Fishermen all over the world know that lights are good for fishing.  Insects are attracted to light and fish are attracted to insects, so they have evolved to also be attracted to light as well.

Even underwater, tiny organisms like plankton and shrimp are drawn to lights which draw small fish.  The small fish also invite larger fish which can be caught by a fisherman smart enough to put the light there in the first place.

Many fishing boats are equipped with powerful spot lights intended to attract fish, and lights can be bought and installed under docks with the same purpose.

In Taiwan, this technique takes on a dramatic flair using actual flares.  This beautiful and unique style of fishing was filmed by Kenny Chen who released a sample trailer for us all to see.

Let’s take a look!

According to the video’s description, this type of fishing is only performed by a handful of boats in the North Coast of Taiwan nowadays.  As is the case with the boat in this video it’s mainly done as a performance.

It’s wild to see the wave of bluestripe herring follow the intensely bright torch wielded by a man perched on the bow.  Thousands of fish can be seen jumping at the flame as if their life depended on it.

These herring could even be conducted from one boat to another as they tenaciously cling to the light in search of food.

At the end of the video the fishermen can be seen getting “pulled over” by the coast guard.  The description explains that it was because their performance went outside of the designated zone.

The trailer ends with the words “coming soon” but it’s unclear how the full video can be seen.  You can keep track on its progress by following Kenny Chen on facebook and also see some of his other amazing nature videos and photos.

Source: Kenny Chen facebook (Chinese), YouTube (KennyHDV) via Karapia (Japanese)