The story of fishing in Dam Vac

You guys enthusiastically taught us how to catch lots of fish. Some of us from To Hieu secondary school came back to Cau Phao, two friends from Moi hamlet looked at the lagoon, looked up at the sky, and watched the treetops sway in the wind. Suddenly a friend shouted: Go immediately get a big basket to catch fish. Sure enough, about half an hour later, schools of fish swam back and forth and rushed at each other, racing to jump ashore. I have never seen a fish jump like that.

In the past, Dam Vac (Vinh Phuc) had many fish and shrimps, and the inhabitants of the lagoon were proficient in fishing. Dam Vac has a village called Moi village. The whole hamlet is on a promontory like a peninsula in the middle of a lagoon. The whole village has only 5.7 shack roofs. The greatest assets are the boat and the nets. Every day, children wrap clothes in raincoats and swim to the shore to go to school. You guys enthusiastically taught us how to catch lots of fish. Some of us from To Hieu secondary school came back to Cau Phao, two friends from Moi hamlet looked at the lagoon, looked up at the sky, and watched the treetops sway in the wind. Suddenly a friend shouted: Go immediately get a big basket to catch fish. Sure enough, about half an hour later, schools of fish swam back and forth and rushed at each other, racing to jump ashore. I have never seen a fish jump like that. Everyone competes to collect fish. An old woman shouted: “Don’t make the fish jump”. But after seeing too many fish, she also gave up the taboo and rushed to catch fish. In the morning, our children did not study, we went fishing. I fished forever but the fish did not catch the bait. The brother sitting next to him kept jerking. My grandfather told me that my long-shouldered son only went to work as a student, and his younger brother killed fish. At noon, some of us went to catch boys. The mussels of the Vac lagoon were very large, at first we kept carrying the plastic pot, pushing the pot while stepping on the mud to fumble. When you see a boy, you dive down to catch it. Later, the friends in Moi village taught how to catch with a stick. Choose two bamboo sticks to tie the rope, the two boys pull the rope on the bottom of the dress. Seeing that there are mussels and fishes, they quickly dive down to catch them. It only takes about two hours to fill the pot of mussels. Hai’s friend from Vien Nine is very good at catching. According to Dan Khai Quang, those who live far away from the lagoon also went to catch them. In the afternoon, we invited each other to the banks of the lagoon with many caves to fish for rice husks, and in the afternoon my brother and I caught dozens of fish. Every child is fat. At dusk, both the boys and girls of the brick village invited each other to go fishing for shrimp. The fishing rod is just a small bamboo branch, the fishing line is a white thread, and the hook is a bent bicycle brake line. Big and delicious crayfish, you can even catch the back of the basket. There are many ways to fish with nets, fishing nets, cymbals… Many households live by fishing. Why in the old days (in the 60s and 70s of the last century) shrimp and fish were so plentiful and delicious. Oh, when I go home, I wish I could be like the old days!