Oksajärvi Fishing Management Area manages the fishing on 7 km of the classic salmon river Lainio, between the Pajala/Kiruna municipal border and the island of Väkkäräsaari. The fishing license is valid on the southern side of the Lainio. The area includes the Taanikurkkio rapids, where the river flows through a beautiful but often difficult to access canyon area, and the easier-to-fish Väkkäräkoski rapids below the saddle.
Just below the Oksajärvi river's border in Väkkäräkoski, skilled fishing guides run the now nationally renowned salmon fishing Camp Onka.
In total, within the Oksajärvi part of the river there are about 5 km of rapids / flowing areas with fishing opportunities for salmon, sea trout and grayling. Grayling is abundant but rarely in really large sizes. Fish between 5-8 kg are common, but kilo fish and larger are caught every summer, not infrequently as bycatches on deep-fished salmon flies.
Salmon are more common than you might think. The area, especially Taanikurkkio, is difficult to fish for the inexperienced, but there are salmon along the entire stretch of rapids and on the rapids, if you manage to find and land a small 6-8 on the stands. On the shallower stretch below Taanikurkkio and on the rapids above Väkkäräkoski, fishing is usually done from a boat with sweeping strokes over the shallow areas, in classic Torne River style, but fearless waders have been seen fighting their way out at low tide. In a different time and fishing culture, light fishing took place in these areas during dark autumn evenings.
Sea trout has happily increased in the last 10 years and is caught more often in salmon fishing, but few people focus their fishing in the river solely on trout. To protect the spawning stock, a so-called window removal is applied to the trout in the river with mandatory release of fish smaller than 30 cm (to protect growing trout fry) and larger than 45 cm (spawning fish). The sea trout stock in the Lainio River is on the rise but still needs to be treated with care. Real anglers think carefully before killing and taking trout from the river.
In the long stretch between the rapids there is a fine whitefish stock that during the summer often comes towards the shores and chats with the rapids in the evenings and can then be caught both on a fly and with small spinners. Cast a couple of meters above the wake and don't wait too long. The whitefish are shallow in the water and often move forward.
A few large pike were previously caught in the seine as bycatch when fishing for salmon with nets, but it has been a long time since any really large pike were caught in the river. Are they gone or is it more a matter of the lack of real pike fishermen?
The fishery management area also includes about 30 lakes, some with stocked char and trout, most others with stocks of fine perch and pike. In several of the lakes there are also smaller stocks of rarely fished and often coarse burbot.
Welcome to the wilderness!
Lainio River
Oksajärvi Fvof manages the fishing rights in 7 km of the classic salmon river Lainio River, between the Pajala/Kiruna municipal border and the island of Väkkäräsaari, as well as in about 30 lakes, several with stocked char or trout.
