Angler of Preila Rimas: on the fish from Russia, daily life and the native lagoon to know | Lifetime

Coastal fishermen are like living architecture, The true heritage of this land, without which Nida, Preila or Pervalka would be different.

Talk to R. Lubis about life on the shore of the lagoon, daily life, fishing, adventures: 15 minutes of LIFE. We are talking right on the shore of the lagoon where your family’s fish smokehouse is located. Next door is the market, where tourists from Preila or only short-term guests come to buy fish.

Rimas fishes not in Preila, but in Pervalka, along with his brother: “We are two brothers of fishermen. On the bike path to Pervalka, there is a house in the middle of the forest. There goes my homeland.

– When you were born and raised here, fishing has been like you since childhood, so is it taken for granted?

– Not for us. My father was a forester. And the fishing occurred when he was leading. My wife is from Skuodas, we met in Klaipeda, where we studied and where I graduated and worked. And when I got married, my wife Vita and I went to live here.

There was no place to work, only in the Neringa fishery. It was then a government company. I got a job, I got an apartment in Preila.

Then it cost 240 rubles, so much was a price. And then the farm collapsed, the fishermen established their own businesses, allowed us to buy the vessels on preferential terms.

We caught a catfish that weighed 45 pounds. It goes, like on the table.

I immediately started fishing with someone else and then we started with my brother. He opened his own company. This is how we fish together, we share fish together. Now, the number of such fishing companies, in general, is already decreasing. It was one thing the European Union’s desire to cut those companies down, because everyone who wasn’t lazy opened up. Also, it is difficult to survive on fish.

– Why are the fish falling?

– Small fish.

– Why?

– What I know. We believe that no matter what scientists say, cormorants do their job. If one of them needs around three kilograms of fish a day, what do you think? And they catch a very small fish, then they don’t grow as big.

Consequently, there are dredging works in the ports, there is the so-called brine: sea water. As a result, freshwater fish are shrinking, Flees.

In the past, when there was a government company, we fished around a ton of fish a day. Now you go out (to the lagoon – aut.) – 20-50 kilograms. Well, sometimes there are a hundred or two hundred.

And now it is quite different. After all, when we officially work, we transport and deliver any … sorry. Any fish. We have for her kopecks

– And now?

– And now we all work on ourselves. You have to catch every fish. Each fish has to be sold to a man, to look him in the eye. And what will you sell? Just good fish. That’s what it takes Current fish what you buy. I don’t sell any roach, nobody buys it.

– What are you buying?

– Buy sea bream, starfish, perch, eel. Of course, with fishing there are also adventures, prohibitions on what and when to fish.

– For example, when you go to the forest to pick mushrooms and find boletus, there is so much joy, you know. It’s fun. And if you find some kind of bed, then not much. What about the fish you catch?

– It’s fun to catch more. We have six traps. Catch three, five units there. And last week we raised 20 pounds. The bag is like this. And then it happens: wow … Then it’s even more fun to catch some more interesting fish. For example, we caught a catfish that weighed 45 pounds. It goes, like on the table. And the sea bream is a common fish. Like a leper.

– What is the life of a fisherman now, what is everyday life?

– Our life is like a summer. We both got up with my wife at 4 p.m. We hook the fish to the smokehouse, the wife continues smoking and I go fishing. While I’m fishing, she smokes fish during those few hours.

I go fishing, we bring the fish to the market. And it so happens that she brings one. Then I go to gut the fish, and the wife organizes the commercial part: classifies, classifies, weighs, prints the prices.

Then we change. I sell while she goes to wash the fish. We distribute the work. After our conversation, I will clean the eel. And yes, from the fourth morning until the ninth afternoon, standing.

– Did you catch a lot of eels?

– There is. More or less, but there are.

– Why is the eel considered a valuable fish?

– It’s always been popular. Only the price, of course, started at three rubles and then continued to rise. It is greasy, delicious, valued in the market.

Of course, there are, they say, cheaper eels in Vilnius and Kaunas. But the lake eels are completely different. They come here from the sea in spring and autumn. You eat it and it melts in your mouth. And the lake is great. What do I know …

– Do you smoke the whole fish?

