Joined: Nov 19, 2003 Posts: 3698 Location: Chennai
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Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 4:24 pm Post subject: Camy's Day Out - Chembarabakkam
On Friday evening, I got a message from Marc that 'The weather seems to be good'. I got the message that a trip is on the cards on Saturday. I called up Marc and we confirmed the event. Our usual fishing team mates had commitments of their own this time, except for Balaji, who could not join us. He stayed far away from either of us, to be picked up, since the destination happened to fall at a different direction altogether. Felt sorry for him.
I only had to make sure that my Cam is full on charge, since it was its maiden fishing trip. I was all excited.
Started from our homes at 6 and sharp at 6.45 am, me and Marcus met at a common meeting point, that further led to the Chembarambakkam reservoir, just a few kilometers away. It was one the rare days with a perfect weather for a fishing trip; no sun, but cloudy all through the day. Very light drizzles of rain once in a while didn't bother us much.
Finally, parked our bikes and Marc was already ready with his nets.
Our first catch was this sub-adult P. cupanus in a puddle with dense vegetation.
And next was this adult A. blockii to follow. A very beautiful specimen. Seems to be perfect native dwarf killifish, compatible with small tank mates.
R. daniconius
We looked around for Channa gachua in the surrounding water bodies, as Marc was more familiar with usual whereabouts of the species found there. We found none. : (
Time to move on and capture other species too. So we headed to a largish pool, with vegetation mostly along its banks. Water was crystal clear and lots of fish swimming around.. perfect for Camy's first underwater video!
I did a small trial dip, just to check for any bubbles rising from the camera body. It was a tense moment, taking a gamble on the 19k toy . Woah, no bubbles fortunately!
The first video capture wasn't that great, hence didn't upload it. It's more of my funny audio fumbles. : )
Spotted here were Rasbora daniconius, A. blockii, Gambusia sp, Etroplus maculatus and a few Hemichromis sp, the Jewel cichlid. I also saw a lone Convict cichlid, which Marc didn't. It's not officially reported from this lake, hence I wont talk more about it, until I tape it sometime. Videos such as this adds to the evidence to Marc's hard work on the lake over the years. Hope it helps him.
Then another spot, close to the reservoir gates. The water was a bit turbulent with mostly Val like plants. The view from above the water showed up umpteen breeding pairs of E. maculatus, located almost everywhere along the banks, where water is calm. Thought it would be wonderful to capture the fry care by the Momma fish - Poppas ran away and watch us intruders from a distance.
We were done with the above spot and then moved on on our bikes, with a bit of off-roading to another water body. Marc felt the place was ideal for the cast net.
Preparing the heavy net.
And there he goes in action!
Surprisingly, we got only one fish on every attempt. : (
First, Puntius dorsalis.
Then the Mystus vittatus.
Then this nice barb. Puntius sophore? or orphoides?? Need help. Sorry I forgot, Marc.
The dwarf E. maculatus
Also got a huge Esomus barbatus there.
We had enough of cast net throws and Marc's dropping shoulders as well as sky getting darker at around 10.30 am, made us rush back to our bikes and also think of calling it a day. On our way back, a shallow but wide puddle, well not exactly a puddle called for another underwater video. I just had to fix the cam into the substrate and we abandoned the place, so that the fishes feel free to approach near the cam. We packed our bags in the mean time and rushed back to check if the cam was still there or has it been swallowed by the giant catfish, Wallago attu!
All that was captured was P. cupanus, R. daniconius and a nice Puntius that moved like a lightening in front of the lens. Pretty long video. Hence did not upload.
Finally before signing off, this group photo thanks to camy.
Marc, his Bully, Me and my Avy.
Thanks to Marc for being a wonderful companion on this trip. For him, this should have been just another trip to Chems. Hope he enjoyed it as much as i did.
PS: All the videos are shot at HD format, for whoever like to see in detail. As Jib often says.. "Load Warning!"
Phew, I am never used to lengthy writeups and I am done here. Need some sleep!
Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 6:36 pm Post subject: Re: Camy's Day Out - Chembarabakkam
Hey Shanker, I enjoyed the trip as much as you did.
Happy to have an off road biking companion.......din have one before.
Excellent writeup. The nice barb is P. mahecola (with the spot faded)........guess this would be a good example to show how similar P. amphibius and P. mahecola are (as the presence and absence of that spot is highly variable)
Looking forward to more trips with you and camy............
Joined: Oct 23, 2008 Posts: 321 Location: Mumbai, Dadar(W)
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Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 11:01 pm Post subject: Re: Camy's Day Out - Chembarabakkam
Hey Shankar
Thanks for your first lengthy write-up.
Narration is captive & easy-flowing.
You had good outing there. Very good pics & videos too. Jusy like Nat Geo !
Videos look like under-water.
Thanks & Regards
Nitin
Last edited by nnpnnp on Tue Nov 30, 2010 12:01 am; edited 1 time in total
Joined: Nov 19, 2003 Posts: 3698 Location: Chennai
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Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 11:03 pm Post subject: Re: Camy's Day Out - Chembarabakkam
Thanks Hems, Jib, Humaid, Nayak and Vig!
Sure Praz, anytime!
Marc, then what was that swift Puntius in the video, at the 'Wallago' biotope?
Yes Beta, agree on the difficulty on spotting a shy fish that prefers to hide when disturbed. Any other Badis sp video in their natural habitat will be interesting to see.
Joined: Jun 23, 2009 Posts: 53 Location: North East England
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Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 12:21 am Post subject: Re: Camy's Day Out - Chembarabakkam
Excellent pics and video
When I see threads like this I am extremely jealous of you guys, it would have to be my dream come true to be able to go and collect my own Loaches and Rasboras for my tanks, keep up the good work
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. Woah, no bubbles fortunately! 
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