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| Tourists were delighted with the fruit of the trip dropping lừ (a type of net for catching fish and squid at sea) |
A change of air
Mr. Khang said, "My job is to sit in front of the computer all day, so I really desire "a change of air" by experiencing new, enjoyable things and relieving stress". Along with his friends, Mr. Khang signed up for the relaxing fishing service by Mr. Vo Ngoc Bac.
Fishing is a traditional job of many families in Phong Hai waters. In summer, when the sea is calm, like many other fishermen, every day Mr. Vo Ngoc Bac, his father, and his uncle go to the sea to catch fish and squid. Recently, realizing that many tourists wish to experience the feeling of floating on the sea to fish and enjoy the fresh space of the waters, he has provided a passenger service for them to experience catching fish and squid on the sea.
Mr. Bac shared, “Although the service has been launched only for more than two weeks, I have welcomed three groups of tourists who joined in this activity. Aside from fully equipping tourists with tools and life jackets, I will share with tourists how to look at the sky, water, and the experience of successfully catching fish and squid.
With tools including fishing rods, and squid-catching lừ, usually on each trip, Mr. Bac will control the boat to run some 4-5km from the shore. Tourists will be guided by him on how to open and drop lừ as well as the technique of luring squid into lừ, how to cast the fishing line and rhythmically move to fish.
Meal at sea
Getting on the boat at 8 am, after about ten minutes of cleaving the waves, Mr. Bac and Mr. Khang's group of tourists reached the waters with lots of fish and squid. Looking at the shore from the boat, the trees and villages remained clear, but the water was already ten arm's length in depth. Here, the waves were just undulating; sometimes the boat was wobbled by a few giant waves.
According to Mr. Bac's experience, the bumper harvest for herring, scad, ribbon-fish, silverfish, and squeteague is in June and July. As for squid, leaf squids are in the majority. “With lừ covered by the leaves, just enticing squid with a bunch of eggs, squid will automatically enter lừ. Therefore, besides me, many fishermen also use lừ to catch squid. Only with 20 lừ can each trip collect 3-5kg of squid, if lucky, you can get more," said he.
After dropping lừ for more than an hour, Mr. Bac and the group of tourists pulled up lừ. Fortunately, Mr. Khang's group caught quite large squids. Mr. Khang said excitedly, "For long, I have never thought that I will one day witness the scene of catching squid, holding such fresh squids with iridescent skin. For fish, just with a fishing line and the technique Bac showed, I was able to catch 4-5 fish at a time. The trip was really new, fun, and enjoyable for me.”
As for Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Quy, another tourist, the experience from the fishermen and the echoes from the trip left the most impression. He especially experienced the delicious food right on the boat while floating at sea.
Mr. Quy said, “I greatly admire many young fishermen here for their good skill. For me, the most interesting and unforgettable thing was enjoying seafood caught by my own hands right on the boat. It was great fun and a very special emotion."
With the closest ingredients of salt and fish sauce, but with the vast scenery of the sky and water plus hard fishing activities, a hot meal with caught fish and squid brought an irresistible flavor to tourists. Besides typically experiencing the job of fishermen clinging to the sea, tourists were also overjoyed at the feeling of bobbing on the waves in the glorious sun.
As a spontaneous but appealing tourist service, it is thought that in the long term, the locality should develop a plan for this experiential tourism activity methodically. This aims at training the boat owners in safety skill and food processing skills, and promoting and orienting the fishing and squid catching service to a professional service, helping to attract more tourists to Phong Hai waters.