Marine Predators of the Malabar coast of India & Goa

In this article I strive to describe the fish we spend hours, sometimes days at end chasing down, many a times they have eluded us but every now and then we win and success always taste sweet.  Through all these jaunts I have learned a bit about them and the more I learn the more I’ve come to love and respect these albeit formidable yet marvelously crafted creatures of the blue.

I believe similar species of fish behave differently elsewhere and in accordance to the environment they live in. I have based my observations on the fish caught off the west coast of India and Goa in particular. They are my personal experiences and you may have a different point of view which I do respect, I also respect the fact that like humans ‘no two fish are the same’ each has its own personality.

Below is a list of fish species I hope to write about and that can happen only over a period of time. So please bear with my sporadic ability to cover only a few just now, and more as and when I get down to it.
Barramundi, Threadfin Salmon, Red snapper / mangrove Jack, Giant Trevally, Yellow Fin Trevally, Sea Bream – Pallu, Grouper / Rock Cod, King fish / Surmai, Tarpon, Croakers, Scats, Queen fish, Sail fish, Black Marlin, Gar fish, Sweet lip, Barracuda, Bonitos, Wahoo, Tuna, Parrot fish, Cobia, the elusive river mullet.

Red Snapper /Mangrove Jack and Grouper / Malabar Cod.

red snapper

These blighters are first on my list as they provide some of the most entertaining sport and are relatively easier to find. They live in estuaries, thrive in mangroves, love rocky reefs and are sometimes not adverse to aimlessly swim around open beaches. The Snapper is tenacious and unpredictable. Once he launches his attack there is no half measure – in short he thoroughly hooks himself. The grouper is happy gulping down anything and everything he deems edible, which sometimes includes things that are bigger than him. Once he figures that the situation is unhealthy – which means being hooked good and proper, he makes a B line to his rock den. If he does get home he spreads open his gills and locks himself securely between rocks, no amount of pushing and pulling will then dislodge him. I have seen my trace wires come back baldly mutilated from such engagements. Once hooked both snappers and groupers will tend to foul you against rocks in hope to cut off your line by diving deep and rubbing themselves against rocks on their way down. They posses immense strength but lack in stamina, not that u going to feel the difference if a big one is on the other end of your line.  I have caught snapper off the coast in relatively deep water and the initial fight gets you thinking that you are hooked onto something huge, the sheer power and brute force exerted on the first run is incomparable. They always come in kicking and screaming alternating with a solid but short burst of energy as soon as they see the boat. Once out of water the snapper tends to give up and die quickly while the old grouper will tenaciously hang on to life.

Mangrove habitat

Sappers love mangroves in fact they live, breed and thrive in there. They are ambush predators and love to hide in dark shadows underneath mangrove trees and rock pilings.  When a potential victim presents itself, a snapper literally pounces on it with amazing speed and agility, a powerful bite from the jaws and the prey is done for. The business end of both snappers and groupers sport a row of sharp teeth that can grow to almost half an inch, a powerful tail acts as rudder providing that instant thrust. So when casting for snapper try to have your lure reach right beneath those over hanging mangroves and into those dark corners, then slowly retrieve it at an even pace, occasionally giving the lure a slight twitch – this excites the fish a bit inducing a quicker hit.

Mouth of a grouper

Bait
Both fish feed on almost the same diet crustaceans, fish & prawns. But they are both extremely partial to squid and crabs. When it comes to dead bait squid works the best as opposed to mackerels or sardine unless the latter are extremely fresh. Most live bait is readily accepted. I have found live crab especially the black variety to deliver excellent results. Firstly it’s easy to insert the hook  near the tail-end (not the shell) and after that the crab does not slip off the hook easily; secondly once dressed up on the hook they live longer than most other live bait, third and most importantly with a little bit of practice crabs are comparatively easier to catch in the wild and will stay alive all day without a peep of complain.  Catfish infest the waters of Goa and I learned from the locals how to hook them up in the tail and present them to groupers, frankly it does not work for me all the time, but when it did, I caught my biggest grouper from shore – a 50 pounder! (Read Fishing in Goa – part 2 - Illegal Fishing at Vasco)

Red snapper on shad

Most lures work well especially on an upcoming evening tide, snappers and groupers tend to get much bolder once the sunsets, expect a frenzy of hits at twilight. But the Shad is the clear winner in the artificial arena. I think when presented well, it’s almost irresistible; the shad not only looks but also feels real. Both fish gulp it down which is big help in setting a hook. Another advantage with shad, that sports the hook on the top-side, is swimming it close to rock pilings and reefs without the hooks snagging up on them. I have caught most of my snappers on shads which also accounted for the big fella on the left, he was hooked from the shore.

