Jälleen blogi jatkuu vierailijan kirjoittamana. Tällä kertaa pääsin avaamaan Galddoaiville täysin uuden aktiviteetin, eli Joulutunturivaelluksen. Joka toki sekin sisälsi paljolti kalastusta. Suuret kiitokset koko Krogeruksen perheelle reissusta ja Roosalle blogikirjoituksesta.

Kun kalastuslomaa oli jo takana muutama päivä niin tapahtui seuraavaa.

Päivärauhoituksen alkaessa Neidenjoella vaihdettiin kahluukengät vaelluskenkiin ja vavat kevyempiin. Pakattiin edellisillan titin fileet, kahvivehkeet ja pintaperhot sekä nostettiin kahden ja puolen vuoden ikäinen Akseli kantorinkkaan. Olemme lähdössä etsimään Aten opastuksella taimenta tunturin puroista ja järvistä. Lähdimme vaeltamaan Näätämö Gatewayn pihasta ja ensimmäiselle paikalle oli muutaman kilometrin matka upeassa luonnossa. Matkalla oli upeita männiköitä, tunturikoivikkoja pienine puroineen ja valtavasti mustikoita.

Ensimmäiselle kalapaikalle saavuttuamme huomasimme heti rantakallion kupeessa ison taimenen. Harmillisesti se ei huolinut pinturia – taisi huomata meidät ennen kuin me huomasimme sen. Nälkä alkoi jo kurnia vatsassa joten teimme järven rantaan tulet ja laitoimme lohen loimuttumaan. Ei voisi parempaa päivällispaikkaa olla! Upea kirkasvetinen järvi jonka takana näkyy paljaita tunturinhuippuja. Kala oli kaikkien mieleen ja Akselikin sanoi että oli todella “naminamia”.

Sää oli aurinkoinen ja lämmin, mutta aika tuulinen. Pelkäsimme että kalat eivät olisi kovin aktiivisia. Ruokailun aikana emme nähneet tuikin tuikkia järvessä. Aloimme kalastamaan ja heti Akulla nappasi! Nätti tunturin taimen nousi hanakasti pintaperhoon ja pääsi ihastelun jälkeen takaisin vapauteen. Samassa kohdassa isompikin kala yritti perhoon, mutta ei jäänyt kiinni.

Jatkoimme matkaa seuraavalle kalapaikalle ihastellen upeita maisemia. Puron niskalla näimme pari pienempää taimenta jotka olivat hyvin säikkyjä. Aloimme kalastaa puron yläpuolista lampea josta jokainen sai taimenet. Nuori poro kävi Akselin iloksi ihmettelemässä meitä kummia kalastajia lammen toisella puolella.

Jätimme ylimääriset kantamukset lammen rantaan ja lähdimme huiputtamaan läheistä Joulutunturia. Pitihän siellä käydä kun olimme jo niin lähellä! Tuuli alkoi olla jo aika puuskainen ja saderintama lähestyi. Eli äkkiä ylös. Pääsimme laelle juuri ennenkuin ensimmäiset pisarat tippuivat taivaalta. Akseli etsi tonttuja tunturin laelta sillä aikaa kun me ihastelimme maisemaa. Harmillisesti näkymä ei ollut paras mahdollinen saderintaman takia, eikä tulipaikalle kehdannut jäädä kahvittelemaan. Mutta ehdottomasti kannatti urheilla ylös asti katsomaan vaikuttavaa ja karua luontoa.

Tunturin laelta vaelsimma takaisin ensimmäiselle kalapaikalle mielessämme iso taimen jonka näimme. Järven rannalla keittelimme kahvit ja söimme välipalaa. Jatkoimme kalastusta ja Akselikin halusi kovasti onkia. Eli äiti heitti pinturit veteen rannan tuntumaan ja Akseli sai “onkia”. Taimen haki perhon, mutta suureksi harmiksi tartutus oli hieman huono. Akselin omin sanoin “ei kalaa, pois”.

