Angling with Russians

Angling is a method of fishing by means of an "angle" (fish hook). The hook is usually attached to a fishing line and the line is often attached to a fishing rod. Fishing rods are usually fitted with a fishing reel that functions as a mechanism for storing, retrieving and paying out the line. The hook itself can be dressed with lures or bait. A bite indicator such as a float is sometimes used.

Angling is a principal method of sport fishing, but commercial fisheries also use angling methods such as long lining or trolling. 

Hooks: The use of the hook in angling is descended, historically, from what would today be called a "gorge." The word "gorge", in this context, comes from the French word meaning "throat." Gorges were used by ancient peoples to capture fish. A gorge was a long, thin piece of bone or stone attached by its midpoint to a thin line. The gorge would be fixed with a bait so that it would rest parallel to the lay of the line. When a fish would swallow the bait, a tug on the line would cause the gorge to orient itself at right angles to the line, thereby sticking in the fish's gullet.

Artificial baits: 

Many people prefer to fish solely with lures, which are artificial baits designed to entice fish to strike. The artificial bait angler uses a man-made lure that may or may not represent prey. The lure may require a specialised presentation to impart an enticing action as, for example, in fly fishing. A common way to fish a soft plastic worm is the Texas Rig.

Natural baits:

The natural bait angler, with few exceptions, will use a common prey species of the fish as an attractant. The natural bait used may be alive or dead. Common natural baits include worms, leeches, minnows, frogs, salamanders, and insects. Natural baits are effective due to the real texture, odour and colour of the bait presented.

The common earthworm is a universal bait for fresh water angling. Grubs and maggots are also excellent bait when trout fishing. Grasshoppers, bees and even ants are also used as bait for trout in their season, although many anglers believe that trout or salmon roe is superior to any other bait. Bread bait is a small amount of bread, often moistened by saliva, balled up to a small size that is bite size to small fish.


Our Location:

Malsi Deer Park - Dehradun

Malsi Deer Park: A mini zoological park placed at the base of the majestic Shivalik Range, Malsi Deer Park in Dehradun is one among the fast emerging tourist attractions in the hill station. Situated in the near vicinity of the city, this park also houses a children’s park bounded by verdant greenery. This would provide great fun to the children apart from seeing the wild animals in the Park.

Comparatively of recent origin, this well maintained park is a natural home to two horned deer, Tiger, Neelgai and Peacock. A delight for the bird watchers, this lovely park houses a variety of birds whose chirping and singing is an added attraction to this Park. With a wholesome weather, natural environs and the lush greenery makes the zoological park an ideal spot for picnic and excursion.

Birding on the Banks of the Brahmaputra River

Bird watching is often seen as a hobby for nerds with beards, wearing goat woollen socks in their slippers. But during our travels last years, we experienced that many of these stereotypes are outdated. Off course, bird watching is still mainly a male thing, but once in a while we also meet female bird watchers, or couples. The percentage of beardy people isn’t higher than elsewhere in society and we didn’t see bird watchers with goat woollen socks in slippers yet. But what is true, is the fact that most bird watchers have an interest in nature and that they like to spend time in green and quiet environments. The accent lies on tracing and observing birds, but most bird watchers also have a healthy interest in other nature things like butterflies, insects, flora, etc.

The so-called ‘twitchers’ and ‘listers’ are a subcategory of bird watchers; people who like to extend their bird list as much as possible. These people sometimes have an agreement with their employer that they can leave their work in case a rare or special bird is detected on the other side of their country. If you want to see as much birds as possible during your holiday, you can consider booking a bird watching holiday at a company like Bird Tours Asia or Bird Quest, both specialised in birding trips. But these holidays don’t come cheap. Expect to pay around € 5000 per person for a 16-18 day trip to Asia! That is not the kind of bird watching we like, because you can do exactly the same kind of trip all by yourself for a lot less money. And that is much more fun because you track and trace the birds all by yourself, without some kind of guide pointing out the birds to you. Off course, you probably won’t see the number of birds as the birding agencies do. So, not really an option for us, but a great solution for people who do not want or dare to travel individually.

We are at the moment on Fraser’s Hill, one of the three main bird watching areas on the Malayan Peninsular. Kuala Selangor is often visited for the mangrove birds, Taman Negara for the lowlands rainforest birds and Fraser’s Hill for the highland birds. This former colonial hill station is blessed with more than 200 resident bird species and around 60 migratory species. Before we visit a popular birding area, we often try to find trip reports on the internet to get an idea about the kinds of birds that can be found in the area. Some trip reports also provide trail details and sometimes even maps. In a trip report of one of the major bird watching agencies, we read that they saw on Fraser’s Hill almost a hundred different species in only four days. For a moment we were a little bit jealous, but when we realised that these people do everything to see the bird, like using audio tapes with bird sounds to entice them, the jealousy slipped away. That’s not the type of bird watching we practice. We just want to walk the trails and see what we see. If we don’t see some specific species, than it’s at most a pity but absolutely no disaster.

As soon as we arrived in picturesque Fraser’s Hill, some of the more common seen species showed themselves very well in the centre of the village. But, when we went for an afternoon walk in the jungle, it was almost grisly quiet. We realised soon that we really have to ‘work’ hard in Fraser’s Hill to see the more special and shy species. And that means moving slowly and concentrated through the jungle, searching for little movements in the often thick bushes and trees. The spectacular Fire-tufted Barbet is described in many trip reports as a common bird in Fraser’s Hill, but after a long day of bird watching, we unfortunately didn’t see it. But the environment is beautiful, so even without seeing a lot of birds, we still have a great time. The following days, things changed. We were getting more used to bird watching in Fraser’s Hill, and slowly birds showed themselves. After four days of bird watching, we saw fifty-five different species, including different species of Barbet, Broadbills, the beautiful Red-bearded Bee-eater and even the elusive Malayan Whistling Thrush and Lesser Shortwing.

Fraser’s Hill is a great environment if you like nature and hiking. The area has some great trails and even walking over the paved roads, which are very quiet, especially outside the weekend, is very nice. You will regularly see wildlife; not only colourful birds, but also a lot of monkeys like different sorts of Leave Monkeys and even Siamangs. Besides that, the jungle contains a lot of insects, squirrels and reptiles like the flying lizards. So, we have a great time in Fraser’s Hill. Everyday we see more and more different bird species. Like we said, it is not very easy, but it is absolutely enjoyable.