General and specific observations
Just after the monsoons you will find juvenile snappers ranging from about a pound or two, congregating at the mouth of small brackish stream or pools.  I have spend hours at end playing around with them, they are extremely moody and at certain parts of day they shy away from everything, including a small splash of chummed bait while at other times they come up close to investigate. If u happen to throw a piece of prawn at them they will quickly gobble it up, attach it to a hook and they will stay away.
Once the sunsets, there is a noticeable change of behavior, they get quite edgy and once curiosity gets the better of them, you can then have a some very entertaining sport on light tackle, I would recommend using a fly here. Once caught, be sure to release these feisty little fellows, if u must keep just one for the table. Back home I have a snapper in my fish tank and she’s extremely moody – feeding veraciously on certain days and completely ignoring food on an another. There’s nothing much to deduced from that – except that unpredictability is a common trait in females of all species.
The Malabar grouper sport a beautifully spotted coat which is dark brownish in colour, there are lighter variations but they all built to merge perfectly into their surroundings, making them almost invisible to the naked eye. The Snapper is distinctly reddish brown and in some cases pale grayish yellow-ochre. They sport vertical stripes, which tend to further break up their profile providing them some extra camouflage (the stripes fade quickly once caught). I have seen snapper exhibit  colour variations depending on the background and temperament.

Spotted Malabar Grouper

In all – both the snapper and grouper are extremely adaptable fish inhabiting a wide range of habitats – from deep oceanic reefs to almost fresh water rivers. These fish have provide me with many hours of entertainment not just at the end of line but by sitting by the edge of bank and watching the youngster squabble away at hook-less lure.
Long may they live to see another day.

To be continued…

Hooked – Fishing in Goa Part 3

The Last Asylum
Polem, Goa

Polem’s secluded shimmering blue waters, thick jungles and jagged headlands have always held a special place in my heart. Polem makes a perfect fishing paradise; in fact it’s one of the last intact and unspoiled beaches of Goa. But what really makes Polem my favorite haunt is that it lies in close proximity to one of lesser known and extremely beautiful wildlife sanctuary called Cotigao WLS. The locals know very little about Cotigao and to garish tourist it’s invisible. The sanctuary boasts of small but cozy self contained cottages (I believe built more for the angler than for the wild-lifer). The staff consists of some warm and dedicated individuals who stretch themselves backwards to make your stay as comfortable as humanely possible but don’t expect any 5star luxuries!

Cotigao WLS

After a long drive it’s a privilege to sip off a piping hot pot of tea and listen to last of the evening birds chirp their way into dusk. The sun sets as the cicadas continue with their unvarying hum, the last calls of the “Did you do it “plover backed with the bark of deer serves as a reminder – that you are now in the jungle and its dark shadows looming large all around. An old forest guard unhurriedly walks up to make conversation, firstly about the local wildlife and then by the look at the salt on your shoulder he drifts invariably to fishing kabbar! The cook butts in with his vivid version of a large grouper weighing at least 50 pounds – which he more likely saw at the weekly markets than caught. So on and so forth the talk continues into the night while the pot of tea is surreptitiously replaced by a mug of rum.

Polem is about 60kms from Margao and about 30 kms before the border of Karnataka in the district of Canacona. To reach Polem by road you will need to ride the NH17 highway pass the famous beach of Palolem (the name of which one must not get confused with) and then carry on pass Cotigoa WLS, 10 odd kilometers after that is a small right turn with a sign board on which the words Polem Beach are barely legible. Watch carefully or you may miss this turn off. There is fuel pump before you reach the turnoff and a restaurant or a highway beach shack which provides some excellent fried fish to be washed down by chilled beer. Having taken the turn off, a quick steep descend will take you down to the palm fringed beach, passing by few small tiled houses and a bar. Polem does not have a variety of restaurants or fancy places to stay (at least when I used to frequent this place many years ago, but sometimes Goa can change at a blink of eye) so if you plan to make it an all-nighter then you must carry your sleeping bag and enough of food & water, let me caution you before we start as there is a trek to be undertaken via the jungles to the headlands.

