Pikes ready to dance?!

Hi!

Had a day of work yesterday and went out fishing on my own. Pikes were really into feeding and I managed to catch 17 pikes. I also had a huge number of followers, strikes plus a few missed ones. Really good action and most of fish was caught on the Swedish made spinning fly, Mouse. Other well working lures this time was Hitman red burbot and McMio in red/black colour. All fish was caught in around 0.5-1m depth inside bays, both in super clear water and in a bit murky waters.

Hopefully this day of activity was the start of what we all are waiting for, pike bonzana! :)

// Daniel Wickman
   2013-04-30

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Second week to its end

Just came back from my lunch break and most fishing guests has been leaving during the morning after a weekend of fishing in Karlskrona. This week doesn't really belong to the first chapters of most successful fishing times in our archipelago.

Most pikes are into spawning mode at the moment but fish of 3 phases has been caught during the last couple of days. Pikes who hasn't spawned yet, pikes that do leave eggs in the boat and also pikes who already has started their after spawn work of getting into good shape again.

This week was our second of the season and even this week brought us major problems with 3 boats almost at the same time. Normally we always have a spare boat to offer if the rented boat get problems out of the guests control. So we did even this time but since 3 boats got problems at the same time, we were two boats short. In short of time we managed to lend a boat from a good friend and maker of the fantastically beautiful lures, Jenzza lures. A lot of cred for this favor!! Fortunatelly, all guests could fish even though we had problems with our boats.

As mentioned earlier, fishing was hard and no really good numbers were reported during this "check out-day". Skilled Dutch angler Dennis and his friends made their 8th(!!) visit here and during the week they caught 107 pikes with the biggest sample measuring 95cm. This weekends biggest pike measured 103cm and was caught by a group of lads from Swedish island Gotland. Overall catches per boat and weekend was between 1-40 individuals, so fishing was for sure hard and slow even if a lot of pikes were seen in shallow waters.

// Daniel Wickman
   2013-04-28

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Chapter 5 - Where to go?

Hi to all.
We have reached another weekend and another chapter release. This time I will be writing about a very important section in fishing that for sure is of critical importance if you will be successful or not during your day. It has become time to get the knowledge about where to go.

In previous chapters I have discussed the skills and knowledge needed when it comes to preparation parts in fishing. Hopefully, you have learned enough to feel confident when going out fishing. Imagine standing in the boat in a new area and don't really know where to go. The only thing you've got is all your gear loaded, a sea chart, information about what the weather has been like the past days and also what the weather is like now. If you are visiting us at Camp Dragsö Sportfishing, you also get a report about where catches has been reported and on what they have been caught on.

So with this fact in your mind, you will for sure ask yourself; Where to go?!

Use advice to your advantage and pikes can easily be found

If you visit us for the first time I strongly recommend to use the advice you'll get from our staff. We know where catches has been reported and it could be a great start to go to a place where pikes for sure has been present. If you use the knowledge learned in previous chapters you also get a good hint of where to look for the pikes. If you missed the chapter about weathers impact, then read it. Weather is as mentioned earlier of great importance in most fishing. 

At the moment we still have spring, and most fishing is located in bays. Of course there is an abvious reason to this as many of you might know. Spring in bays, after spawn close to herring schools, summer in the outer part of archipelago and autumn closer to shore again. Almost like 'Roses are red, Violets are blue, Fishing is great and pikes are for you' No no, I'm not into poetry shit. Let's stick to fishing, right?!

Furthermore, the thinking is very important as well. If you stand in the boat with low knowledge about the fishing in the area, try to imagine where it could be logical for pikes to stand. Will you find pikes in the outer part of archipelago in spawning time? Most probably not. Where could they be? Where do they spawn? In bays and in wetlands close to shore of course. Then start fishing in or close to the bays in springtime of course. I will write more about this thinking in upcoming chapters.. Another great advice is to ask other fisherman or in this case, our guides about where to go. Me myself is feeling great if I can help others to success within what we all have as our number one passion, pike fishing. 

Most of times guests want to get a good clue of what to think about when it comes to everything from choosing the "right" lures for each specific location and of course also about the thinking of where to go? With a half-day guided fishing trip, this knowledge can be a great start and make you more self confident of where to go and where pikes can be caught at the moment. This instead of going out and guess where to find them.

Remember, You can be a very good angler but with no knowledge of where to go and find them, all those pre-learned skills are useless.

Next weekend; Chapter 6 - What lures to use?

// Daniel Wickman
   2013-04-28 

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First report of spawned pikes

Hi to all

Yesterday evening I went out for a short try in the hard wind to see if pikes had become more active. It took about an hour before the first pike came up and shortly after that the pike on picture below showed up. As you can see, the pike is very thin and yes, this lady was just finished with her spawning. She dropped a few eggs in the boat to confirm this.

