Private ice fishing in Kemi: a pond, a snowmobile or a trip
Illustration photo: a small frozen pond, not the pond described here.
The short answer
If a trip for your party alone is the point, book the family outing in Ii, the only ice fishing near Kemi sold as a private tour, with the equipment and a warm tent provided. If you would rather stay in Kemi, you can still ask: the pond lodge designs custom days for groups on request, and the safari company invites requests for something special. Neither publishes a price for that.
Three ice-fishing listings near Kemi use the word private, and each means something different by it.
A private pond
The lodge in Keminmaa fishes an exclusive, private pond, away from the crowds.1 The pond is private; the trip is not. It is sold by the head and designed for everyone, and nothing on the listing says your party will have the ice to itself.
A snowmobile of your own
On the safari company’s afternoon trip onto the bay, two guests normally share a snowmobile, and one can pay a supplement to drive alone. That buys a machine to yourself for the ride out; the rest of the trip is unchanged.
A private tour
The company in Ii sells its family trip onto the sea ice as a private tour: the equipment is provided, the trip can be tailored, and you can take some of the catch home.2 A warm tent comes along for anyone who needs shelter from the wind off the sea.3 It is the one trip here that nobody else joins.
Asking for your own
Nearer Kemi, a trip for your group alone is a matter of asking rather than booking, and the answers below say whom to ask. What the listed trips cost, the Ii trip included, is on ice fishing prices in Kemi.
Tours you can book
Ice fishing on a private pond, with the catch in a soup
Run by Lapland Salmon Lodge
From €120per person
Length5 h
Book now on GetYourGuide(opens in a new tab)By snowmobile to ice fishing on the frozen Bothnian Bay
Run by Sea Lapland Safaris
From €155per person
Length2 h
Book now on GetYourGuide(opens in a new tab)
Questions people ask
How do we get to the Ii trip?
Under your own steam. The company meets you at its address on Alarannantie in Ii, down the coast from Kemi towards Oulu; the national tourism listing gives number 441 and the booking platform number 431, so check the confirmation. No transport is mentioned, and this site has no measured drive time from Kemi, so allow for the road when you choose a start.
Can we ask the safari company for a private fishing trip?
You can ask, and it clearly arranges private outings: its winter programme lists a private ride on the frozen sea by request, and every page invites you to get in touch if you are looking for something special. It does not list a private ice-fishing trip or a price for one, so write with your group size and date and see what it offers.
Is the pond lodge a good choice for a group of friends?
It says so itself: it offers to tailor a package for larger groups, naming a fishing trip with friends among the examples, and to customise the activities, the meals and the schedule. Write to it with what you want and it replies with an offer. That makes it the one place near Kemi where a group can shape its own day without leaving the area.