ANGLING TOOLS
Fishing line (togna)
is the simplest and oldest fishing tool. It consists of a stainless-steel hook at one end, tied with string or rope, and a cork bobbin at the other end. More hooks with inserts, hand leads for lowering the hook and floats for signalling the catch may be added too. Lines used to be made of a male horse tail hair, as nylon lines had not yet been invented. A thin thread of mulberry silk was attached to the end and a hook was attached to it. In present times, the hook has been selected as one of 20 best tools in the human history.
Photo: A bronze spine hook, Sipar, 6st c. – 7th c.
Pušća (pus'cia)
is a fishing tool that was used to catch squid. It consisted of a wooden stick with needles arranged in a circle at the end. A small fish, usually a greater weever, was placed on a wooden stick as bait. A line, the length of which depended on the depth of the fishing ground, was tied to the stick and wound on a wooden or cork reel.
Foto: Pušća (pus'cia)
The longline
is the most important angling tool and is particularly popular because it can cover a larger fishing area. It is used to catch open sea fish and predators. It consists of a long base line/rope to which thinner lines are attached, with hooks and baits at the ends, at determined intervals. At one end of the longline there is an anchoring weight while at the other end an indicator float that can be a gourd, barrel or cork-shaped. When not in use, the base is stored in a wicker basket or wooden box, and the hooks are attached to the edge of the basket or box.
Cuttlefish lure (separiola)
is a traditional fishing tool that was used for fishing cuttlefish in the past. It is a 20-25 cm long cuttlefish-shaped plate made of elm wood. On the upper, curved section there are two notches containing two pieces of glass 2 cm in diameter while the stomach is covered by a layer of plaster. Two to three pairs of fishing hooks are then fixed on the head, and a ring to which the line is tied is attached to the tail. When male cuttlefish spot the lure, they move up in an attempt to catch it. One of them always get hooked while the others are caught by a small net.
Photo: Cuttlefish lure (separiola)
TRAPS
THE POT (vrša)
is one of the older trap-like fishing tools used to catch fish, Cephalopoda and crustaceans in our area. Traditionally, the pots were made of brushwood in the form of a cylinder with a funnel-shaped opening. This is so that fish and crabs could easily enter but couldn’t leave through the inner narrow passage. Pots are dropped on the sea bottom, usually near the shore, and marked with a rope tied to a float.
GRAMPA (a crab rake)
is a fishing tool traditionally once used for crabbing. It is a metal rake made of thin, multiply curved curved prongs, notched at their ends and mounted on a long wooden handle.
GRANSER (a crab circular rake)
is another traditional crabbing tool made of circularly arranged prongs attached to the long wooden handle, resembling big pliers. Every fisherman would make his own grampa or granser adapted to their personal fishing methods, which is a reflection of local fishermen’s resourcefulness and their art of f tool making.
Sergio Bessich, (Umago Viva, 139.)
” My grandfather mainly used two huge pots that he made himself by weaving a galvanised iron wire around a firm, heart-shaped frame. It was a big, transparent trap with a funnel-shaped opening on the flat, wide end and a small door on the upper side, through which the bait was thrown and the fish pulled out. He used sardine heads and guts, provided by a local fish factory to the villagers free of charge, as bait. He would get up before dawn to collect the pots by his boat and when he’d reach the right spot, he would throw a small anchor. Once the anchor got hooked on the pot, he would pull it out.. He never missed a pot! “
Ermanno Bernini, (UV, 144.)
“Many amateur fishermen […] used to take advantage of this (spring) period to catch crabs with gransers at a depth of several meters. The tool consisted of an eight meter long wooden handle with pliers that were operated by a rope that matched the overall handle length. However, the work had to be done in pairs, and a glass-bottom box was used to see the sea floor and point the boat in the right direction… “
FISHING NET MAINTENANCE TRADITION
The fishing nets were made of linen or hemp and at the beginning of the 20th century they started to use cotton as well. They were given a protective dye coating too.
