The hard work of goby fishing on Lam River

(Baonghean.vn) -When the summer sun begins to heat up, it is also the time when fishermen on Lam River set sail to fish for goby.

Catfish fishing boat on Lam River. Photo: Huy Thu

These days, traveling on Highway 46, looking down the Nguoc mountain abyss, seeing many small boats rocking on the Lam River, those are goby fishing boats.

There are many types of goby fish, living in salt water, brackish water and fresh water. Fishermen on Lam River distinguish and name the types of goby fish based on the color and shape of the fish's skin: black goby, brown goby, white goby, flower goby, striped goby...

Gobies usually live in underground caves, rock ledges, and places with clean water sources. On Lam River, gobies live from the upstream to the river mouth, but are most concentrated in river sections flowing around mountains - where there are deep, still water pools such as Gia Mountain (Do Luong), Nguoc Mountain, Rong Mountain (Thanh Chuong), Dun Dun (Nam Dan)...

Nguoc mountain has a dangerous location, deep water with many cliffs running from the bank to the riverbed, which is a favorable habitat for all kinds of goby and has long been a concentrated goby fishing area for fishermen in riverside communes such as: Dong Van, Ngoc Son, Vo Liet, Thanh Ha (Thanh Chuong)...

The bait for goby fishing is jumping river shrimp. Photo: Huy Thu

The goby fishing season on the Lam River begins in late spring, lasts throughout summer, and ends when the big floods come. According to the fishermen, the means of goby fishing is probably the simplest among the fishing professions on the river. In addition to a fishing boat, all you need is a small fishing rod.

The fishing rod is a large bamboo branch as big as a thumb, about 1 meter long, with a bent steel hook tied to the end of the rod. The fishing line is a 5-7 meter long fishing line with a hook and a thread, threaded onto the steel hook at the end of the fishing rod and wrapped with a plastic tube.

Goby is a ferocious fish, often attacking shrimps and smaller fish in the river for food. Therefore, the best bait for goby fishing is small river shrimps. The night before going fishing, fishermen often set a trap to catch these shrimps.

When fishing, the shrimp is hooked upside down from the tail to the head. According to the "fishermen" who do this, when reeling in the line, they will see the shrimp running backwards, cleverly luring the goby to bite and less likely to get caught in obstacles.

Fishing for catfish in the summer sun. Photo: Huy Thu

Usually, each fisherman will sit on a small boat, rarely two people will sit on the same boat because it is difficult to control. The boat is single, feet pedaling, hands spreading the line, going back and forth easily. After dropping the line, the fisherman will drag, pull, glide, jerk the bait up to land, down to the depth, fast, slow as desired. When seeing the fishing rod shaking, suspecting that the fish has fed the bait, the "fisherman" will jerk hard to get the fish hooked, then wrap the rope to pull the fish onto the boat.

Mr. Ngu Van Tuan (24 years old) in Luan Phuong hamlet, Dong Van commune, a regular goby fisher in Nguoc mountain, said: "Depending on the weather and luck of each person, the more or less fish they catch. Experience shows that the hotter the sun, the more successful goby fishers are because gobies often eat bait."

Fishing for goby requires patience and waiting. Photo: Huy Thu

The job of goby fishing requires perseverance and hard work. Those who are impatient cannot go goby fishing. Exposing yourself to the sun all day, if you are lucky you will catch a few kilos of goby, if you are unlucky you will not catch any. After catching these fish, they are kept alive to be taken to the local markets or wholesalers will come to your home to buy them wholesale at 100,000 VND/kg.

Goby fish can be processed into many delicious and nutritious dishes such as braised goby with pepper, goby cooked with betel leaf soup... which are loved by many people, and are delicious and clean foods that are being sought after in the market.

Because the goby's reproduction is not like other fish species, along with the destructive fishing by modern means such as octagonal nets, electric shock..., the goby on Lam River is increasingly depleted, making it more difficult for people to make a living by fishing for gobies.

Results after half a day of fishing for goby by a fisherman. Photo: Huy Thu

Mr. Tuan confided: “Fishermen, those who have big boats, go to work on sand, but my family has a small boat so we have to go fishing, go fishing during the day, and go fishing at night. The income from goby fishing is quite erratic, but there is no other job so we have to do it.”

Huy Thu