Just into the new year and my thoughts turned to warmer climates and hard fighting fish, I was again going to India to fish the famous Cauvery river for the mighty mahseer.

After going through one of the worst winters on record, fishing has been tough to say the least. My fishing activities came to a halt just before Christmas, other than one pike trip which turned out fairly rewarding with a nice fish just under the magic twenty.

Leaving Heathrow with an air temperature of minus two it was a pleasant shock to arrive in Bangalore to warm and dry weather after months of being in the ice age. The weather throughout the trip was fantastic and reached over a hundred on several occasions, problem is I am really feeling the cold now I am back home.

After last years trip I thought it might be hard to better the holiday but this year did that, not only for the fishing but the whole trip was amazing. The atmosphere in the camp, the company and the food were all above and beyond expectations and most of all the fishing was better than last year.

Making the most of all the time available to be doing something, I again managed over 100 mahseer with 2 fish over the thirty pound mark. This year me and my wife who loves india as much as I do also spent a lot of time looking at the area close to the camp. One lunchtime we made the decision that aided by one of the local guides we would climb one of the nearby hills to get a birds eye view of the river valley. Three litres of water and an hour later we were glad we made the effort and were rewarded with some stunning views.

Food in the camp was of the highest standard and believe me once you have sampled Indian food cooked in India by traditional methods a Saturday night Indian takeaway will never be the same again.

The fishing as I have said was excellent with most fish falling to Ragi either in soft paste form or boiled longer so it takes on a hard texture that is more resilient to the constant pecking of small fish. In both cases the bait tends to be about the size of a cricket ball, but mahseer have huge mouths and even a 5lb fish has no problem dealing with a bait of that size.

My most memorable part of the trip was a fish I hooked in one of the fast water pools just before dark one evening, the fish took the bait and moved off at a steady pace taking the forty pound mono against a tightly set clutch. My guide Baza gave me the thumbs up and uttered “big fish Sahib” as the fish continued to take line, he insisted I pile on some pressure in an attempt to turn the fish before it entered the chute of water that took it into the next pool down, without a coracle with us it would mean clambering over rocks in the fading light in an attempt to keep up with the fish. Thumb on the spool and constant pressure turned its head, now I reeled like mad to catch up with the line as the fished headed upstream and back towards me. For around 10 minutes the unseen fish took me on a tour of the pool once again going to the brink of the rapids. Eventually the fish surfaced and to mine and Bazas surprise it turned out to be around 15lb and not the 50lb plus fish we both were convinced I had hooked. The look on Bazas face even he an experienced guide on the river had been fooled by the fish.

All to soon the trip was over and it was back to reality, at least I have a few days left before the river season ends maybe a barbel or chub will come my way before the enforced lay off.

I have made plans to fish some commercials this summer in attempt to winkle out one or two of the bigger fish that can be found.

Watch this space as they say