Derek Evans, Angling Correspondent, travels to Finland for a taste of a unique sporting culture
THE COUNTRYSIDE on the road north of Vilppula, in Finland, looks familiar:green fields, picturesque mountains and, in the land of a thousand lakes, cool clean water, the most cherished of the elements.
We are on a three-day tour of the Tampere region, in the southwest of the country, to get a taste of Finland's unique fishing culture.
At Koivulahti Crab Manor, in Vilppula, Pasi Heinonen, its landlord, greets us in traditional local attire of white collarless shirt, waistcoat, breeches and knee-high boots. The manor, a beautiful wooden structure overlooking Lake Kuorevesi, specialises in organic crayfish parties; its speciality, wedding ceremonies.
On the Vilppula Route at Lake Ruovesi, we join Juha Happonen for an enjoyable evening of fishing for pike and zander aboard his seven-metre, nine-seat party-barge tracker catamaran. Word is that Happonen is the foremost angling guide in all Finland.
Spinning weighted lures with a stop-and-start retrieve method, we encounter a selection of zander and small pike. Zander, which are unique to Finland, resemble sea pollock in colour, lateral line and double dorsal fin. The Rasanen H lure with red bead proves particularly productive.
Back on the road again, this time to Ikaalinen, about 100km west of Vilppula, we reach our accommodation for the night: Frangin Cottages, a group of five-star pine houses on the shores of Lake Kyrösjärvi.
After a hearty breakfast, our interpreter, Ismo Kolari, announces: "This morning we troll for pike, perch and zander." It is riveting to watch Tero Seljas, skipper of Banana Boys, assemble the trolling gear of three rods to starboard and three to port side, each with two Wobbler Lucius specials. Two rods at the stern complete a total of 16 lures, all at different depths.
We cover a vast area of pristine and beautiful wilderness with reasonable success.
A 50km dash to Vammala brings us to Hotel Ellivuori just in time for dinner. "Tonight you will be fishing for asp and other species on Lake Rautavesi," Ismo says. At 9pm two local guides, Ville Inna and Mikko Ollila, bring us to their secret location, a channel that divides the main lake.
I make contact with two asp on a popper lure but fail to land either. We do land several perch on the fly, however, and more pike on lures. We also catch ide, a species similar to the Irish bream.
With the high sun slowly sinking, we decide to call it a day - well after 1am.
Our final outing brings us back to Tampere, for fishing on Lake Näsijärvi with skipper Sampsa Liimola. The wind and rain put paid to any serious fishing, and we return empty-handed. This lake is best in late autumn, trolling for brown trout and landlocked salmon.
Beyond the fishing there is lots to see in Tampere, a busy place of 200,000 inhabitants. The city was established in 1779 by King Gustavus III of Sweden on a narrow stretch of land between two scenic lakes. It is the third-largest city in Finland, and a busy business centre with a thriving cultural scene. Tampere also feels the power of the Tammerkoski rapids, between lakes Näsijärvi and Pyhäjärvi.
The growth of the city was based on the free trade granted it by Gustavus III and later confirmed by Alexander I, tsar of Russia. When Finland became an autonomous grand duchy of the Russian empire, Tampere blossomed as it began to export products to Russia without having to pay customs duty.
In the early 19th century Tampere presented a pristine picture of nature. The rapids ran wide in their stony bed past only a few modest buildings and a tanning mill, a dyers' workhouse and brickworks. By 1837 a white six-storey Finlayson cotton mill factory rose alongside the rapids, a landmark in the surrounding scenery.
At the start of the 20th century Tampere was Finland's biggest industrial city. The foundation for the city's textile, engineering and wood-processing industries had been laid, and they continued to grow until the 1970s, when the old factory estates began to empty.
The industrial landscape is once again full of life, however, with new enterprises in technology and cultural activities. In a recent city-planning competition, the diverse Finlayson area was recognised as the third best in Europe.
Here, as elsewhere in Finland, game hunting is popular in winter, particularly for deer. Back in 1931 the Laukko Manor estate purchased eight white-tailed deer from Minnesota, in the US. On the journey by sea back to Finland only one male and two females survived. Today the Tampere region has a population of an estimated 40,000 of the animals.
As we leave, I ask Ismo Kolari to sum up the Tampere region. "Culture, peace, beauty, and, of course, good fishing," he says with a laugh.
For more information on fishing in Finland and Tampere, see www.visitfinland.comand www.tampere.fi.
Where to start for a fishing holiday
Frontiers International Travel (
www.frontierstravel.com, 00-44-1285- 741340) has a range of
exotic choices, including Ryabaga camp, on Ponoi River in Russia;
Arctic charr in Greenland; Alphonse Island and St François, in
the Seychelles; and mansheer, in India, for fly-fishing.
Go there
Roxtons (
www.roxtons.com), a British
company, offers Atlantic salmon fishing in Middle Varzuga River, on
Kola Peninsula in Russia. Derek Evans flew to Tampere with Ryanair
(
www.ryanair.com), which serves
the city on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.