Some time back I have helped a friend with writing a story about Russian culture. I wrote a manual on Russian style fishing, and I illustrated it. Of course, it is a joke, but with a good chunk of truth. Recently the story popped up from the pile of paper, so I decided to show it up. It might help you or your friend 🙂
You can say that fishing is a worldwide common thing. Don`t fall into such fallacy; Russian fishing is a VERY special fan. It is quite different from what other people think fishing is.
So, what do your need for fishing?
First at all, you need a river or a lake with fish. Well, as a last resort you can bring fish with you bought in a store; it is not ideal, but should work. However, you still need a river, a lake, or a pond, or, at least, a big puddle.
You also need a fishing rod with a line and a hook.
You also need some bait. About bait we will talk separately, it is an important topic.
And you need vodka!
Never forget about vodka when you go fishing!
You can forget bait or a fishing rod. You might forget even yourself, but if you forgot vodka, forget about experiencing authentic Russian fishing.
Get back to the bait. Worms are the best bait. The ideal option is to dig them yourself. Fresh worms with the origin known to you always work the best. So, the night before you plan to go fishing, organize a worm digging.
You can find worms at a riverbank, at a neighbour’s garden, or at a flowerbed on the street nearby. In the last case watch for police, you don’t want their attention. Don’t forget to bring a shovel!
It is important to keep your worms alive, but don’t give them a chance to evade your home. So, keep them cooled in a jar. Don’t forget the jar in your fridge when going fishing. To ensure this, put the jar with worms near the vodka bottles that you are chilling for fishing. Vodka, of course, also should be chill. By this way, you decrease the possibility to forget something really important.
The best time to start catching fish is very early morning. So, it is better to come to place ahead in a time, in the evening.
Spend some time to make your place comfortable: prepare fishing rods ahead and make cozy campfire to keep yourself warm. Vodka time comes when everything is ready. Vodka will make your nighttime warm and enjoyable. Just don’t mix fish bait with your snack. It is fine to eat worms, but how you will catch your fish after?
A couple of hours before sunrise is the best time to start fishing. So, put worms on the hooks. Well, if your worms are disappeared by any way, put your snack on the hooks, it might work as well. And go fishing! This part is common in most cultures, so I don’t need to explain it to you.
When you got enough fish (or silently took them from your trunk) time to make ukha comes. Ukha is kind of special Russian fish soup, which is an essential part of Russian fishing.
Put a pot with water into fire. Let the water boil. Put small fishes together with their heads, fins and tails into the boiling water. Add also small whole onion and some spices. Keep on the low fire 30-40 minutes.
At the same time prepare big fishes: clean them and cut into the huge, nice pieces.
Don’t forget about vodka!
Consuming couple of shots will make your cooking experience enjoyable.
After about half an hour remove all small fishes from the pot and discard them. You have now terrific broth for your ukha.
Put nice huge pieces of the fish into the broth. Add some salt and pepper. Keep it boiling.
Add one shot of vodka into the ukha. Remember! This shot is for ukha, not for your mouth! Of course, the next one you can get yourself.
Ten more minutes of boiling and ukha is ready. Pour it into bowls, add some fresh chopped dill.
Don’t forget to fill your glasses with vodka.
Enjoy!
You did Russian fishing successfully!
