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The River Saramo
The River Saramo is fished around the year. In the summertime flies and lures swirve into the dark waters of the meandering river; during the winter six inch drills grind holes into the ice coating the backwaters. On mild winters you can see anglers by the heads of the rapids offering flies and wobbles for the inhabitants of the river.The first flyfishers of the early summer come to the rapids when the mayflies are hatching. They hope to get some spring salmon at the end of their line. In North Karelia there are plenty of rapids contesting in beauty during the springtime, but the northernmost sportsfishing area is found between Nurmes and Kuhmo near the village of Saramo. The river Saramo is situated some score kilometres from Nurmes towards Kuhmo. The river Saramo located near the Peurajärvi recreation area gets its waters from the murky-wateredwoodland meres through three forest brooks. The river Saramo flows through the small Saramo lake all the way into the great lake Pielinen. The sportsfishing area of the river
Saramo is 3.5 km long. There are three rapids along the area. Their combined length is
about one kilometre. Highest upstream of the three are the Niemelä rapids, from which the river flows quite deep and calm under the road bridge down to the head of the Heikkilä rapids. The local fishery associationhas acquired a boat on the river for anglers. Its base is upstream of the road bridge. The water area between the niemelä and the Heikkilä rapids is easiest to fish by boat. The Heikkilä RapidsThe Heikkilä rapids are propably the
most fished of the three because the rainbow trout are stocked into the backstream above
the rapids. Also the bank of the Fisher´s House by the Heikkilä rapids is the first spot
that tempts the anglers to try their luck. The ones furthest downstream and also the longest of the rapids are the Huttula rapids sanctified solelyfor flyfishing gear. The permit area ends after the Huttula rapids at the mouth of the Saramo lake.
The river Saramo was previously a timber
floating river which resulted in the rapids being cleaned into a rather channel like
condition at that time. The fFishery Association has persistently laboured to get the
rapids back to their original state and at the present time all the three rapids have been
restored. Trout and Rainbow Trout The fishery association has been stocking rainbow trout in yearly groing amounts and also small amounts of tfull grown trout in the rapids to please the anglers. During the summer the stocking interval is two weeks, in the winter the intervals are longer. The fish stocked weigh weigh between one and two kilos and experience tells they are in a very good condition. Native trout rise upstream from lake Pielinen so you might have a trout looking beast struggling at the end of your line which is nevertheless just an underszed trout fry and has to be released By chance a flyangler may catch a
grayling or bleak, which are a bit more common. Bony jaw pike stalk for wobbles, pike that
may weigh several kilos.And naturally there are a lot of perch and roach to bother the
float anglers by nibbling at their baits. Where...
When you come from Nurmes to the Saramo villageyou see first the river flowing under the road bridge and on your left there´s a bluegary building, the Fisher´s House. When you buy the permit they let you know when fish was last stocked and when the last fish have been caught. At the House there´s a catch register containing the weight of the catch and the angler´s name. The biggest fish of each week receives a day´s permit as a prize. Near the Fisher´s House there is also a permit vending machine. After buying the permit it is easiest to walk straight to the bank, the head of the Heikkilä rapids. Near the bank on the same side as the
House there´s a deep hole where you can often find a fish or two on the watch. If there
have not been any other anglers around for a while, it´s worthwhile to have a good go at
the hole.
In case the hole seems empty you can try upstream of the road bridge in the current or a bit further up whehre the current is slower. Unfortunately the backstream behind the bridge is often manned by some float anglers so that there´s no room for casting anglers. Well, if your rod has not quivered yet you can go downstream to the Huttula rapids. Before the rapids there´s a wide horseshoe bend where they have the boundary between the lure and fly angling areas. Downstream from there only fly angling gear is permitted. If you don´t have fly angling gear it is worthwhile to fish from the boundary all the way up back to the Fisher´s House. There are no special spots worth mentioning separately; the fish use their tails for swimming from one place to another. Having your fly fishing gear with you it pays to fish the head of the Huttula rapids and also below the rocks in the rapids carefully. Persistent trying is often rewarded by an angry strike. In case you´re still out of luck and by some odd coincidence your rod has not been bent by the weight of a fish you can move on to the highest rapids. Also if the boat is vacant it might be good to try trolling up the stream untill you reach the rapids. On the river Saramo you get the best results when fishing such parts of the river where there have been least anglers. The river is so narrow that especially at low water the fish get easily scared of several pairs of feet stumping on the bank.
...and with which gear? There´s not much more than a few lines to write about the efficient lures if you leave out the soft stuff. Well, let´s try anyway! As I said above the water in the river Saramo is rather murky; also the river is quite shallow at times of low water, these two things consequently are the main consideration when choosing the lures at the end of your line. Of the wobbles the best to fish are the ones swimming near and on the surface. The best colours are different shades of red, fluorescent yellow and as less common some shades of purple. Of the Finnish Lure marks I could mention among others Mini-Kosto, Tujo, Seniori, Ottiviehe and several small Rapalas. The best spoons are the copper shades of different makers. generally the smallest sizes in each series. Names of good spoons include among others Räsänen No 7, Flex Medal, Toby and Aave-pelti. These spoons are also fit for ice-fishing in the winter. Fly anglers choose their flies according to their personal skills but according to my experience at least Marabou streamers in irritation colours give fish and as the sugar coating there´s the Mini-LeechThis leadhead "fly" is really dangerous anywhere but also on the river Saramo. The Leech has acquired the reputation of a salmon-killer at least when having a blue or a yellow head. Normal spinners have been cast into the swirls of Saramo and there´s been some catch with them too. It is clear that the fish don´t know what to strike and what not to strike if there are all kinds of trinkets floated in front of their noses. This explains why an angler first time on the river will catch a fish while a lical "professional" stands aside looking. These catches might come with a lure which has been comdemned by a native knowing the river inside out as: "I would never put out a lure like that".
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