Two, four, and even six fish in one stroke – something like this is only possible on a paternoster. Herrings are the most common prey of anglers, mackerel and saithe. Paternosters are real fishing machines.
Paternoster systems are fishing machines, and there is no exaggeration in that. In Norway or Iceland, fishermen actually fish with paternosters by machine. On an electrically driven windlass, the size of a car wheel with a wound rope, they lower the whole set to the appropriate depth. A one-kilo weight is tied to the end of the line, tightening the whole set (12 baited hooks). Near the coasts, however, already at such a depth, to which the web does not reach, large saithe is standing, pollock, cod, red sea bass and greedily attack all the baits carried by the sea. By pressing buttons, one fisherman simultaneously operates three paternoster windlasses. One set sinks into the depths, the other is already abandoned and is being fished on, the third set is in the boat and the fisherman is unhooking the fish. After a while, one paternoster drops again, the other is fishing, and the third goes up. Sometimes you can even catch it with just one pull 25 kg of fish.
Creating shoals
Fishing with a paternoster is so sensational only because of this, that many marine fish swim in shoals or herds. For example, mackerel in the North Sea create huge shoals in summer and hunt fiercely for large animal plankton and small fish. Mackerel are in constant motion and swim side by side. If the anglers manage to hit the shoal, this satisfying fishing takes only a few minutes. Mackerel suddenly disappear somewhere, so unexpectedly, how they appeared. These fish swim in the water, mostly to the depth 15 meters.
Squeezed herring
Herring also forms compact shoals, especially in April and May, when they swim close to the shores. Some shoals are huge, sometimes as far as the eye can see, others very small, only a few meters long. During the day, the fish move at a depth of from 1 do 3 meters above the bottom and that's where you should look for them. Saithe, which are probably more and more on our shores in the summer, behave similar to mackerel. For catching saithe most often used paternosters from Scandinavia with "rubber tubes". Cod and whiting also live in herds, especially the younger years of these fish. Unlike deep-water feeding fish, cod and whiting are looking for food just above the bottom. There you can also fish them with a paternoster – all you need to do is slowly pull the sinker along the bottom and move the lures in an attractive way.
Gentle twitching
The principle of fishing with a paternoster is always the same. The set, tensioned by a weight, is lowered to the selected depth, and then it starts to bounce gently, so that the artificial baits on the side straps imitate something alive as closely as possible. The smaller the lures are, the more delicate the angler's movements should be.
Colorful weights
For catching mackerel and saithe, colored lures weighing from 80 do 150 grams, while for fishing, herring triangular weights weighing from 40 do 75 grams. Special herring weights move circularly in the water, making small lures work even more attractively in the water when you pull them up. Focusing on cod, load the paternoster set with a pilker weighing from 100 do 200 g. This pilker should be flat and should dance well in water, thanks to which paternoster lures will also work better in water. The paternoster must not be longer than the rod, because then there would be problems with landing the fish. Many anglers therefore prefer rods from 3,5 do 4,5 meters. The distance between the hooks attached to the main line on the short side straps should be slightly larger, than the expected length of the fish caught. In practice, this means 30 cm for herring, 50 cm for mackerel and 60 cm for cod.
The paternoster itself should be made of colorless, as little visible line as possible. It is important, because the clearly visible line scares the fish very much. Line strength, from which the paternoster is made should be appropriately equal to: on herring two kilograms, na makrele, whiting and saithe around four kilograms and for cod five kilograms. The entire paternoster is connected to the main line through a solid carabiner with a safety pin. The safety pin must be very secure and easy to open, so that the tangled paternoster can be replaced at any time. A multiplier is the best for fishing from a boat, because it is easier to release the line from it when lowering the set to the right depth. A fixed spool reel is only better for fishing herring, when the paternoster has to be thrown.
More fish for peace
Keep calm after taking. Angler, who can wait a bit at such a moment, will catch many more fish. The first fish moves the entire paternoster and induces a food competition reflex in many fish. The angler must stay cool, when he feels, like the second, three, fourth, or even a fifth fish attacks the rest of the set's baits. Only then does it begin to wind the line – at the same pace and without a lobby.
Why no lobby? Because, that each fish pulls towards its side and only a firm winding of the line on the reel prevents the strings from tangling and detaching the fish before taking them out of the water.
After taking the set out of the water, put the rod upright and start unhooking the fish, starting with the lowest hanging fish. Fish are thrown into a deep bucket, so that neither of them jump on deck. After unhooking all the fish, stun and kill them all. The better they will be bled out (intersection of the gills), the longer they will stay fresh.
It is very important, because sea fishing trips sometimes last several hours.