Fishing licenses - 2002

The Finnish fishing license system is still slightly complicated due to some historical and geographical reasons.
Pole angling and icefishing are considered free for all. There are some exceptions, like no baitfishing in rivers for trout and other salmonids.

In order to practice any kind of game fishing in Finland everyone between 18 and 64 years of age needs first to pay government's fisheries management fee, that is national fishing license (also known as the "fishing card"), which is available at every post office and bank for 15 € per person for one year and 5 € for 7 days.
While fishing in the northernmost Finland (the three big municipalities in Lapland: Inari Utsjoki and Enontekiö) the same license is nowadays valid.
 

Rivers, rapids & special lakes

Besides your fishing card a local fishing permit will be required. Most available river fishing in southern and central Finland is privately owned, while most fishing in the north is governed by the national Forest and Park Service (later F.P.S.). You'll need a separate permit for each fishing place, sometimes several to fully cover some of the bigger rivers and artificially stocked lakes. F.P.S. has also several very large areas that go under the same, cheap license. Most permits are valid for one day or for the whole season, some fisheries' managements may also sell three days and/or one week licenses.

Prices reflect both quality and availability and also fishing pressure; even very good waters with difficult access and few visitors are modestly priced. Typical day ticket costs between 25-75 FIM, but in many areas you'll get the whole year for the same price. Some waters are more highly priced (up to 100-200 FIM per day), but these are well managed and very popular destinations with a very limited number of daily rods allowed.
 

Lakes & the Baltic Sea

To fish most of  the stillwaters just one rod fishing license is needed. There are five very large provinces covering the whole of Finland but South, West and East Finland licenses cover the most of the fisheries. See map here: Maps of Finland
The rod fishing license cost 27 € for one year and 6 € for 7 days. This can be paid in any bank or post office. Only one rod and lure can be used simultaneously by the same person holding this license.
None of the licenses above applies to the Åland Archipelago, where local licenses and rules are enforced.
 

Where to buy licenses?

F.P.S. waters are easy as they have several local offices and licensed permit sellers throughout the country. In most cases you can buy permits in advance from any location while some areas may only have one or two local permit sellers. F.P.S. has also some permit vending machines. Private fisheries are more troublesome, as there may be only one place to get your license from. A good place to ask is any sports/tackle/hardware store in the nearest town or village. Local service stations and village shops may also sell licenses or at least they usually know where to get one.

Especially in southern and central Finland you'll find most available river and stream fisheries to be quite short in their length. Don't be deluded by their seemingly limited fishing opportunities; most are connected to a lake nearby and are constantly receiving fresh fish in spite of heavy fishing pressure. These places have usually also very high concentrations of all kind of fish in a rather small area, so if everything is right the sport can be spectacular.

In northern Finland many things come in bigger servings. This is also true with fishing. Many rivers are long, up to several hundred kilometers, and trout lakes are plentiful. Most of our population of 5 million people is concentrated in southern Finland, which leaves large areas in east and north very sparsely populated. Long distances combined with small local populations mean slight pressure and consequently good fishing.