Kairijoki, glassy glides
River Kairijoki is a nice sized upper tributary to the mighty River Kemijoki. Kairi flows almost 40 miles through woodland area in SE Lapland. Most of the banks are open and fly casting is easy. Glassy glides and fast riffles alternate with slower water.
Grayling is the most numerous game fish here. Brown trout are being stocked but there are many holdover fish and some really nice wild specimens. Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) was introduced to the area many years ago and the population found in the tributaries is now purely wild. There are also schools of very nice whitefish (powan, Coreganus spp.) The river is not too difficult to wade. Chest waders/ hip waders may be useful.
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Meltausjoki, Raudanjoki & Kemijoki
Kemijoki is the main river in Lapland. It is very large and more demanding to fish in itself but the many woodland tributaries offer good fishing in the slightly tannic water. All these rivers here have good populations of grayling, usually augmented by stocking of brown trout. Also whitefish (powan, Coreganus spp.) is present as well as other species.
Meltausjoki north from Rovaniemi is over 30 miles long forest river. Here you can get into real wilderness area without actually not being that far away from forestry roads. This river is known for good sized grayling with the rare trophy fish to 3 lbs. Some areas are regulated for Fly-fishing only. As Meltausjoki is a free river, the best fishing starts only after the high spring flows have settled down during the later part of June.
Raudanjoki north-east from Rovaniemi is one of the larger tributaries with about 40 miles of interesting fly water. Most areas of this regulated river are quite easily fished with fly tackle but some wading is necessary in some places. There are some steeper rapids where trout abound but then there is lots of nice, streamy grayling water with easy access from the main North road (E4).
Chest waders/ hip waders may be useful.
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Tornio-Muoniojoki
Tornio-Muonio River forms the border between Finland and Sweden. This system is one of the major rivers in Europe with well over 2000 combined river miles on the Finnish side of the border alone. It actually is the longest free flowing salmon river in Europe producing annually at least 1⁄2-1 million salmon smolts. Many fishermen come to fish for the large, wild salmon but the excellent grayling fishing is often ignored. Large sea trout can be found in the lower river and in some of the tributaries but the population is not very strong nowadays. Brown trout are also present but also fairly rare. While large migratory whitefish enter the system in dense schools, they are not often caught on fly tackle.
The huge main river holds excellent stocks of grayling including many fish of specimen size. The average size is about 35 cm (about one pound).
Tengeliˆ, Naami and Äkäs rivers have some of the most interesting venues for the flyfisher. Tengeliˆ has very good grayling fishing and is has regularly produced trophy fish over 3 lbs. The other two tributaries mentioned are known for their sea trout but catching a grayling is more likely even there.
Depending on you wading skills a wading staff may also be useful. While the midnight sun may be visible, it doesn't guarantee warm weather. An extra pullover and a waterproof wading jacket will often make fishing much more comfortable.
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Simojoki
The River Simojoki is a nice woodland river at the southern border of Lapland. Most of the Simojoki game fish are grayling. They can be caught anywhere but the best locations are upriver. There are some brown trout in the river, too, but they are not very common. Simojoki has a substantial wild salmon run but like with all salmon they are not always easy to catch. The water has a tannic tea-colour.
Chest waders/ hip waders may be useful, there are some rough and fast sections.
© All text courtesy of Mr J Vainio.
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