By special guest Activist Angler Nikola Pisarev
People in some parts of the Balkans used to say: “Look at the clear water and you will clear your mind.” Someone clever probably once said that the best ideas are born when one’s mind is totally free and relaxed. That’s the only time we can speak, argue, and discuss with ourselves; it’s a time when we are very objective and self-critical. It is also scientifically proven that sitting by and looking out upon open water (whether a lake, river, or sea) is one of the best ways to relax the mind. If to this we add looking and concentrating on one point (a fishing float, top of the rod, fish indicator, or fishing line) we get the best method of concentration. Even stronger than all mighty yoga techniques! It is funny, but when I fish I can think most clearly about activism and activist strategies. Many times my fishing equipment is stored in the car, waiting for me to finish an action or event or whatever and escape immediately to the nearest waters.
There are many fishing techniques, both in freshwater and on the sea, that we use in the Balkans, but only one sort of fishing demands an analytical approach, creative tactics, and excellence in knowing local conditions, and this is catching European catfish. European, or Wels, catfish are the largest and strongest freshwater fish on the planet and can grow longer than 3 meters and weigh over 200kg. Luckily for me, in North Macedonia and Greece (my usual fishing area) we have several rivers and lakes with really good cats. The catfish live in the deeper part of slow-flowing rivers and lakes. Their main diet is worms, smaller fish, crabs, and frogs, but bigger cats feed on larger fish and even water birds like ducks and pigeons. Fortunately, cats don’t eat mammals, because considering their size they could be a real threat even for humans.
Fishing catfish demands serious knowledge, dedication, and knowing the habits of cats on the particular waters you are fishing. In the Balkans, there are specific ways of using baitfish, and clonking and spinning (mainly on rivers) with large lures can also be very successful. But even knowing perfectly all of these techniques, the results can be zero if you don’t know how cats are feeding and acting in local water. More than any other sort of fishing, knowing and understanding the local habits of cats — the local context — is critical to have a successful result in catfishing. And it’s often the worst possible conditions: thunderstorms, lightning flashes, strong rains, winds, and even earthquakes, that make for the best context for catfishing. Overall, fishing for cats is very complicated and demanding, but at the same time exciting and the sort of fishing that provides for unforgettable experiences.
Importance of Local Context
As an activist who has spent many years in community work and development, I always consider local context as something highly important to approaching people, getting their trust, creating friendly connections, and opening discussion about their problems. Honestly, fishing (as well as hunting) helps me a lot in my community work — not only in terms of being patient and learning to wait but also through long talks with other fisherman or hunters about our passions, I discover a lot about the local context.
Here’s an example. It was almost 10 years ago, and I was making my first steps in creative and artistic activism, when our colleagues from Kratovo (a city of 10,000 people in east Macedonia) called us to help them with a serious local problem. A landslide had made a pothole in a road almost 2 meters deep and over 20 meters long, several serious traffic accidents had happened, and people from houses below the road were under threat to be destroyed by the landslide. Kratovo is a small idyllic city where nothing ever happened, and since the late 1970s the whole city had been controlled by only one man. The same man was the employer of over 80% of the population, owner of one of the 3 biggest tv stations in Macedonia, and was well established in the Macedonian government in the period (2009-2017) when it that was not very democratic.
Responding to the call of our colleagues, we went to Kratovo to speak with the local people. My colleagues were trying to convince them to organize a petition, create a small protest, blockade the road. etc.… and the results were zero. Everybody is afraid to do anything where they would show up or put down their name: anything that might directly confront the local establishment. Totally disappointed, we go back home to think about what to do. After a few days we, decide to come back to Kratovo but instead of speaking with local activists and opposition people, I go to the road where the pothole is and speak with the people who live nearby. With a friendly conversation that starts about mushroom collecting, then growing domestic pigeons, preparing fermented cabbage, and the world conspiracy against orthodox Macedonia, the locals start speaking about the problem. During this pretty chaotic but friendly conversation, someone mentions that the problem has been existing for almost one year, yet no one had done anything except put few signs up for a damaged road and a reduced speed limit.
Like a flash, I get a crazy idea to throw a birthday party for the pothole and landslide. As we continue to speak about the problem, I tell the people my idea and explain to them that their only part is to come, eat cake, have a drink, and act like neighbors who just came out to see what is happening. Even though they are suspicious that something as crazy as a birthday party can change something, some of them agree to come to the party on road. A few days later we organize everything: cake, balloons, candles, birthday flags, and we create the event. In the beginning, only a few people come, but in less than an hour, attracted by the whole scene of the cake, music, and birthday party, the whole neighborhood arrives. The media is also there to cover the story, and the locals speak freely about the problem. We leave and during the drive back home to the capital city of Skopje we are not aware that we are the main topic in media. The action was so crazy that it became the top news of the day! By evening, the whole state is speaking about a crazy group of activists and local residents of Kratovo that organized the birthday party for a pothole in the middle of a road. Even Serbian and Bulgarian media report about this crazy action. By the end of that day, the Minister of Transportation states that they will immediately start solving the problem and in less than 5 weeks both the road and the landslide were fixed.
