Water inside the Cu Lay dam, built in 1978, overflowed at 4 a.m. on Thursday after heavy rains poured over the past two days as an impact of Storm Noru, which made landfall in central Vietnam early Wednesday.
Hearing the news, locals flocked to the dam, bringing with them rods and nets to catch fish. Onlookers stood by and cheered for those wading in the water.
The Cu Lay dam, at the feet of Hong Linh Mountain in Can Loc District, spans 200 hectares and can contain 13 million cubic meters of water, providing water for agriculture in local communes.
At 3 p.m. the rains began to pick up, but dozens of people, mostly men, still strung their nets at the dam's gate to catch fish.
Some people also stood in the back to catch any fish that managed to slip through.
The dam's gate spans 50 meters. The reservoir itself is over 20 meters deep.
Fish would typically show up every three to five minutes. Some people with good reflex would catch them immediately as they show up.
People would chase after fish, using nets to scour the water and pin the fish down.
"It's quite slippery and the water is quite strong. So when the fish show up and you chase after them, you have to be careful, or you could lose your footing and be swept away," said Nguyen Van Tu, 36.
After 20 minutes of waiting, a man has managed to catch two big fish.
"From the morning until the afternoon, I managed to catch 20 kilograms worth of fish. If someone has the stamina, the experience and better skills at using nets, they could catch 40-50 kilograms," the man said.
Some people use large nets and watch the water from above. If a group of fish swims by, they would immediately cast their nets. Each time they do, they typically manage to catch three to five fish.
At the end of the afternoon, people pack things up and ride their motorbikes home. Some people catch as little as three kilograms of fish, and others, 40-50 kilograms.
Besides feeding the fish to their families, some sell them at VND60,000-70,000 ($2.51-2.93) per kilogram.
"If they're lucky, there are families that will earn millions of dong today," said Phan Van Long, 32.
