The city of Ghent is a Belgian port city and a must-visit place to enter Brussels, where medieval architecture is well preserved, and a large number of historical buildings such as the ruins of the ancient city and the cathedral attract tourists from all over the world.
Originally built in the 12th century and built in the 16th century, st. Buff's Cathedral is not only a collection of Roman, Gothic and Baroque architectural appearances, but also attractive to the collection of artistic treasures, such as the three-fold painting "The Mysterious Lamb" placed in the left side hall of the gate, Pietro Rubens's "Introduction to St. Bavo Cathedral" in the church, and The Pulpent Delvocos's "Altar of Truth" and other carvings.
Gravensteen Castle, also known as "Earl's Castle", is a medieval castle in Ghent, and there are one of the few art galleries and museums in Belgium in the city, with a high level of art, and the architectural style is also unique; the town hall, the World Expo... It is also a popular sightseeing spot for travelers.
Today, the COVID-19 pandemic is increasingly easing under the scientific and effective control of the Chinese government. But it spread rapidly in Europe, and tourists fell sharply.
Eat two fish
People from all over the European Union go to another country for a holiday on the weekend is very common, the flow of people is difficult to control, many people do not pay much attention to the epidemic, thinking that it is the same as the flu, but it is a common disease, so in Ghent can not see people wearing masks, students go to school, sports competitions, parties and other things as usual, people who drink coffee and beer together are still so comfortable, which makes us living here feel stressed.
The city of Ghent has a benefit that all buses and trams are free on the first Sunday of every month. Of course, we like to walk around, but now we don't dare to go out at all, and we can only go out at night to see the night view of Ghent when there are few tourists.
Ghent does not have the ornate neon lights common in other big cities, it looks rustic, and the small rivers and canals that run through the city are everywhere, and it is difficult to tell which one they are at night.
St. Bavo Cathedral
Ghent has almost no high-rise commercial and residential buildings, and the most common are small two- and three-storey buildings and independent houses. Most of the houses facing the street are glass doors, there is no security door in sight, every home has a wide window, and there is no anti-theft guardrail.
There is no threshold for income tax in Ghent, and citizens are subject to a 40% tax on every euro of their income, and another heavy tax is paid on their year-end income after tax exceeding the required amount.
However, the tax benefits are good, most of the people in Ghent live very easily, like to exercise, small rivers, green areas, the street are planned to run, cycling line; kayak track, Skelter River, Rice River and unknown rivers, there are people who paddle and exercise every day, and there is no shortage of sports people on various types of courts.
The shell of the Bream is silver, which is completely different from the dark yellow body color of the Bream
We arrived in Ghent on January 21, 2020, when the temperature was only 0°C to 3°C, but there were still many people playing water polo and kayaking, many of them children.
Most of the citizens of Ghent are friendly, and people you don't know will greet you in a friendly way or send a warm smile when you walk by.
Belgium has three language areas: the Netherlands, France and Germany. Most of the older ones speak only native language, and only young people speak English. The official languages of Ghent are Dutch and French, and German and English are spoken.
I admire the salesmen in Ghent, who have to master four languages. Drinkers can find hundreds of beers in Ghent, foodies can enjoy them, and white wine baked mussels are a delicacy known as the national dish.
However, for me as a fisherman, I prefer the fishing environment here.
The Skelter River is a little farther from where I live, it takes about 40 minutes to walk, the Rice River is much closer but only about 10 minutes on foot, and the fishing spots that are often visited are generally only 10 to 20 minutes on foot, so I fish mostly in the Rice River, and the Scailt River only goes once in a while.
The Ghent Museum has a portrait of Li Hongzhang
For anglers, the weather in Ghent in February was terrible. At the beginning of the month, two typhoons followed, the wind and rain increased, many large trees were broken, and fishing did not want to think.
A week later, although the typhoon was gone, the wind was the smallest level 4, and it rained and snowed every day, and sometimes it was sandwiched between Xiaoice hail.
The weather in Ghent in February is like a child's face, and it changes when it says. Look out of the window rare sun out, I rushed out with fishing gear, just took out the fishing rod by the small river, the black pressure of the dark clouds flew over, looked bad, quickly packed up things, the rain came down, only 200 meters away from the No. 9 bus station there is a canopy, I took three steps and made two steps just stepped into the canopy, but the sky suddenly opened and fog dispersed, the sun came out again.
