A lone ice fisherman

Nedre Rudasjön. One of the two lakes at the nature reserve in Handen. Just a few minutes walk from the commuter station. Normally you would see a few more guys out on the ice, but yesterday it was just this guy. I arrived on my ebike. Ice and snow on most of the bike paths. I got a flat tire after 15 km. Had to walk with the bike for 5 km.

Winter Returns

The temperature dropped a few days ago and we got a thin layer of snow. That change in the weather was enough for the ice to form on the lakes again. This was Nedre Rudasjön, the lower lake, at Rudan in Handen yesterday. A few people sitting, or standing out on the frozen lake ice-fishing. Oh, and please check out this video. I follow three walking channels from around Stockholm and a woman shot this from a lake in Nacka called Källtorpssjön.

Still Winter

Out on the frozen lower lake at Rudan, 100 meters away from the coffee drinking vikings in yesterday's post, a few tough ice fishers were having no luck at all. But they are probably back there today.

A chilly day at the lakes

I counted fifteen ice fishers at the lower lake at the Rudan nature reserve yesterday. Cold, -7C. The sun was out for an hour or so, but with the wind chill factor, it was just a tad too cold for my liking. No real fish luck either, according to one of the guys out on the frozen lake.

Nedre Rudasjön

The Lower Lake at the Rudan nature reserve. I always shoot this view from the jetty in yesterdays post when I'm at the lakes. On the second photo you can see three Eastern European men ice fishing from another jetty. It is not safe to fish directly from the ice. Eight men have died elsewhere in the last week in this country because they believed that the ice would be thick enough.

The Ice Fishers

Ice fishing is not my cup of tea. At all. And it will never be. But these guys love it. As seen at the frozen Lower Lake at the Rudan nature reserve a couple of cold days ago.

Ice Fishing

Another photo from my visit to the Rudan nature reserve last week. The Lower Lake is where you can find the fish, and these ice fishers were there to prove just that.It was a cold day, around -5C, not sure if they got anything.

Ice Fishing

I counted seven ice fishers on the frozen Lower Lake during my visit last Sunday. This guy was sitting further out on the lake compared to the others, maybe he knew something the others didn't.

Fact:

If you wear a camouflage uniform when ice fishing, the fish can't see you. And it worked because this guy had actually caught a fish. As seen at the Lower Lake at the Rudan nature reserve yesterday afternoon. The meteorologist had promised warm weather with a blue sky but that never happened. Instead it was freezing when I jumped on the bike for my daily ride. There was another ice fisher next to the camouflage man and he told me that the ice here was still around 20cm thick.

Fish for dinner

Noticed a few ice fishers out on the lower lake at Rudan so I tried walking out there, but the ice cracked and before I knew it I was standing in ice cold water. So I turned around walked back up onto dry land before trying my luck closer to where the ice fishers were standing, but the same thing happened there, so I shouted to one guy and he came over so that could get a few photos. He told me that the ice was around 7 centimetre thick and that this was the catch of the day.

The Ice Fisher

Walking out on the clear ice (roughly one decimetre thick), at Lower Lake Rudan in Handen I met Åke Bäckman from Jordbro. He was ice fishing, been sitting there for fifteen minutes when I arrived. No luck so far for the ice fisher, but we agreed that it was a good day, both for ice fishing and Winter photography, with a blue sky and a bit of sunshine to warm you up.

Icefishing

That was quick, considering that we got the first snow only last week. This ice fisher at Lower Lake Rudan in Handen told me that the ice was around 5 cm thick. I took the photo yesterday, today it is raining a bit and it is 2C.

Catching No Criminals

I walked out onto the frozen Lower Lake Rudan in Handen yesterday, and met a retired police officer. Lasse was ice fishing and as you can see from the evidence in the portrait photo, he had caught one fish when I arrived. I told him about a few of the other police officers I have met while shooting portraits around Haninge, and he knew two of them. The world champion Anne Sundell and, Björn Jansson, which isn't all that surprising considering that he worked for thirty years as a police officer in Stockholm. Lasse is a member of the local fishing club Lilla Fiskelyckan, but I don't think he will win any prices for this catch. Click here to see some big catches from this lake.

