Nothing fishy about this

A thriving Puttenahalli Lake full of water is a great sight. If there is one person happier than us at PNLIT, it must be Yellappa, the man who got the fishing contract for our lake. About a year ago he had released fingerlings of several species such as the Indian Catla, Rohu, Mrigal and the Chinese Carp (Common, Silver and Grass). He also introduced Snakehead, called Varal locally which according to the Fisheries Dept. is not grown much in our city. It is expensive and is a delicious fish.

Yellappa and men fishing, 10th May 2017

Snakehead aka Varal (Pic: Madhurima Das)

The fish are growing very well and Yellappa has begun harvesting to sell in his shop. Each time he enters the lake with his net, a crowd gathers along the side to watch him and his team throw a net into the water and draw it in with a mix of fish in different sizes.

Interested onlookers

A few days ago at about 8 a.m. when the place was crowded with morning walkers, children going to school and idlers, he got a whopper that made everyone drool. They had netted a Silver Carp, weighing over 5 kgs.

Silver Carp, 31st May 2017 (Pic courtesy Yellappa)

A young Cormorant with catch, 4th June 2017 (Pic: Madhurima Das)

Yellappa now prefers to fish at 2 a.m. The seasoned angler that he is, the dark does not faze him.  He "knows" where the fish will be, catches them, throws the smaller ones back into the water and collects the rest in his baskets. No one is around at that time to drool over Yellappa's catch. No one sees how many he gets and how big each fish is. We don't get any part of his collection, neither in catch nor in cash but as long as he ensures there's enough fish for the birds we are happy. 

An exciting afternoon at the lake!

Yesterday, some of us spent a delightful afternoon at the lake releasing some 3000 fish (fingerlings) into the lake. Fisherman Yellappa whom we've hired to remove the alligator weed from the water bought three species - Rohu, Katla and Glass Carp from the fisheries department. The Glass Carp is a herbivore and will nibble the aquatic weed.  All three are fresh water fish and common species, popular among fish eaters but the ones introduced today are specifically to attract birds and not for human consumption!

The fish

Kumar releases the fish

The specs are fish!

We also tried out our inflatable boat, that we got from a well wisher last year. Since the water level increased only from this monsoon, we were able to use it only now. Yellappa and others rowed a short distance in the water. They returned safely all right but, though we have life jackets, the rest of us preferred to remain on firm land! The boat is specifically for periodic monitoring of the waters, and to assist in deweeding. Boating is not on the agenda!

Inflating the boat

Yellappa 

Next steps:

* We've bought casaurina poles of different lengths which Yellappa's men will plant at various points in the lake. These will serve the dual purpose of indicating the level of water and as a perch for the birds. 

* We plan to introduce Guppies into the water soon. Guppy is a popular freshwater aquarium fish which feeds on mosquito larvae.

For those of you living in the neighbourhood - if you'd like to be a part of this excitement, please email <puttenahalli.lake@gmail.com>;. We'll inform you about planting the poles, introducing the guppies, and anything else.

Usha