Winter Fishing is coming

Ice fishing is a very popular activity during the winter months in the northern hemisphere.
Korea is known to be a fishing nation and it is no surprise that ice fishing is a favorite past time.

Every winter an Ice Fishing Festival is organized in the Hwacheon Province, South Korea.
This is just at the border to North Korea in an area known as the Korean Demilitarized Zone.

The festival attracts tourists from all over the world. Thousands of competitors try to catch as many sancheoneo (wild trout) as possible.
There are roughly 1,000,000 visitors annually.
To participate in the fishing competition, you will need to register online before the festival starts.

If you are used to Ice Fishing in a tranquil environment the pictures might be shocking.
People are crowded together on a section of the river that almost looks like a stadium.
There are virtually millions of holes drilled into the ice and one wonders if the ice will hold all these masses.
Considering all these people I would think that there are hardly any fish left, but its seems the chances of catching a trout are fairly high.

It is always interesting to see what fishing is like in other parts of the world.
Being spoiled by the pristine wilderness in New Zealand and having to share my fishing spots only with some seaguls, this event kind of blows my mind.

Here are a few images and videos to see for yourself.

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