For those who wish to try their fishing luck, regardless of whether you’re an enthusiastic hobbyist or an expert, Boden and the surrounding area offers excellent experiences for the entire family. Professional fishing guides, Robert Westin, Arctic Adventure and Michelle Staaf, MBS Guiding, give you tips and help you find the best fishing spots.
Imagine the experience of a sun that never sets. Standing at the water’s edge, by a mirror-like lake or a foaming river, all through the night, trying to outsmart the fish hiding in the world beneath the surface, whilst the campfire crackles cosily nearby. Or, going out in midwinter, sitting down on a warming reindeer pelt next to an ice fishing hole, enjoying excitement and tranquility at the same time, with a cup of hot cocoa in your hand. Picture catching ‘the crocodile of Swedish Lapland’, the pike, a 10-15 kilo beast, during a thrilling summer fishing trip. Or, see the joy in the eyes of your children, catching their first-ever fish through a hole in the ice in winter, or with a fishing rod on a quiet summer evening.
The Lule River offers one of the best trout fishing waters in the country, mere minutes away from Boden city centre.
In Boden you will find all these opportunities and more, for all ages and skill levels, in lakes, forest meres, calm waters and thundering rivers, summer, autumn, winter and spring. Here you will also find two river valleys, separated by only a couple dozen kilometres but with vastly different characteristics. The Lule River is one of Sweden’s most voluminous and hosts a number of hydroelectric plants, three of which are located in the Boden Municipality. Between the Laxede, Vittjärv and Boden power plants the river floats quietly, lined with sandy banks, forestland and picturesque little villages. The Lule River offers one of the best trout fishing waters in the country, mere minutes away from Boden city centre.
The Råne River is Sweden’s largest forest river, running through varied environments. There are both rapids and calm stretches, brooks, branches and adjacent lakes which offer amazing fishing and many beautiful locations to enjoy. Robert Westin, Arctic Adventure, is a highly experienced fishing guide with an average of 250 fishing days per year. What he doesn’t know about fishing is hardly worth knowing. He offers fishing experiences all year round and all over Swedish Lapland, however, he is particularly passionate about brown trout fishing in the Lule River in summer and spring.
“The Lule River is regulated and has had fish introduced and this means that fishing is permitted all year round. This is completely unique, as there are very few rivers where you are permitted to fish like that”, he explains.
Robert Westin also works with a range of projects in winter, creating travel packages containing everything from dog sledding and skiing to other activities where fishing is part of the package, or dedicated fishing trips for those who prefer that.
“Most of my travel packages include accommodation, in collaboration with hotels and cottage proprietors in the area”, says Robert.
He directs those who wish to hunt for the ferociously feisty summer pike to pike fishing queen Michelle Staaf. Together with her partner Pontus Bentzer, she runs the fishing company. MBS Guiding, driven by their passion for natural experiences and country life.
She is a former ice hockey player and outside the rink she has been working with tourism in places as diverse as Canada, Greenland, Iceland and South Africa
“Fishing has always been a central component of my life, everything from traditional rod fishing and pike fishing with a bright orange Rapala wobbler to waving bamboo fly fishing rods as a four year-old. Currently, I’m mostly interested in bottom fishing, fly fishing and spin fishing, particularly as a way of finding large female pike”, she explains.
She is a former ice hockey player and outside the rink she has been working with tourism in places as diverse as Canada, Greenland, Iceland and South Africa, before heading north with her partner, a fisherman from Skåne in the south of Sweden. They both bring a wealth of ideas on professional hospitality, as well as a genuine passion for fishing. At the farmstead they recently bought in the Råne River Valley, they offer complete experience packages, including both accommodation and fishing. They will treat you to local food such as fish, reindeer and elk, cooked outdoors using a Muurikka griddle pan, with coffee boiled in a pot over an open fire and drinking water from our pure, clean rivers and streams.
The fishing guides in Boden describe fishing as an adrenaline-rich form of relaxation and a challenge, getting the fish to bite. Understanding of the natural world, biology and ecology, is also crucial if you want to become a great fisher, even if some of it is just pure luck. Ethics and moral questions are also important.
“We don’t use barbs when fishing for pike for example, we catch and release – and it’s also important to hold the fish in the right way so that it isn’t hurt before being released. My rule is to handle the fish as little as possible”, explains Robert Westin.
Accompanied by professional fishing guides you can be sure that you will be fishing in the right way, with the right, high quality equipment – and perhaps most importantly, in some of the top fishing spots of Swedish Lapland. What are you waiting for? Book today!
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