About Us

The Himalayan Outback, Established 2004 ...

In 1995 young Misty Dhillon was first seduced by the mighty Golden Himalayan Mahseer and after his first few encounters, with what he calls a ‘Majestic Goddess’, it became apparent that his extraordinary passion was more than a seasonal obsession. Misty’s burning desire to encounter the Mahseer consumed him as he spent hours, days, and years researching and pioneering patterns and techniques for catching these fish on both spinning and fly-fishing.

It didn’t take long before Misty began to dream of making his personal passion for the Mahseer into a fulltime career. In the year 2001, Misty took a step toward achieving this dream when he took a job with well a reputed white-water rafting company. During the next 4 years Misty managed, guided and quickly learned the ropes for running a successful outdoor adventure outfit. In 2004 Misty took a huge leap toward his dream by joining Mickey Sidhu to create their own company, The Himalayan Outback.

Upon the foundation of The Himalayan Outback in 2004, Misty and his team set off on several exploratory trips in pursuit of the finest waters, in Northern India, for the Golden Himalayan Mahseer particularly for fly-fishing enthusiasts. The company was clear on the high standards it wished to offer its clients and on its conservation oriented approach to benefit the locals, the future of natural habitat and the Golden Himalayan Mahseer.

On the conservation front they participated in various efforts by providing support to local communities for the benefits of sustainable angling tourism. These efforts slowly took started to yield results in protecting these fish and in managing these sections of remote rivers. In the year 2007 Misty got associated with the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) http://igfa.org/ as one of their two International Representatives for India.

Over the years The Himalayan Outback has had the opportunity to host television shows for the promotion of the very special Golden Himalayan Mahseer fishery. Angling show producers such as Canada based “What a Catch Productions” hosted by Kathryn Maroun http://www.whatacatch.net/, “Reel Outdoors” hosted by Chris Bailey http://www.reeloutdoors.com/, and “Hunt for big fish” hosted by Larry Dahlburg www.huntforbigfish.com have all been hosted by The Himalayan Outback and have produced television shows on this legendary fish.

In 2008 The Himalayan Outback took over UK based Tigerfish River Tours & Travels that brought about new opportunities for explorations and resources hence resulting in an even closer understanding for both angling and non-angling travel in the Himalayas.

In the early part of 2009, The Himalayan Outback established a permanent camp in another great location: the Western Ramganaga River, just outside of the Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve in the north Indian state of Uttrakhand. This opened doors to another great river and excellent opportunities for some dry fly fishing and sight fishing for these amazing fish.

In early 2010 Misty got certified by the Federation Of Fly Fishers (FFF) http://www.fedflyfishers.org/ as the first Certified Casting Instructor (CCI) of India. Hence taking a step forward to promote this wonderful sport amongst anglers from India.