Release date is 2025-06-16

Tapio Riikonen

"Onkikalastuksen opas" by Lauri Soini is a practical guidebook on angling written in the early 20th century. It offers hands-on instruction for recreational freshwater fishing in Finnish waters, covering gear, bait, techniques, seasons, and species-specific tactics, from simple float-fishing to live-bait, longlines, winter methods, lures, and river fishing. The opening of the guide explains why anglers succeed or fail, stressing careful tackle, natural presentation, and stealth. It then details equipment (rods, lines, floats, hooks, landing net), how to choose and rig them, and how to find and keep good bait—especially worms—and even store them over winter. Next come clear rules for timing (best months and hours), weather and wind, choosing productive spots (weed edges, structure, shade, inlets), and quiet conduct at the water. Species notes follow with concise tips for perch, pike, ide, bream, char, eel, rudd, tench, bleak, and roach, including bait choices and hook sizes. The text then introduces live-bait use and rigging, longlines (vela/selkärihma), setlines with floats or bank stakes (polokoukut), and ice fishing with setlines and jigs (pirkka/torkko). It closes this opening stretch with lure and trolling methods—trolling rods, spoon lures, feathered “flies,” artificial minnows—and begins a section on rapids fishing with natural baits and small lures, again emphasizing quiet, precise presentation. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Originally published: Kuopio: U. W. Telén & Co., 1909