Winter is also a good fishing season in the Tampere Region. The smallest lakes freeze usually in late November and the bigger lakes in December. The ice-fishing season lasts 4–5 months ending in April.
The early season and the late season are the best periods. Just after the lakes have got a thin ice cover perch are usually active and the catch can be very good. Especially if there aren´t much snow covering the ice yet.
Midwinter is the most difficult fishing season. The days are short and usually there is plenty of snow on the ice. The weather may be cold and the fish are quite passive then. The few light hours around noon are the best for ice-fishing in December and January.
A special period starts in late January when about one month´s long burbot fishing season begins. Burbot can be caught from quite shallow water in the evening with special burbot jigs.
In February the days are getting lighter and longer and perch is getting more and more active. The best ice-fishing season has started. The biggest perch are usually caught in late February and in March when there may be still snow on the ice. For instance the Finnish record perch of 21st Century, a specimen weighing 2.475 kg, was caught 12th February 2005 in the Tampere Region (updated 18.5.2011; new Finnish record perch is 2,87 kg).
The ice will clear of snow in late March or early April. Many fantastic ice-fishing trips have been made during the late season. The days are long, sun shines and the nature shows it´s best parts! The ice-fishing season ends usually in the middle of April depending on the weather. If the spring comes early, the ice can get too thin for walking already in early April.
The species
The main ice-fishing catch is perch, but zander, pike and whitefish are also potential game species on certain lakes, as are salmonoids on ‘plant and fish’ lakes. The region’s waters provide almost endless opportunities for ice-fishing different kinds of cyprinids.
