting and electrocution.

 

For the sporting angler who likes landing big weights, the goonch can be intensely gratifying or downright frustrating, especially if the cause of loss is weak tackle. Goonch can be extremely local and sometimes very specific in habitat. A short-cut to finding such places is to spend time doing it. The other way is to go with a reliable guide. We've done the first, the second is always available.

How big do they get? We've handled a 150kg specimen from the Ramganga. We can take you to places you can actually see them in that weight category (fishing not allowed here). By the standards of removal prevalent these days, a good goonch is anything over 20kgs but there are locations which have been throwing up good 50+kg fish. The Saryu has bigger goonch and the Kali has stories of it's own.

 

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Sportfishing | Species | Locations | Programmes | Conservation