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RECORD CATCH IN INDIA WATERS One Hundred and Nineteen Pound Mahseer Sixty Four Inches in Length Caught Last December The largest fish caught on rod and line in India was a 119 pound mahseer The fish was caught by Colonel 1 S Rivett Canine in tlie Convery about thirtyone miles from Mysore on December 28 1919 It was sixtyfour inches iii length fortytwo inches in girth and its tail was twenty and onehalf inches long The mahseer is the king of Indian waters and a letter to the Fishing Gazette telling of Colonel Camacs catch says saysThe The fighting powers of the mahseer is almost proverbial aiid one can just imagine what a fjsh of 119 pounds would do The Colonel is a man of powerful physique but the strain told on him con ¬ siderably I am not quite sure how long it took to luiiil tliis fish although I was keeping time It was twentyfive minutes when the fish was first brought in closc enough to see and when eventually 3Ir P F Itowring the deputy commissioner of My ¬ sore gaffed the fish and It was pulled ashore the excitement was so great that timing was quite forgdtteii We were simply astouhiied at its pro ¬ portions The fish liad a most pronounced hog back and the body was almost cylindrical The next surprise was when it was scaled the hundred ¬ weight scale went flown with a click and the needle flew right away from the 112 pounds poundsThese These big hen fish are called Thai Meenn mother fish in Canafese Immediately after the big fish was landed Major O Jackson V C had a run in the same spot probably another Thai Mcenii which took out over ICO yards of line and after two hours of hard work got round a snag and broke Colonel Itivett Carnacs ifish tried none of these tactics but fought gamely to the end endIt It was about three hours before the fish was weighed it had been in tlie wind and sun all this time and finally had to be cut in two and the weight of both pieces totaled 119 pounds The fish must have lost weight during the tinie which elapsed from landing to weighing aiid also in blood on being cut in Uvo for which of course no allowance could be made Had we suitable scales when the fish was landed I do believe it would have scaled 120 pounds
