Cirumventing the mahseer requires great skill, planning and practice. To understand how to catch him, one has to study his anatomy and feeding habits. He has a peculiar way of killing his fish. He has no teeth in his mouth to hold any slippery little fish he may catch. In lieu of this he is therefore provided with great power of jaw, and he kills, and holds his fish, by compression, violent compression. Many an angler's large hooks, lures and spoons have been crushed beyond recognition after encounters with the Mahseer.

Often weighed against the lordly salmon for their sporting competency, the Mahseer have overjoyed generations of anglers and time after time lived up to being called the "Mighty Mahseer."

It is a remarkably omnivorous fish. The Mahseer is noted to be a continuous feeder. Green filamentous algae and other water plants taken in with intent or while seizing aquatic insects on them, Figs, other things thrown by humans, other insects, fish, etc have been recorded from the stomach of Mahseer.