Lähdimme pikkuhiljaa kalastellen takaisinpäin. Matkalla saimme vielä tapahtumia ja pari taimenta haaviin asti. Päivä oli erittäin upea! Näätämön vaihteleva luonto ja kalavedet antoivat parastaan. Osaavan oppaan, Aten, kanssa siitä sai kaiken mahdollisen irti lyhyelläkin vierailulla tunturiin. Kiitos Atte ja Galddoaivi Safaris!

This time the blog continues in Finnish. It is written by Santtu and his friends; three young Finnish men who were ice fishing arctic char here in May 2018. Thank you all for visiting and thanks for the post. 🙂

Reissuraportti keskisuomalaisilta: Neiden 2018

Lappi, erämaa ja tietynlainen ”kurjuus” on se, mikä saa meidät lähtemään Keski-Suomesta vuosittain kalastamaan tuhannen kilometrin päähän. Niin oli asia tänäkin keväänä, kun suuntasimme toukokuun vaihteessa Neidenin suunnalle raudun perässä. Reissun ideoinnin aloitimme syksyllä, jolloin heräsi se ainainen kysymys siitä, mistä löydämme kalaisat vedet, etenkin kun kyseessä on meille tuntematon seutu. Aiemmin emme olleet kalaoppaita hyödyntäneet. Kalastusalalla on monenlaista tekijää, emmekä ole halunneet ”vanhaa ja viisasta” eräkarhua heittelemään ympäripyöreitä arvoituksia. Tästä ennakkoluulosta huolimatta otimme yhteyttä Atteen ja onneksemme saimme heti varmistuksen siitä, että kyseessä on oikea mies meitä varten.

Atte räätälöi meille sopivan paketin ja aloitti välittömästi valmistelemaan meitä reissua varten. Saimme kuukausia ennen reissua selkeät ohjeet ottipeleistä, vinkkejä välineistöön sekä kuvalliset ohjeet oikeiden lupien ostoon.

Tien päälle lähdettiin luottavaisin mielin ja Atte löytyikin paikan päältä jo odottelemasta meitä. Pakkasimme ahkioon kaiken tarpeellisen ja vielä hieman enemmänkin ja lähdimme siirtymään kalapaikoille. Paikan päällä Atte näytti meille hyvän telttapaikan, kokemustensa mukaan parhaat ottipaikat sekä kartasta vielä naapurijärvienkin ottipaikat. Meille hän jätti vain sen olennaisen osan eli kalastuksen.

Kalastamamme järvet olivat kalaisia ja jokainen meistä saikin oman ennätysraudun (40-50 cm). Tämän lisäksi matkaan lähti muistoja upeista maisemista ja muista leirielämän kommelluksista.

Seuraavan reissun suunnittelu alkaa taas syksyllä ja Aten yhteystiedot kaivetaankin todennäköisesti jälleen esille. Voimme lämpimästi suositella Aten palveluita kaikille eräilystä kiinnostuneille!

Keskisuomalaiset Marko, Peter ja Santtu

Autumn is pretty long season here in Arctic-Lapland. Plants and animals use that time to prepare them selves for freezing winter. Nature is full of berries, mushrooms and healthy wildlife after warm summer, so there is something for everyone. Vegetation gives the season it’s wonderful colors by sucking all the nutrients from their leaves, leaving us that what we know Autumn from.

Nightless night is now just a memory when dark nights take over the sky. But they bring one of natures most beautiful wonders with them; The Northern lights! And then comes the winter, and ice fishing and snowmobiling and Christmas. Can’t wait to see the first snow.

-Atte

Every year, when ice and snow melts away; my mind focuses on the beautiful Neiden river. It starts flowing down from Finnish lake Ii and ends up in to Barents sea, Arctic ocean. It is 100 km long and falls down 193 meters from it’s source. Every summer sea trouts, pink salmons and Atlantic salmons rush up the river for their breeding areas.

Season starts first of June and goes on for three months. There is great pools for fly fishing and also longer streams suitable for boat fishing with wobblers and spoons. For me Neiden river is totally fly fishing river, and usually there is dry fly in the end of my line at the Norwegian side of the river.

Neiden river is the home river of mine.