– All over. Raw fish is not valuable, you will not survive on it.

– If you buy smoked fish from different anglers, do they taste different?

– yeah

– What does it depend on? Spices added to love?

– Of everything. Spice, love, smoking. I tell everyone: give the same products to different gaspots: the taste of the final product will be different.

– Is it true that too many spices spoil the taste of fish?

That is correct for me. And the flavor of the meat is spoiled. We mix a mixture of spices with the fish ourselves. And suitable for clients. Therefore, customers also distribute what is right for them. There are also customers who keep coming, they don’t go anywhere except me. Others go to the next. Distributed.

Many new ones have arrived this year. I think here are the ones who couldn’t go abroad. Sometimes people say they haven’t been here in 20 years. That’s what they come for, walk.

– Are you sailing to the lagoon?

– With the boat now. It has an outboard motor. Fly fast we used to swim with such boots We drop the nets and then swim to collect.

– You said you dropped the nets and left. So how do you find them, don’t lose them?

– So here is your network.

– And the lagoon is big.

– Go now, big boys. Here you look big. Once upon a time, when it was necessary to have the rights of a pilot, the program required to focus on the moon, on the stars. What moon, what stars? After all, the other side of the lagoon is visible, and I see where to swim.

In a great sea where there are no visible coasts, this is so. And here? You build your own network, you know everything, you see everything. I have no idea how you can lose? Perhaps unless some poachers can lose.

– Are there poachers?

– He is no longer in our country. No fish

– This is your life in the summer. And in winter?

– Not in winter, we don’t fish. In the past, we used to swim. Now that fish in the winter at all less. In summer, the number of fish increases, the water heats up and comes from Russia. Because the lagoon goes to the Russian side of platinum, deeper. On the Russian side, the banks of the lagoon are not visible, there are large areas. When the water starts to heat up, all kinds of grasses start to grow and then the fish comes here. Autumn begins to cool, and then all the fish comes out. There is not.

Oh, and my age is not the same, 30 years have passed since I fished. It happens that for our enjoyment we catch the smell in winter. In winter there is recreational fishing. More fun.

– If you don’t fish much in winter, what do you do?

– We’re going on vacation. Frankly, I have been more in the Mediterranean than in the Baltic for the past few years. After the season you want to relax. Because summer sold us. Neither the summer nor the sea are visible, nothing.

– Is it possible to win all year during the summer?

– Possible if the fish is tarnished. Without raw fish. Maybe unless you’re fishing in the sea. We used to go to the sea, not now. If a storm hits, don’t pull the nets into the sea, consumables they. Many losses, you no longer have the opportunity to follow the weather forecasts. That is to say: it is enough.

In winter there is recreational fishing. More fun.

– It is said that people who live on the banks of the lagoon can tell many stories that many things happen here. Have they happened in life?

– Yes of course. But I don’t know what to say here. Sometimes someone drowns.

– And when you live in such a place, you know the ice, do you know when it is strong, when – dangerous?

– Jo But without checking, don’t go and always follow the predictions. There is an ice pick of the correct weight like a stick. This is how we did it: lift and run through a good sprint. If it makes a hole in the ice, you can’t go. And if not, then you go.

Or there also used to be an ax to cross the ice, iziku called. Long stem, iron. This also used to be the one with the ax in front. You should rise about half a meter off the ground and free to fall freely. If it doesn’t break the ice when it falls, it can go. And then everyone else follows, spider. And if pierced, water appeared, then it can’t go.

There have been times when a friend like that walked around, throwing an ax, as if playing like this. That ax pierced through, and he put his foot down, and slip. The bathroom itself. Bathing is a thing of the past and a lot.

– When you fell?

– yeah You drive on the ice with the equipment, you break. And under the ice pop.

– Every year, rescuers explain to the public how to behave safely on ice, what to do in the event of a fall. And you probably know it all, do you know how to deal with a break?

– I don’t even know how to say it. Get down. After all, you are not the one driving, but the road. Help once i got in it was like Investigation I jumped. A friend looks and says: Didn’t I understand how you got on the ice like that?

