Workers drag a fishing net in Chagan Lake, Northeast China’s Jilin province. This year’s winter fishing season has come again to one of China’s largest freshwater lakes. Photo: IC Photo

A fisherman punches holes in the ice of Chagan Lake to prepare for winter fishing in 2009. People living by the lake have preserved the traditional Mongolian fishing methods, which can be traced back to Jin Dynasty (266-420). Photo: IC Photo

Fishers prepare to place a net underneath the ice through a drilled hole in January 2020. By using rods, spears and hooks, the net that measures around 2,000 meters in length will be stretched into a circle under the ice layer. Photo: IC Photo

A worker sets a capstan, a machine turned by horses and used to pull the net out of the frozen lake, in January 2020. Photo: IC Photo

Horses push a capstan on the lake in January 2020. Photo: IC Photo

A fisherman sets the net using a traction rope on the lake in January 2019. Photo: VCG

A man catches fish during the winter fishing season of Chagan Lake in 2017. Photo: IC Photo

Fishermen catch fish on the lake in December 2020. The winter fishing season lasts for about 40 days each year. Photo: IC Photo

Rich in 68 kinds of fish such as carp and chub, the Chagan Lake measures 420 square kilometers and is one of the largest fish-produce bases in China. Photo: IC Photo

People gather on the lake to prepare for winter fishing in January 2020. Photo: IC Photo

On Tuesday, the 20th Ice-snow Fishing and Hunting Cultural Tourism Festival opened in Chagan Lake to mark this year’s fishing season. The presumably largest fish caught so far was auctioned for nearly 3 million yuan at the festival. Photo: IC Photo