For Esa Ylijaasko, photography and fly fishing begin in much the same way: with patience, attention, and the willingness to spend time in a place before trying to understand it.

Ylijaasko is a Finnish photographer, writer, and fly fisherman based in Lapland. For more than a decade, his work has taken him across Finland and abroad, documenting people, landscapes, traditions, and the lives shaped by them.

He has photographed extensively for Suomen Kuvalehti, and his work has appeared internationally in publications including The New York Times, VICE, and VOGUE. His long-form documentary projects have been exhibited in Finland and around the world, including at Hiroshima MOCA, Aalto2 Museum, the Lumix Festival for Young Photojournalism, Miami Photo Festival, Yangon Photo Festival, and FotoIstanbul. He was also selected for the VII Photo Agency Mentor Program, and his work has received international awards and recognition.

Much of his storytelling now leads back to water.

Fly fishing and fly tying have long been part of Ylijaasko’s life, but over time they became increasingly connected to his work as a photographer and storyteller. The same things that have always drawn him to documentary photography are present on the river: observation, solitude, craftsmanship, landscape, tradition, and the lives of people closely connected to a place.

Fishing Tales grew from that connection.

Through writing and photography, Ylijaasko tells stories about rivers and remote landscapes, anglers and fly tiers, handmade flies, old traditions, long days on the water, and the friendships formed along the way. The photographs are not simply illustrations of the stories. They are part of the storytelling itself, another way of observing a place and remembering what happened there.

Based in northern Finland, Ylijaasko continues to travel wherever the stories lead, following rivers, people, and the cultures that have grown around fishing.

Because fishing has always been about more than the fish.