The long days of midsummer give plenty of fishing time - the best sport in fact is often enjoyed in the brief twilight which elsewhere is called `night'. In the South and in the archipelago area the best fishing periods are spring and autumn. Ice fishing for perch is popular in the winter months. Salmon, sea trout, brown trout and brook trout all run well above the European average, and the size of grayling, too, is often remarkable; four-pounders are not rare.

There are also arctic char which in the right conditions will take a fly. The cream of the sport is to be found in Lapland, though there are individual waters farther south which can match them in quality. The Finnish coast with its large archipelago, offers very good prospects for trout, salmon and perch-fishers, and the pike fishing is outstandingly good. Fishing in high summer, trolling is a popular method on Finnish lakes, and large perch may be caught during this season by worming. Opportunities for the fly fisherman in the south have been extended in recent years by the stocking of ponds with rainbow, brown and brook trout.