Most of our guests visiting our fishing cottage during October are coming here to do pike fishing. The most popular dates are last week of September and first 3 weeks of October.
Most of our visitors do book at least 7 day holiday for fishing due unpredictable wind conditions of late fall. Temperature can be varying from minus degrees and snow on the ground to plus 15 degrees of celsius. Most often temperature is varying between + 5 to + 10 degrees of celsius.
In this blog text you can find fishing stories of our visitors starting from the October 2014.
As one of biggest and also strongest predator & game fish of our waters, pike is very important for our water ecological system balance. It is highly recommended to release undamaged species over 100 cm long.
When you use pike for cooking delicious meal for your family or friends, you can select smaller species for that purpose. We call that kind of fishin with daily fish quota by using a term: Selective fishing.
We do welcome all selective fishermen and C&R fishermen visiting us on Lake Saimaa!
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| Trolling for pike on Lake Saimaa 12 October 2014 |
In
October 2014 we welcomed another family of four, this time from Moscow.
The son and his parents used our cottage boats for fishing every
morning and every evening. We fished together for three days,
catching pikes and zanders. The mother of the family was the best in
jigging for perches, but the father caught the biggest fish of the
weekend during our trolling trip. The son also managed to catch some
very nice pikes.
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| Softbait spinning for perches on Lake Saimaa 11 October 2014 |
Latvian fishermen catching pikes on Lake Saimaa - October 2015
We started October with trolling and softbait spinning for pikes on Lake Saimaa with our
Latvian visitors.
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| Pike of 3 kg caught by softbait spinning near our fishing cottage. Picture was taken 4th October 2015. |
The day began windy but turned sunny and calm towards
the evening, letting us enjoy the fall colors and quietness of the Lake
Saimaa nature.
The beginning of the season of fall colours, from mid-September to the
beginning of October, is excellent for catching big pikes close to our
fishing cottage. The season of fall colours will last until mid-October.
From the beginning of October bigger perches start forming flocks in
the deeper water areas of Lake Saimaa. Bigger pikes are also moving to
deeper water areas to hunt vendace, which have their spawning season
from mid-October to mid-November.
You can easily find
both mushrooms and berries from the wild nature of Lake Saimaa during
October also.
Despite the very cold weather due north wind, our Latvian guests were able to catch 10
to 30 pikes on a daily basis. They selected some of the pikes for food
and released the most. They seemed to have really enjoyed their stay at
our fishing cottage, because just one week after their visit they made a
new reservation for us for June 2016.
Tip from our fishing guide and company owner Mr. Jari Kayhko:
I have been fishing for
over 30 years on these waters and I have learned that the period from the
beginning of September to mid-October is
very good for pike fishing near our fishing cottage. This is due to the
coldness of the waters in the end of September and the beginning of October which makes big
pikes hungry and ready for catching. There are also plenty of smaller
pikes hunting in shallow water, which makes fishing very active with
lots of biting and actual catches. From the mid-October bigger pikes are also moving to
deeper water areas to hunt vendace, which have their spawning season
from mid-October to mid-November.
October 2016
During first week of October 2016 we welcomed a group of six experienced fishermen from
the Czech Republic. This was their first visit to Finland and they
picked our fishing cottage on Lake Saimaa for their destination. They
liked our cottage so much that shortly after returning home they booked a
new holiday with us for the autumn of 2017! Our guests were especially
pleased with our well-equipped kitchen, our sauna and pike fishing.
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| Fishing Holiday on Lake Saimaa 1 - 8 October 2016 |
The
first days of their visit were spent looking for the best fishing spots
and the best lures. They caught pikes and perches every day and kept
fish of the nicest size for cooking. On the third they they spotted a
Saimaa Ringed Seal in the bay closest to our cottage – this was a
massive stroke of luck as this fresh water seal is extremely rare!
During
the first days of their holiday the wind was blowing from the north,
which always makes fall-time fishing challenging. After that the wind
turned to blow from the south and the west, which is always better for
successful fishing. The last two fishing days were the best for our
Czech group: on both days they caught 10 to 20 pikes, the biggest being
from 80 to 90 cm in length.
