I recently rediscovered an old hobby of mine. Well, calling it a ‘hobby’ stretches the truth a little – let’s say it’s something I used to enjoy doing and have wanted to do again for quite some time.
Fishing! I’d always wanted to try, and then I finally got the chance in 2011 when I was an au pair in Finland. My host family and I spent a week at the kesämökki; the summer cottage every Scandinavian has (and if they don’t have one themselves, they split one with Merit from accounting, Anders the IT-guy and Bjarne from the ice hockey team :D).
I’d never held a fishing rod in my hand, never hooked up a worm, never fought over life and death with a plaice, but after a few mild to severly poor attempts (the hook got stuck in some low-hanging branches or my host brother’s bum (luckily, hooking only into his trousers!)), I pulled out the biggest bass the world had ever seen; I can quite proudly say that I didn’t completely suck at fishing. 🙂 
And that’s pretty much all we did all day at the kesämökki. But I loved it.
Fishing is the most chilled outdoor activity ever – at least when you’re not an ambitious sport fisherman. You’re out in the green, by the water, you don’t have to talk to anyone, cell phone reception is bad anyway so it’s as good as off, bees buzz away on the meadow, birds sing in the trees, all the hassle and hustle of the city is far away. From time to time you hear a trout plop out of the water and dive back in again and provokes you, sooner or later, to try to entice it onto your hook.
To me, fishing means absolute peace and recreation. It’s the perfect opportunity to think and day-dream, to let go of all the stress and everyday obligations. It’s not having to be somewhere at a certain hour and, if you’re lucky, the cherry on top is a delicious self-culled fish on your dinner plate.
Now, fishing is not nearly as easy in Germany as it is in Scandinavia where you can basically fish anywhere in public waters if you follow the rules and don’t do it commercially.
In Germany, you technically need to pass an exam AND get an expensive fishing license, AND get another pretty expensive annual permit! It’s just as much stereotypical German bureaucracy as possible. But don’t despair – I found a cheaper and easier way: Get a “Touristen-Fischereischein” – a tourist fishing license, which is available to national and international tourists as well as MV-locals.
You can acquire it at several locations in MV . It’s about €25 for 28 days, can be renewed throughout the entire year for about €13 each time, and doesn’t require an exam. Make sure to ask the issuing authority about restrictions like closed seasons for certain species or privately owned lakes etc. as the fines for unauthorised fishing are substantial, easily amounting to €1000 or more even for seemingly minor offences or mistakes.
When going fishing, you need to always have your license and ID with you in case an inspector plops out of the water unexpectedly.
There are too many for me to name them all, so here you find a list of good fishing spots in and around Rostock. I personally like the Stadthafen a lot (particularly for herrings) because it’s close, and I don’t have a car. However, you couldn’t get farther from a calm, relaxed fishing experience. 😀 There are always a bunch of people down at the Stadthafen, having barbecues, enjoying a beer or just hanging out.
You should definitely give Warnemünde a try when looking for good fishing locations – they have guided boat tours to fish in the open sea.
Oh, and if you should ever (in all you fishing solitude) happen to encounter a fellow inclined fisherman (or fisherwoman), don’t forget to tap your hat and say the traditional fisherman’s greeting: ‘Petri Heil!’. It roughly translates to ‘Hail Peter’ with St Peter being a fisher himself and the patron saint of fishermen. With it, fishermen wish each other a good catch.
On that note: Petri Heil to you all!
On the Hook