12 degrees in most bays should make the process just fine and most pikes will if not yet, spawn very soon. And as you might know, pikes are in serious need of inhaling food very quickly after spawning since they use most of their energy during spawn.

Hopefully, this sign will be the start of crazy after-spawn fishing where the meter pikes will be coming up frequently.  

// Daniel Wickman
   2013-04-25

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First week of season to its end

Hi to all you fellow readers.

Today we're finishing up our first week of fishing season. A lot of guests have been visiting us and it has for sure been a hectic week. All boats has been out and unfortunately we had several problems with the boats this first week. Most of them are sorted out by now but a few boats need some more attention.

What about the fishing then? Well in the beginning of the week it started out quite well. I got reports of several nice catches around the meter and above. Then we had 2 days of really tough weather conditions where the wind measured up to 16m/s. These days made several fishing teams stay on land most of the day and those who tried anyway wasn't to successful either.

Weekend has so far been great in weather condition if you want to have a nice walk around the city or making a nice first BBQ of the year. This means that it has been very sunny with no clouds as far as my eyes can see, and wind strength has been fairly low. As you might understand this is not really the best conditions for fishing and yesterday was a terrible day in results for most boats. Pikes can be spotted in many bays but their activity is very low. Maybe due to last days weather changes, and of course a bit due to upcoming spawning period

We do have a few fishing groups this week and are almost fully booked again for next weekend. Hopefully fishing will be much better with greater catches to follow. 

// Daniel Wickman
   2013-04-21

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Chapter 4 - Be prepared

Hi everyone. We have reached a new weekend and that means It's high time for a new chapter release in our step-by-step guide for successful pike fishing.

Previous chapters has been covering most of the preparations but we still have one important part left to discuss. This chapter is about the gear needed for a successful fishing day.

Alright, you have proper clothes and you have a decent pack of food and drinks prepared. You have also learned more about the weather impact. Last chapter also told you that it's better to use gear that you are very famililar with rather than using stuff that you can't perform 100% with. Now it's about time to learn what gear you need to bring.

First of all you'll need lures, rod & reel to be able to fish obviously. This part is up to the fisherman himself so I won't write to much about it. When I say be prepared, I think more about accessory needed beside the actual fishing. There is a few things that I would never go fish without.

1. Tongs

At least one should be found in every anglers equipment bag. Very useful tool and you can be in need of several models. One long for taking the hooks out of the fishes mouth is mandatory. A small one could be used for many reasons such as changing hooks on lures, adding split rings and many more. It's also important to bring a cutter tong that is strong enough to easily cut hooks if needed. Unfortunately both anglers and pikes can be in serious need of getting rid of badly positioned hooks and even if it's not used to often, it's very important to bring one.

2. Measuring tool/Weight equipment

Most anglers want to know how big their catches are. This is often even more important if you actually catch a big pike. Should always be carried on since a big fish can be landed any time.

3. Camera

With a camera brought while fishing you can easily capture the moment of luck when catching the dream fish. This is what we all aim for. Take some quick photos and let the fish carefully back again. 

Quick Photos after good preparations and fish will make the air session fine and recover fast

4. Fishnet/Carp sack

This is a great tool that in my opinion is good to bring everytime you go fish. When catching a good sized fish it could be a good idea to let the pike rest in the water for a while in a net or a carp sack while preparing cameras, angles for photo and measuring equipment so that the fish will be up from the water as short time as possible. None of these procedures should be underestimated if you want to get good photos of the fish. Never, ever, let the fish be suffering just because you want good pictures when it easily can be prevented, even when feeling high on adrenalin during your catch.

5. Spare accessory

In my opinion it's important to always bring extra hooks, split rings, wires and other accessory that might be neccesary. What if your line brakes with major line loss? Two of my flourocarbon wires got damaged, why didn't I bring an extra set of wires? This is things that always should be carried on so fishing can be continued regardless what happens.

6. Knife

The survival tool. Can be used in many situations and should be carried on. Useful for cutting your line or maybe you have an old fish net in your propeller? 

With proper gear, accessory and preparation. Fishing is FUN!!!

7. First Aid Kit

Accidents happens very easily and a first aid kit is useful many times. When handling pikes you expose yourself to hurt fingers for small cuts and if unlucky even hook injuries. Easy to bring and good for treating small injuries immediately. Small cuts combined with fish secretion is not a good combo so add disinfection liquid to your first aid kit.  

These 7 topics is mandatory to always bring when fishing in my opinion. There is plenty of more things that might be useful but with described accessory you have what you'll need to successfully catch, handle and release a fish. This part of preparation is where many anglers shows mismanagement. In my opinion, it's an unserious act from any angler to not take this part of preparation seriously. Always be prepared should be as much common sence as using your belt in a car.