Polem Beach

Once you find yourself on the beach there are 3 immediate options – Fish the beach with bait casters, I have caught guitar sharks and big rays here so front with some solid trace -wire. The second – go south and fish the rocks but be careful as these rocks are the size of huge slippery boulders with foaming white water at the bottom.  The third is north, cutting through the jungles in order to fish the deep waters off the headlands rocks.I prefer the third. If you look out to sea you will notice a small island in the center of the cove, this makes an excellent spot for a quick trawl and it sits in the middle of the tidal currents. I am crazy about islands it’s almost a fetish and someday soon I am going to camp on this island under a full moon and fish both tides thoroughly – I can just about imagine the water exploding with GTs and Threadfins while huge snappers test the drag to burning point.
Now that I have given you the basic lie of the land lets proceed to some fishing. Start walking on the rocks which lie to the northern end of the beach, be careful as these rocks are covered with slippery moss, and after about an hour of walking you will reach a rocky cove which is nearly abreast with the island. The cove sports its own small patch of sandy beach with thick jungle in background. Here is a fresh water spring close at hand, which makes it a capital spot to pitch camp. Just before the jungle begins there is a large shady tree and underneath here you will find ashes of old campfires and spare wood left behind by fishermen on overnight fishing sorties. I have spent many a night sitting around a camp fire grilling fresh fish. On a starlit night the sand on this beach sports a eerie nebula’s glow which is amplified by the surrounding dark rocks.

The sandy beach

The water is averagely deep (10 – 15 ft) with rocky reefs, some that surface only at low tide. The best time to fish here is when the tides receding. I remember the first time I fished Polem was on a biking trip with John who’s an old friend of mine. It was about 6pm and John was out buying supplies while I pitch camp and watched a beautiful crimson sunset over shadowed by a rapidly building thunderstorm. I decided to do a few quick casts.  The water was an opaque blue green and I had on a florescent Rapala fire-tiger which was on a slow retrieve, suddenly bang! a Trevally  took the lure mid way and rushed off with the drag screaming, I managed to quickly subdue its run just before it got to those submerged rocks.  After a few tense moments the fish was landed, it was approximately 10 pounds in weight and I quickly chucked it into a nearby pool to keep it alive. On the second cast I got hit very close to shore by a huge snapper, he fought like a demon, rushing into the surf it somehow unhooked itself and dash off leaving me shaken up, it was a big one in the 15 -20 pound range, without a landing net it would be a hard haul on the rocky ledges. This was unusual because snappers generally hook themselves rather thoroughly, they attack the lure or their prey with real gusto, pulverizing it with a huge bite. That evening we had the fish for dinner fried in oil we extracted from some ready to eat tinned food and as a finale we washed it down with some famous Goan port wine. Next morning was a day of tough fishing. We struggled the entire first half without a bite and then lost a huge grouper which tenaciously cut Johns line over the reef. Finally we managed to land a 12 pound red snapper. This fish was caught in middle of the afternoon on the outgoing tide and I hooked in standing on a rather high rock, this precarious hookup called for some very quick gaff work by John who managed by acrobatically clinging on to a rock with one hand and gaff in the other.

The red snapper

Night fishing here produces some excellent game on bait; you need to use squid or some very fresh mackerel. During the monsoons I have seen locals using hand line pull out huge groupers, an assortment of snappers, croakers and guitar shark.

Leaving this pristine small cove and clambering over the shoulder of the hill you will come across a treacherous gorge. This gorge can only be negotiated by climbing higher up the hill and then through thick jungle. Here you may come across wild boar, the elusive fox, hare and I have even found pug marks of leopard, thou sightings are extremely rare. After cutting down through the jungle and onto the rocks  you would eventually reached the headlands. The water here is a deep blue reaching depths of 15 – 20 feet and churns around like a washing machine. Huge snappers lurk close to shore, at casting distance you will find Barracuda and Trevally. First and most importantly find yourself a good foothold, arm yourself with some strong braid (30lbs), double check your drag setting and cast out, a slow retrieve will work the best. I would suggest u keep ready a landing net or good pair of gloves as pulling up a fish from the turbid soup could be quite a task. I have caught GT’s here in the 10 – 15 pounds range and lost some nerve racking fights to what I can describe as monstrous beast in the range of 30 pounds and above.
One early November morning I casted out a plug right into the incoming current and as I just started to retrieve a huge barracuda ( 4.5 feet) hit the lure and ran off like freight train, as he tired me out and  I tired him in he suddenly threw himself with a  tremendous leap straight out of the water. This leap was so sudden  and startling that I nearly slipped off my rocky foothold. The consequences of that would have been disastrous. After a lot of kicking and screaming I landed him. That faithful November morning we had 6 fish between us – 3 snappers, 2 barracudas and a grouper  in the 20 pound range which we promptly released.
Polem continues to be one of my favorite haunts away from Goa’s madding crowd and yes the last asylum for a fisherman like me.

Polem Bay

Tight lines
Dean