Opening words by company owner Jari Käyhkö
Our company has been offering guiding services since 2010 as well as cottage accommodation and equipment for independent fishing since 2013. During the past decade fishing culture has changed a lot in our area of Lake Saimaa towards a more sustainable and protective way of fishing. It has been a new path both for me and many of our visitors.
Wild Landlocked Salmon, Brown Trout, Lake Trout and Grayling are endangered species in Lake Saimaa area. These species have been widely protected by the Finnish fishing law and protection acts since 2016. The fine for killing a protected fish species can be up to 8 000 euros. Our company organized our last trolling trip for catching landlocked salmon in 2014. All the fish we caught were released.
 |
| Jari and 4 kg landlocked salmon caught october 2010. In the year 2012 I caught my last personal Salmon fish killed. In the year 2014 I organized the very last fishing trip for catching salmonids on Lake Saimaa so far. |
The most wanted
game fish species in our area are Pike, Perch and Zander. We do
follow daily fishing amount and fish size quotas when fishing these
species. I have been proud to notice that pretty much all big pikes
over 100 cm long as well as perches over 40 cm long and zanders over
75 cm long are released by our visitors. They keep the smaller fish
for cooking.
So far the biggest pike released has been 118 cm
long, zander released 80 cm long and pech released 43 cm long. I want
to thank all these groups for sharing our company values and fishing
philosophy.
 |
| I want to thank all our visitors of the past decade who have been following our company values of sustainable fishing. |
Last February I ordered a Garmin Livescope system, which was delivered in mid-March and finally assembled ready for use near Easter and the last couple of weeks of our ice fishing season. I bought all the accessories ready-made when possible, but some components I was forced to build myself, as well as putting it all together.
First trips on ice were basically for learning how to use and adjust the device. I did not make many changes to the factory settings, which made the start relatively easy. The hardest part was learning how to read the screen. I did find this device very useful in locating the fish, as its wide 25–30 meter beam makes it faster to find the fish than with a normal ice fishing sonar. Naturally we still need luck and basic knowledge of fishing to catch, but the device made winter fishing much more visual for me.
 |
| My Live sonar winter set up. |
In May it was time to put it all together in my boat, which meant
another intensive adjustment project and manufacturing some parts I
needed. After a couple of days of hard work I was finally ready to start
the open water learning process. My first mistake was to try adjust
settings while my boat was moving 5-6 km per hour. I was basically
trying to adjust the device to be as sensitive as possible, but
reflections as well another disturbances made reading the screen very
difficult. As a typical man I went to YouTube to watch some
instructional videos later on. They helped a little and finally in the
beginning of August I was able to get as clear a screen as possible for
fishing in deep water of over 4 meters deep. From now on it was
relatively easy to see the lure hitting the water surface and sinking
near the bottom, as well as how the fish were reacting to the lures I
and my clients were using. The device works best when there aren’t much
waves, because the boat chassis rolling constantly from side to side
makes it difficult to follow the lure. There are also some dead zones in
which the sinking lure disappears. All in all I am very happy with this
device. It has taught me more about underwater life and made fishing
much more visual and effective both for me and my clients. But yes, it
has also made us live some very annoying moments when the fish have been
very picky and we have seen them come to check our lures only to turn
away without a bite!
 |
| This 45 cm zander was located and caught by using Live sonar during Easter 2024. |
May for Fishermen
Most often Lake Saimaa is open of ice by May 1st. Sometimes it can
take until May 5th–7th for the ice to melt, but there have also
been years when the lake was free of ice on the last week of
April. In the year 2024 Saimaa was open of ice 3 rd May.
The first and second weeks of May are normally cold and
challenging for catching. Bite periods are short, less than one hour.
The best times for catching are mostly in the morning before 9:00 and
once again in the evening after 17:00. There is 20 hours of daylight
for catching this time of the year. Water temperatures vary from 3 to
8 degrees Celsius.
This is the season for catching pike and
perch in shallow water less than 3 meters deep, but deep pools down
to 9 meters deep can also give good size pikes. Catching zander by
spinning is very difficult during this period, but occasionally you
can catch them by trolling near the water surface on deep water areas
of 10 to 30 meters deep, when the fish come looking for the warmest
water column.
The last three weeks of May are easier for
catching as the water gets warmer and makes the fish more active.
Water temperature rises to 6–15 degrees Celsius. Biting periods get
longer and we get much more action in pike and perch fishing. Cold
north winds can still make fishing very challenging, but if we get
sunny and warm weather with south to west winds, fishing will be very
good. Sunny and warm weather seems to be the key for happiness in May
time fishing.
Soft baits for catching perch can be very small,
less than 3 inches long. Drop shot spinning works well, as do
spinners and blades. For pike fishing we can recommend 12 cm or
longer wobblers as well as 10–20 cm long soft baits or jerk baits.
Big spoons work also. One lure that works nicely is the good old
Rapala Minnow spoon.
June 2023
It sure was a great pike fishing week 5 - 11.6.2023 for our Czech visitors in warm & beautiful weather. Biggest pike caught was 109 cm long. Sun and warm sure did make fish active. Thank you for your very first visit in Finland, looking forward to meet you again.
In the mid-June our old German visitors had great fishing during their 9 day fishing vacation. Very hot weather during their stay was nor best possible for catching big pikes, but perfect for great perch and zander fishing.
