What do you recommend for a big river with a huge current?

[Visi]

Hi guys, I am not a surf or a pond guy. My fishing spot is on a HUGE river with a high current in the Himalaya region of Nepal. And my target fish are snowtrout and mahseer. I used to catch them with stones, lures, and a bamboo, but it's dangerous because you have to swim most of the time in the current. Snowtrout I usually caught are between 500 g and 3 kg, and Mahseer are from 5 to 11 kg. Sometimes there are catfish that can swallow the adult men, but I always let them go.

I am not that familiar with fishing gear; I am new to these gears. I was just wondering: what do you recommend for a BIG river with a huge current? I just want to go for something like the Penn Spinfisher VI spinning reel 8500 and some high-end 12 ft rod. Will it work?

Thanks.

 

[Trampster]

Welcome to the Madhouse Visi.

Your question is a difficult one, as most of us have probably never fished for the species you mention, or fished in Nepal.
I only fish in Salt water. The reel you mentioned is quite a good one, but no idea if it would suit your needs.

 

[Visi]

Welcome to the Madhouse Visi.

Your question is a difficult one, as most of us have probably never fished for the species you mention, or fished in Nepal.
I only fish in Salt water. The reel you mentioned is quite a good one, but no idea if it would suit your needs.

Thank you, sir, I am afraid you are right. However, I am just looking for some tips or guidance from experienced fishing gear users who might have general ideas or even hunches about what might be good for my scenario. I believe an experienced person's intuition is way better than field research.

 

[Beach]

Stay in the pub I reckon Oh & welcome Visi

 

[Visi]

Stay in the pub I reckon Oh & welcome Visi

Thank you, sir.

 

[Ollieollie]

At least there’s no risk of choking on the current. Welcome on board.

 

[stan m]

Hi guys, I am not a surf or a pond guy. My fishing spot is on a HUGE river with a high current in the Himalaya region of Nepal. And my target fish are snowtrout and mahseer. I used to catch them with stones, lures, and a bamboo, but it's dangerous because you have to swim most of the time in the current. Snowtrout I usually caught are between 500 g and 3 kg, and Mahseer are from 5 to 11 kg. Sometimes there are catfish that can swallow the adult men, but I always let them go.

I am not that familiar with fishing gear; I am new to these gears. I was just wondering: what do you recommend for a BIG river with a huge current? I just want to go for something like the Penn Spinfisher VI spinning reel 8500 and some high-end 12 ft rod. Will it work?

Thanks.

Welcome to the forum Visi. Before I retired I built around 10 or 12 rods for mahseer over the years for tourist anglers fishing Nepal, can`t remember the river name but they were all experienced. None ever asked for a 12ft rod, they always wanted 10ft max so I used (in those days) Conoflex up-tide blanks for the builds. Obviously they are no longer available but Century still do decent up-tide rods as do Shimano and I suppose Penn. Best going around is probably the Century Eliminator.

 

[Visi]

Welcome to the forum Visi. Before I retired I built around 10 or 12 rods for mahseer over the years for tourist anglers fishing Nepal, can`t remember the river name but they were all experienced. None ever asked for a 12ft rod, they always wanted 10ft max so I used (in those days) Conoflex up-tide blanks for the builds. Obviously they are no longer available but Century still do decent up-tide rods as do Shimano and I suppose Penn. Best going around is probably the Century Eliminator.

Thank you very much sir

 

[Visi]

At least there’s no risk of choking on the current. Welcome on board.

Thank you

 

[nearly70ty]

Stan call of on a uptide rod seems to fit the bill
Can you describe the type of fishing in more detail.
do you have to cast.
are you free lining,
Is you bait anchored to the bottom,
how big is your bait ,
What line are you using,
any other details would help,
why do you have to enter the water?

 

[Steve Arnold]

No idea about just how powerful your river or mahseer actually are, but I have had several years experience of fishing the river Lot in France. This magnificent river varies so much over its course that flow and width can change from almost a stillwater to a raging torrent, lately those variations can happen over just one day on one stretch. The Lot has been "tamed" by barrages, weirs and canal sections, it must have been like your Himalayan river before man built these to help river trade.

But this last few years the flow has been increasing, this last year in particular has seen tremendous amounts of extra water pouring through. At first this was just down to more rain (global warming?) but this last couple of years a couple of barrages have been drained for maintenance. That has prolonged the season of a rapid river from just a couple of months to most of the year!

I have adapted my tackle to the more fierce conditions. Unfortunately this tackle is a little over power for the barbel and chub but it is very sporting with the carp, and these carp are perfect examples of this powerful species.



