Seine hauling with the old man

We used to do quite a lot of fishing when I was young while visiting my father and grandparents. We did a lot of different ways like trolling in the summer and ice fishing in the winter. One of the most engaging ways to fish was the seine hauling. I got the chance to practice it again after few years with my father last summer. I thought i'd share some of the experience with you and tell you a little bit about this style of fishing.

embarked on the journey towards the good hauling spot.

Seine hauling is an ancient method of fishing dating back to stone age. Seine is basically a long net that is lowered into water and then hauled in to catch the fish. There are different types of seines like Danish seine and purse seine but the principle is the same. Seine haulin should not be confused with trawling where a net is dragged behind a heavy boat for long distances, though there are similarities.

Seine fishing with a boat illustrated by myself

The seine we used consists of two pieces of loose netting on the side and a bag of tighter netting in the middle where the fish are supposed to go. The seine has floats on the top line and weights on bottom line to keep it vertical as it is hauled. In this type of seine one end of the seine is anchored to a tree on the shore and then the seine is lowered into the water from a boat. Then seine is then dragged into a wide circle; the two ends meet, the net is then hauled from both ends onto the boat by two people. A net is lowered to the side of the boat to prevent the fish from escaping and they is scared with a striking pole trying to get them towards the rear bag.

I was pretty excited to go fishing again. The scenery was amazing as ever

The main fish to catch is vendace which is a type of whitefish in the salmonid family related to ciscoes, which are also caught sometimes. It is not uncommon to catch a single trout that has been hunting the vendace along with perch and pike perch. Large numbers of European smelt is usually caught with the vendace but they are not praised so much in the dinner table - though some find it a delicacy. There is an old Finnish children’s rhyme with a play where two people facing each other are holding hands and pulling each other in turns while chanting:

hauling the seine
catching the fish
ruffes go to cats
smelts go to dogs
big fish we eat
small fish we sell

There was a reproduction of this painting by Swedish artist Rolf Lidberg at my grandparents house. Trolls are catching salmon here by the river with something like a shore seine. This captures a certain feeling so perfectly, such warm memories source

The clouds were worth the trip alone

We used to go along with my little brother when dad and my grandfather went seine hauling. We would leave towards the evening and return after sunrise. They often did two hauls in a night if the first was light, so we held fire on the shore and fried some fish on grid iron while keenly observing the process. Sometimes I or my brother would get to be on the boat, and try and scare the fish from diving under the boat by striking a pole with a cup in the end to catch air and make bubbles. As we grew older we’d get to do more of the hauling as well. There is almost nothing more exciting to wait and see what is caught in the bag at the end of the haul.

Well, there is something

Sometimes the catch would be quite large, several hundred kilograms even – sometimes it would be completely empty. The fish would be iced as soon as possible and then If there was a lot we would drive around selling the fish to friends and stores in neighboring towns.
When you are first time hauling there is a ritual which you must partake, the oath of the seine-fisherman, which involves eating a single vendace alive.

That is a good amount of vendace

The hauling went pretty smooth other than that I manage to break an oar rowing as we were lowering the seine. My dad with his experience operated the boatengine backwards while I lowered the rest. Have to say, it is not as simple as it may sound. We ended up with about 50 to 70kg of vendace with this haul, which is not bad. Next day there would be some figuring out what to do with all of it.

That is about 50-70kg of vendace and small trout

Before we can get to cooking the fish must be cleaned. Cleaning the small fish takes a little dexterity. Common way to do it is making a little slit above the gills with scissors or cutting the head away and pulling the guts out.

I filmed my father here cleaning them In a traditional way of piercing by hand. You hold the fish belly up with your both hands and press your thumb between the gills detaching the front fins from the body, then gently squeeze and pull the guts out along with the fins. After a quick rinse the fish are ready for cooking.

Vendace is perhaps the tastiest fish around here and there are several ways to prepare it.

*Kalakukko made with perch ( we prefer to slice it like bread)
By Rst2000 - Oma teos, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21258168

Kalakukko is a traditional Finnish dish where you bake the vendace with some pork side inside a shell of rye dough. Perch is also used instead and there is also a version that is made with rutabaga instead of fish. It is served warm or cold, perfect with a little bit of butter on the crust.

Vendace is also excellent when smoked, and makes a great soup. Sometimes on the fishing trips we used to make simple shore soup which was just fish and potatoes – if you had brought some with you.
There is an expression when you get a big haul, which my father has been recently over using; "spuds will be spoiled." This is sort of the dry humor you get around the area.

The roe of vendace is extremely delicious simply salted; served on some rye bread with a sprinkle of black pepper and onions, maybe with a dash of sourcream.

My favorite is probably the simple fried vendace; the fish is coated in rye flour and fried in butter.
After the fish is cooked it is very easy to remove the bones from the meat just by pressing from top of the spine and splitting the fish open, then just pulling the spine of off along with the head. When fried I usually just prefer to eat the whole thing with bones and the head for the flavor and crunch.

Fried vendace made by yours truly

There you go, hope you enjoyed this post.something different for a change. Let me know how you like it and If you have any good fishing stories or maybe know more accurate terms in english leave a comment.

The process of turning into a deep-one is progressing nicely.

Photos: Mikko Lyytinen
Troll painting by Rolf Lidberg
Photo of Kalakukko
By Rst2000 - Oma teos, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21258168

Wikipedia: seine fishing
Sami J Taipale:
Selective transfer of polyunsaturated fatty acids from phytoplankton to planktivorous fish in large boreal lakes