Fishing with nets in Lake Mälaren, how does it work? We have tried it with friends who have a summer house on an island in Lake Mälaren. Really exciting! Here is a small report on how it went - and on our catch.
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A fishing adventure in Lake Mälaren
We spent a few days on the island of Ringsö in Lake Mälaren, where our friends Lennart and Beata have a summer house. Lennart has long been keen to fish with nets in Lake Mälaren, and now he had acquired fishing nets.
Peter has been fishing lots with nets in his life. When he was growing up, they set nets every weekend on Blidö in the Stockholm archipelago. So, we decided to go on a little fishing adventure together.
Fishing with nets in Lake Mälaren
There are plenty of fish in Lake Mälaren, and the fishing waters are popular with both recreational and professional fishermen. Which fish are most abundant depends somewhat on was you are in Lake Mälaren, but there are plenty of pike-perch and perch.
Of course, when you go fishing, you have to follow certain rules. These rules are designed to protect and preserve fish stocks and include, for example, restrictions on when and where you can fish, what fishing gear is allowed and minimum fish sizes. You can read more at County Council.
When fishing with nets, there are also rules on the length and depth of the nets and the size of the meshes in the net. Anyone can fish with nets in public waters as long as they follow the rules. We were fishing in an area where residents have fishing rights.
Organising the networks
We started by organising the nets. You don't want them to be tangled (which they were!) so it took a while to sort out the mess. Then we attached ropes with buoys to the ends so that we could lower the nets.
Laying nets
When laying nets, it is practical to use a rowing boat, but you take what you have. So it was a trip with the motorboat to the place where we chose to lay the nets.
Then we laid out the nets, piece by piece. We arrived just before the sun started to set. The days are not so long now.
It was really beautiful and quiet on the lake. When we switched off the engine, it was completely silent.
Weathering the nets
The next day, when we went to clear the nets, the fog was dense and completely milky white. We first decided to wait, but when it didn't clear up, we went out anyway. The nets were in a familiar location relatively close to shore and we had a GPS, so we decided to give it a try.
It was a slow and careful boat ride, until we found our orange buoys. Then it was exciting to smell the nets!
The result? We got three nice big walleye and two burbot. We threw the burbot back into the water and the pike perch were allowed to follow us back to the log cabin.
Taking care of the catch
Then, of course, it was time to take care of the catch. Peter is the one most used to handling fish, so he filleted them.
For dinner we had baked pike-perch with cream and prawns. For this we served homemade mashed potatoes with butter and parmesan. We also tried quick-frying half a lime with honey. Fantastically good, and fun to be able to eat your own catch.
Have you fished with nets in Lake Mälaren?
What a nice and pleasant day it was! Have you fished with nets in Lake Mälaren, or perhaps elsewhere? What are your experiences?
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Ama de casa says:
What a wonderful day (at least the fog-free one) and a good catch in a double sense!
We fished with nets a few times in our childhood outside the summer cottage in Byske. But it was quite tangled, so we switched to using chisels instead. And fishing rods. I love sitting and looking at a bobbing float. However, it's been so long since I've done it that I've even forgotten about all the mosquitoes too 😉.
01 November 2020 - 9:56
Helena says:
It was really a great experience and nice days (possibly apart from the fimma then ;)). Interesting that you used chickweed! That's for smaller fish, right?
01 November 2020 - 18:13
Ama de casa says:
We got mostly perch, pike and roach. It was well the varieties that were there, can believe. They were at least big enough to eat 🙂 .
02 November 2020 - 10:34
bmlarsreseblogg says:
Unfortunately we are not fishermen... We have talked about trying when we have been with the motorhome in Norrland because nothing is as good as fresh fish!
What a nice walleye you got and what a great meal it was! It was marvellous!
01 November 2020 - 12:10
Helena says:
We were pleasantly surprised to get such a nice catch! Fantastic dinner 🙂
01 November 2020 - 18:14
BP says:
What big walleye! Pike perch is definitely one of my favourite fish. But then you got a pike too, I see, and it's not good. It may have to go back to the pond.
It's great to eat freshly caught fish. It tastes completely different from the one you buy at the fish counter.
I have actually laid out when off an island in the Stockholm archipelago. But I let others who knew about nets and cleaning do the job instead;-)
01 November 2020 - 15:44
Helena says:
Pike perch is fantastic! Agree that pike is not so fun. We got three zander and two burbot. It was only the pike perch we saved, the others went back into the water.
01 November 2020 - 18:17
Lena - gott för själen says:
Oh walleye is so good! Lovely to eat your own, as I said. I have never fished with a net myself, but it looks cosy.
Hug Lena
02 November 2020 - 6:29
Helena says:
A little extra good when you fish yourself 🙂
02 November 2020 - 16:49
Anonymous says:
Ban net fishing.
02 November 2020 - 9:20
Kors och Tvärs says:
As I grew up just outside Gävle, I went out with my father when I was still living with my parents, and he loved to fish. Mostly with nets. Then it was to eat fish in all forms. It was best with freshly smoked pike-perch 🙂 But I have also eaten brine 😀.
02 November 2020 - 10:13
Helena says:
Pike-perch is fantastic! I don't think I've ever had brine, so we decided to let them back in 😉.
02 November 2020 - 16:50
Johan says:
Provocative article as this destroys the fishing something huge....
02 November 2020 - 10:21
Helena says:
So you are saying that if you follow all the rules, you are still doing something wrong? Then you mean that there is something wrong with the regulations then? We have fished with nets once in waters where the residents have fishing rights and caught three pike perch, I don't know how that ruins the fishing?
02 November 2020 - 16:52