That one is an average size Lot carp of 22lbs. My best was 42lbs and I have had some excellent battles with these carp in quite fast running sections of this river.

One rod I can recommend is the Korum Bigwater 2.75lb 13' 3-piece. It is a much more capable rod than most dedicated carp rods, the tip bends nicely in the current when fishing a boilie and 4oz weight. But it has power enough to bring good carp back after their usual long run down the river.

I do have a couple of lighter action carp rods (2.5lb and 2.75lb) that are quite nice to use on the river, but the 3.5lb rods I have learnt to really not like!

Perhaps of more importance is my choice to use braid line, usually about .21 diameter. That has transformed the way I fish, mono simply cannot compete IMHO!

A good baitrunner reel is essential for me, I have six Shimano Oceanic OC baitrunner reels now. For big fish the 8000 size loaded with braid is bombproof, I also have these reels in 6000 and 4000 sizes for barbel and chub. Mind you they have all caught carp to 30lbs+ now, I cannot break them!

A few other reels have been binned in my time here!

I have been running a thread about my time fishing here, some of it may be of interest to you....

Thread 'River fishing in France'

Jun 20, 2021

I have only just noticed this forum has a freshwater section, so here is the story of my river fishing since moving to France nearly four years ago.

My wife and I sold almost everything we owned and moved to France from Scotland. What we had left (still plenty of fishing tackle!) was barely fitted into our car, trailer and roofbox.



It was a 1000 mile drive and ferry crossing to reach the Lot department in France. Driving through England was a miserable chore with roadworks and tailbacks in so many places, that memory will stick with us should we ever consider returning to...

• Steve Arnold
• Replies: 158
• Forum: Freshwater Fishing

• 
• 

Maybe it's not the Himalayas, but this is a powerful river with impressive fish!

 

[Visi]

No idea about just how powerful your river or mahseer actually are, but I have had several years experience of fishing the river Lot in France. This magnificent river varies so much over its course that flow and width can change from almost a stillwater to a raging torrent, lately those variations can happen over just one day on one stretch. The Lot has been "tamed" by barrages, weirs and canal sections, it must have been like your Himalayan river before man built these to help river trade.

But this last few years the flow has been increasing, this last year in particular has seen tremendous amounts of extra water pouring through. At first this was just down to more rain (global warming?) but this last couple of years a couple of barrages have been drained for maintenance. That has prolonged the season of a rapid river from just a couple of months to most of the year!

I have adapted my tackle to the more fierce conditions. Unfortunately this tackle is a little over power for the barbel and chub but it is very sporting with the carp, and these carp are perfect examples of this powerful species.

View attachment 75959

That one is an average size Lot carp of 22lbs. My best was 42lbs and I have had some excellent battles with these carp in quite fast running sections of this river.

One rod I can recommend is the Korum Bigwater 2.75lb 13' 3-piece. It is a much more capable rod than most dedicated carp rods, the tip bends nicely in the current when fishing a boilie and 4oz weight. But it has power enough to bring good carp back after their usual long run down the river.

I do have a couple of lighter action carp rods (2.5lb and 2.75lb) that are quite nice to use on the river, but the 3.5lb rods I have learnt to really not like!

Perhaps of more importance is my choice to use braid line, usually about .21 diameter. That has transformed the way I fish, mono simply cannot compete IMHO!

A good baitrunner reel is essential for me, I have six Shimano Oceanic OC baitrunner reels now. For big fish the 8000 size loaded with braid is bombproof, I also have these reels in 6000 and 4000 sizes for barbel and chub. Mind you they have all caught carp to 30lbs+ now, I cannot break them!

A few other reels have been binned in my time here!

I have been running a thread about my time fishing here, some of it may be of interest to you....

Thread 'River fishing in France'

Jun 20, 2021

I have only just noticed this forum has a freshwater section, so here is the story of my river fishing since moving to France nearly four years ago.

My wife and I sold almost everything we owned and moved to France from Scotland. What we had left (still plenty of fishing tackle!) was barely fitted into our car, trailer and roofbox.



It was a 1000 mile drive and ferry crossing to reach the Lot department in France. Driving through England was a miserable chore with roadworks and tailbacks in so many places, that memory will stick with us should we ever consider returning to...

• Steve Arnold
• Replies: 158
• Forum: Freshwater Fishing

• 
• 

View attachment 75960

Maybe it's not the Himalayas, but this is a powerful river with impressive fish!

View attachment 75961

Just amazing, thank you sir for your guidance.

 

[chesilpete]

@Visi there is an old video of a chap called John Wilson fishing for mahseer.
Although the video is old is this similar to what you do?.

 

[Beach]

Thank you, sir.

You are very welcome