With the arrival of spring and summer, fishing becomes a big business in Kashmir. The brown and rainbow trout to the streams of Kashmir were introduced by the British. The system of anglers reserving ' beats' on their favourite river was also introduced at the same time by them. If one is curious about fishing then the reservation for beats should be done before landing in Kashmir, through the Indian Government Tourist Office or directly to the Tourist Reception Centre in Srinagar.
Fishing season in Kashmir runs from April to October. The tourist department and the administration has set strict policies for fishing like - only artificial flies are permitted and each license authorizes the angler to keep only six fish a day, none of them being shorter than 7.5 cm. Beats can be booked for a day or a week at a time in one of the three basic types of streams. The larger rivers like Sindh or Liddar are covered with snow, which starts melting between the months of May to July. Spinning is allowed at these rivers, but the wet fly and weighted cast tests the expertise of the angler, which may produce good result. In the month of April, August and September these rivers are calm & quieter, and the bigger fish are said to reside in the stiller waters.
The river tributaries and other water channels near these mainstream river beats allow another type of fishing all through the season. The smaller streams allow only flies, with wet fly fishing well for result in all season. The third type of fishing is the streams fed by small springs and lakes, set at high altitude, are suitable for both dry and wet fly challenge. There are 61 beats open for booking for the travelers and tourists throughout the season, ranging from the turbulent Sindh and Wangat Rivers to the tranquil lakes Krishanshar, Vishanshar, Gangabal and Nunkhol, situated at the high altitudes.
Complete facilities for the fishing are made available by the administration and tourism department for the ease of the travelers. It is difficult to carry a light two to three metre fishing rods as hand luggage on aircraft for security and other reasons with an eight cm reel will suffice. As flies are one of the important requirements for the fishing in Kashmir, the generally used flies in Kashmir include Peacock, March Brown, Butcher, Jinger Quill, Coachman, Woodcock & Green and Watson's Fancy.
