Lake fishing in Bolmen
- Bottom net fishing
- Winter storage & production
- Fish farming
- Dry cleaning & smokehouse
- Live fish
- Fishing advice
- Bolmen & fishing licenses
Bottom net fishing
During our time as users of Tiraholm, fishing has been the main activity of the company. This is done with bottom nets, i.e. large fyke nets that are anchored to the shore and set at an angle straight out into the lake after the ice breaks up.
Each of them is specially made for the place where it will be placed. Some of the bottom nets are designed to catch large fish such as pike, pike and bream while others are designed to catch smaller eels, perch, whitefish and roach.
The bottom nets are weeded two to three times a week, in spring when most fish are active the fyke nets are emptied more often. In summer, when water temperatures are higher in the shallow waters, fish move to the cooler waters at depth. As autumn approaches, activity increases again for a few months and then almost stops towards the end of October. Then we take the nets out of the lake.
Winter storage & production of gillnets
During the winter, the bottom nets are stored on racks slightly above the ground to prevent rats, mice and other animals from getting at them. Next spring, when it’s time to put the nets back into the lake, they are pulled out into the fields around the farm and inspected and repaired.
We make all the gillnets ourselves, the material is purchased but then cut and sewn together according to the specific conditions of the place where they will later catch fish. A large gillnet takes several months for two skilled people to make.
Fish farming
A bit off our dock is the rainbow trout farm. Salmon smolts arrive at Tiraholm at around three months of age at the end of June and July and weigh around 15 grams. The fish are divided into three bags and the first period involves an intensive period of hand feeding.
We go out to the babies several times a day and feed them. Once acclimatized, they receive their food via a cleverly designed vending machine. From the dispenser hangs a stick, when the fish swim towards it some feed falls down, this allows them to have access to feed throughout the day and grow better. By the end of the second summer, they weigh around 1-1.2 kg and are basically big enough to be consumed. However, we let some of them get a little bigger before we put them into production.
During the third summer, the fish grow well and are now used in the shop and restaurant. In the coming fall, the remaining rainbows can weigh up to four kilograms. They will then be slaughtered, sized and frozen to be used for smoking and digging next spring.
Dry cleaning & smokehouse
The fish cleaner and smokehouse are located in a building near the pier. All fish caught or brought in from the fish farm first enter the cleaning room, where we wash and cool them with ice in a cold room. A lot of the fish are filleted, this is done in a specially adapted room, where we also dig rainbow trout and the fish to be smoked are put in brine the day before.
The smokers are lit in the morning, they are masonry ovens according to old drawings that are fired with alder wood cut from the farm’s forest. The salted fish is washed and hung or placed on grids in the smokers.
We smoke both hot and cold smoked fish, the hot smoked is ready after 4 – 6 hours. The cold smoked is smoked at a lower temperature and needs to be left in the smoke for up to 48 hours. Eels are always hot smoked. The hot-smoked rainbow trout is seasoned with different herbs and spice mixtures to give it different flavors. After smoking, the fish is quickly cooled down in a separate cold room.
Live fish
In early spring we sell some live pike perch, roach and bream. They are planted in other lakes and rivers.
Roach and bream are stocked in waters that have been limed to restore the natural fauna. Walleye are bought by various fisheries management associations to make the fishery more attractive and the water more species-rich.
Fishing advice
From the 1990s onwards, through projects, we have been in close contact with Norwegian farmers with access to lakes and fishing waters. Despite being one of the world’s top fishing nations, Norway has historically made poor use of inland water resources.
As we have a well-developed bottom trawl fishery in Bolmen, we have been able to assist them in this. This has meant that the Norwegians have been on study visits and Nisse has held courses, both theoretical and practical, in fishing gear construction both at Tiraholm and in Norway.
Bolmen & fishing licenses
With its 185 km2, Bolmen is Sweden’s twelfth largest lake and is located in three counties, Kronoberg, Jönköping and Halland. There is a great diversity of both birds and fish, such as eels, pike-perch, pike and perch.
The water is of high quality with a pH value between 6.7 and 6.8. There is a water tunnel down to Skåne, where Bolmen’s water is used as drinking water.
In the early 1990s, the Bolmen Fishing Association was formed, which among other things manages the sale of fishing licenses that can be purchased in many places around the lake including Tiraholm.
PRICES
Day pass: 180:-
Weekly card: 440:-
Monthly pass: €750
Annual pass: €1000
Family card: 1250
Fishing cards are personal and you can fish with two rods/card.
Fishing is free for children and young people under the age of 18.
