The Kvarken International pike fly-fishing tournament, held from the 10th - 13th May 2010, is the 1st Catch & Release pike fly tournament to be held in Finland. Brought to you by Vision fly-fishing, Eumer tube & Baltic pike flies it will be held in the Kvarken archipelago, which is Finland's 1st & only World Natural Heritage site. Found on the west coast of Finland, it is one of few places in the world where the land mass is rising between 8-8.5 mm per annum. It is estimated that there are over 2200 islands & skerries around Replot, with numbers increasing every 10 years, this constant change in the moraine formation has turned the area into probably the best pike fishing waters in the world. This can be attributed to two reasons. The first being the differences in
fluctuations between depth and drop of areas around these islands, which form channels for their prey (Herring & Perch) to swim between. Secondly there are far more reed beds found scattered along all the islands shorelines than anywhere else in the Baltic, giving the pike a far larger area for them to spawn in. In conjunction with the main sponsors, the Kvarken International pike fly-fishing tournament will be working closely in co-operation with many of the service providers on the island of Replot, as well as the Ostrobothnian Fishing Association to bring you a truly fantastic event held in a truly unique area of the northern hemisphere.
Tournament Date: 10th - 13th May 2010 Teams need to arrive on Sunday 9th May for tournament induction & presentation 19h00 to be held at Bjรถrkรถ Camping, tournament headquaters. Team captains will need to submit their daily team sheets for the event. Monday
This day will be set aside solely as a practice day, giving teams a chance to acclimatize themselves to the area. Start 08h00 - 17h00. Boats will be checked each morning for contraband (Spinning rods/Reels, lures, plugs, jerk, spinners). Maps will be sent to each team well in advance of the event so giving all contestants a better idea of the areas being fished with depths & no go areas.
Tuesday
Tournament day 1 Teams start each morning 08h00 and will fish until 17h00 each day. Lunch & beverages will be provided to each boat, thus allowing you a full 9hrs on the water per day. Boats again will be checked each morning for contraband before departure.
Wednesday
Tournament day 2 08h00 - 17h00
Thursday
Tournament day 3 08h00 - 17h00 19h00 > Price giving and presentation.
Competition rules and guidelines All fish caught will be digitally photographed/weighed & measured. Any fish showing blood will be disqualified. Teams have to have submitted all fish caught each day by 17h00 to tournament judges. Failure to do so will result in that teams fish, for that days fishing being disqualified. If the Environmental agency decide to tag these fish, then all caught fish will be kept in keep nets until they can get to each boat to tag these fish. (No contestants will need to tag any fish). Boats will be allocated walkie talkies so we expect a turn around time of around 10 minutes from time of fish caught to tag & release. A 2 man team per boat will only be allowed 3 rods per day. So line choice will be of importance. Tippets should be at least 30 cm long with a minimum breaking strain of 30 lbs. Mono tippets should have a breaking strain no less than 60 lbs. Contestants found with frayed mono tippets will be asked to change immediately. All hooks must be barb less and there is no need for trebles on tube flies either....just single hooks. Each team will be allocated their own cottage at Bjรถrkรถby Camping, tournament headquaters. For those teams i.e. Netherlands, USA, UK that have traveled extensively for the tournament, all cottages, caterers, boats & guides have been booked for the full week from the 9th -16th May which will give contestants an extra 3 days fishing the area at a more leisurely pace after the tournament has ended.
Tournament Costs Cost per team member for 7 days: € 650,00 at today's rate of exchange that is £ 551 and $ 960
This price includes: 1. Transport to & from the airport to the island & while on the island 2. All accommodation 3. Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner per day + tea/coffee on the boats 4. Boats + guide will be sponsored for the event but have been booked for usage for all parties for the duration of the week. 5. All Fishing licenses THIS PRICE DOES NOT INCLUDE AIR FLIGHTS!!!
Arrival Sunday 9th (09.05.2010) - Departure Sunday 16th (16.05.2010) Teams can fly into Stockholm International Airport (Arlanda) then get a connecting flight from (Stockholm Arlanda) to Vaasa Airport with SAS (Scandinavian Air Services) or Blue1. This is the cheapest route we have found here. There are five flights daily from (Stockholm Arlanda) to Vaasa. Dep & Arr ARN 09h00 ARN 09h00 ARN 09h50 ARN 09h50 ARN 14h00 ARN 14h00 ARN 18h30 ARN 18h30 ARN 22h55 ARN 22h55
VAA - 11h00 - Blue1 VAA - 11h00 - SAS VAA - 12h05 - Blue1 VAA - 12h05 - SAS VAA - 16h05 - Blue1 VAA - 16h05 - SAS VAA - 20h35 - Blue1 VAA - 20h35 - SAS VAA - 01h00 - Blue1 VAA - 01h00 - SAS
Blue1- Booking website : http://www.blue1.com/en/fi Scandinavian Air services - Booking website: http://www.flysas.com/en/fi Alternatively one can fly into Helsinki International airport and book a connecting flight to Vaasa with either Blue1 Airlines, Finnair, Finncomm or SAS Finncomm booking website: http://www.fc.fi/home Blue1 booking website: http://www.blue1.com/en/fi Finnair booking website: http://www.finnair.com SAS booking website: http://www.flysas.com/en/fi Air Baltic booking website: http://www.airbaltic.com
A top notch presentation website is being designed & built specifically to promote this event. The event will also be filmed and used for the promotion & Education of "Catch and release" of pike here in Finland and in the Northern hemisphere. Teams should bring their own flies along. Eumer will be supplying each team with a fly tying stand and materials just incase you decide to tie a few flies while you’re over for the week. As you can imagine there is a lot of logistics to be dealt with and if something new develops I will let all teams know A.S.A.P. If you have any questions you can email me at: balticpiketours@leisurepath.fi ALL 4-MAN TEAMS NEED TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE TOURNAMENT ORGANIZER SIMON GRAHAM BY DECEMBER 31st 2009 THROUGH E-MAIL TO: balticpiketours@leisurepath.fi ALL PAYMENTS HAVE TO BE RECIEVED NO LATER THAN FEBRUARY 31st 2010.
Thanks to all those interested! Kind regards, Simon Graham
LINKS
About the area: http://www.kvarken.fi
Google map of tournament area: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=101585685146678882630.0004774d6e7eed09e28bd&t=h&z=10
Image gallery: http://kotisivukone.fi/files/leisurepath.palvelee.fi/tiedostot/BPTgallery/New_Gallery/index.html
www.visionflyfishing.com www.eumertube.com www.balticpiketours.com