Since time immemorial, people in Dojran have lived from the lake. For centuries, they have made their living from the lake and lived alongside it. Just as a hunter knows the forest and a farmer knows the fields, the old fisherman of Dojran knew the lake. He knew how to read the signs: when the wind would rise, when it would rain, when to venture onto the lake and when to stay away; when the carp would rise from the bottom and when the catfish would emerge from its hole.
From morning until night, from dusk until dawn, in summer and in winter, the fisherman was out on the lake.
In autumn, he wove fences from reeds — from the finest lesi — and used them to build fish enclosures, divided by naseki that led into funti, so there would be fish through the winter. In reed enclosures called pilištarnici, he caught birds — ačko, garo and kokaljka, the great and little cormorants, and the great crested grebe. He clipped their flight feathers and, from autumn to spring, used them to catch whitefish and bleak in the enclosures.
In February, on a sunny day, the carp would rise from the bottom and move into the reeds. Before nightfall, the fisherman would take his boat far from shore, carrying the grib net. Then, using an ispol — a scoop for bailing water out of the boat — he would beat the boat’s boards to frighten the carp out of the reeds. At night, the grib was hauled in. Six or seven people on the shore would pull its two ropes and bring in the night’s catch.
In spring, the fisherman prepared for the summer fishing season. He gathered reeds, which were left to dry through the summer. He repaired his boats and wove his nets. Then fishing began in the open lake. First came catfish, caught with dauli nets. After that came perch, caught with v’jci — long lines fitted with hooks baited with small fishes – bleak. The bleak had to be caught using special nets called Kolci so they would stay alive. Fishing began at midnight, by lantern light, because 350 hooks had to be set before morning.
Next came rudd, caught using lake mussels as bait. As summer drew to a close, preparations for the fish enclosures began, and one cycle came to an end — while the fishing continued… They say that before commercial fish farms appeared, Dojran supplied half the fish in Macedonia.
And just as a farmer’s grain, from a loaf of bread, becomes pastries, pies and cakes, the fish caught through the Dojran fisherman’s hard work filled a rich table: langida, reed-baked fish, fish soup, carp baked in a pan, roasted carp, a pan dish of perkiya — perch, catfish plakija, ash-baked bleak, fried fish, bream with rice, krashnik with carp, fried carp, caviar…
So, dear traveller, today, as you enjoy the lake’s gifts and the food it provides, take a moment to remember the person who supplied them for centuries: the labour he put in and the hardships he endured. Remember the Dojran fisherman — the provider.
Text by Igor K. Ilievski
The sculpture is part of the “Sculptural Installations/Toponyms” project by the Contemporary Art Center — Skopje. The project is financially supported by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of North Macedonia through its 2026 Creative Industries Development Programme. Supported by the Municipality of Dojran and Trivodi LLC, Strumica.
