Fishing snakehead at night
HA TINH – It was getting dark, Mr. Dao Dinh Duc, 24 years old, living in Cam Son commune, Cam Xuyen
QUANG NAM – Throwing his prey about 30 meters away, Mr. Nguyen Tran Da skillfully controlled the fishing rod to let the bait glide across the field, attracting snakes.
In the morning of mid-December, Mr. Da, 46 years old, Tam Xuan 2 commune, Nui Thanh district, and many anglers went to the field of Tam Anh Bac commune to fish snakehead fish. Setting up a motorbike on the side of the road, Mr. Da took a 3-meter-long rod, attached a pulley above it, and walked along the concrete ditch to the middle of the field. Looking for fields with half a meter deep water, thick grass, and straw, Mr. Da started fishing with gills, also known as toss and fly fishing.
The tool consists of a round wooden spool with a pre-rolled line, one end attached to a hook. Sharp hook with bent prongs. The bait is a fake that is hooked to the tongue, with a small lead attached to it.
“From October to December, many fields in Nui Thanh district have been harvested, the water is deep. Overgrown grass is a suitable environment for snakehead fish to live in,” said Mr. Da, and shared that snakehead fish like to live in the area. dense area. When the prey walks on the grass, making a sound, the fish will rush to bite.
For 20 years specializing in trawling snakehead fish, Mr. Da learned that the most important thing is attaching bait, how the frog hooks up to the hook when pulling on the water without rotating, the fish will be passive and will not take the bait. The hook head uses a blade of grass to attach, the purpose is to avoid obstacles while pulling the bait and when the fish bites the bait, it automatically opens.
There are many types of snakehead fishing, people fishing with a fishing rod; tube users, and need. The bait can be fake, or fake bait, but Mr. Da only uses fakes. “In the past, there was no need for a carbon machine, I used bamboo and bamboo rods. But when the need for the machine was in vogue, there were two sections that were removed and opened neatly, I switched to this type,” he said.
Choosing a layered grassy field, Mr. Da used his arm strength to throw his tongue-hooked prey about 30 meters away. In one hand he held the spool, and in the other, he held the rod to make the frog glide across the water. Seeing the bait, snakehead fish rush to bite.
“Fishing requires perseverance, sometimes casting the net for an hour, the fish won’t eat. I have to cast many lines before the fish can be detected. There are children waiting but refusing to eat, until I cast many times before I bite the hook.” , Mr. Da said.
This season, Mr. Da and his fishing rods are fishing in flooded fields. When in the transplanting season, the water recedes for sowing, the fish follow the water to rivers and lakes to grow, and the fisherman goes back to the dams to drop fishing. From morning to evening, Mr. Da caught more than 3 kg of snakehead fish, each weighing 2-5 kg, some of them nearly 1 kg.
In the field where Mr. Da is fishing, Mr. Tran Xuan Thai, 60 years old, Tam Xuan 1 commune, from morning to afternoon caught 3 kg of snakehead fish. With nearly 10 years of experience in trawling snakehead fish, Mr. Thai knows the area where fish live and only stands in one place to fish.
In order to practice, Mr. Thai invested more than one million VND, of which he needed 500,000 VND; wire 200,000 VND; spools 200,000 VND and each blade 100,000 VND. With a rod that can be used for many years, sometimes it is broken after a few days, by hitting a hard object or jerking too hard. The fishing line has to be changed every half year, the hook is often broken.
Snakehead fishing requires health and can withstand rain and sun because the fishing position is often empty to cast bait. Because of that, Mr. Da and Mr. Thai are dark. The hands work continuously, the eyes are sharp to recognize the fish taking the bait and jerking the hook.
To keep fish alive, anglers are usually put in packages and soaked in water. Snakehead fish with delicious meat, selling 90,000-120,000 VND/kg. “The profession of fishing for snakehead fish is also fortunate, some days it is nearly 8 kg, some days it can be eaten by a few fish that are enough for the family to eat,” Mr. Thai said.
Snakehead fish, also known as fruit fish, calamari, lives in fields, rivers, canals… In Quang Nam, people buy snakehead fish to process Quang noodles, banh chung, braised, grilled, cooked. soup, cook porridge.