Catch of the Day

The weather was perfect for an ice fishing contest today. The sun was shining from a clear blue winter sky. The temperature had gone up considerable from earlier in the week and it was around 0 C when I arrived to Lake Rudan in Handen. The fishing club Lilla Fiskelyckan arranges an ice fishing contest at the lower lake every winter. This year they counted 25 people out on the ice, but for some reason only seven people took part in the contest. The winner had already gone home, but I did find one guy who had managed to catch a fish. The three guys on the last photo are the fish wardens at this nature reserve. The guy to the left is called Christer and I have met and photographed him a few times before.

The Ice Fisher

This is Einar. I met him out on the ice at the frozen Lower Lake Rudan in Handen. He is often here ice fishing during the winter season. He told me that the lake has been frozen for about one month now. He figured that the ice was around 15 cm thick. No fish luck for Einar, but just like angling, ice fishing is also a social thing, so Einar and the two other guys probably had fun talking about the nosy photographer after I had left on my bicycle in the cold.

Where's the Fish?

It's not a real winter without a few photos of the local ice fishers. So here are two guys I met at Lake Rudan on Saturday. Top photo shows Leif Lundin. Leif and the guy on the second photo are both members of the Lilla Fiskelyckan. That translates to The Small Fish Luck Club. But they had no fishing luck at all on this occasion, although they did plant some Rainbow trout in the lake later that afternoon. But as it was a beautiful day who really cares, fishing is really more of a social thing. Leif and Christer (whom I met and photographed here one year ago), told me a little about the ice situation here. First there's a very thin layer of ice, around five centimetres. Then there's maybe 15 centimetres of water, and then another ice layer. That second layer of ice is a bit thicker, around 30 centimetres. We also had time to talk a little about photography. Leif still has his old analogue Canon, but was thinking about going digital. I suggested an Canon Ixus or a Nikon Coolpix, so that he could document his possible future fish luck!

Nils the Fisherman

This is Nils Södergren from Västerhaninge. I met him on the frozen Lake Rudan the other day, where he was ice fishing without any luck. Although he did get 25 perch last weekend when he was fishing at Finska Viken (Finnish Bay), at Muskö. That's not the official name Nils told me, we call it that because there's always a group of Finns there fishing! Nils who is in his eighties has lived in Haninge for many years. He spent 17 years in the Swedish Navy ,and was stationed on pretty much every vessel they had during that time. Back in the late 1940ths there was a big fire in Handen (that's how Brandbergen (Fire Hill), got it's name) and Nils and the Navy was involved in putting out that fire (as was my dad who was a volunteer fire fighter in Tungelsta back then). After leaving the Navy, Nils and his wife opened a fish shop in Västerhaninge a shop that they owned for some 30 years (they sold it in 1989). After this brief conversation, I took a couple of photos and that was that.

Nils doesn't have Internet access so he said he'd have a look at my photos when visiting his kids. I hope you like the shot Nils!

Ice fishers need stamina...

Another ice fisher from Lake Rudan in Handen. I took this photo from one of the piers. As I was chatting to Christer (see yesterdays photo), this man walked by and said he was giving up for the day. Sadly none of the ice fishers got any fish during my stay, but it was a beautiful day and everyone seemed happy anyway. Most of the guys at the lake are members of the local fishing club. It's called Lilla Fiskelyckan.

Caught any trout lately?

That is what Johan can say as he was the only one who caught any fish. Here he is with two trouts that he got when ice fishing at Lake Rudan in Handen today. The ice fishing season got under way last Saturday. I talked to a few people and one of the experts told me that it is now safe to cross the lake as the ice is thick enough. If you would like to know more about the sport Wikipedia has more info.