Upon arrival at immigration at Bangalore International Airport I started to panic when asked by the immigration officer why I had not filled in on the dismemberment card the address I would be staying at in India. The reason for this was because I did not know it.
“Where are you going to be staying in India sir”, the officer asked. “At the KRS Dam sir”, was my reply. “Which hotel sir”, he enquired. “No hotel sir, camping sir”, I said. “What is the name of the landowner sir”, he asked. “I don’t know sir”, was all I could reply, getting frustrated by the prospect that they may not let me enter the country after months of waiting and looking forward to partaking in a lifetime fishing adventure holiday. “Please could you telephone the landowner sir”, the official requested. “Not possible sir, sorry”, I replied as I had left my mobile phone at home, I had not seen the need to take it to India with me as I knew I would not be ringing anyone back home, now I wished I had it with me…
So I was asked by the official to attend to another immigration desk and had to explain to another official all the information I had given to the previous one whilst getting increasingly worried I was going to be sent on a return flight back home, after which the official just wrote KRS Dam on my dismemberment card and sent me back to the first official who proceeded to stamp my passport and allow me to pass through immigration and customs. Phew.
Panic number two started as I stepped outside the airport terminal building into the 30°C heat of the 9am sun and began studying all the names on the cards the taxi drivers were holding up, looking for my name. I didn’t see it, it just wasn’t there, what was I going to do now? I asked myself. I had no driver, no address of where I was supposed to be staying, no contact number, not a great deal of money and twelve days until my return flight to England…
I decided all I could do was to take another look along the line of drivers holding up their cards in the hope that I had missed it so I walked back to the far end of the line and begin searching for my name again. This time, at close up range, I spotted my name, scribbled in biro on an A4 sheet of paper, I couldn’t make it out before because it was so faint and difficult to read but problem number two was solved! Introduction with driver done and I was finally on the last leg of the journey to KRS Dam and ten days of fishing in India was only a few hundred kilometres away.
Progress was slow, very slow as Bangalore is traffic madness (that’s an understatement – Editor) as there is so much development and road widening going on creating, no – adding to, an already over-populated and congested city. My driver estimated our journey time to be four to five hours, he wasn’t far wrong with his guess and it was a 2pm arrival and introduction to Joe, owner of Mahseer Sports and Adventures.
Joe met the taxi in his Jeep because he wasn’t confident the driver could get right up to the camp due to the condition of the road so he took my luggage from the taxi, placed my bags in his jeep, and we drove up to camp, some ten minutes away.
We pulled up next to the huge restaurant area Joe has had built, along with a shower/toilet block, staff accommodation, kitchen and thatched shelters and hardstandings for the huge tents. We sat at a table in the restaurant to chat and get to know a little of one another over a few beers in the shade after a long tiring journey – bliss! We spent the rest of the day chatting and drinking beer, enjoying the buffalo steaks we had for dinner and exchanging lots of fishing tales before retiring to bed to get a good sleep, ready for fishing the next morning.
Friday (day 1), we got up at dawn and met in the restaurant for coffee. Joe got all of the kit ready and loaded the jeep and we headed down to the water, only 5 minutes from camp but over rough terrain and you certainly wouldn’t want to carry all the kit to the water’s edge – even more certain is that you you wouldn’t want to have to carry it all back at the end of the day!
I helped Joe set up the rods; he then baited up and rowed out with the rigs some 200m from the bank and after just ten minutes I got my first take, some 15 mins later I landed my first fish – an 18lb common carp in perfect condition – game-on!
Twenty minutes passed and I was into my second fish, a 20lb common, and at the same time the other alarm sounded and fish number three was a small rohu; after a short while I have a bigger fish on, this one turns out to be a 30lb common, a new personal best.
The day progressed with a similar theme and I continued to land fish constantly throughout the day, with the exception of a two hour lull during the hottest part of the afternoon, before play kicked in again around 4pm, and I started to land many commons, another of 25lb with all of the others around 20lb, there were a couple more Rohu too.
We fished until sunset then at dusk we returned to the camp to shower and head to the restaurant for dinner (beer can chicken cooked on a BBQ) and beers and more tales into the night before heading off to sleep.
I woke early on Saturday morning and made my way to the restaurant to meet up with Joe and another guest that had joined us from England, named Dale. We sat and drank coffee before getting ready to begin fishing, and I was looking forward to another exciting day by the edge of the huge reservoir known as KRS Dam.
It was not long before I had my first run, I struck and it felt like another good fish and 20 mins later I was landing a nice 21lb common. Dale got one on as well and netted a nice 24lb common; we got comfortable sitting by the water, enjoying the surroundings and the company – Joe is a fantastic host and guide – and we just sat in the sun chatting, drinking beer and catching fish regularly, all over 15lb, most over 20lb.
We fished until sunset then packed up and headed back to camp after another productive day’s fishing with 14 commons and three rohu caught, excellent! Saturday evening in the restaurant and chicken curry was on the menu, shower then dinner with more beers, bliss again!
After the weekend there was just Joe and I left on camp (with the exception of Albert, Joe’s camp manager). We spent Monday to Friday fishing, with Joe doing all the mixing and baiting and most of the rowing with part time help from Ramu the local hand. I just had the pleasure of relaxing and catching and landing all of the fish.
Every day was fantastic with me landing on average 15 carp a day. I caught another 30lb common followed almost instantly by a 32lb common – another new PB. Over the coming days we followed the regular routine: up at dawn, fish until dusk then back to camp to enjoy the beauty of the landscape into the evening; the camp is really comfortable with a huge restaurant serving excellent food.
It was on my last day of fishing KRS Dam that a pleasant surprise occurred. After catching many big common carp during the previous ten days I had become familiar with their behaviour on the hook but during the late afternoon I hit a run that felt like a big fish but it didn’t behave like all the previous big commons I had caught. I took my time playing this fish as I knew it was different to all of the others I had caught and as I got it close enough to the net we could see it was a huge rohu. Joe excitedly netted it and as he lifted the net out the water he said it was the biggest he had ever seen. We weighed it at 27lb not only a PB but 7lb heavier than any previously caught Rohu.
After ten days fishing in a wonderful environment, in a remarkable country, in such great company and surrounded by stunning flora and fauna, sadly I had to say thank you and goodbye to Joe and his amazing company and to end my once in a lifetime fishing experience in India.
Many thanks to FishingMagic and Mahseer Sports and Adventures who made this magical experience possible.