Our Czech guests were very
pleased with the fishing of pikes, but felt that fishing for zander and
perch was challenging in the cold waters (8 to 10 degrees Celsius). They
thanked our fishing guide Jari for all the help he gave in finding the
best fishing spots and the most appropriate lures for their holiday of
independent fishing on Lake Saimaa.
Mid-October 2016 on Lake Saimaa!
In mid-October I went trolling for pike, perch, zander and landlocked
salmon on Lake Saimaa with a Russian family I knew from previous
engagements. We started our fishing day after 9 am. with salmon
trolling. Our expectations were high, as the weather was perfect for
fall-time trolling and for spinning as well: it was calm and warm, with a
slight wind blowing from the south. First we learned how to operate
with 10 sets of trolling rods, talked about the best colours and swims
for wobblers and spoons, and discussed weather conditions as well as
other fishing issues the father of the family was interested to learn.
This family owns a country house in Finland and they have been fishing
with me a couple of times to learn more about fishing near their
cottage.
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| Pike Caught 15.10.2016 |
We started locating flocks of smaller fish and predators
hunting them, and eventually trolling took us over 10 km from our
starting point. Fish of the salmon family were passive, but we were able
to get several pikes while enjoying the beauty of the fall colours of
the Finnish nature. The best bite was waiting for us after midday. In a
period of less than two hours we were able to land and also release a
lot of pikes as well as several zanders. We kept some of the catch for
cooking a meal and released the rest. Our most significant landing was a
zander of more than 50 cm in length, caught by son of the family.
Overall, our fishing day was a success and I enjoyed the company of this
nice family very much.
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| Zander +55 cm caught 15.10.2016 |
In the third week of October we welcomed a fisherman group from Lithuanian. The temperatures were pretty similar with the previous week, and
the week started dry and semisunny but ended with rain. Our visitors caught
pikes, perches and zanders by spinning and trolling.
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| Zander +60 cm caught 22.10.2016 |
End of October 2016 on Lake Saimaa
In the last weekend of October we welcomed a charming young couple from
France. Before their arrival I had arranged warm clothing, boots,
fishing licenses and gasoline for our cottage boat for their use, so it
was easy to start their fishing vacation. They successfully started
their fishing vacation by spinning pikes near our fishing cottage, had a
sauna and a good night sleep before our guided fishing day together.
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| 30.10.2016 |
We
had a combined spinning and trolling day together near our cottage. The
morning was cloudy, which made the weather feel cold, so we definitely
had use for warm clothing. The beginning of our fishing day was quite
difficult. Every time we stopped to do spinning, we were able to catch
one or two pikes or perches, and this is why we changed fishing spots
fast. After midday pikes started to bite like crazy. We were able to
land and release several pikes in a period of less than two hours. We
ended our fishing day before sunset and we all seemed to be happy with
our fishing day. A couple months later our French couple made a new
reservation for the summer of 2017 and sent us these regards: ”We are so
excited to come back and see the cottage and the lake during summer
time!!!”
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| 30.10.2016 |
October 2017
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| One happy perch fisherman and 40 cm of perch. |
During first week of October 2017 we welcomed a group of six fishermen from
the Czech Republic back to our cottage. They caught good daily numbers of pikes and perches during their fishing holiday of one week. Weight of pikes caught by spinning was varying from 1 to 8 kg. Their biggest perch weighted almost 1 kg.
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Pikes caught 2 October 2017 by our Czech visitors.
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In mid-October 2017 we welcomed a group of six pike fishermen from Latvia in to our fishing cottage for 5 day fishing holiday. They caught great pikes during their 3 full fishing days in near by area of our cottage.
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Pike caught 13 October 2017.
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Our Swizerland friends catching pikes and perches on Lake Saimaa - October 2019
We welcomed our Swiss family back to lake Saimaa in October 2019 for a 2 weeks fishing holiday. They started by pike fishing at 7 th october in calm and warm weather. Biggest pike of the day was caught by trolling and was over 70 cm long.
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Biggest pike of first fishing day was over 70 cm long.
