Every trip on this site ends at a hole in the ice with a short rod, a fire and a hot drink. Our verdict therefore rests on the parts that differ between listings: the way onto the lake, who lends the winter clothing, what the guide does with a fish you land, and how many people share the guide.
The way onto the ice
Wild about Lapland parks at the edge of an old forest and walks the group 5 to 10 minutes to the lake, which is enough to feel you have left the road behind without turning the morning into a hike. Lapland Royal Adventures uses a similar forest walk on a shorter trip. If the way there should be part of the outing, the reindeer sleigh trips and the snowshoe trips are the alternatives; by reindeer sleigh and on snowshoes each have a page.
Clothing for an hour of sitting still
Waiting at an ice hole is colder than walking. Wild about Lapland lends professional winter clothing and boots, and the trip runs in all weather. Some listings handle clothing differently: the evening trip with Uncle's Fish charges extra for overalls and boots, and Arctic Safari Guides asks you to dress warmly or add its clothing package after booking. At Lapland Camp, Shaman Village and Polar Magic Tour and on the net-fishing trip by Uncle's Fish, clothing is not included, so bring your own. The page on what to wear lists what every trip lends.
A fish on the fire
Only a few listings say what happens to your catch. On the Wild about Lapland trip a big fish is cooked straight over the fire and undersized fish go back. Apukka prepares anything you land as a snack, and Beyond Arctic lets you fry it at the end. Reviewers of the Wild about Lapland trip often report an empty line for the whole group, and some blame the bait; the page on what you can catch collects those reports.
A fisherman who picks the spot
Arctic Safari Guides was founded by Timo, who has fished the lakes and rivers of Lapland for decades. He chooses the place by the weather and the ice, so you may end up on a river rather than a lake, and early or late in the season the drive can be longer. There is a short option with about an hour and a half on the ice and a 4-hour option with about three hours of fishing and a Finnish barbecue lunch. Winter clothing is an add-on here. Uncle's Fish goes in a similar direction with its private net-fishing trip to Niesikivalo, where you ride to the lake as a passenger in a sleigh behind a snowmobile.
Fishing after dark
For an evening on the ice, Uncle's Fish runs a trip to Niesikivalo for burbot, a fish the operator says is most active on midwinter evenings. You fish under the open sky or in a heated teepee on the lake, fishing permits are included and the group is at most 8. Northern lights are possible on a clear night, and nothing guarantees them; trips built around the aurora are on rovaniemi-northernlights.com.
Small groups and young children
Wild about Lapland describes a small-group atmosphere without a number. Where a limit is stated it is 8, as at Beyond Arctic, Polar Magic Tour and Arctic GM. With a toddler, Lapland Royal Adventures accepts children from 2 on a two-hour trip, and Shaman Village from 3 for an hour and a half on the Ounasjoki river. The page on children has every stated age.
