Riding the wind of rebirth

Chapter 1841: Fishing on the River

It is still the end of the rainy season, and the water of the Meigu River is extremely turbid. To those who don’t understand, it would seem that the river is filled with mud and is extremely dirty.

In fact, this is a misunderstanding. Although the river water is turbid, it is not muddy. There is only mud and sand in the river water. It is not dirty but quite clean.

Such a river looks very desolate and does not seem to have any living creatures. In fact, there are many fish in it, and many of them are types that Zhou Zhi has never seen before.

The Yi people are a bit strange. Unlike the Tibetans, they do not have a custom of belonging and worshipping fish, but they don't eat fish much either. This makes the Meigu River, which mainly flows through the Yi area, a paradise for fish.

Zhou Zhi likes fishing, but he likes platform fishing, which requires a calm water environment. That kind of fishing method is not suitable for turbulent rivers like the Meigu River.

However, the currents of the Yangtze River and the Hongshui River are also very turbulent. Fishermen on the river banks are familiar with various fishing methods, and many of them are quite professional.

When Zhou Zhi returned home, he only used two cigarettes to learn the string hook fishing method for dealing with flowing fish from an old fisherman on the riverside. Then he used the rest of the money to exchange for the address of the fishing tackle store with the best craftsmanship.

It turned out to be an old acquaintance, Old Song from the North Gate Fishing Tackle Shop, who made the purple bamboo cane for my youngest uncle and the bamboo fishing rod for my third aunt.

Although they had not seen each other for two years, Lao Song still had a deep impression of Zhou Zhi. When he heard that Zhou Zhi wanted to buy fishing gear to fish in flowing water, Lao Song inquired about the conditions of the waterways in Lianhe Township, got him a set of fishing gear that Zhou Zhi had never used before, and explained to him in detail how to use the fishing gear.

This type of fishing gear is called lifting-line fishing, which is also known as crossing-river fishing in some places. Lifting fishing is a type of traditional fishing and was once very popular in southern Sichuan.

Compared with ordinary fishing gear, lifting line fishing is very complicated. It includes a back rod with a pulley, a reel rod with a line reel and a mixing wheel. Through clever threading methods, an ingenious pulley set is formed between the back rod and the reel rod.

When fishing, first assemble the line group. One person stands on this side of the river, holding the reel and releasing the line, while the other person walks to the other side of the river with the back rod and fixes the back rod to a large tree or rock on the opposite side of the river.

Then the person holding the reel starts to reel in the line, and after the line group for river fishing is finally adjusted to a suitable level, the line group can be moved back and forth on the river by turning the wheel.

Starting from the connection point of the line under the pulley group, use medical tape or other sticky material to wrap two small bumps at a distance of three to five meters in the direction forward. This bump is commonly known as a stopper, which is used to hang fishing tags and bait trays when feeding.

The so-called fishing tag is a reel with fishing line wound on it, which can adjust the fishing depth.

Many fishing tags can be set on a main line, and each fishing tag is a fish hook or even a string of hooks. In this way, a line-lifting fishing rig can almost cover the entire river surface. This is the origin of line-lifting fishing, also known as river-blocking fishing.

Erjia is Zhou Zhi's partner in line-lifting fishing. After everything is fixed, Zhou Zhi inserts the lifting rod into the ground, hangs the fishing tag, and turns the wheel to send groups of fishing lines to the middle of the river.

There are earthworms hanging on the fishing lines. Zhou Zhi will also hang a bait ball wrapped in gauze on every three sets of fishing lines to lure fish.

The bay in front of Lianhe Township is about twenty meters wide, forming a backwater. There is also a stream flowing down from the mountain here. The stream used to be dry, but now there is more water sucked in by mountain dragons. The children have already found salamanders, frogs and crabs in the stream.

This bay provides a resting place for fish that swim upstream quickly. It is also a natural fish nest filled with various insects, seeds, and vegetable leaves that wash down from the mountains.

Lifting the rod also requires a certain technique. You need to swing the rod rhythmically in the fishing area, and use the big line to drive the fishing line and the hook bait to move up and down at a constant speed on the bottom of the water to lure the fish to bite. This method is called teasing fishing, which is especially suitable for fish that like to chase live bait. "Hey! Why did you set up the fish guard when you haven't caught any fish yet?" When Erjia ran back from the other end of the bay, Zhou Zhi was already swinging the rod up and down to tease the fish.

"Don't worry!" Erjia looked like an experienced driver. He held the fish in place and threw the tail into the river: "There are as many as there are!"

"How about you lift the rod to control the fish, and I'll take it out later?" Zhou Zhi tempted Erjia to do physical work.

Erjia waved his hand, indicating that he was more suitable for commanding the fish catching, while Zhou Zhi was more suited to doing physical work.

"Erjia, can you tell me about 'Let's Drink Opera'?"

"It's a day in October every year. We pound the new millet into rice, kill chickens, cook, offer sacrifices to our ancestors, and invite the great Bimo to sing 'Zanhexi, Xiouxi, Chinihanmaiwan, Nahaiquyimaidola'..."

"Wait a minute, what is the meaning of this song?"

"It's just eating new rice. Eat and eat. This year's harvest is good, and next year's harvest will continue..."

"Is that so? So direct?"

"I think so." Erjia didn't care about these things. Yi language is divided into modern and ancient texts, and little Erjia is not familiar with the language used in ancient songs. He is concerned about other things about the festival: "I want to make bait and give it to relatives, friends and the elderly in the village."

"Do you think this October is the Han October or the Yi October?"

"Uh……"

"Forget it, just pretend I didn't ask. It seems like it's already October in the Han Dynasty. Otherwise it wouldn't have fallen today." After Zhou Zhi asked, he figured it out.

"You know this and you're still asking me!" Er Jia got angry: "Don't you know I'm not good at studying?"

"Hey, you are not good at studying and you have the right to say so! Listen to me and tell you about your own calendar... You must remember this well." Zhou Zhi had a rare opportunity to show off his Yi knowledge to his Yi compatriots, so of course he couldn't let it go.

“You say, you say…” Erjia put one hand on the lower line of the main line. Because they were fishing in fast water, there was no float on the fishing line, but they could determine whether there was a fish by observing the tightness of the line and feeling the shaking of the main line. While Erjia said this, his attention was on the top of the line.

"You Yi people have your own calendar, called the October Solar Calendar, which divides a year into ten months, each of which is divided into thirty-six days, regardless of whether it is a long month or a short month. Five to six days after the end of the ten months is called the 'New Year's Day.' The 'New Year's Day' is at the end of the year, and after these days, the new year begins."

The Yi calendar is actually a very magical calendar. After Zhou Zhi summarized it from Lao Bimo, he also published a paper on it.

There are ten months, each with thirty-six days, for a total of three hundred and sixty days. The remaining New Year days are usually five days, and in the fourth year there is a leap day of six days. Such a calendar is easy to remember and has a high degree of overlap with the tropical values. It was completely scientific and practical in ancient times.

Each month in this calendar is also divided into ten days, but it uses the twelve zodiac signs to cycle. The zodiac signs are different from those of the Han nationality, but they start with the tiger. One zodiac week lasts twelve days, and three cycles make a month. Thirty cycles, plus the "New Year's Day", complete a year.