And I was so wet that I had to go home.
After that, no matter whether it is sunny or cloudy, I will bring an umbrella, but the wind in Ghent is not a joke, and if you are not careful, the umbrella will be overturned or fall into the river, if you grasp the umbrella, the steel skeleton of the umbrella surface will be broken several times by the strong wind, and an umbrella will be scrapped.
Ducks and wild ducks gather on the Rice River
In less than ten days, the son's umbrella was no longer available.
It is often said that traveling with a fishing rod is not enough to just stuff a fishing rod in your suitcase. I brought three hand rods of different lengths, an isok fishing rod, a fishing chair, bait and bait for three months, as well as drawing powder, bait additives, label boxes, sub-wire boxes, main line boxes, spare hook fishing lines and various gadgets, filling my suitcase.
I'd love to bring that big sturdy fishing umbrella, but it's big, heavy, and the suitcase can't fit. I thought about it again and again, and bought a big and sturdy new umbrella hat, which was more convenient than the umbrella and more sharp when transferring the fishing position, but unfortunately, the first day I went fishing on the Rice River, I encountered a strong wind, and the umbrella hat was overturned by the wind and sent to the river god.
I fished in the Rice River for almost ten days and didn't catch what locals call a 50-60 cm long fish, not even the red-eyed trout and white fish that can be caught anywhere in the Rice River, which made me wonder if I wouldn't be fishing in the Rice River.
The famous Gravinstin Castle
It wasn't until February 12 that I accidentally caught a 52 cm long, 1.6 kg European bream at a kayak dock that I was not optimistic about it, and I regained my confidence.
Madame turned it into a big pot of sauerkraut fish, feasting on it, leaving a lingering fragrance in her mouth, Madame smiled and said, "My son likes to eat fish, you can catch a few more!" "There are many fish in the Rice River, this task is not difficult to complete, even if there is no European bream, the red-eyed trout is always there, so beautiful fish, the taste must not be bad."
I have experience in fishing for red-eyed trout, but for three days in a row, whether it was an early rise or a late return, whether it was my favorite fishing spot or the kayak dock where I caught the European bream last time, the buoy did not move again.
Since I had occasionally obtained large European bream before, I used a thick line of large briquettes this time, which I think may be caused by the fishing group being too thick, so the sub-line is changed from no. 2.0 to no. 0. No. 0.6 can catch small fish such as European white fish and red-eyed trout, and then encounter large European bream, and the insurance coefficient is higher, but these three kinds of fish have not appeared again.
The moment the Bream comes out of the water
On February 15, Ghent was still cold, rain showers, and bad weather with winds of 4 to 5. Madame looked out the window at the heavy rain and gave a four-word comment: It is not advisable to fish.
I checked the weather forecast: between 14:00 and 17:00 it was cloudy and rainy, the wind was only four, and I felt that I could fish. The weather forecast in Ghent is still very accurate, often eight or nine.
In the morning, accompany the lady to visit the supermarket, take a nap at noon, and recharge your batteries to go fishing in the afternoon. After waking up from a nap, I packed my fishing gear, and the light rain outside the window drifted zero, and it really stopped at nearly 14 o'clock.
I came to what I consider to be the most promising river crossing, which is the entrance to the kayak track to fetch water from the Rice River, and there is a piece of backwater, which is sure to be the fish's favorite feeding place.
Medieval buildings dot the streets
I went straight to the fishing spot to lay the bait, then put the seat, assembled the fishing set, and mixed the bait - two flavors of thick and fishy, and when the temperature was low, I still preferred to use fishing bait with a strong fishing smell. I pulled the bait and threw it to the fishing spot, the buoy should have shown red and yellow eyes, but today there is only one red dot left, and it moves with the water.
The fishing group did not end, obviously the river rose and rose and fell for a day, completely irregular, at this moment the tail of the mark revealed two eyes, and after a while there was only one eye left. I don't know when I will show three or even five eyes.
