Kayak fishing India Expedition report

 Hi Guys, this is my first post in the kayak section so hope you enjoy the report.

A couple of years ago a friend and i decided to try and kayak a big section of the west Indian coastline. The plan was to fly to Bombay with our two ocean kayak prowler 13's and somehow negoitiate our way through the hectic city to launch in the south of the huge city.

 

We left the UK in the depths of winter and headed out to the sun of the sub continent, not quite knowing what we might be letting ourselves in for. Being our first kayak expedition it would certainly be an interesting time what ever happened.

 

 

Its a long story so i will just tell the short version here, and for anyone thats interested in more they can have a read on my site here  http://www.worldbiker.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html

 

 

Arriving in Bombay we immediately encountered our first hurdle, that being the airport customs guys who wanted 800 pounds 'duty'. After half an hour of hard baragaining i eventually got the price down to a grand total of ZERO

 

 

 

 After a swift get away through a few more officials holding their hands out we made it to the city proper and got the kayaks onto a truck ready to be stored for a week while we sorted our supplies, bought extra fishing gear and generally got our stuff together..

 

Finally when the hectic city chores were done we were all set to leave, although a little worried whether our yaks would actually float. With the amount of gear we carried no fish in the sea would be safe..we made sure every possibility was covered. With little info on fish we might encounter along the way it was better to be super prepared!

 

One fine Sunday morning we trucked the yaks from the north of the city down to the south..a short journey became three hours as the early morning traffic quickly clogged the roads. Luckily in Bombay there is no shortage of crazy sights so the journey was over in what seemed like a faily short time..

 

From the gateway of India we decided to get a ferry across the 13 km wide bay to where the coast started properly. It was our first time kayaking on the sea and with customs/navy in the city area we figured it would be more sensible and safe to take the ferry. But getting moving the boats from the road to the ferry terminal was 30 minutes of the most stressful travel I have ever encountered. Everyone wnated to help, for a fee of course and we were literally mobbed. Of course the police took an interest too and demanded their fee before we could move the boats. it was frustrating and i agreed to pay the relatively small amount to get things moving. usually i will never pay officials off but in this instance there was probably no other way. An once the police were on our side things became relatively easy.

 

 

When the ferry reached the jetty on the far side the yaks were dropped overboard and we jumped in keenly watched by hundreds of curious locals. Within a few paddle strokes the stress and noise of the city was left behind as we paddled out into the arabian sea! 

 

For the next 45 days we paddled south down the coast of the state of Maharashtra towards the small state of Goa.

 

more coming soon, All the best, Scott

www.worldbiker.blogspot.com

 

 

 

 

 


big john's picture

Posts: 8725

Date Joined: 20/07/06

Halves

Thu, 2012-01-12 18:35

You dont do anything by halves Scott, look forward to the rest of the story.

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Posts: 102

Date Joined: 09/03/09

great read, never would have

Thu, 2012-01-12 22:32

great read, never would have associated india with quality fishing

 

sarcasm0's picture

Posts: 1396

Date Joined: 25/06/09

Champion effort once again

Thu, 2012-01-12 23:03

Well impressed as usual!

Bryan

Lamby's picture

Posts: 3145

Date Joined: 04/08/09

Read the blog entry Scott,

Fri, 2012-01-13 11:08

Read the blog entry Scott, amazing write up mate

worldfisher's picture

Posts: 103

Date Joined: 06/03/11

 The first week of the

Fri, 2012-01-13 15:39

 The first week of the expedition was undoubtedly the hardest of the trip. Suddenly we were out in the Indian sun for up to 8 hours a day using muscles that weren't accustomed to the use they were getting. And although we tried it was very hard to keep hydrated. The first day was ok as we stayed with a friend who has an old mansion on the first beach south of Mumbai..It was a good place to get ourselves together and repack our loads and prepare fishing equipment.

we quickly realised a big mistake was to leave kayak trolleys behind...There just hadn't been enough space in our luggage to warrant bringing them with. Next time i will carry one for sure. hauling a kayak loaded with 60-70kg of luggage 300-400m up a beach at low tide in the hot sun after a long day of kayaking is not the most enjoyable exercise..

