Ice fisherman bags limit with farm tools, becomes Internet star

Video showing a man ice fishing in Kazakhstan, exhibiting a style of catching that’d be illegal in the U.S., has gone viral on Twitter.

Video showing a man ice fishing in Kazakhstan, exhibiting a style of catching that’d be illegal in the U.S., has gone viral on social media, perhaps because of its raw and simplistic nature.

The footage, shared last Sunday by Twitter user Starshina73, has been viewed more than 7 million times.

The unidentified fisherman, accompanied by two pet sheep, is the picture of confidence as he chops a hole in the ice, baits the water with pellets, and hurls his pitchfork through the hole to impale four hefty fish (perhaps carp), one after the other.

The rest is a display of efficiency: The fish are cleaned with another farm tool and hauled over the man’s shoulder, on the prongs of his pitchfork, back to the farm, where they’re carefully seasoned, butterflied with twigs and dried over an open fire.

All in a day’s work, the man gestures at the end, with two thumbs up and a broad smile.

–Image is courtesy of Gabit Rahimberlin