I have an old fishing position located in the small dock of the river to dock the cruise ship, the place is spacious, comfortable and safe, and the water is very convenient, but the pier is connected by pontoons, and the river rises and falls completely.
On March 7, I finally caught the first red-eyed trout of the year
At first I thought that the change in the fishing eye was caused by the unevenness of the river bottom, until once I was fishing in a cement poured kayak dock, the first time I used a folding bucket to fetch water, I could directly carry the bucket with my hand to fetch water, and when I took the water at noon, I had to bend down and stretch my arms to get it, the platform that was originally exposed to the water surface of about 20 centimeters, there were almost thirty or forty centimeters at the moment, I suddenly realized that the original water level had changed, I don't know how much fish news I missed.
After that, when I was fishing in the Rice River, I immediately re-found the bottom when I noticed a change in the fishing eye.
In the evening after the rain, a rainbow rises over the Rice River
Both baits were tried and nothing was found after two hours. In Chengdu, the best bait for fishing in late winter and early spring is red worms, and red earthworms are ok, but unfortunately, Ghent's fishing tackle shops don't sell these two things.
I took advantage of my free time to throw some bait at the fishing spot where I caught the European bream last time, although it was not as good as the mouth of the river, but after all, I caught the first European bream here, so I might as well try my luck again.
Dark clouds gathered in the West again, and I was afraid that there was not much time to fish, so I simply moved all my fishing equipment over.
Bell tower in Ghent
The kayak's spacious docks took up a large part of the river, so I put away the long poles and switched to short poles of 3.9 meters. The wind on the Rice River seems to never stop, but fortunately it is the passage connecting the track to the Rice River, the water flow is much slower, and the buoy can be adjusted a little more flexibly.
The wind blows against the river, setting off layers of waves, and the buoys move slightly between the half eyes with the waves, everything is the same as in the previous days, this state does not look like a fish at all.
At this time, a group of middle school students rushed to the kayak, got off the boat to carry the boat, scrambled to cross the small bridge, and the two water birds were frightened by them and flew into the grove in a daze. With this, the fish are harder to catch.
At this time, the dark clouds were at the top, and seeing that the rainstorm was coming, I began to pack up my fishing gear and prepare to go back home, and when I found that only the fishing chair and the fishing rod were left, the heavy rain suddenly fell, slightly earlier than predicted. I opened the umbrella, I wanted to survive this heavy rain before cleaning up the fishing rod, but the rain was getting heavier and heavier, I held the umbrella with one hand, and the other hand alone could not clean up the fishing rod, so I simply sat down again to fish.
The raindrops are big and dense, the water droplets on the river surface are splashing, the rain and fog are rising, and the red and yellow label tails are a bit unreal, I just vaguely feel that the buoy seems to move.
I subconsciously reached out and grabbed the handle of the rod, but the buoy drilled downward and disappeared from the river. Almost at the same time, I subconsciously raised the rod, the heavy stingray felt my heart move, it felt very similar to the feel of the last time the European bream was hooked, my heart was hanging up again, if it was another big fish of more than 50 centimeters, the 0.6 sub-line was still a bit hanging.
The Skert River in Ghent
The fish sensed the danger and began to slam, dragging the fishing line and whimpering. I turned the rod sideways and pulled backwards to the right, and the fish spun around in a circle, and the pressure on the rod decreased sharply.
I took the opportunity to carefully adjust an angle that was more conducive to controlling the fish and its circumference, the fish was dragged by me to the surface of the water, and immediately drilled down, although the time was short, I saw its true face of Lushan, or the European bream, the back was dark, the scales were silver and bright, not as dull and yellow as the first European bream I caught.
No matter what kind of fish it is, at this moment, it must try its best to fight to the death, but it does not hurry to go around in circles, and although the force is large occasionally, it is a little bit of force, and it is very calm to cope with. The last struggle of the fish was surprisingly docile, and I had never seen anything like this.
The fish revealed its white belly, and its large mouth gasped at the surface of the water one by one. The net has been packed up by me and put in the fishing rucksack.
It's funny to say, last time I was helpless because I was not ready to copy the net, and I had to ask passers-by for help to get out of the predicament.
