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Ice fishing in Ranua: on foot or by snowmobile

An angler in a dark winter coat kneeling on a snow-covered frozen lake beside a small ice-fishing rod, with low sun behind a line of trees

Illustration photo: ice fishing on a frozen lake, not in Ranua.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

Book the guided morning if you simply want to try it: the gear, winter clothing and the ride to the lake are included, and a guide shows you how to drill the hole. If an adult in the party also wants to drive a snowmobile, the Wildlife Park resort's ride to a wilderness lake is the shorter way to do both, and the activity company's day that ends with dinner on the ice the longer. Nobody needs a fishing licence for a single rod through the ice.

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.

Lupland: guided morningLupland: snowmobile and dinnerRanua Resort: snowmobile safariJauri Resort, Kemijärvi
Price €99 €198 €169 €83 – the lowest adult price
Duration 2.5 h 5 h 3 h 2 h
Out to the ice Transport included Snowmobile, driven by adults with a licence Snowmobile, two guests to a machine Lake beside the resort
Food Hot drink, grilled catch Campfire dinner, grilled catch Not stated Warm drink
Licences Not stated Not stated Not stated Included
From Ranua Meets in the village Meets in the village Safari House at the Wildlife Park About 1 h 40 min by car

Highlighted figures are the best in that row: the lowest adult price. All four price per adult; children pay less on each, set out on the family page. The three Ranua trips are sold by the companies themselves, not on the booking platforms.

Where these figures come from
  • Lupland: guided morning: A guide takes you to a quiet lake, shows you how to drill and rig, and grills whatever you catch, with gear and winter clothing lent.
  • Lupland: snowmobile and dinner: A guided snowmobile ride out to the fishing place and back, two hours on the ice and a campfire dinner of soup at the lake.
  • Ranua Resort: snowmobile safari: The Wildlife Park resort's snowmobile ride north through the forest to a small wilderness lake, where a guide helps you try ice fishing.
  • Jauri Resort, Kemijärvi: Two hours on the lake beside a resort in Kemijärvi, with clothing, equipment, a warm drink and the fishing licences included.

Ice fishing is sold in Ranua after all, by two local companies that sell it themselves rather than on the platforms: the activity company that runs the village’s activity park, and the resort that runs the Wildlife Park.

The morning on the ice

The activity company’s morning trip starts at ten and gives you two and a half hours on a quiet lake with a guide, who takes you through drilling the hole, rigging the line and fishing safely on the ice. The gear, winter outerwear, transport to the lake and a hot drink are included, and a fish that bites is grilled by the shore.1 Nobody has to have done it before.

The five-hour snowmobile day

Its longer day is built around the ride: about two hours on a snowmobile in total, out to the fishing place and back, two hours fishing, and an hour for a campfire dinner of salmon or meat soup. Every driver has to be eighteen and hold a car driving licence.2

From the Wildlife Park by snowmobile

The resort’s own trip leaves its Safari House at ten each morning from December to April and heads north on a snowmobile trail through the forest to a small wilderness lake, where a guide helps you try the fishing. Two guests share each machine and take turns driving, and it is booked through the resort’s reception rather than online.3

The licence question

For a single rod through the ice, Finland charges nothing at any age. The national fee is for lures and traps, and the free right stops only at rapids on migratory-fish waters, prohibited areas and places with a permit of their own.4 None of the Ranua trips mentions licences at all, which on a still lake is what the rule leads you to expect.

The Kemijärvi resort in the table is the nearest seller outside the village. What else starts in Ranua is on the Ranua destination page.

Tours you can book

Questions people ask

Can we be picked up from the Wildlife Park's accommodation?

Yes, if you ask in time. The activity company's two trips meet at the guesthouse on Pappilantie in the village, a quarter of an hour before the start, and it says it can collect guests from the reception of Ranua Resort's Arctic Igloos or from its Safari House. It asks to be told well in advance. The resort's own ride leaves from its Safari House, so its guests simply walk there.

Will we actually catch something, and what happens to it?

Nobody promises a fish: the activity company's pages say the catch cannot be guaranteed because the fishing depends on nature. If something does bite on its trips, the guide grills it by the lake for you to taste, as part of the price, so a catch changes lunch rather than the bill. The resort's page says nothing about the catch. Nothing on the pages says whether you can take fish away with you.

What should we wear if the winter clothing is lent?

The activity company lends winter outerwear on both its trips, and the resort lends clothing only to guests staying with it. The activity company's snowmobile day asks you to bring warm mid-layers and socks yourself, and the same advice holds for every trip here, where you spend most of the time sitting or kneeling still on the ice. Thin gloves under thick mittens make baiting a hook much easier.

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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