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Best ice fishing in Enontekiö: one pick for each kind of party

Two people seen from behind walking across a white frozen lake with a tackle box towards a distant treeline

Illustration photo: anglers on a frozen lake, not in Enontekiö.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

A group of three or more trying it for the first time should book the two hours on Lake Ounasjärvi. A couple should book the snowmobile trip, which runs for two and lends the clothing. Anglers who want a real day on the ice should wait for March and book the Pöyrisjärvi day or the spring trip, and anyone after arctic char should ask for a private spring trip, which is arranged on request rather than sold.

Around Hetta the trips are sold by two small companies, and which is best depends on who is going.

For a group trying it for the first time

Book the two hours on Lake Ounasjärvi. It is the cheapest ice fishing in the area and asks for nothing but three people and warm clothes.1 Overalls and boots can be hired for the day if you did not pack for it.

For a couple

Book the snowmobile trip from the same company: it runs from two, lends the whole outfit and puts the fishing at the end of a ride. If you would rather be collected and sit in a sleigh, the other company’s village afternoon also runs from two.

For anglers who mean it

Wait for March. The Pöyrisjärvi day goes into the wilderness from the village of Näkkälä, and the spring trip from the other company lasts four to six hours further out.2 For arctic char, ask that company for a private spring trip; it is arranged on request.

The three outings sold in winter are set side by side on ice fishing in Enontekiö.

Tours you can book

Questions people ask

We are two people. Can we still do the cheap lake outing?

Not on its own terms: the Ounasjärvi outing is sold with a minimum of three people. You could ask whether it runs with two if you pay for three, since the page does not say either way, but at that point the snowmobile trip, which runs from two, costs little more per head and adds the ride and the clothing. The village trip from the other company also runs from two.

Is it worth waiting for spring?

For the fishing itself, the companies think so. The Pöyrisjärvi day is sold only from March, the other company's longest trip is billed as its spring tour and it keeps its arctic char trips for spring, and Enontekiö's ice-fishing week falls then too. A winter visit still gets the short trips, but the days that are about the catch rather than the experience belong to March and April.

Can we fish on our own afterwards?

Possibly, but check first. A single rod through the ice is free in most of Finland, but the national rule has exceptions for places that need their own permit, and the local advice from Hetta is that the wilderness areas of Enontekiö do. Ask the guide on your outing which waters you can fish freely, and buy the permit from the state's permit service if you need it.

Written by

Lapland Handbook Staff

Lapland Handbook is written by its editorial staff in Rovaniemi. Every price, age limit and group size in a comparison is read from the operator's own page and marked "Not stated" when the operator does not publish it. Each guide names who should not book, and names the operator that suits each kind of group, whichever it is.

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