Your trip leader is Junnu Korpela — certified wilderness guide, veteran of Pyhätunturi tourism, and a living archive of the Kemijoki watershed. Junnu has spent decades on these waters, through every season and every kind of weather. He knows where the big pike winter, which run brings grayling rising first in spring, and which way the wind will carry your lure on this particular bay, this particular morning. But Junnu is far more than a fishing guide.

Junnu belongs to that rare breed of person in whose company time simply disappears. His stories flow naturally — sometimes quiet as a slack backwater, sometimes forceful as a rapid in flood. He speaks of legendary fish, of old lies passed down through generations, of how the Kemijoki has changed across the decades. Woven through the stories, you learn to read the water, understand how a fish behaves, and see Lapland's nature with new eyes.

A trip with Junnu is never just a fishing trip. It's a journey into Lapland's nature, its history, and into yourself — a quiet moment outside the ordinary that recharges you in a way that's hard to explain but easy to feel.

Junnu has been a certified wilderness guide since 1990. He has led trips for everyone from first-time children to international trophy hunters, family groups to raucous bachelor parties. He finds the right rhythm and approach for every group — no one leaves the water without having learned something new. International experience with some of the biggest names in Christmas tourism has sharpened Junnu's gift for meeting all kinds of people and building the kind of atmosphere that makes a trip a memory, not just an activity.

Local knowledge — the kind no map holds. Junnu carries decades of observation in his head: where the fish move in each season, at each water level, in each weather condition.

Practical fishing skill you can carry forward into your own trips. Junnu doesn't just put a rod in your hand — he explains why things are done the way they are, so you learn to think like a fisherman.

A calm presence that's contagious. Junnu doesn't rush, doesn't stress, doesn't perform. In his company, the pace of ordinary life slows down naturally — you'll feel it within the first hour.

Stories that stay with you longer than the catch itself. Lapland comes alive in Junnu's telling — mythology, history, and the present woven together in a way no book or documentary can match.

Junnu's long experience also means the ability to read weather, current, and situation before they turn difficult. Safety is the foundation of every trip, not an add-on. Every trip carries proper safety equipment, insurance is always in order, and Junnu makes the calls based on weather and conditions — so everyone goes home with good spirits and good stories.

• Certified wilderness guide since 2022, University of Applied Science Lappia, Muonio

• Home base: Vuostimo, Kemijärvi

• Specialities: pike fishing, grayling fishing, deep knowledge of Arctic nature

 • International experience with top names in Christmas tourism

 • Native language Finnish — also speaks English

 • Reputedly the last living master of authentic "Santa Claus English"

The best way to get to know Junnu is to step into the boat. Get in touch and let's arrange a trip — the rest sorts itself out on the river.