Cats of Pcinja River
Pcinja is not a very big river and its upper flow passes close to Kratovo. But even though it’s not a very big river, 10-15-20 kg cats are swimming in the Pcinja. Years ago we went there for fishing, set our rods, put different baits that should be a delicacy for catfish, like gigantic worms, bloodsuckers, small fish — we even found several mole crickets (Gryllotalpa brachyptera) which are known as one of best baits for the late spring-early summer period. Then we wait … one night, and then a second night with rain and thunder and everything by the book. Next weekend we do it again, but the results are only baby catfish smaller than 1 kg. I start asking around why the cats are not active. Considering that fisherman from surrounding villages usually do not fish for catfish, their answers are not so useful. Finally, I find one older man (why are they always an older man…?) that has a farm near the river and I start a conversation with him. We speak about everything except fishing because he is not a fisherman. At the end of our discussion, I tell him that we are trying to catch catfish. He answers. “I’m not a fisherman, but I remember my brother has a friend who is a fisherman and he was always going to the nearby swamp to catch frogs before fishing and he was bringing good catfish home.” This information was enough for me, so I immediately get in my Lada Niva and go to the swamp and catch a few big frogs. We then try fishing with frogs on the surface, on the bottom, and in all sorts of different modes and techniques. Finally, we find out that the frog should swim lightly 1 meter from the bottom. After that, we land several nice catfish. This year, during the pandemic lockdown, I visit Pcinja River many times and I always first pass by the swamp for frogs.
Immediate Reactions
Catfishing and activism have another important joint characteristic: quick reactions and risk management. Many times as activists we are forced to decide whether will we do something or not, and to do it urgently. Today or tomorrow, in a day or two, we have to organize everything because if we don’t do it we will lose public momentum and our audiences will decline significantly. Additionally, to react quickly we have to calculate risks.
It was the 5th of May 2015 and the leader of the opposition in Macedonia (now North Macedonia) is announcing illegally taped audio recordings about crimes of the government at a press conference. He releases audio files with conversation proving how the police tried to hide from the public the murder of the young activist Martin Neshkovski on 6 June 2011 by members of special police forces of Macedonia. It now was on us activists to decide whether we will do something or not. Will we call a protest? And will we be able to prevent violence and police brutality if the protest escalates? In one hour we decide we will do it. We put 2 speakers out in front of the government building and just play the audio file the opposition leader announced a few hours before. People start coming, with candles, with flowers, and the number is constantly increasing and increasing. We estimated to have a maximum of 1000 people come, and by around 21:00 there is 10 times this amount. Later the situation escalates: tear gas is in the air, police start arresting people, garbage bins are set on fire, and the whole city is on standby. But as the night goes on the protests ended and the police release the activists they had arrested. In the morning, the minister of police resigns together with the chief of secret police and few other top police officials. The risk and immediate preparations were worth it.
It is July, during the pandemic of 2020, and with face masks on we were trying to drink Rakija (a spirit made from grape widely used in south Europe) on the cost of Dojran Lake just a few hundred meters from the Greek border. We are preparing for an evening fishing for catfish from a boat. Dojran Lake is known as one of the best southern European destinations for cats, fishes from 100+ kg are not rare. The day is cloudy and we are hoping that some raindrops will increase our chances to land some good catfish. Enter the lake around 19:00, we put out an anchor around 300-350 meters from the shore in water about 7 meters deep. Slowly we set out the rods, 3 of mine and 3 of my friends, using different baits like chicken livers and live baitfish. We wait for the first hours of dark (“tiny dark” as locals in Dojran call this period when cats are active). Suddenly a southern wind starts and we can feel the salt and smell from the Aegean Sea. It was an incredible feeling in this pandemic year when we can’t just go across the Greek border to the sea even though it is only 50km from the lake. After this initial happiness from the smell of the sea, the wind becomes stronger (from 2, it increases to 4-5 Beaufort) and clouds become darker. Lightning flashes are cutting the sky and thunderclaps are louder and louder. It is ideal weather for catfishing… but also ideal weather to be hit by lighting in the middle of the lake in a boat with 6 seven-foot graphite rods sticking up in the air (all marked with the warning: Do Not Use During Lightning Storms).
It is our call what to do: Will we wait and maybe catch the fish of our life? Or save our lives and head for the safety of the shore? On the one hand, the chances that lighting will hit the boat are not extremely high, but on the other hand, graphite rods significantly increase those chances. Suddenly all our rods that we paid hundreds of euros for are completely useless. While thinking what to do we land one 4-5kg catfish and jump 3-4 times on the bottom of the boat while thunder and lightning strikes near us. We have to make a decision immediately, should we stay or should we go? How much risk are we are prepared to take? We make a decision: we pack quickly, leave the lake, and put all the rods in the car. And then we immediately get back in the boat and come back to the middle of the lake to fish like people did centuries ago — with only a hand-line. The thunder and lightning continue, the rain falls, but we feel much safer in the boat, and we survive the storm. The fish of our lives didn’t arrive, but we land a few more good catfish. Overall, the night passes great, even if we were totally wet and frozen, and we made a good balance between the risk of getting hit by lightning and our wish to fish. Most importantly, we survived and caught fish : )