(15 Oct 2013) Fishermen in the Czech region of South Bohemia gathered at dawn on Tuesday around ponds stocked with carp for a catch destined for the country's Christmas markets.
The carp haul, as it is called, takes place once a year in autumn.
In a centuries-old technique, gangs of men, and some women, beat the water of the pond with poles to scare the fish into nets.
The carp are then slowly scooped up, sorted by size and weight, and placed into water containers.
Hundreds of tons of carp will be captured throughout the country from the ponds using these techniques.
The carp are kept alive until they can be sold at holiday markets for the traditional Christmas Eve dinner in the Czech Republic.
Iva Starkova, who lives nearby, brought her young son Martin to see the spectacle for the first time.
"We are true South Bohemians, we live five kilometres from here and we like this landscape and the ponds, and this is the first time we've shown him (my son) the fish and the haul," she said.
The time-honoured practice is a scene played out across the Czech Republic in November, but particularly in South Bohemia near the border with Austria.
A group of Portuguese exchange students were among those gathered at the pond to watch.
"I am just amazed with the process itself, and how traditional it still is," said Angela Felicio, one of the exchange students.
"The size of the fish is just amazing. They are huge."
The region has an elaborate network of around 500 carp ponds interconnected with man-made canals that started to be dug in the mid-14th century.
By the turn of the 16th century, there were around 25,000 canals in the entire country.
Czechs, for the most part are big meat-lovers, and only tend to eat carp at Christmas.
Fish in general isn't so popular regardless of the season, with an average Czech consuming just 1.37 kilograms (3.02 pounds) of fish a year.
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