When all winter gears were ready for summer, I headed down to south. Drove 1000km from Näätämö to Middle-Finland to see my family. And Of course; there was some fishing to be done…

Caught several nice size wall eyes and started the open water season 2017. Nice warm up for that what is waiting for me back in Näätämö. And that is Atlantic Salmons in Neiden river.

Spring sun is melting rooftops bare and roads are already dry and clean. Ice fishing season is almost over and summer coming fast. Thanks to the snowiest winter in decades, it is still good to drive to Gálddoaivi backwoods by snow mobile.

Drove over some streaming waters and bare hill tops to this calm valley near to Norway border. From map the place looked really promising and it didn’t take more there than 10min to be convinced. 70cm of ice and 30- 50cm water under. That’s where they were. Huuge perches hunting in small groups. Fishes just kept popping up from almost every hole and this fisherman was in heaven.

Ever before I haven’t experienced so good icefishing in Finnish waters. After I had enough, packed 10 biggest perches in a bag and scaled it…8kg. Not a single fish were over 1kg, but with this average weight I couldn’t  be happier. What a awesome trip and way to finish this icefishing season.

Thank you Gálddoaivi!

Took a part on ice fishing competition in Norway today and first of all; caught my record ice fishing arctic char, which was the biggest char caught in the competition and with few smaller ones I had the biggest catch in total.

This was awesome boost for the last few weeks of ice fishing this winter. Next time on ice I’ll be more confident on finishing strong, even though the target specie is perch. Can’t wait to go fishing again!

 

For sure; everyone have wished to get even one more hour to their days. Up here it is pretty common to have 25 hour days. This is due of the time difference between Norway and Finland. And as a Finn I like to say, that we are always one hour ahead.

So it is not only borderline that cuts Gálddoaivi backwoods. It is also a timeline which for example I use to travel one hour to the past to make it on time to weekly darts tournament in Neiden Kroa, Norway. I like the idea to be a modern day time traveler.

In the picture I’m standing in between time zones. Not an hour ahead or behind, maybe more in the present than anywhere else.

This is one of my favourite dishes.

Crowned rye bread

• Catch a trout, grayling, whitefish, salmon or char. Place the fillet on baking paper(or in a specially made salting tray). Add a lot of rough sea salt, some sugar and a little bit of black pepper. Wrap it and let it rest in fridge over night.
• In the morning the meat should have been hardened a bit. If not, there wasn’t enough salt. Cut it in thin slices. Much more pleasant to eat it that way.
• Go to Finland and get your hands on rye bread. Toast it and butter it. That toasting is important; totally changes the bread.
• Cover the bread with fish. Add red onion and boiled egg on top.
• Share it with your friends. 🙂

Here I had some Norwegian mountain trout. Beautiful burning red colour and jellylike texture in the raw meat. Especially recommend this recipe if you hook a grayling.

Really enjoy cooking and eating fishies. Cant wait to share more of my recipes!

The very first time when my father brought me to this village 20 years ago, I got to know this one special local family. They looked different than people back in south and spoke strange language to each others. Later I learned that they are Skolt Sámi people. They are a minority within the Sámi minority. Europes only indigenous people. These days this village, Näätämö, is my home and visiting that family, feels like going to see grandparents.

Skolts are short, dark haired people who have found ways to survive in this northern district. Fishing, hunting, berry picking and reindeer herding have been their main ways to make living, but these days tourism is taking over here as well. And not everyone are so happy about it.

Times change and old traditions in their lives are not needed anymore, but something had to be done to save their culture and language. Skolts had this tradition to gather in same place after summer to face the freezing winter, share knowledge and together prepare for becoming summers challenges in hunting and fishing so that they can make it over next winter. Based on this Täʹlvvsijdd tradition, they are making something great!

Skolt Sámi people in my neighbor village Sevettijärvi, have started this Winter village project to build a place where they can all gather up again and share their knowledge in language and culture. When I heard about this, I wanted to support such a awesome and important project. They were happy to hear that I wanted to do something and sent me big package that included warm mittens, kettleholder so that my hands don’t get too warm and lots of literary so that I can study their ways. So excited about this Winter village project! It is possible to donate funds for these people to make their dream come true. Even the smallest donates matter. Here is only 1000 Skolt Sámi left in the world. Lets help them!