You need to look where you are standing. You think, the rescuers of the premises are very few rescued. Rescue most of the newcomers. There have been cases where you are rescued here, the ice is transporting and, on the other hand, look, others are already climbing on the ice. Despite the fact that here the police, the fire brigade met, an operation is underway.

Saying break into a cold? You know, it’s not cold. Gallon bee Adrenaline is produced. How does a person freeze? It is not cold for him, it is hot for him. For me, it was when we went with my brother and I fell apart. Pareit needed another good ending, a few kilometers away. And you get very good when you go out, very sleepy. Once you have unearthed, it is not cold for you. People freeze when they agree to rest. It goes, then it freezes. Apparently, blood circulation slows down.

But then you really want to relax. So I also wanted to sit down, but my brother kicked me in the back, he says. varom. One would go, maybe you would sit.

– Go to the lagoon, live such a life in general, do all fishermen probably pay and swim?

– Moku Of course not me. But all the fishermen who drowned all knew how to swim. This year he drowned in Juodkrante. In winter, near the shore. It freezes, apparently. It was also worth swimming. And in that climate, in summer, don’t drown. Last year, the captain of “Kurėnas” went down. There was a storm. There would be no storm, no drowning. This is what happens in life. This is the life of us, the locals.

– Lost lost after browsing?

– There was some fog, fog.

– Then what?

– Your death calm The bottom. You know, for example, that here, when nothing else, there is mud, a soft bottom. And that’s where the sand is, where it’s hard. And you orient yourself accordingly. Or looking at the waves. Now comes the south wind and you are about to orient yourself accordingly. Don’t swim to that place, come over to our side and then swim along the shore.

In the old days, he recounted how fishermen sailed and couldn’t find where they could see. It says: we will spend the night on board, night already, and we will sail tomorrow. And it turned out that there were only about 100 meters left to swim. Everything is prior.

– Do fishermen have superstitions?

– Do not whistle in the boat. He says the wind will whistle. There used to be a fisherman, he was very angry about the whistle.

– As you say, the lagoon is small because you can see the other shore. I remember how long ago, on the other side, we looked at the lagoon and wondered where Juodkrante could be seen and where Preila was.

– Do you see where the forest is? This is Cape Ventė. The Nemunas flows even more. And those other forests, already Russian.

– In fact, when I am in a place like this, here or in Rusne, for example, I always have a strange feeling: that feeling is to be on the edge of the European Union. You see that the European Union ends here, and there is another life there.

– Now that wall is separated by water bujai And as soon as Lithuania separated, there was none. We had raped him once, the Russians had dragged us and ourselves.

– How much did you break?

– Maybe about a mile. After all, come, look. Then we called our border guards and asked if we had entered the Russian side. There are more fish on the Russian side, making it as close as possible. And now many people are almost building networks on the wall.

Let’s see that a military ship arrives, with blew it.

It’s going, and then the border guards tell us: no, don’t hurt. There we installed networks, and after two days we sailed to take it. Let’s see that a military ship arrives, with blew it. Oh, let’s say we see where they turn: there is a wall. Turns out they swam us. Supakavo, dragged

At first I wanted to contact our border guards, but somehow it failed. Perhaps if our border guards had arrived, they would have drafted protocols and released them? And then in the tug, and out into the yard.

This time, someone from the then Russian President’s team, a Kaliningrad adviser, visited there. And apparently they wanted to appear, so they took us out. We were tied up on the shore, surrounded by soldiers with machine guns. Pakazūcha such.

Well, let’s see, come with the cars government. That adviser to the president came out, looked. And says: eta rybači (these are fishermen). Wondering what smugglers were? Then he shook her hand and walked away.

– And how did it end for you?

– List of fines. Obviously we didn’t have the money. Some Russian MGL said there. I don’t remember how much, but a lot. We tell them: translate into dollars. I’m afraid to lie, but maybe around $ 300 was then.

We called the homeowners, the friends took the money and brought it. They lined them up across the border to bring money. The soldiers took care of everything.

– Do you love your lifestyle?

– yeah Both love and love.

– And the fishy smell?

– Good.