Island of Ahti

Becoming real Archipelagoneases took a new step for us this weekend. A good friend took the boys winter fishing with a net that was put under the ice and moved through two
sawed holes. What a way to get  food! 

During summer everyone goes fishing - at least those who are on holiday - but since we moved here for good we have been too busy renovating and almost forgotten the best of living by the sea. That is to swim, dive, fish, sun-bath on warm cliffs and slide naked to the waves like otters. We shall now try to remember the priorities better!

Our favourite fishing net place is just beside the village harbour - so if we put the nets down in the evening we can row to get them up in the morning, clean the nets by our small boat barn and have a delicious meal by the lunch time. 

Our village waters are undevided property of those in village who own fishing rights. Depending of the amount of rights you can have a certain amount of nets. And then you need of course the fishing card, too.

We usually get some perch and pike-perch and could read from the news-paper last week that we even might get some cod next summer, too. The population of cod has gone down rapidly during the last decades but is now getting stronger.

For smoked fish you need a box, some alder slips, juniper and sugar cubes to give colour and flavour... Delicious!

And did you know that every year a centuries old tradition is followed by people of Korppoo when first the king of Sweden, then the tsar of Russia and now the president of Finland is donated a pike from this area for the Christmas table. It is traditionally served cooked here. It is something people here are very proud of.

This time there were no pikes in the net but a burbot which the eager new fishermen were given to take home. The burbot is a fish related to a cod and it hasn't any scales but a skin that is pulled off.

It is our first burbot ever and we have never even tasted it. It will be the main ingredience of our tomorrow soup!

And Ahti, he is the king of the sea!