Pike on the Fly on a Trip to Finland I arrived at work one morning and received a phone call from the Finish Tourist Board asking if I would like to sample the excellent angling in northern Finland, naturally I said I would and the trip to Finland was arranged, come the day of the trip and I departed Gatwick on a flight to Helsinki the trip took a little over 2 hours and I arrived with just enough time to catch the second flight to kajaani this flight took about 40 minutes as the plane was only a small one seats about 40 people but the two stewardesses were extremely good looking and very friendly so the time passed quit quickly, I arrived at Kajanni airport to be met by three people two guides and one tourist board official, the two guides were very young but both were very well known anglers in Finland, one was a television celebrity, they may have been young and I had my doubts if they knew the area, but I should not have worried as both were brilliant, we loaded my small bag and fishing tackle into their car and set off into the wilderness(most of Finland is wilderness) We traveled for another hour or so north we nearly ended up in Russia but what fantastic scenery and I have never seen so many great looking rivers and lakes they were everywhere, I was told the area we were in was a fly fishing only area and no bait could be used and all fish must be returned to the rivers and lakes as they were very very in touch with nature and the whole area was a national park and conservation area. We stared to explore the likely fishing spots and arrived at one spot and decided to give it a go straight away after and hour or so I was told it was past midnight and we had to go to the lodgings, I have never fly fished at midnight and been able to see the fly as though it was daylight and was quite disappointed to have to leave. but we did and arrived at the most Scandinavian looking lodge I have ever seen, after a few hours sleep I was awoken by banging on the door to be told that it was 5 o'clock and breakfast was ready, I asked when did they sleep they answered in the winter? summer was for fishing. breakfast was finished and we travel to a loverly looking river for a spot of Grayling fishing, before I left the UK i was given some fantastic flys by Turrall they were tungsten headed nymphs and looked ideal for Grayling, on one went and 20 casts later nothing, I was asked what fly I was using and was told not to be silly? Grayling were territorial fish and if I put a larger fly on they would get annoyed at it and attack it, they gave me a large fly with lots of tinsel on it, I think it was a size 10 this went against everything I thought i knew about Grayling and their delicate feeding and being the lady of the river I never thought they could be so savage, well after a couple of casts bingo my first Grayling in Finland, and they came at regular intervals as we worked our way down stream, I was very impressed. These guys really knew their stuff and I was catching some really good specimen Grayling in the clearest coldest water I have ever seen, you could see every rock in the river even though it was 4 foot deep, I noticed that all the houses that we came across on the banks of these rivers all used the water direct from the river for drinking and cooking as it is so pure, thats why the ban on baits is so strictly enforced so I was told. We moved down stream toward the mouth of a lake where there was a deep glide on the inside bank I was told to get the Pike Gear out, out came the 8-9 rated rod and 9 weighted line on my large arbor reel, to which I attached a two foot long 15lb spinning trace and a UK pike fly, after the laughter had stopped they once again gave me one of the largest balls of tinsel which disguised a size 2 hook I had ever seen, must have been 4-5 inches long,I put this onto the clip and cast along the bank into the glide and retrieved with a steady pull nothing after 6 or so casts I speed-ed up the retrieve to a very fast pull and once again bingo a pike of about 6lb which pulled and tail walked as though it was a 20 pounder I moved further toward the lake and again a savage take from another pike about the same size, and so it went 8 more pike ranging from 6lb to about 11lb fantastic fun. I was nearly in the lake when I had my last take bang it screamed away look the fly line plus 10 yards of backing I new this was a big fish and after nearly falling in the deep water started to play this fish, it kept a strong pull on the line and kept deep I could not believe this fish was was so strong as all the other pike I had caught came to the net fairly quickly but this just kept going one minute toward me next taking line again, I looked around to see my two guides sat on a large boulder in the middle of the river with smirks on their faces I told them both I was getting tired and would one like to come over and help I was told they were on a break and could not ha ha, after another 10 minute spell I finally saw the fish, a Brown Trout I don't mean a 5 or 6 pounder this thing was massive well into double figures with a head as ugly as sin itself, it took another few lunges into the deep water but I kept on gaining line it came within netting distance and alexi came with the net he placed the net into the water as I drew the monster toward across the surface only inches from the net and yes you guessed the damed hook pulled alexi tried to scoop the fish into the net but its shear size made it impossible and it slowly turned gave a wink and disappeared into the deep water to fight another day both guides were gutted and apologized I had lost the fish of a lifetime but hey that's fishing, we packed up the gear and started back to the car in silence, on arriving back at the lodge we were met by the tourist board official who insisted we all went into the sauna and a few glasses of vodka were downed and the story of the biggest brownie I have ever seen was told by three people each time the fish was bigger and meaner, the next morning I had to leave for home and with regret I was driven back the the airport and headed home, I can only look back and remember the most fantastic country with some of the best fishing I have ever had, if you want something different give it a try you will not be disappointed.