After that, whether there are fish or not, I will assemble the net first, be prepared, and do not want to put away the net today before encountering the big fish.
People often say you can't trip on the same rock twice, but I'm in the same place in the same predicament, but this time the fishing rucksack is right under my feet, and I should be able to handle it.
The hook I use has no barbs, so the rod cannot be lowered, and it is possible to dehook it with a slight loosening. I put down my umbrella, took out the net, assembled it as fast as I could, and the fish was still lying on the surface of the water panting, and successfully copied it into the net. The bream was measured to be 51 cm long.
Most of the houses in Ghent are small two- or three-story buildings with no security doors and guardrails in sight
There was still the last bit of fishy bait left in the bait tray, and I threw it in two balls, both hung on the hooks, and threw it into the river as a nest to make some preparations for the next fishing trip.
Just as I was spinning down the mesh to prepare for bagging, I suddenly found that the buoy was already standing high above the water, revealing half of the body.
As soon as I grabbed the fishing rod, the rod was bent into a bow in an instant, and the fish was still there. After several tosses, the fish was dragged out of the water, this slightly larger, or European bream, but the body color is dark yellow. Because the pier was so close to the water, I fished the fish with the head of the net in my hand.
I called my wife to announce the good news, and soon the lady rushed to the rain: "I am soaking wet, what fish are you catching!" Such a cold day, don't you want to die? "
Originally I wanted to catch another one, a fishing license can take 5 fish a day, only to be pulled back by the lady involuntarily.
On the way, the umbrella was crackled and crackled, the sound was very crisp, not as soft as the raindrops, looking down at the feet, there were silver beans jumping around, hail, fortunately I did not love to fight.
Temperatures of ~5°C are still people playing kayaking on the Rice River
Taking off my wet clothes, I checked the two fish on the Internet and found that although they were similar in appearance and belonged to the same family of carps, they were two fish of different purposes, the yellow one called European bream, and the white one called European bream. The belly of the Bream and the Bream are slightly different.
The first fish is actually called European bream, not European bream, but everyone is mixed up as European bream, just like Chinese bream and bream are all called Wuchang fish. In fact, the Rice River, as well as the red-eyed fish and the lake carp, all have a very similar appearance to the European bream.
Soon, Madame made one of them into a boiled fish, the soup was bright red, and the fillets were spicy and fragrant. My son and I exchanged praise, and my wife said to my son: "You have not eaten Sichuan cuisine for more than a year, let your father catch a few more, I will change the pattern for you to make." "
The Rice River remains picturesque in winter
The next day, when my son was about to go out, he told me that today there was sleet all day and let me take a day off to watch TV at home or surf the Internet. At about 9 o'clock, I saw that the rain was a little lighter, so I put on my backpack, took a fishing rod, and planned to find two new fishing spots with an umbrella.
On my return, passing by the small river pier leading to the kayak track, I tried it, and after less than ten rods, the buoy appeared with a clear opening. I waved my hand and hit! As usual, the fish circled underwater in a gentle manner, and was finally successfully captured by me, or a european bream of about 50 centimeters.
My son happened to be on a video call with me, and when he heard that I didn't have a copy net, he held out four fingers to me on the screen. I know that he is teasing me for tripping on the same rock four times.
In a hurry, I opened the umbrella with my left hand and stretched it into the river to hold the bream, and with my right hand, I put down the fishing rod and grabbed the slippery gills, and both hands used force at the same time to get the fish to the shore. Without a bag of fish, I put the fish straight into a small backpack, and eventually it turned into a sweet and sour fish on the dinner table.
The sky is not beautiful, every day as usual the wind and rain, but I still take advantage of the rain stop or the small gap between the rain to go to the Rice River to throw a few rods, more than three or four hours, less than an hour, 5 days down to catch 7 European bream, but it is a rare sunny day, I hurriedly went out early in the morning, ran three or four fishing spots to find nothing, the dock on the river connecting to the kayak track is muted.
I went hungry until the afternoon, nibbling only two biscuits, and finally came back from a belated heavy rain.
European bream of the Rice River
In the last few days of February, temperatures rose another two or three degrees. This is the best time to fish for crucian carp in chengdu, and the fish in Ghent are much more active.
