#ticinomoments 2019

ENJOY — LAGO DI LUGANO
7
MELIDE
01
01. Gabriella rowing her Gandria
boat at high speed in front of
Carabietta.
02. Manual skills, passion and
tradition: René is an expert
fisherman.
02
5 am. The alarm rings. But who talked us into
this? Now we're awake: let's go and catch our
fish for dinner. It's still night, but dawn is coming
and the water is calm and flat as if it were still
sleeping. Or maybe not. Trout, pike, whitefish
and many other kinds of fish abound in Lake
Lugano, especially in front of Melide, but also
in Agno Gulf and many other places. But these
must remain a secret, because fishermen don't
like to reveal their fishing grounds. Gabriella
Monfredini Rigiani knows this well, as her life
is bound to the water and the lake.
Raised in Melide (“But not on the lakeside.
We lived near the cemetery. Going to the Lido
was an event for us and we didn't make it to
the lakeside often”) she began fishing when she
was 5, following the example of her mother, a
fishing enthusiast. Later on, she was the only
one using the boat that her father bought and,
later still, she worked for years as a guide on
the boats of Lake Lugano Navigation Company
(she was actually the last guide in the flesh to
work there, “after me they used a cassette!”).
Did her relationship with the lake end after
that? Of course not! Quite the contrary!
Gabriella likes to row and that's always
useful on a boat, especially if the owner is a
fisherman who needs to cast or draw in the
nets. Gabriella has a pleasant personality, always
with a smile on her face. She has so much to
tell and her floral clothing is like a breath of
spring, even when the early morning air on the
lake is rather cool. For her, there will always be
a place on the boat.