Fishing on the Nam Xan River

(Baonghean) - The summer sun begins to pour down on the mountains and forests of Western Nghe An, which is also the time when the profession of diving to hunt fish begins. This profession has existed for a long time, and recently it has become increasingly popular.

Like everywhere else, people in Western Nghe An have many ways to catch fish: cast nets, scoops, hooks, using leaves to tie fish to float, feeding them wine lees to make them drunk... But here there is also a rather unique way of using homemade guns and iron arrows and diving into the water to shoot fish, this method is often called fish hunting. On the weekend, we went to Tung Huong village, Tam Quang commune (Tuong Duong) and followed the young man Vi Van Son to go fishing.

Preparing for the fishing trip, Son's first task was to replace the rubber band that tied the homemade gun, and check that the iron arrow was sharp and tightly tied. To check the sturdiness and accuracy, he inserted the arrow along the wooden gun, pressed it tightly with a rubber band, and then turned the trigger. The rubber band stretched, the elastic force of the rubber band pushed the arrow out of position and flew forward, reaching the banana tree trunk about 7 meters away. Seemingly reassured with the gun, Son ran upstairs to get his diving goggles and set off.

Fishing gear. Photo: Cong Khang

Vi Van Son dives to the bottom of the Nam Xan River to hunt for fish. Photo: Cong Khang

Vi Van Son headed towards the Nam Xan stream - a large stream originating from the Vietnam - Laos border, flowing through Tam Quang commune, through Lang Khe commune (Con Cuong) and then merging into the Lam river. In the rainy season, the Nam Xan water is clear, you can clearly see every pebble lying at the bottom, occasionally schools of large and small fish swim around as if waving hello. Choose a location with deep water and not strong currents to "work". Because at these points, fish often gather to hide and hunt around the rocks, the hunter can easily observe and manipulate the gun and arrow. Wearing shorts and a T-shirt, wearing diving goggles, holding the gun with the trigger raised, Vi Van Son slowly dived under the water.

From the shore, looking across the clear blue water, we saw him moving along the rocky crevices, one hand still holding the homemade gun tightly. After more than a minute, the water suddenly shook, Son raised himself up, put his diving goggles over his head and breathed heavily, because after holding his breath for a while, he now had to catch his breath.

A few dozen minutes later, he dived back down to the water’s surface, groping the bottom of the Nam Xan River as if searching for something. Surprisingly, when Son stood up, holding the arrow in his hand, at the tip of the arrow was a fish that had been pierced through its body and was struggling.

The fish was pulled out of the arrow, and the owner put it in the oi that was ready on the shore. Without needing to rest any longer, Vi Van Son continued to load the arrow into the gun and dived to the bottom of Nam Xan stream, but this time he did not catch any fish. Just like that, after about 10 dives, his oi had 4 fish, enough for the whole family's dinner.

"Diver" Vi Van Son surfaced. Photo: Cong Khang

Waiting for Son to come ashore to rest, we asked him about this rather unique fishing profession. Regarding equipment, first of all, you have to buy diving goggles for a decent amount of money, about a few hundred thousand dong, better goggles will of course cost more. As for the gun, it is simple, just need a wooden stick about 1 meter long and a rubber band, the arrow is made from sharpened steel wire, the tail is attached to a rounded bamboo stick.

To shoot accurately, you have to practice, first shoot on land, choose an object and stand 5-7 meters away to shoot. But the water environment is completely different, the resistance of the water along with the flow speed can make the arrow deviate from the target, not to mention the fish rarely stand still but always swim, especially when there are humans, they often hide in the crevices of rocks.

“Spoils of war” after 10 dives into the Nam Xan River. Photo: Cong Khang

Therefore, after practicing on land, you must go into the water to gain more experience in the water environment. When you are confident and can dive for a long distance (over 1 minute) and observe underwater, you can hold a gun to hunt fish. At first, it is not easy, you are not very familiar with it, so when you turn on the trigger, the arrow often goes astray and the fish can hide in the hole, sometimes you dive all day without shooting any fish. Gradually, you gain experience, determine the level of water resistance and current, accurately predict the direction of the fish's movement to shoot, if you do that, you will have a chance to catch fish to eat. Then you must know each section of the stream, where there are many fish and grasp the habits and feeding methods of each fish species to have a suitable hunting method.

For Vi Van Son and his peers, fishing is both a profession and a pastime during the holidays, especially in the summer. Recently, some tourists have come to Western Nghe An with their gear to experience the bravery, skill and creativity of diving into the water to hunt for fish.

Cong Khang