For a little way from Bombay the water remained pretty turbid and lets littered the inshore waters. But from previous expereince i knew it wouldn't be far until the water cleared and lure fishing would become a reality. There is however good fishing around Mumbai, believe it or not but often its hard to find the conditions..in the north of the city there are some spots that fish very well for big Barramundi and Mangrove jacks.

A couple of days into the trip we started having fish hit our trolled lures which we always had hanging out of the yaks as we made our slow progress south. First fish was a 2kg Mangrove jack that was cooked in double quick time on some nearby rocks. To say it was tasty is an understatement! water conditions improved fast and before we knew it a rich underwater world passed below us everyday.

 

We started out trolling with two rod and quickly dropped to one when we realised it was more manageable. Between the getting snagged up and having double hook ups we stuck with one rod each for the rest of the trip..we both had close shaves with some pretty hairy reef breaks so also decided to stay in safe water unless the yaks were connected with one of us ready to tow the other out incase a good fish was hooked..This worked pretty well but still we were pretty careful as the reality was no one would be coming to save us if things went wrong. For the 6-650km we paddled there are no coast guards or any emergency services that can be contacted..only local fisherman who might help but even then for long stretches we saw no boats.

 

The biggest challenge we had was to carry enough fresh water. We had enough space for it but even plenty would quickly vanish down our throats in the hot weather. Food supplies would last longer but for water we had to stop pretty often in what ever village presented itself..We carried laminated satellite images for some idea of what might be before us and a rough plan could be made in advance..There are enough beaches along the coast line to always find one to sleep on but there are also a couple of long rocky stretches. We could at a push haul the boats onto the rocks to sleep but low tides and oyster/swan barnacle encrusted rocks can be a challenge sometimes.

 

 

Stopping in the Villages was particularly interesting as many of these areas very very rarely see foreigners or even Indian tourists. Villages varied from depending on religion and local business, whether it was fishing, mangos or other farming. The fishing villages popolated by 'kholi' fisherman were always the busiest, dirtiest and most intense. On our approach small kids would usually spot us and raise the alarm and it wouldn't take long for most of the population to be there to witness the spectacle of two crazy white men in small unpowered boats, travelling down the coast with strange plastic fish attached to shiny fishing poles! the idea that we had no engine just couldn't be accepted no matter how hard we swung our paddles...nope there had to a be a hidden engine somehwere!!:)

 

More coming soon, All the best, Scott

 www.worldbiker.blogspot.com

Gadsy's picture

Posts: 1467

Date Joined: 01/05/10

Awesome report so far Scott

Fri, 2012-01-13 18:20

Awesome report so far Scott and look forward to the rest!

Posts: 5981

Date Joined: 17/06/10

great adventure

Sat, 2012-01-21 20:31

thanks scott for sharing your adventures with all on shipwreckrd

Posts: 2318

Date Joined: 03/05/06

FANtastic

Sat, 2012-01-21 21:36

a great read about a great adventure.  waiting for more...

ealzee's picture

Posts: 611

Date Joined: 14/11/11

Wow thats quite amazing! Now

Wed, 2012-01-25 11:29

Wow thats quite amazing! Now thats one hell of an adventure right there! Never thought India would have such great fishing waters with absolute quality fish too! Thanks for sharing and will surely look out for your future reports.

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kill it??? eat it!!!!

Albee Mangles's picture

Posts: 985

Date Joined: 20/05/08

Sensational read mate!

Wed, 2012-01-25 11:57

 Great trip too, looking forward to future instalments.

Adam Gallash's picture

Posts: 15607

Date Joined: 29/11/05

Love your work

Wed, 2012-01-25 16:47

Love your work Scott, keep us updated on the travels mate, always a great read!

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