8. Polarized sunglasses
In our archipelago I strongly recommend to use polarized sunglasses. These is for several reasons. One of them is to let yourself have the advantage of actually see the pikes a couple of meters earlier than you would do without these glasses. Since we have very clear waters most of times, this advantage could be of great importance.
Another great advantage is to see stones and other obstacle that might be dangerous when driving boats in the archipelago. When you have been using polarized sunglasses in our waters for once, then I can ensure you that you don't want to fish again without them.  

Thank your for shown interest.

Next weekend; Chapter 5 - Where to go?

Daniel Wickman 13-04-20    

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Spring season is HOT!

Weekend is approaching and we're really into the fishing season now. All boats are out this weekend and temperatures in the water has rised rapidly last week. Last ice went away 5 days ago but already a few bays is having 11 degrees. Spawning will for sure begin shortly. But before that fishing will continue and last couple of days some nice fish has been coming up. I've got reports of at least 5 fish above 7kg (95-105cm) since Sunday in Karlskrona area. Hopefully our guests can catch some nice individualls during their stay here at Camp Dragsö Sportfishing.

Stay tuned for reports and on Saturday a new chapter will be released in our guide for more successful fishing!

// Daniel Wickman
   2013-04-18

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First day of fishing season 2013!

Finally, almost all ice has melted by now and yesterday we putted in 3 of our Master500 boats. Since I was of duties today, I brought our trainee Albin from Swedish Sportfishing Academy out for the first fishing day of season 2013.

We tried out many different spots during the day and forced our way through ice at some places. I had a major defeat in numbers today, since I managed to catch 5 pikes in the cold water. All of them took a brown coloured pike spinning fly. Maybe this was the key of the day, since we didn't catch anything at all on jerkbaits or softbaits.

Todays fishing was very specific for early spring fishing. You have to search for places with just slightly higher temperatures. Top temperature today was just over 5 degrees and this spot was also where most pikes were caught. Mostly small pikes today but we continue our exploration tomorrow.

Tomorrow is also the day when our first guests of the season arrives to Dragsö Sportfishing. Finally, we can open and by this, SEASON IS OFFICIALLY STARTED!!!

// Daniel Wickman 2013-04-13

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Chapter 3 - Learn Your Gear

Hi folks. Previous chapters I have discussed the knowledge needed about how to dress properly and what to think about when it comes to weather. Todays chapter brings you a little bit closer to the actual fishing.
Famous Swedish fishing brand Fladen have their quote clear, "Everyone Can Fish". That's quite true, but to take it to the next level and become a successful angler, you need to know what you are doing. Small pikes can be caught with very little knowledge, but bigger samples that we so hardly want to catch requires a bit more attention from the angler himself. This is what todays chapter is all about.

As the topic of this chapter says, you have to learn your gear. Some people says that "Oah, You only have to reel your lure in and be at the right place at the right time". Well sometimes it seems like it. But if you look at anglers who regularly catch good fish, it's definitely not just luck and "beeing at the right place at the right time" that has been the key for success. They know their gear and the small things that they do with their lure, knots, wires, hook settings and reeling technique is most of times critical differences between catching, or not catching good sized fish. 

Do you only see a couple of lures or did you notice that the bait with bitemarks have extra split rings?

The more experienced angler you become, the more small things that enhance your success in fishing you will learn. For instance if you are new to jerkbait, don't buy 20 different lures and try them all out directly. All lures have their own movement and reaction to what speed, jerk or twitch you give the lure. The difference of fishing 2-3 lures in a good way, than fishing 20 in a poor way, could for sure be the crucial act that makes you catch the meter pikes, or struggling by only catching small "cucumbers". These small samples are often stupid enough to bite things that doesn't move realistic anyway.

Fishing is for sure a material sport if you didn't know that already. Everything is possible to make or change to the better. This involves everything from reels, rods, lures to the tiniest accessory such as split rings and stinger spikes. The production itself I leave to those who actually delivers what we fish with, but It's always intresting to try out new rigs, small changes on the lures and so on. You need to explore the fantastic possibilities of improvements and see what can be useful for your fishing. This is a section that can be wroten texts longer than the Harry Potter books, but the important thing in summary is that you should never be afraid of trying new things when ready for it. When you know exactly how your lure reacts to movements, stops etcetra, then you can reach great success with your fishing.

So what is better than trying out your baits in clear waters where you can see how fast your lure sinks, how it reacts to your acts with reel & rod. A good advice when doing this is to use polarized sunglasses, which I always recommend for fishing, when trying your baits. These will help you see what you're doing even better. Spend time practicing and your fishing will become a habit which in my opinion is very important.

