Passing Hon Chua to fish for squid

After a long wait, the boat owner Tran Van Ty and his brothers at Phu Home - Tuy An Nam finally arranged a boat for me to go to Hon Chua. "You have to choose a day with calm seas, otherwise you cannot withstand the waves," said Mr. Ty.

Around 6 p.m., Ty, his fishing friends, and some tourists got on the boat. Before leaving, they brought mineral water, energy drinks, coffee, late-night snacks, and a bunch of fishing gear.

After an hour of sailing, Mr. Ty signaled his fishing partner to drop anchor. The fishing location was nearly 8 nautical miles, or more than 14 kilometers, from the mainland. The boat was anchored tightly, swaying and rocking with each wave.

Tourists experience night squid fishing at Hon Chua.

Once the boat was anchored, Ty and his fishing buddies began to thread the fishing lines onto the fishing rods and then began to cast. The baits were plastic shrimps, decorated by the fishermen with parachute cords wrapped around them to create eye-catching colors. Right below the baits was a cluster of hooks. The squids saw the light from the boat’s lights shining straight down on the sea surface and would come over. These baits drifted in the water, thinking they were bait, so they clung close to them and got hooked.

After about 15 minutes of fishing, angler Le Thanh Nhu pulled up a squid. This squid was not as “welcomed” as the tube squid, because it was far less delicious.

To improve their income, many fishermen take advantage of their available boats to take tourists to experience night squid fishing at an average price of 200,000 VND/person/night.

Next, the arms holding the fishing rods continuously raised and lowered to pull the bait moving in the water. A squid was caught by Ty’s hook. He pulled it up and it was just a small squid, about the size of a thumb. A few minutes later, Tran Van Hoan’s fishing rod was also bent. But when he pulled it up, it was a… silver pomfret.

At nearly 9pm, after nearly 2 hours of fishing, seeing that the boat had only a few dozen squids in it, we weighed anchor to find another location. In the distance, the lights of dozens of other fishing boats were still on, twinkling like the starry sky. On the boat, the fishermen were still clinging to the side, holding their rods and persistently pulling at their hooks.

According to Ty, summer is the season for going to sea, squid fishing, and also the season for fishermen to “earn rice”. But this is also the season of the rising south wind, when fishermen have to fight against each fierce wave to get to Hon Chua to fish or catch squid. Most fishermen with boats in My Quang Nam fishing village go squid fishing. They go out to sea in the evening and return the next morning...

Results after 15 minutes of fishing.

For fishermen fishing near the shore along the My Quang sea villages, squid fishing season is a hard season, but brings in a good income, averaging from 300,000 - 500,000 VND/night. On good days, some fishermen earn up to 1 million VND/night.

“It’s hard to get through the waves, but if you go a few kilometers out, you can fish. Sitting there fishing isn’t too hard, sometimes you see fish swimming under the headlights and you can quickly scoop them up. When you hit a stream of squid, you can drop the line and pull it out continuously to remove the squid,” Ty shared.

Looking at the squids still flickering, neatly arranged by size in each rectangular basket, one can see how much fishermen value their labor. Because earning money from the sea is never easy, whether the sea is calm or the windy season.

At 5am, the sun shines brightly, lighting up the entire beach. The last squid fishing boats finally dock, some with as little as 3kg, some with as much as 5kg. After helping their husbands bring the boats ashore, the women rush to carry baskets of fresh squid to sell in time for the morning market, while the fishermen leisurely pack up their gear, stride confidently and energetically across the breakwater, and return home to catch up on sleep so they have the energy for the next fishing trip in the evening.

Source: https://baodaklak.vn/xa-hoi/202509/qua-hon-chua-cau-muc-31115f0/