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Ice fishing in Kilpisjärvi: shared trip or private guide

Aerial view of clear black lake ice crazed with white cracks, with a single angler and a small red shelter on it

Illustration photo: lake ice seen from above, in Minnesota, not Lake Kilpisjärvi.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

For a first try on a budget, book the shared afternoon trip: three hours on Lake Kilpisjärvi with the gear and a thermal outfit lent, from 125 euros in the towed sleigh. For serious fishing, or a group of four or five that wants a guide to itself, the private trip with a fish-finder works out at a similar cost per head. Ask either company whether the permit for the lake's fishing area is included.

How the operators compare

Prices are the operators' own published starting prices as of the date this guide was updated, and they change through the season.

Kilpissafarit: in the sleighKilpissafarit: sharing a snowmobileGrayling Land
Price €125 per person €145 per person €400 for 1, €700 for 4, €800 for 5
Length 3 h 3 h 3–4 h
Private For €660 on top of the seat prices For €660 on top of the seat prices Always
Fish-finder Not stated Not stated Yes
Minimum age 8 18 to drive Not stated
Fishing permit Not stated Not stated Not stated

The shared trip prices per person and the private guide per group, so the price row is not ranked. Driving a snowmobile alone on the shared trip costs 195 euros.

Where these figures come from
  • Kilpissafarit: in the sleigh: A seat in the sleigh towed by the guide's snowmobile, three hours on the lake with gear, a thermal outfit, a hot drink and a pastry.
  • Kilpissafarit: sharing a snowmobile: The same afternoon with two of you on one snowmobile, taking the controls; drivers must be eighteen.
  • Grayling Land: A fishing guide for your group alone, three to four hours with fish-finder electronics, gear, clothing and sleigh transport.

Kilpisjärvi’s ice fishing happens on the big lake beside the village, and there are two ways to buy it.

A seat on the afternoon trip

The shared trip leaves the operator’s office at a quarter to one and is back by a quarter to four. You drill through the ice, fish with hook and line from a reindeer skin, and the company lists char, trout and whitefish as the lake’s catch.1 What you pay depends on how you get out there, from a seat in the towed sleigh to a snowmobile of your own.

A guide to yourselves

The fishing guide prices the whole trip rather than the seat, and the sum rises by 100 euros for each extra person up to five. For that you get his time, fish- finder electronics and a target list that adds grayling and pike to the char and whitefish.2 At four people the cost per head falls between the shared trip’s two snowmobile prices.

The permit question

Lake Kilpisjärvi lies in the Käsivarsi-Tarvanto fishing area, and the area’s permit is what grants fishing on the Finnish part of the lake. The same page says ice fishing is free in the area’s ordinary still waters and needs the permit in its special waters, without saying in so many words which of the two the big lake counts as.3 Neither company mentions a permit, so ask before you pay whether it is covered.

The snowmobile day trips from the village are on snowmobile safari in Kilpisjärvi.

Tours you can book

Priced per person

Priced for the whole party

Questions people ask

When in the year can we fish?

The shared trip is sold from 20 November to 10 May. The private guide does not print a season on his page, so ask when you enquire. The long spring season is worth knowing about: the shared trip's calendar runs into May, so a late-season visit to the fells can still include an afternoon on the ice.

Is there a size limit on what we keep?

Yes, for char. The fishing area's rules set the minimum size for char caught in Lake Kilpisjärvi at 40 centimetres, so a smaller char goes back through the hole. The same rules record an agreement between Finland and Sweden that bans trolling with baitfish and planer boards on the lake, which matters to summer anglers rather than to anyone sitting by a hole in winter.

Can we collect from our accommodation?

The shared trip starts at its operator's office on Tsahkalluoktantie, and a pick-up from anywhere within five kilometres costs eight euros a person on its own site. The private guide's page does not mention transport to the start. If your cabin is some way along the road from the village, ask whether it falls inside that radius before you count on 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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