Tolochin Regional Executive Committee
Vitebsk resident Vladimir Zhuravsky is fishing underwater
The famous saying "A fisherman sees a fisherman from afar" has a little-known continuation: "and bypasses". This means that you should fish at a distance from another person, so as not to interfere with the bite. But Vitebsk resident Vladimir Zhuravsky does not need to look for a secluded place, because he hunts fish underwater!
First there were flippers
The man became interested in spearfishing in 2017. During this time, he walked the entire riverbed of the Dvina River within the Vitebsk Chernyakhovka, rafted alone along the Luchesa at a distance of 30 km, which took a day and a half, traveled around about 20 different reservoirs and caught more than a dozen kilograms of fish.
And it all started completely by accident. One day, Vladimir saw an advertisement for the sale of fins on Kufara and was eager to buy them for catching crayfish.Suddenly, the seller offered to buy a brand new Italian mask and a gun. With such ammunition, Vladimir managed to master the wisdom of underwater fishing. Fortunately, a friend was fond of her since childhood and actively began to immerse the newly minted underwater fisherman in the basics of his favorite occupation. Since then, the guys have been diving for fish together.
– At first, I resembled an "underwater bum": an old leaky wetsuit from someone else's shoulder, swimming socks from different sets, – the interlocutor tells with humor. – Yes, and I scared the fish away because of my inability. But over time, the necessary skills appeared, and everything gradually began to work out.
The standard equipment of a scuba fisherman consists of a wetsuit, special socks or boots that allow you to walk on the bottom of the reservoir, flippers, gloves that protect you from the cold, a face mask, a breathing tube and an underwater rifle with a trident. To neutralize buoyancy, a classic weighting belt weighing about 10 kg and a vest with lead plates weighing up to 5 kg are needed, without which a swimmer will not be able to sink to the bottom. If the reservoir is shallow, the loading is done more in order to sink under the water faster, and if it is deep, it is less so that it is easier to surface. Ideally, if it is possible to choose a neutral buoyancy: then the fisherman will neither be pushed out of the water nor pressed to the bottom.
The most important thing is safety
For the first time, Vladimir plunged underwater in a small forest river in order to instantly get back on his feet in case of an unforeseen situation.
– In spearfishing, as in sports, you need to follow the rules and take into account the nuances. The greatest threat to the underwater fisherman is the heavy-duty braided lines found at depth, capable of cutting the skin. You can also get tangled in fishing nets and algae, so you always need to have a knife with you," the man shares. – There is a risk of catching ammunition on twitches, driftwood, iron lying on the bottom. Once on the Dvina I happened to stumble upon the sunken body of a ZIL car. Hatches, pipes and metal cables are also common.
Despite his solid experience, the fisherman does not dive into the water more than 5 meters, although some amateurs dive even 11 meters. But this can only be done in crystal clear water. The reservoirs of the Lepel region and Braslav region are considered the most transparent in the Vitebsk region, and the best time for diving is the period from June 10 to early October (later it gets too cold, and there is a risk of overcooling).
– The deeper you dive, the less the fish is afraid of you, – the diver notes. – When diving, it is important to be able to calculate the forces, time and air supply. Sometimes there may not be enough oxygen just 20 cm before the surface of the water, which causes panic and reflex gasping for air, which can lead to tragedy. You feel different in different reservoirs: in an unfamiliar place, due to the excitement of precious air, twice as much is consumed as in a well-known place.
There are a number of limitations in spearfishing. Here are some of them:
The underwater kingdom beckons
When asked what motivates you to go down into the depths again and again, Vladimir answers:
– There is a completely different world, different colors, life flows calmly and steadily, not at all like on earth. In addition, every spearfishing is a mini-adventure. Once, for example, my friend hunted in a shallow forest river in the Beshenkovichi district. Just a meter deep, he came across the tail of a huge catfish (apparently, the fish swam through a narrow channel into a forest river and could not get out). Realizing that such a giant could not be shot with an ordinary trident, a friend made the right decision: he went home, welded a metal loner and returned for an hour and a half for a catfish, which was "waiting" for him at the same place.
BY the WAY: Vladimir Zhuravsky is the lucky owner of a large trophy: once he managed to get a chub weighing 1.5 kg, tench more than 2, and this year a large roach weighing 700 and 800 g. For a 10–kilogram catfish and silver carp, the fisherman hunts with a harpoon, in other cases he dispenses with an ordinary trident. The maximum record of a man being underwater is 5 hours.
The diver assures that there are many benefits from underwater fishing: firstly, the lungs are strengthened; secondly, even an hour-long scuba diving noticeably improves posture; thirdly, the brain works faster when diving, since the main task of the hunter in the next 30 seconds is not just to successfully surface, but to rise with a shot trophy.
When asked if he had ever met mermaids in the underwater kingdom, Vladimir honestly replied that he had only seen beavers. In a busy work schedule, he always finds time for his hobby. And he considers the best food to be personally caught fish and mushrooms collected in the forest, cooked in a cauldron in the fresh air in good company.
Photo from Vladimir Zhuravsky's personal archive.
