KAMCHATKA STEELHEADING...

"Fly fishing is a way of life to me. I have been fishing ever since I was three years old. I fish naturally mostly in Finland but I have been fortunate enough to fish also in other countries including Sweden (River Mörrum, River Dal), Norway (e.g. Lakselv, Repparfjordselv, Stabburselv, Langfjordselv, Gaula, Orkla, Vefsna), Iceland (Rivers Midfjardara, Blanda, West Ranga and Brynjudalsa), Russia (Kola Peninsula, Kamchatka Peninsula), USA (Great Lakes area, Rocky Mountains area, Florida, Cascades), Canada (British Columbia), Poland (Tatra Mountains), Spain (Cantabria area), England (River Test), Ireland (Lakes of Killarney, River Laune, Lough Corrib, River Corrib) Australia (Snowy Mountains area, the Ocean), Chile (Lago General Carrera, Rio Baker and Rio Cochrane in Patagonia), Argentina (Rio Gallegos, Lago Strobel aka Jurassic Lake), Cuba (Jardines de la Reina), the Maldives, New Zealand (North Island), the Seychelles and Guatemala (Sailfish Bay Lodge). "
 

GUIDE PROFILE: head guide Mika Vainio
Trained by the artic waters of Kola Peninsula Russia, the head guide of Fly Fishing Finland can make sure that your guiding day meets the international standards. He has been the Master Guide of the Trout Camp on the Varzina River on Kola for the past seven years. Varzina is simply unbelievable fishery at the moment. The biggest salmon from those beautiful artic waters on the remote Russian tundra over the past three years has been 125 cm (appr. 20 kg) with a dry fly. The biggest brown trout has been 83 cm weighing close to 7 kg. The best week has produced nearly 300 trout over 50 cm for ten rods.  See his summary for season 2001.

Mika was elected to be the Fishing Guide of the Year 2006 by SKES (The society for promoting the Finnish fishing travel industry). See http://www.skes.org for details.

Journalism
Mika is one of the owners, member of the editorial board and a field editor in a high-quality Finnish fly fishing magazine, Pohjolan Perhokalastaja. Mika was also a member of the editorial board of the other Finnish fly fishing magazine, Perhokalastus, in 1997-1998. Altogether, he has published over 30 articles in the Finnish fly fishing magazines. As example articles, please see his stories (in Finnish) about steelhead research on Russian Kamchatka Peninsula, Patagonia trout fishing, Praslin bonefishing and saltwater fly fishing basics. Additionally, his articles have been published twice in a high-quality Russian fly fishing magazine Nahlyst (see http://www.nahlyst.ru) and in the premier issue of a high-quality Chilean fly fishing magazine Lineas&Moscas (see http://www.lineasymoscas.cl). In September 2004 the first half of his story about streamer fishing for big wild river trout was published in a Scotland based Fly Fishing and Fly Tying magazine (see http://www.flyfishing-and-flytying.co.uk). The second half was published in the October 2004 issue.

Media coverage
He has been featured in several newspaper and magazine articles. During the past two years he has been cooperating with PAN Vision in several TV and video programs, especially during the two trips to Iceland. Appeared on the national TV program when intervied about the fishing travel industry in Finland.

Social aspects
Mika has been the president, the secretary and a board member in a local fly fishing club, Espoon Perhokalastajat. The club has approximately 180 members at the moment.  See http://www.espoonperhokalastajat.net  for details.

Courses and lectures
Our head quide has been involved in organizing several hands-on courses in fly fishing and fly tying in Finland for both novices and experts alike. He has also given several lectures in various Finnish fly fishing clubs over the past ten years.

Competition fishing
Mika was for three years time part of the Fly Fishing Team Finland, which represents Finland in Fly Fishing World Championships. In 1997 the competition was held in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA, in 1998  in southern Poland near Zakopane and in 1999 in Snowy Mountains area in Australia. In 2000 he was a member of the press in the World Championships in England. Participated three times (05-07) in the invitation-only fly fishing competition Master de Campeones de Pesca in Cantabria, Spain. Participated in 2007 in an invitation only competition in Killarney, Ireland.

Just recently Mika was elected to be the Captain of the Fly Fishing Team Finland for three years (2007, 2008, and 2009 World Championships in fly fishing). See, team pages here.

Other (not so) relevant info
Mika has a Dr.Tech (Ph.D) degree in robotics. He acts as a senior researcher, lecturer and project manager at Helsinki University of Technology, that is, when he is not fishing or guiding...

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