In addition to the three fishing spots under the two road bridges, the seven or eight fishing spots I often go to can catch european bream, and even the small river mouth that I am most optimistic about but has not fished has also caught several european bream, which shows that the quality of the fishing point is sometimes really difficult to say.
Madame made fish every day, and each fish was full of color and fragrance, but there were more and more fish left on the plate.
Until one day, my son asked me: Why didn't I hear that you released small fish? I told him that most of the fish I caught during this time were European bream, only 1 European bream, the largest was 56 centimeters, and the smallest was 45 centimeters.
Since the beginning of the leftover fish, I have changed to leave small and enlarged, if there is no space in the refrigerator, I dare not take the fish home, otherwise the fish will change its smell in the heated room for half a day, and the smelly fish will be thrown nowhere.
The city of Ghent can only throw away garbage every Monday morning, residents have to put the garbage in front of their homes, there will be someone to collect, other times can only sort the garbage, with garbage bags to put it in the basement.
Ghent's garbage classification is very strict, kitchen waste, glass bottles, waste cardboard, metal cans, plastic bottles must be packed separately, the metal cap of the glass bottle must be classified into a metal can, the bottle should be cleaned, as long as there is an unclean, all the garbage will be rejected, the garbage bag can only use a unified garbage bag, and different garbage categories correspond to different colors, such as yellow bags for kitchen waste, blue bags for plastic milk bottles, and so on.
The garbage bags are all monopoly, the most expensive yellow, 0.8 euros a piece, the blue cheapest, 0.2 euros a piece. In other words, the garbage is paid to the government.
50 cm long and weighing about 2 kg of European bream are common in the Rice River
I had always wanted my wife to fish with me, but she was an acute child, and the buoy was going to leave without moving for ten minutes. The end of February was the time for Ghent to fish well, and it was time to cultivate her interest in fishing.
On February 28th, the wind was beautiful and it was a rare good day, and I invited my wife to go fishing. I had been feeding bait for three consecutive days between two long-moored cruise ships on the Rice River, and I guess I could catch it today. This section of the river is straight and is a very ordinary fishing spot, but with these two boats, the situation is completely different, and it is easy to catch fish near the obstacles on the river.
The fly in the ointment is that the river bank here is more than 2 meters high, and once the fish is on, one person needs to control the fish, and the other person goes down to the river to copy the fish. In fact, this is exactly the effect I want, and I hope that my wife can enjoy fishing.
However, when I placed a fishing chair on the shore, she expressed dissatisfaction: "It is inconvenient to fish in such a high place, or the big pier is good, I can still play eight dan nishiki." "
The other day I was fishing on the dock, and my wife was practicing baduanjin next to me, which attracted the attention of several foreign old ladies, who probably thought: Chinese old ladies can do martial arts!
Ou Ben was cooked by Madame's skillful hand and became a delicious sauerkraut fish
I pulled the big bait and smoked a dozen rods and then pulled the small bait, and the buoy was on the rippling river for a while 2 mesh, a moment 2.5 mesh, regularly going up and down. After a while, the buoy changed from 2nd to 2.5th, but became 1.5th.
As soon as I swung the rod, the pole fell heavily, and I hit it!
I have dealt with Ou Bream many times in the past few days, so I am very relieved to use the 1.0 sub-line.
However, the guy under the water changed the state of the weak Sven, emitted an unusually large force, pulled the fishing rod into a big bend, issued a sharp whistle, it changed direction quickly, sprinted violently, rushed left and right, cunning, refused to come out of the water for seven or eight minutes, completely unlike the European bream.
It wasn't until I was so tired that my arms were sore that I finally saw the true face of the fish, which was actually a bream, which was unbelievable, and I thought that it might be because of the rising temperature that made them fade their weak appearance and show their wildness.
It continued to struggle desperately, far more intensely than a wild carp, and I controlled it with great care until its belly turned white and it did not move for a long time, and then I handed the rod to my wife and carefully went down to the river to stretch out the net.
Just as I approached it carefully and extended the net to it, it struggled to stand up and plunge back into the river. Fortunately, the lady's hand holding the fishing rod was always working hard to keep the fishing line tight, which dragged the fish up from the bottom of the river again.
