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Kaldoaivi

Hiking and fishing in the wilderness

By Erik Plankton

October 4^th, 2017

Kaldoaivi? When? ok.

I stumbled into the office in april after a nice ski touring trip. While making my morning coffee Antti asked would I be interested in a fishing trip to Kaldoaivi Wilderness Area in the end of August. One sip of a double cappuccino later the decision was made and we started making plans. 9 days, self-supported camping, hiking and fishing was the plan. We managed to convince Antti-Ville, that this trip would be a Good Thing (TM) and he joined us (without too much outdoors experience).

On August 29th we flew to Ivalo, took a rental car, avoided reindeer and made our way to Vetsikko, which would be our trailhead.

shakedown

We got going somewhat late in the afternoon after some serious grocery shopping in Ivalo. The seller at the local Alko was extremely helpful in optimising the best booze-to-carry ratio on liqueurs for the trip. Feeling empowered we also bought an 8-pack of beer too, just to be sure. Rain was on the forecast and so it did.

darkness

After about three hours of walking darkness embraced us accompanied with a misty rain that dropped the visibility to 20 meters with a head lamp. The trail was easy to follow, but we had no idea of the surroundings. The summer had been really wet, so there were lots of mud and water on the trail. After a six hour hike we set camp next to a lake that looked really promising on the gps.

bluebird

We woke up to clear skies and perfect visibility. The "lake" was a pond with no more than a meter of water in any place. No fish there. We fished a nearby lake without results and packed camp.

Báritjávri

basecamp

We set our basecamp on the shore of Goahtejávri. Fished the shore for about 1.5 km without any results.

HArd wood

scenery

No filter.

water

The western part of Kaldoaivi is riddled with lakes and small streams flowing from the fells. We carried only one liter of water on us on day hikes to the lakes.

crispy nights

As August turned into September the nights were dipping into the frozen digits. We were very lucky and the daytime temps were somewhere in the +16°C range, well above the average.

first trout

The lakes in this region are pretty much surrounded by swamps. Waterproof hiking boots are highly recommended. Sometimes you have to take a 100m detour to advance 10m on the shore to fish another spot. Antti got the first legal sized trout and it was a nice one!

springs and sparkles

Kaldoaivi area has a lot of underground springs that bring up fresh drinkable water. The nights were moist and our tents were covered in ice when the temperature dropped below zero.

My record lapland trout

We spent the third day fishing a lake that was supposed to hold the biggest fish in the area according to local legend. The result was a perfect zero, so we started walking back to camp. I did a few lazy on the walk casts of the shore and just before ending of the lake I got a good bite on the Lotto spinner. The reward was a 2.5kg sprinter on the line.

Winning the lottery

The legendary Bete Lotto proved to be the best spinner for these waters. Long casting and good feedback makes this lure a joy to fish.

Ruska

The autumn foliage started to spark up more and more as our trip progressed.

chain of lakes

The area we mostly fished out of our base camp was a chain of six lakes that were interconnected with small streams. Perfect places for trouts to hang out.

50/50

The fish were surprisingly scarce. After the few initial pikes we hooked only trout. No perch, no grayling. Lucky for us, the few trout we managed to reel in were mostly over the 50cm legal limit. During the trip we took 4 trout for dinner.

base camp

the hut

We camped next to a traditional Sami hut that was made out of timber and covered with dirt. The only person we met on our trip was a local hunter that came to the hut on a moose hunting trip on a ATV. Jouko had built the hut in 1963 with his friends. He told us many stories about the area and gave good fishing tips to the lakes. He was 82 years of age. Much respect.

reindeer

Pretty much the only animal you will see in the area.

normal day

We walked 10-15 kilometers per day to different lakes to fish. In the afternoon we made a fire to boil water for dehydrated food that tasted like crap compared to a fresh trout soup in the evening.

navigating

Kaldoaivi Wilderness Area is mostly open space with fells, rivers and lakes. Navigation is pretty easy with a map and a compass. Be prepared to cross a few streams when going from lake to lake.

Perfect day for fishing

back to camp

The shores of the lakes are quite wet and soft, so it might be faster to climb on to the firm ground of the fells and go on top of them.

morning mist

going back

After enjoying the good weather for over a week it was time to head back towards Vetsikko.

hike

The 15 km return hike to the road was a straight forward 4x4 track. We made good progress and clocked around 15 minutes to the kilometer in good weather. Trip total was about 120 km of walking.

ivalo

We stayed the last night in Hotel Ivalo. The restaurant had already closed, but we managed to get a sauna and then headed for a local grill that was the only place open at 10 pm on a Monday. Don't try the "low carb" portion.