The dye used was a solution obtained by grinding pine bark boiled in seawater. This solution was then poured over the net several times, or the net was boiled directly in the solution, and then left to dry in the sun.
The more commonly used nets were usually dyed one to three times in a three-month period and they could last for up to three years. The nets made of rope could last more than eight years.
The net dying work in Umag was mainly done by members of the fisherman guild on shore next to large concrete tanks.
Traditional Gillnets
Photo: A mullet gillnet (Faber)
Mullet gillnets (saltarelle)
were used to catch mullets which are known to be good “jumpers”, this is why a special net stacking system was required. The main single net was laid vertically on the seabed and anchored with reed sticks. The second, a triple net that stretched horizontally and was also anchored with reed sticks, was designed to prevent fish from jumping over the edge of the main net.
Sole gillnets (passarella)
are triple gillnets, about 1 metre high and about 20 metres long. They are used to catch sole from November to the end of February. The nets are lowered into the open sea in the evening and lifted out in the morning. They are laid vertically on the open sea, i.e., across the direction in which the fish move, always in a group of 50 to 200 pieces of interconnected nets.
The crab gillnet (squaineri)
is a single gillnet used to catch crabs, is about 1.5 metres high and 12 to 20 metres long. Umag waters used to be rich with crabs and were caught from January to May.
Fishing posts near the coast of Umag are set up with single nets laid in a spiral. The spiral faces north in winter and south in summer. The net is set in the evening and lifted out in the morning.
Triple gillnets (bombine)
are about 1.5 to 2 metres high, and were used to catch cuttlefish, but also mullet, annular sea bream, striped red mullet and cow bream.
Traditional Trawl Nets
Photo: The Grassis, a family of fishermen, with the “mussoler” net
Kunjkara (mussoler)
– a pelagic trawl net used for seashell /Noah’s Ark shell fishing. It is a conical bag-shaped net attached to a square metal or wooden frame forming the opening on one of its ends. The lower part, trawled along the seafloor, is held down by lead weights. It is considered a precursor of today’s pelagic trawls. The central naturally grown Noah’s Ark shell area stretched from Savudrija Cape all the way beyond the town of Umag. The Noah’s Ark shell fishing season is from January to April and the Umag and Piran fishermen were the main collectors of this shell.
Trate –
are trawl nets used during the seasonal closure of natural bays – fishing grounds. In Umag, the most famous was the mullet trawl net, which was used in the town harbour, as well as in the bays of Pozioi, Valelonga and Montarol.
Koćas and tartanas
are trawl nets for the open sea. In the past they were used only by the fishermen of Chioggia (Ciosoti). They required two boats, usually traditional wooden boats (bragoci), to pull the nets in parallel.
Trawl net – Saccaleva
is a square-shaped trawl net used for open sea fishing. It is used for night fishing: fish are attracted by bright lights placed on the stern of smaller boats, and more recently on a mother ship. When a school of fish is estimated to be large enough, the mothership travels in a circle and closes the school into the net. After the two ends of the net meet, the bottom of the net is closed.
Photo: Trawl nets on the quay
On the candle - multi-pronged spear
The multi-pronged spear (la fiocina) –
is a fishing tool used to catch fish, Cephalopoda and crustaceans. It consists of a metal fork with three or more prongs, attached to a wooden pole, usually 7 metres long. The spears have barbs at the end to prevent the fish from falling off. The multi-pronged spear is used for both boat and shore fishing as well as day and night fishing.
Fishing with light attractors (a fogo)
is a night fishing technique using a multi-pronged spear from a boat. The Umag region is characterised by fishing with a multi-pronged spear from the Savudrian batana, which has a built-in glass bottom on the bow and a lantern for night fishing. With a boat equipped in this way, people used to go fishing in pairs, at night, under the light (a fogo). One crew member would row from stern to bow in a standing position with two oars resting on wooden slats (brazzare), while the other would look through the glass, signal to stop and fish with the multi-pronged spear. All kinds of fish, squid and crabs were caught with this technique.
