Garda Lake Tirlindana Fishery: A 150-Year Tradition and Growing Federation
To catch trout, pike, or bleak, the traditional method used is the tirlindana, in dialect called “dindana”: a long line made of linen or cotton, ranging from 20 to 100 meters, with graduated weights for sinking, which must appear more or less diagonal. From this main line, three or four branches extend, five to ten meters long, made of silk. At the end of each branch is secured the bait: live, dead, or fake. When the prey bites, it is pulled in by boat. This fishing system, introduced in 1850, disrupted traditional methods, which relied on large trawl nets.
It was a stucco worker working for Count Albertini, a certain Ercole, nicknamed “Comasc” (originating from Lake Como), who brought a long fishing line wound around a wooden frame. He tested it in the area between S. Vigilio and Lazise, alongside a friend, Simone Malfer. “The results were astonishing,” recalls historian Giorgio Vedovelli. “On the pier, onlookers gazed with wide eyes at the large number of trout caught. The Comasc was… mobbed: everyone wanted to know his secret. Pressed with constant requests, he was forced to sell some examples of dindana, thus starting the incredible success this method experienced in a very short time.”
The Spread and Current Key Figures
After 150 years, this system is still widely used. Over 500 people on the lake practice it. To strengthen their voice and avoid being excluded from important decisions, they founded the Federazione tirlindane del Garda (Ftg). President Bruno Bologna, from Verona, represents the Pai group; vice presidents include Gino Battisti from Trento, and Gianfranco Compagnoni from Desenzano.
The other members of the board are: Italo Meneghelli from Riva and Adelino Lombardi from Malcesine. Secretary: Mauro Avigo from Calcinatello. Auditor: Giovanni Menoni from Toscolano Maderno.
The founding act was drafted after a series of meetings at the Comunità del Garda in Gardone Riviera. Present were all lake clubs, which have a total of 550 members: the Bardolino, led by Pierluigi Peron (email: lucianorossetti@tin.it), the Malcesine with Adelino Lombardi (sovi@libero.it), the Garda with Antonio Pasotti (info@hcampagnola.it), the Pai with Bologna (maurizio.pai@yahoo.it), the Basso Garda of Desenzano with Luciano Leali (klmonz@credit.it), the Spinning of Toscolano Maderno with Flavio Galbiati (silvia.menoni@libero.it), and the Trentino Riviera with Adolfo Pelizzari (tirlindana@supereva.it).
The associations mentioned above have always operated independently. Now they have united with the goal of promoting, spreading, coordinating, and regulating amateur sport fishing from boats, with particular focus on dindana, a name that recalls the sound of the bell attached to the tip of the flexible rod (which oscillates to signal a bite); organizing new events; promoting and encouraging the surveillance and protection of the lake waters, safeguarding the fishery heritage through restocking; and preserving local traditions.
The newly formed Federation will collaborate with relevant public bodies or authorities responsible for water monitoring and can organize fundraising campaigns in conjunction with celebrations, anniversaries, or awareness campaigns. “We would like to join the consulta,” says Compagnoni, “which is established in the Province to set rules and create the calendar—. Not to forget the issues related to seedings and the hatchery in Peschiera.”
“At the beginning of the century,” explains Vedovelli, “dindana had revolutionary importance. It liberated fishermen from dependency on merchants. They provided nets and sometimes even boats, at disadvantageous terms, buying the catches from each village. The low cost of dindana allowed the majority of the population to sustain a decent livelihood on their own.”
Starting in the 1930s, flyers appeared—abandoned nets drifting in the current extending up to 1,184 meters, deadly for coregoni and bleak. Made of cotton, they debuted in Gargnano (where they were called “antane”), gradually replacing the tirlindana, which remained the tool of amateur fishermen. Now, in a surge of pride, they have decided to unite under one roof and create a Federation.