I thought this fish must be the largest fish I had caught in many days, but I took out a ruler to measure the length, but it was only 51 centimeters.
Fishing spots between two cruise ships
There were still two european bream in the refrigerator, and I gently held the fish, ready to release, and the lady was a little reluctant: "Wait, is it okay to decide which one to put after catching the next one?" "
This is not OK, the fish leave the water for a long time is easy to be injured, the possibility of survival will be greatly reduced, which is contrary to the original intention of release, so the release must be early.
After the release, I changed into a fishing group with the No. 2.5 main line with the No. 1.5 sub-line, and said to my wife: "You see, it is inconvenient for one person to fish, and two people can take care of each other." Madame's interest came, staring intently at the buoy.
Soon, a clear pause was seen by her, and she shouted: "Pull! Looking at the bent fishing rod in my hand, she excitedly held out her hands: "Give me the fishing rod, you come to copy the fish." "
Watching her with her hands holding a fishing rod against the fish, I was secretly happy that I was fascinated by fishing.
The fish is snow-white, 46 cm long and is a European bream. The lady excitedly sent a video to her son: "Look, how beautiful this fish is, Ou Bream!" Take it for fish balls at night? The size is just right. "
The son politely refused: "Can you eat the fish in the refrigerator first and then take the fish home?" "
Madame was a little disappointed: "What does it mean that the fish caught cannot be eaten!" Go home. "
My God, it seems that her interest in fishing is limited to the point of making fish into a delicacy, and I can't do anything about it.
The Bream and Bream of the Rice River are very similar in appearance
She went home to watch the TV series, and it was inconvenient for me to be alone in this fishing spot, so I switched to the kayak dock. Some time ago, the big European bream frequently took the bait, but now it is suddenly all fish, which is puzzling.
There is a shallow water next to the pier, overgrown with weeds, and there are many water birds that feed, including white-billed black-feathered, red-billed brown-feathered, gray-billed flower-feathered, and black-billed gray-feathered, each of which is beautiful.
With these passing water birds to watch, even if there is no fish hooked, it will not be lonely.
However, the fish was not absent after all, the buoy trembled slightly, and then disappeared into the blue waves, the long-lost mark was abrupt and clear, I lifted the fish in the rod in time, and the fish tossed under the water for ten minutes without leaving the water.
This time I was confident in my stout fishing set, calmly and confidently defusing each of its sprints, and finally pulling the fish out of the water, or the European bream.
Carefully calculated, I have caught a total of 16 European bream and 3 European bream in the past ten days, and what puzzles me is that where are the red-eyed trout and European white fish that used to be everywhere?
At 57 centimeters, this bream is the largest I've fished in the Rice River.
When I put it back into the water, there was applause behind me, and I looked back to see an elderly couple who walked in the area every day.
The left hand is the European bream, and the right hand European bream
I re-hooked the bait and tossed the hook, and finally grasped a slow and clear sign, the feeling of the stinging fish was not sinking, but it was real and familiar, and when pulling, I felt a tremor on my hand similar to that of a carp in a middle carp, and I guessed that it was either a European crucian carp or a red-eyed trout.
Finally, a small, slender fish with red tails, red fins and red eyes flew straight up, the silver scales glowed with a pale green luster, and the long-lost Rice River red-eyed trout, we finally reunited.
I put it back into the water, and it flashed lightly and disappeared into the Rice River. I think that in the cold winter, the red-eyed trout must be like the white carp in the Chengdu Lake Library to find a place cat to go in winter, only the European bream that is not afraid of the cold is still foraging around, just like most of the carp hooked in the coldest season of the Chengdu Plain is a reason.
The Bream is one of the least cold fish in the Rice River, so for more than ten days I have been fishing for all the bream.
The bream is so nutritious that it tastes delicious no matter how you do it
I have heard many times about the Joe trout, eel, pike perch, black perch, perch, salmon, crucian carp, winter cave fish... There are also many fish such as "Kevin Rudd" and "Sentence Fish" that I have never heard of or seen, and even a Pike (Pike) with a body length of more than 70 centimeters, and I look forward to meeting them one by one in March. (Sichuan Li Zhaocheng)