Summer fishing season is going on. Entrepreneur and fishing guide Jari Käyhkö says that spring may sometimes be challenging period for anglers in Lake Saimaa. Warming waters activate the fish and colder periods deactivate them.
Lately pike have been really voracious. Last week some Czech guests of Old School Trolling were lucky to catch several pikes over one meter. Early summer is good time to go for a record pike in shallow waters.
Old School Trolling was established in 2010. The company offers accommodation and fishing guide services in Savonranta, near the deep and wide open water area of Lake Paasvesi that is part of the Lake Saimaa water system. Guests of Jari will stay at a fishing cottage for 6 and they can go fishing with three motor boats of the lodge.
Jari noticed that with travelling restrictions COVID-19 pandemic caused 70 % decrease in turnover. Fortunately it is now past and fishing tourist business is back to normal. 90‒95 % of guests of Old School Trolling come from abroad and they arrive to Savonranta just for fishing. Many anglers are coming from Baltic countries. Jari hosts also lots of guests from Central Europe.
Pike is the most important and wanted species especially in early season and in autumn. In July and August anglers go mostly for zander and big perch. Some customers are interested in cyprinids, such as bream, ide and rudd. May-June is the best ide season in Lake Saimaa. In mid-summer ide may go a little bit deeper for a while, but it can be found also from shallow waters swimming in the surface. Ide worship rocky areas.
Jari´s guests mostly go fishing independently. However many of them reserve at least one half-day guided fishing trip with Jari. Many of them also come back next year to spend another great week in a beautiful nature of Lake Saimaa.
Photo: Suddenly everything can change on a fishing trip. In July 2022 windy Lake Saimaa first showed it´s wild side. Once the winds settled and Jari´s Swiss guests could get to the best spots, the fishing was pure fireworks of zander an