Pike fishing in Finland in summer on the Åland Islands.

I went with my father to fish in Finland, more precisely on the Åland Islands in the middle of the Baltic Sea, on a strange adventure with one main goal: catching pike.

The Åland Islands are known for their brackish waters, meaning a mix of freshwater and seawater, creating an environment extremely favorable for pike, which can feed on both freshwater and saltwater prey, notably herring, allowing the development of huge pike.

" This trip was really our first actual fishing trip and allowed us to learn a lot. Thus, beyond fishing in Finland, I will also talk about things to do and not to do to avoid unpleasant surprises and to fully enjoy the trip."

Typical Åland Islands scenery.

A rough start!

We landed at Helsinki airport in Finland at the end of August (it is also possible to reach the islands from the Swedish coast, which is actually closer to the Åland Islands). We started our trip by heading to the coastal city of Turku with our van, in which we would sleep for 6 days.

The next morning, we took the ferry and found ourselves on these famous Åland Islands! Not a second to lose! We went to meet the supposed owner of the small boat we had booked several weeks earlier but who had stopped answering for some time. Once there: the hotel complex seemed abandoned, and there were no boats!

Well arrived in Aland

We had a serious problem, knowing that fishing here is done exclusively by boat and that the whole trip depended on it.

We eventually found an alternative thanks to the hotel’s neighbor, very friendly Swedes (the Åland Islands belong to Finland but are inhabited mostly by Swedes). However, the new boat broke down due to a motor failure on our very first afternoon of fishing.

"I even had my 75-pound fluorocarbon cut by a very big pike after only 30 minutes of fishing, enough to make you think when later we were stuck on land with no way to go take revenge…"

One of the pike caught during this first afternoon on the Swedes’ boat.

The next day was spent trying to repair the engine but without success.

After this ordeal, we decided to give up on this option and look for a new boat to really start fishing, which took yet another full day…

Finally, after 3 days without truly fishing, we found a fishing camp that was much more serious and where the equipment was 100% reliable.

Fishing for pike in Finland on the Åland Islands could finally begin!!

After a difficult start due to equipment problems (rental scam, unreliable gear, etc.), we finally got out on the water.

We left at 6 a.m. to finally enjoy fishing on the Åland Islands

The shores of the fishing areas are mainly composed of reed beds.

We started by staying in the inner waters of the islands, fishing in reed-filled areas with warm, shallow waters. I began with a Rockvibe Fat in 6.5 inches, white color (about 16 cm), rigged with a stinger and a 7 g weight in front. My father started with a simple blue/grey 5-inch Rockvibe (about 12 cm) rigged Texas-style because the environment was really full of aquatic vegetation.

"We caught about ten pike this way by working every small bay."

However, the size of the pike remained modest. Even though the quantity was there, the goal of the trip was to catch a big one.

The numbers are there, but the fish struggle to exceed 70 cm...

The second day, we ventured farther from the camp to explore less-fished areas. We kept fishing the same way while testing other techniques that also worked well but still didn’t produce big fish.

Spinnerbaits, chatters, and stickbaits definitely triggered fish, and this kind of fishing is super fun with explosive strikes in clear water and a unique setting.

A nice perch caught on the 12 cm Rockvibe.

Last day.

Despite everything, we had only one day of fishing left, and realizing how the last day would likely go (like the previous two, catching small fish in numbers), we made a decision.

We chose to spend the last day with the camp’s guide on his boat to try and catch the big Finnish pike, our last hope!

"Early departure in the morning, and the guide explained something before leaving: we were going to navigate far and outside the islands to find the waters where the big fish stay in summer."

This was actually why we hadn’t caught big ones earlier: large pike do not enter the inner waters in summer.

So we fished in areas bordering the sea, where the environment was particular and much saltier than where we had been fishing before. Here, the bottom is covered with seaweed—the same algae you find on the beaches of Brittany!

My father with a nice 70 cm pike caught in an ultra-shallow area.

We began fishing on ultra-shallow flats, less than 1.5 meters deep, using jerkbaits. Very quickly, we caught the first fish, and the size was already more respectable, around 70 cm.

We fished like this almost the entire day, from island to island, in breathtaking scenery where only a few houses occasionally appeared on rocky patches.

"The technique is quite simple: cast as close as possible to the shore and obstacles from the boat and retrieve with a fairly fast linear motion, rod up, because the edges are extremely shallow."

We kept catching fish around 70 cm without ever managing to tempt a really big pike.

Around 1 p.m., the guide decided to stop for lunch on a deserted, completely wild island. With the blue sky and no wind, it was probably one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen.

A breathtaking view from the boat.

While my father was talking with the guide, I took a rod to fish from the island’s only dock, hoping that the structure might shelter a big fish.

After three casts, making sure to run my jerkbait right along the dock, I hooked the nicest fish of the day, a beautiful 80 cm pike.

An 80 cm pike caught from the island’s dock.

We continued the day catching many nice fish around 70 cm but never the one we truly wanted, even though I had a 90 cm fish follow my lure to the boat but couldn’t get it to bite again…

At the end of the day, the guide took us to try for zander using LiveScope, but the wind made things much more complicated than expected, so we decided to return around 6 p.m.

The mouth of a pike will always impress me!

And so ended this rather eventful trip in Finland, which nevertheless finished on a beautiful note in a magnificent setting before returning to Helsinki.

To conclude, pike fishing in Finland on the Åland Islands is truly excellent, provided that you have no equipment problems. The region is absolutely stunning, tourism is quite low, and you really get the feeling of being alone—especially when traveling by van as we did.

Mistakes not to repeat:

-To reach the Åland Islands, it is not mandatory to arrive via Helsinki, even though the islands belong to Finland. The Swedish alternative via Stockholm may be potentially easier.

-Make absolutely sure—1000%—of the availability and reliability of your boat on the islands, because without it your trip simply cannot happen.

-If you plan to fish with a guide once or twice during the trip, do it at the beginning so you can learn more about the fishing areas and apply this knowledge during your later sessions.