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Our Swiss group caught good size pikes and perches all they vacation by using trolling, spinning and ice fishing from boat. They were also lucky to see and take some pictures of Ringed Seal of Saimaa during their visit near our cottage. This year we had luck by weather, there was no hard wind and big vawes in almost 2 week time of their visit. They also had couple snow flakes falling down one of their fishing days, weather was close to zero then.
Our young fishermen did fishing every day of their holiday and every day they did also catching. I was was pretty proud of their entghusiasm and skills.
Biggest pike of 94 cm long was caught by father Max. They caught and released over 15 pikes longer than 70 cm and quite a punch of smaller ones. Great job our Swiss friends.
Third visit to Fishing Cottage Jokiniemi for our Czech pike fisherman - October 2021
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Perch 39 cm
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In
10–17 October 2021 Jiri and his friends stayed at our cottage for the
third time, having previously visited us in 2016 and 2017. Originally we
had planned a fishing holiday for them for the year 2020, but due to
the Covid-19 travel ban it had to be cancelled.
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Pike + 100 cm
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Their
previous visits had taken place a week or two earlier in autumn, and
they had had a lot of action with smaller pikes. Because this time the
water was colder and the water level was lower, they now made most of
their fishing on deeper water areas than before.
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Perch + 35 cm
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They told me that there
was less fish action, but the fish they caught were bigger, which made
them very happy. Average pike caught was 70 - 90 cm long, perch 30 - 40 cm long. Biggest pike was over 1 meter long. The first three weeks of October are always a good
season for pike fishing at Cottage Jokiniemi.
Landlocked Salmon and Brown Trout of Lake Saimaa
The minimum landing length of Landlocked salmon and Brown trout on Lake
Saimaa area is 60 cm. Due Finnish law from he year 2016, it is forbidden to kill any wild
landlocked salmon or brown trout species with adipose fin on Lake Saimaa area.
Fishing rules for landlocked salmon:
It is totally forbidden to fish any landlocked salmon during period 1 June - 31 August on Lake Saimaa area.
Fish quota is 1 landlocked salmon or brown trout with removed adipose fin / day / 1 fisherman.
By finnish fishing law it is forbidden to kill any landlocked salmon, brown trout, grayling or lake trout with adipose fin on Lake Saimaa area. Specie with adipose fin must be released immediately back to the water, dead or alive.
If you keep any endangered salmon specie with adipose fin, you can be judged to pay a fee aworth of almost 9 000 euros.
Good fishing season extends from May to beginning of June before the waters really
warm up. The best season for catching both landlocked salmon and brown trout that have removed adipose fin`s do last from October to November, when the water temperature has
fallen to 10 degrees and below. At that time, lanclocked salmon most
often bite at the surface or max 6 meters deep from the surface.
• Landlocked salmon and Brown trout of 60 cm long are weighted from 2 to 2,4 kg`s.
• Average size of Salmon caught on Lake Saimaa is from 2 to 5 kg`s.
Salmon of over 6 kg are concidered big. On Lake Saimaa the max size of
Salmon can be 10 - 12 kg`s.
• Average size of Brown Trout caught on Lake Saimaa is from 2 to 5 kg.
Brown Trout of over 5 kg are concidered big. On Lake Saimaa the max size
of Brown Trout can be 9 - 11 kg`s.
To learn more about sustainable fishing
of these species on Lake Saimaa, you can visit the website:
The Lake Saimaa Salmonidae Project
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Landlocked Salmon
4 kg, caught by trolling. Landlocked Salmon and Brown Trout are both
endangered species on Lake Saimaa. This is why Jari quit catching salmon
and trout with the adipose fins still intact in the year 2012 both in
personal fishing and on our company events. We only keep the fish that
have had their adipose fins cut out (they are planted for sports fishing
purposes) and
release all landlocked salmon and brown trout that still have the
adipose fin (as they are wild fish). From the beginning of the year
2016 it will be officially forbidden to take any landlocked salmon or
browntrout with the adipose fin by Finnish fishing law. Minimum landing
size is 60
cm for both species. Picture was taken 2nd November 2010. |
