Outfitter: https://www.lakshadweepidentity.com/sport_fishing.php
Gear: Stella 10K

I go to India couple of times a year to see my Dad who now lives in Pune. No hunting in India and no way to even transit with guns to Africa or elsewhere, so I was looking alternative outdoor activities.

On google and facebook I found there was offshore fishing in Andaman Islands and Lakshadweed. I got in touch with the outfitters mainly thru face book and decided to go to Lakshadweep. I have no idea why I choose Lakshadweep but I did. I spoke to the outfitter mainly thru facebook and they decided I was a novice (correctly) on the type of fishing (popping and jigging).

They arranged a resort based trip for me and not one of the hardcore excursion trips they organize. I wired my $$ and booked my flight and spend a lot of $$ buying specialized fishing gear. I was all ready to go when I got a message that fishing permits has not been approved. I was disappointed as I was sitting on $10K in fishing gear with minimal resale value. I had also booked my tickets.

The outfitter was willing to transfer the money and I sent my Dad’s wire info to make it easier. I then decided on the spur of the moment to go to Lakshadweep and hang out on the beach at the resort. I hate the beach – I have a condo on the beach and I never go on the beach other than to fish. I detest sitting on a beach in the sun doing nothing.

I took a box of lures and a stella 10K and went off to India. I flew to Cochin/Kochi from Bombay/Mumbai. Had 18 hours to kill so I hired a car to take me around.

Gateway of India in Bombay


Cochin


Synagogue in Cochin




Get to the airport for my flight to Agatti in the Lakshadweep Island and see a bunch of German anglers. My heart sinks that they are fishing and I am hanging out on a damn beach.


Land on a tiny island airstrip (no pictures allowed) and drive thru a one lane town to the pier.


At the jetty pier I finally meet the guy I have been communicating with on facebook, Sameer. He tells me he has a plan and I should communicated with the bald guy who is the resort manager about fishing plan on the boat ride back. I confuse the bald guys up and harass a German angler on the boat ride to the resort 

The resort is Bangaram Island - https://www.tripadvisor.com/Ho...ram_Lakshadweep.html

It is stunning as we pull into the lagoon


The whole island is a resort. The water is crystal clear and fully protected. One walk anywhere in the island without shoes and it is clean. The resort is run by the India government and is mainly for government officials that run India. There were Airforce air marshals, intelligence bureau officers, army generals ect staying there when I was there.
The food was excellent India veg and non veg. I hate fishing trips where one is force fed tuna 6 days in a row. This was perfect for me. Every night an outdoor by the beach dinner.



After dinner the first night I get a knock on my door. The dive master informs me Sameer and his fishing team is coming over. I meet them and I am informed that we will be fishing for next couple of days on the resort's fishing permit. This means we are limited to only fish around the Island and we have to use the resorts boat and captain. The plan is to fish for 4-5 hours a day.

Next morning after breakfast we meet. Sameer's college buddy Faisal who runs the water sport center on the Island will be the captain. Turns out he is an electrician engineer and Sameer is a civil engineer. They prefer the island life.

The boat




The engine was 8 hp.

The guys had some micro jigging gear and one ripple fisher popping rod and an ugly stick jigging rod. They had some poppers and I had brought two shimano flat fall 200 gram jigs. The plan was to move the stella between popping and jigging.

We all get into the boat and head out – 5 people including me. On the boat ride the main fishing guide Saifudden ties a fg knot in a minute and I am impressed. We clear the coral reef and are in blue water in a few minutes.

I throw the popper around and with a few cast get a massive strike. It’s a nice Blue Trevally

Over the next three days fishing 4-5 hours a day we catch smalls gts, snappers, coral trouts, dogtooth tuna and bunch of other fish including the elusive Napoleon.

On day three the guys discovered I had a cheap Florida jig in my box. Faisal took the jig and tied some mono and started hand jigging – he was a machine. On a simple jig and a hand line he hooked massive snapper, coral trout and Napoleon. He was also wise in handing me the jigs and letting me do the hard fun work of bringing the fish in.

The fish

















Busted up jigs



Sameer and me


Napoleon


The team


Me having a blast






I took a day off fishing to snorkel and try diving. The resort has awesome water sports that are dirt cheap.

My fish was cooked and eaten every day by all at the resort. I was popular for once in my life.


Overall this was one of my best hunting and fishing trips. I had a blast. I will be back in 2019 chasing gt and dogtooth on a long exploratory trip. I will be back at Bangaram resort learning diving too.

Thanks,

Mike

Great Report Mike.

Dog Tooth Tuna are awesome fish.

You have to respect how tough and aggressive they are.

Yours is a ripper.

quote:

Great Report Mike.

+1!

Thanks for sharing.

Very cool Mike. Nice trip!