FISHING WITH ‘APPACHAN’

Fishing, one of ‘Appachan’s popular hobbies, was something I loved. He had four round nets, a small one for ‘Naran Chemmeen’ Indian White Prawn; big ones for ‘Attu-Konchu’, Giant Fresh Water Prawn and a heavy one for the glittering and sparkling fish like ‘Karimeen’, Pearl spot and fast moving predators like ‘Aree’,  ‘Chemballi’, Red Snapper, Kanambu, Mullet, ‘Katla’, Catla, ‘Vatta’, Shrimp Scad  and other big fish. Whenever he took out the nets, Jacob, my younger brother, and I would go with him very expectantly, with a bag in hand for the big catch which would be served for a meal. When the fishing net was cast into the ‘Kayal’, backwaters; some of the scared ‘Chemmeen’, would emerge out and jump on to the shore and flap, and we would catch them immediately. We used to get lots of Prawns, ‘Naran Chemmeen’ in the net. Those days we used to get one bag full of ‘Naran Chemmeen’ worth six ‘Kasu’, which today would cost about seven hundred rupees. He had a special knack for catching the fast moving ‘Vattas’ and ‘Arees’.

I always watched Appachan’s patience, perseverance. He had the deftness with the net when a shoal of ‘Karimeen’ or ‘Vatta’ surfaces to prey on the ‘Chemmeen’ or small fish fifteen meters away. At times, with one fling of the net a good catch of about sixty to eighty ‘Vattas’, ‘Karimeens’, would be in his net. We could hear the hoarse sounds made by the ‘Vattas’ in there. Sometimes he was even able to catch a few ‘Arees’ or Catla fish. I understand that the best time to fish is during the high tide especially after sunset on a “New Moon Day.” A good fisherman should have ample patience and perseverance, which my father definitely had. He must have acquired it from his ancestors. ‘Appachan’once said, “If I teach you how to fish, it will be like feeding you for a life time.” I too had this innate desire to fish as a child which I pursued and later on in life mastered as a hobby. 

Apart from the varied shapes, sizes, fins and scales, I had noticed the difference in varied fish’s jaws too. This depended on the habits of the fish. The jaws may be long or short or wide. The upper and lower jaws are equal when the fish ate food from mid–water like Red Snapper (Chemballi) or Aree; the upper jaw is a little longer when they ate food from  the upper layer of the ‘Kayal’ like Catla.  If it’s lower jaw is a little longer like Mrigal since they ate food from the bottom of the pond. 

Excerpts from

MEMOIRS

An autobiography

by

Joseph J. Thayamkeril

Lawyer, Kochi, Kerala, India.

josephjthayamkeril.blogspot.com

josephjthayamkeril@gmail.com