Collecting Fish in India
(Ubbalamadugu Kona)
By Hayath of Bangalore, India
www.indianaquariumhobbyist.com
Aquarticles
After a lot of discussions, we Bangalore
aquarists decided one Friday to head to teh Krishnagiri dam and Kaveripatnam for some fish
collection and biotope visits.
From a list of about 8 people, it boiled down to 5 of us, with Raghu (RGG) and Ravi
(Oscar-lover) dropping out due to some commitments.
We (Uday, Suby and I) met at my place at 7:30 AM waiting for Navaneeth to arrive. By 8:00
AM we had made several calls to Navaneeth with no one answering; then we received a
message from him that he wasn't feeling well and would be dropping out too.
So, there we were, the three of us looking at each other's faces for someone to come up
with an alternative plan.
Three of us would be too small a group to head towards Krishnagiri, yet our excitement was
so much that we could not possibly call off our plans.
I suggested we head either towards Kanakapura or Pearl valley, and Kanakapura was decided
on.
And so we headed off with lots of excitement. First stop was a lake which we spotted from
the main road, this seemed to have some promise.
Not many species of fish to be found in
these particular waters
The banks were quite slushy with no signs of plants, there were some fishermen casting
their nets for some carps. Enquiring of them, we found out that there were only carps and
they hadn't seen any other kinds of fish..
Some local fishermen
trying their luck
Uday tried to spot a few, but wasnt able to. There were fish there, for why else would the
birds be there! Unfortunately the fish were elusive to us.
Unable to get any livestock, we moved on to a small streamlet where we had collected some O.dancena
last time round.
A popular spot for locals to wash their
clothes
A small trek down to the creek, we saw some women washing their clothes and utensils. Hair
algae was in abundance here, probably due to the excess nitrogen from the detergent and
sunlight.
A polluted source of water - the white suspension is
detergent
Uday spotted a plant
in a puddle, need an ID on this
Moving further we spotted a few O.dancena with their luminiscent eyes swimming
around. These were the first ones we caught.
Suby found some Salvinia floating on the surface. These plants have a lovely texture on
them with hanging roots.
A beautiful floating
plant - not sure of the identification
Yet another beautiful floating plant - note
how small it is!
We then found some rasboras shoaling together. Getting down to catch them proved a lot
harder than we thought! All we'd come up with was some algae in our nets. Time for a
change of tactics, so we decided to put the nets down in the water and wait for the shoal
to move in. This time the trick worked, and we got a couple of them. These have a lovely
line running through the length of their body.
Heading back to the main road, we saw a tractor hauling up sand from the banks. Doing
this, they managed to slip the tractor into the water and were struggling to get it back
onto the banks.
A stuck tractor!
Once we were back to the car, our master-packer Suby packed the O.dancena and the
rasboras.
Towards Harohalli we saw a roadside puddle which had loads of plants and some lilies. (I
almost fell into the puddle trying to get a macro shot of the lily, you can see the photo
below.
A beautiful lotus
Lillies galore
Suby found an injured butterfly and helped it
to a nearby shrub.
Next we came to a large lake that Uday had earlier spotted driving by. This had some good
growth of some grass and was FILLED with Tilapia fry. We managed to net a few shrimps. We
also saw what Suby called a "WaterScorpion."
We caught some shrimps near these reeds
Done with the netting, we already were
beginning to tire and all of us felt hungry. We drove past the small bridge over Arkavati
and stopped in a shade for some brunch (Well, it was lunch time already).
Mom had made a variant of Puliyogre for us along with boiled eggs, which we promptly
devoured.
With our stomachs full, we drove on beyond Kanakapura to a place where I used to fish when
I was a kid.
The water was quite murky and there wasnt too much water flow either, we decided we would
have a walk on the banks to see if we could get something. No matter where we went, all we
saw was sand-mining.
Evidence of sand
mining
Tired now after the walk and our spirits low as we hadnt found anything interesting, we
sat down below a tree for some serene time. Being used to city life with the hustle and
bustle, just sitting there felt great.
A quiet spot to take a
rest
On a tree nearby, a couple of colourful birds were playing out their bonding ritual, they
were hunting for insects together. This provided some entertainment for us.
And what I saw next, got me jumping with joy !!!!
In front of me was one of the largest pieces of driftwood I have ever laid my hands on.
A wonderful piece of
driftwood!
Decided then and there that this would be the main piece for my upcoming native tank
project
Was quite heavy, somehow managed to bring it to Uday's car. Now, we had a new sense of
excitement.
We went back to the Arkavati bridge and collected a few rocks, Suby found a very
interesting shaped one.
Suby and Uday got calls from home on their status, and both being married wanted to get
back home now.
Not until we stopped by again at the first bridge where we had collected O.Dancena and
Rasboras. This time we decided we would go downstream.
Here I netted something which looked different and on close inspection had a barb-shaped
body. Atlast I was laying my hands on some native barbs
Uday and I held the net, while Suby drove the shoal towards the net. Collected a few of
these.
And now that we were getting the hang of it, we were tempted again and again for the
"one last try"
Stopping here for these barbs made the trip all the more worthwhile.
Reached back home at about 5:45 PM with Uday dropping us and heading straight home.
Suby and I unpacked the fish and photographed them in a small tank.
Oryzias dancena
Looks a bit like the rosy barb, without the pink, maybe Puntius conchonius
Considering it was an alternative plan, it turned out pretty good. For me the catch of the
day was the HUGE driftwood. Really enjoyed the company of Uday and Suby, thanks guys
That's Me (Hayath), Suby (Suby7272) and Uday (Udaya) from L-R
Hope you enjoyed our trip!
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