In every habitat there is something on top of the food chain. Ruling the territory. Here, in these waters it is pike. These fishes can grow up to 20kg of weight and 150cm in length. They feed on everything that they can swallow and they hunt by stalking in the shadows. Maybe these are the main reasons why pikes have been hounded and feared by men through history. Also these days most people think that pikes are eating all fishes from waters and that they are a bad thing to have. I see it differently.

I have noticed one fact that stands behind pikes. If there is fertile pike population in some lake, there is also fertile group of other species living in that lake. This must be the cause of natures selection, which basically is that stupid, weak and sick fishes doesn’t make it to breed. They get eaten. By pikes. Of course there is many other things too that affect on that is the water life fertile or not, but the natures selection sure is one of the main things. And it is pikes that do that.

Pikes are important parts in ecosystems and they should be respected and protected, instead of hated among people. Pike also turns into delicious dinner if needed, but they are much more valuable in the water than on our plates. Pikes are the housekeepers of every fishes watery homes. If I were a song writer, I would write a ode to pikes. Hmm… Maybe I’ll write it anyway…

Even when I’ve been making my life so, that it is mostly about fishing. This year it took six days until the first day on ice. Last time I had this long brake from fishing in May 2016.

Strong wind woke me up at just perfect timing before daylight. Sun is still staying behind horizon, but it shimmers enough for five hours polar night day. Headed to a nearby pond after quick traditional Finnish breakfast, oatmeal with blueberries and honey.

This time the pond was really quiet. After ten empty holes my 8″ drill broke. A bolt fell off so that other blade went loose. Took my 6″ drill from trailer and went crazy with drilling. First time I used this small drill this winter and the ice was like butter against me. After few hours of intense fishing and drilling and walking. I had went through the whole pond and hooked nothing. About 40 empty holes!

Was driving home already, but made a quick stop on the way back. Last winters best spot for big perches which had given me only small fishes this winter. Wasn’t expecting to hook anything but at the second hole when I dropped my lure in, there was a strike straight away. After a minute again, and it hooked. The fish looked big on the ice. Normally 35cm perch is 500g, but I was too eager to hook more instead of measuring. It was almost dark already when hooked the fish so didn’t stay for much longer.

Year started well with 34cm and 506g bull perch. It had lived for 13 years. Normally in that lake a fish this old would have been about 150g bigger, but this male had had some bad years behind. After all it was in perfect shape now. I have this personal study of perch growth in different waters around here, but it needs it’s own post.

Good start and easy to go bigger. Yay!

When people speak about their childhood, town they grew up, things that created the base for their life. They usually describe it as “my roots”. I prefer to say my bottom. I know. It has other meanings too, but that that words have multiple meanings is really common in my mother language which is Finnish. So I don’t mind.

My life was pretty much meaningless child’s play, until I got my first fishing rod from my dad. It was his hand made wooden pole with line, bobber and hook. May was turning to June and as every 6 years old kid, I was excited about my closing birthday which is in the middle of June. I decided to go fishing every day to our home shore until the party. Couldn’t stay around the clock ’cause my ma called me to eat around 16-17:00 every day. It was 27 years ago so there was no cellphones. She yelled, loud! It usually took more than one call to make me stop fishing.

So there I was standing in the shoreline for 14 days. Fishing. The water life was still rich and there was a lot of roaches and perches to catch, but after pulling all nearby fishes in my bucket for some days, it became pretty quiet. When I now think about it, this must be my first actual clear memory. Sitting on a rock holding my rod and nothing happens. Almost too much for a young kid. But I pushed through it and eventually new fishes always came around.

It was my first fishing adventure. My first memory. The beginning of my new hobby which pretty soon became a lifestyle that has lead me through an awesome life. It created a major part of my bottom. I think I appear as really clear water these days which flows over that. Current brings many things to me but only few of em starts swimming against the current to stay there. In the stream of my water life.

Few days ago when I was playing darts in Norway. My friend told me that “ur suchs a fish nerd!” . Maybe that describes me better. My name is Atte Ikkala and I’m a hardcore fishnerd.