Great sport fishing in Åland

The Åland archipelago offers great conditions for anglers and sport fishermen all year round. Read about the valid regulations in Åland, get information about the fishing licenses and catch our best tips on fishing-friendly accommodations and local fishing guides who will lift your fishing experience on Åland to a higher level.

The Åland archipelago is a varied seascape with many islands and skerries, fine sea bays and long coastlines with short distances between the inner and outer archipelago. In the waters surrounding Åland there are all kinds of fish from pike, perch, pike-perch and whitefish to sea trout and salmon – this is why sport fishermen enjoy Åland!

Before your fishing trip to Åland, it’s useful to become familiar with valid regulations for reel fishing and angling.

Fishing areas and regulations

The fishing grounds in Åland are partly privately owned and partly community owned by villages or groups of fishing ground owners. Additionally there are public, province owned waters that stretch 12 nautical miles outside the village’s borders and the province of Åland’s private waters.

The water owner’s permission or a fishing license is required for sport fishing both on privately or community owned waters, and in the province of Åland’s public waters.

Several fishing licenses

There is no common fishing license that covers all of Åland, but there are 56 fishing license areas and 16 areas owned by the province. The fishing license is valid for spin fishing, ice fishing or angling in its respective areas. 

Thanks to the short distances in Åland, you don’t have to buy a license only for the area that is nearest your accommodation. Instead, you may buy several different licenses and thereby get access to several areas. In that way you can choose to fish where you think the fishing is best for the day.

Fishing license areas and vendors of fishing licenses

Fishing license online

The map below shows the Åland fishing areas and gives information about restrictions and where you can purchase your fishing license for the particular area. Most of the areas’ licenses can be bought online and you get your license directly to your mobile or to your email. 

Depending on the area, you can buy your fishing licenses via kalakortti.fi or iFiske.

Show map

Catch & release

When sport fishing in Åland, a recommendation is to use the catch & release technique. The basic rule is to not take home more fish than you intend to eat. If the fish doesn’t reach the minimum landing size you are obligated to release it.

In some cases the bait is hooked in a way that makes it impossible to remove it without seriously injuring the fish. In that case the fish should be killed as soon as possible.

It is important to have the right equipment for Catch & Release fishing. Most simple and humane is the use of barbless hooks. Always bring a pair of pliers, hook releaser or forceps and a scale – and, in case you manage to catch your dream booty – a camera!

Fishing packages

Are you interested in fishing in Åland together with your friends? Ready-made fishing packages provide a better fishing experience – it’s easy to book a fishing package where travel, accommodation and fishing licenses are included, and a local fishing guide can take you to the best fishing waters in Åland. 

The tour operators Eckerö Linjen, Ålandhotels, Ålandsresor and Ålands Turist & Konferens offer fishing packages and help you tailor a successful fishing experience.

You can also tailor your own fishing trip with a cottage accommodation and let your cottage host help you book a fishing guide. You can find the cottages down below and read more about them at visitaland.com

Sport fishing guides

If you want to get the most out of your fishing trip to Åland we recommend that you hire a sport fishing guide. The fishing guides know the local fishing grounds and help you to find the best spots for fishing. You are guaranteed to catch more fish and you’ll get to see more of Åland. Additionally you can fully concentrate on the fishing while the guide takes care of the navigation. Here are some tips for local fishing guides:

• Alandfishing, Thomas Strandvik
• Fiskelyckan, Bo-Erik Westberg
• Angling Aland, Filip Blomberg
• Lägerelden, Roger Nordlund
• Norrö stugor, Peter Selander
• Rundbergs Stugor, Ulf Rundberg
• Donningfishing, Hans Donning

Important fisheries management

In Åland, fisheries management is considered as the prerequisite of good sport fishing experiences. Fishermen in Åland appreciate vital and sound fish populations and the fish's natural propagation is supported by many different projects. At the same time millions of fish fry are released out in the sea every year – almost two million in total from pike, sea trout, whitefish and salmon. The replenishment of fish stock is partially financed by revenues from the fishing licenses.

Exciting fishing competitions

If you need more of a challenge to recreational fishing there are many fishing competitions in Åland during the year. The salmon trolling competition Trollingträff Åland is a yearly tradition − the event, held in early June every year since 1993 in the waters surrounding Eckerö and Hammarudda in western Åland attracts participants from near and far.

In Autumn, there are sport angling competitions such as Brändö Fisketävling and Getadraget which is a pure Catch & Release competition. Did you know that the finals in the Swedish pike competition Gäddfajten have been arranged in Åland several years in a row?

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