Fishing with nets in Lake Mälaren - a fishing adventure

Writer: Helena Bergström

Updated: September 2026 | What is it like to fish with nets in Lake Mälaren? During an autumn visit to our friends on Ringsö, we set out to cast nets – and experienced both a magically calm evening on the lake, dense morning fog and a really nice catch.

A fishing adventure in Lake Mälaren

During an autumn visit to the island Ringsö in Lake Mälaren We stayed with our friends Lennart and Beata, who previously had a summer house here. Lennart had long wanted 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.

When fishing in Lake Mälaren, you need to follow the rules that apply to the location in question. The rules differ depending on whether you are fishing on public or private water and what gear you are using. There are special regulations for net fishing, and there may also be rules about, for example, protected areas and minimum sizes for different fish species.

We fished in an area where our friends had fishing rights. Since fishing regulations can change, it is always best to check what applies before you go out. Current regulations can be found on the official map service, among other things. Swedish fishing regulations, where you can search by area, fish species and type of gear.

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. Since it was autumn, the sun soon began to set over Lake Mälaren.

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 pike-perch and two roach. We released the roach back into the water and the pike-perch followed us back to the log house.

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.

READ MORE: Filleting perch - Peter's tips and best recipes

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.

A successful fishing adventure

It was a truly successful fishing adventure – from the mirror-like surface of Lake Mälaren when we set the nets to the milky-white fog when we pulled them out the next morning. And the best part was, of course, being able to end the adventure with home-caught pike-perch for dinner.