Another great advice for learning your gear is listening to and learning from successful anglers. This can be made in several ways. The best choise is of course to talk with great anglers when possible at fairs, shops and other venues. What are their best advice? How are they fishing? What do they think is the best option for a specific water? Internet has becomed a great meeting point and place for publishing videos and texts about fishing techniques and other useful advices. Sometimes even magazines are great to learn new skills. Listen, learn and use what you think will enhance your own fishing.

When you know how to use your gear in a optimal way, great catch will follow

To sum this chapter up, I can recommend everyone to learn your gear properly before using it. If you're new to a specific method, start out small by using just a few kind of baits. This is particularly important when fishing with jerk- or softbaits. Since most of these baits requires more attention from the angler himself, It's better to learn how a few models work out rather than using all models available in an inappropriate way. Learn from those who know, and practice what you believe in.

Next weekend; Chapter 4 - Where to go?   

Daniel Wickman 13-04-13

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Ice situation 9/10/13

Good morning fellow readers.

Last couple of days I've recieved a lot of e-mails and phone calls regarding the ice situation. Last weekend we had nice sunny weather with 5-7 plus degrees during day time and no minus degrees in night time. This started the meltdown process and yesterday, as you can see on the picture, we had open water almost 10 meters out from mainland. Thickest ice part that was measurable at the end of our jetty was 3,5cm.

It's very hard to estimate when ice will disappear so we can put in our boats. Ice is for sure thin now, and just a couple of warm days can completely take it away. It could be on Thursday, it could be on Saturday.. But with some unluck it could be next week. Weathermen has promised 12-14 plus degrees and windy this weekend so it looks promising!  

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Chapter 2 - Weather & Wind

New weekend, and a new chapter release. This time I will write about weather and wind. As you might know, both these factors sometimes play a huge role in how the fishing is going to be. But before I start writing about conditions and what usually is good for pike fishing, I need to say that there are no rules without exceptions! Never forget that sometimes, even the conditions you believe beeing the worst possible delivers better than the days with visually much better conditions.

This chapter is adapted to our archipelago fishing but generally works the same in bigger lakes. A good thing by fishing in our area is that you will always have the possibility to fish on locations where the wind is pushing waves up againt the mainland. This is in my opinion the main rule when deciding where to go. Check what wind direction there is at the moment, and even better if you know what the wind direction has been the last couple of days.

And why is that you might ask. I can reveal that a upcoming chapter is going to explain the thinking a bit more, but already here you need to think where the baitfish will be located. Wind creates waves, and waves creates water movement in its direction. This means that small organisms such as plankton will be forced to follow the water movement direction. And by this, small sized baitfish will follow the plankton to feed. This chain then continues to even bigger fish, such as perch and our beloved pikes. 

Plankton <- Small fish <- Bigger fish <- PIKES

With this knowledge in your mind, you realize that hungry individuals will be hunting where the wind is pushing against. As mentioned earlier, there are no rules without exceptions so of course you will find pikes elsewhere. But personally, I believe that pikes standing outside of this rule, is not as easy to catch as the ones that obviously are hunting within the "wind rule". 
This is also the explanation why It's important to look what the weather has been like over time. To state an example; If there has been hard to intermediate south-west wind for 3-5 days in a row, there is no reason to start fishing elsewhere than at south-west located bays, edges etc.

Another great rule to remember, is that when pikes has been found, memorize in which direction the bay was located. When going to a new place for the day, have a look at the sea map and look for bays located in the same direction as the one you acutally caught pikes in. If you were catching pikes in a west oriented bay, there is no reason going to a bay close by which is located south and so on. 

Sunny and calm wind. Pleasant conditons to be out. But will the pikes be active?

So with the wind and its importance covered, we also need to think about the weather itself. This is a part where fishermans are really splitted up when it comes to what weather they prefer the best. I prefer when the conditions are quite ruff. Wind should be around 4-7m/s, enough to circulate the water so more oxygen is created, and it also makes the water a bit coloured. More oxygen is a factor that make the pikes more active and is easily created when water moves a lot and oxygen rich surface air is blended into the water.

I also prefer when there are rich amount of clouds, this is of several reasons. One of them is that the water gets less visibility, and pikes tend to be less shy than they are when the sun is shining through the water levels. Most conditions are fishable, and you can always find and adjust your fishing location after condions. You have to accept the weather itself, but you can always adjust your fishing location depending on wind direction and strength. And to be honest, wind is more important than the weather, in my opinion. 

Right time, Right Wind, Great catch!

Sunny weather is very common during spring, and this could be both good and bad. The good thing is that it heats up shallow bays quickly, and pikes asamble in groups to not waste more energy than needed. This is one of the reasons why It's very usual to see lots of pikes in the shallow bays the weeks after ice meltdown and up to spawning period. The bad thing with sun, is that the pikes are getting exposed easily for their own predators. In our case, this means our sea eagles and cormorants. Of course pikes are not that stupid that they still stand in the most visible, clear parts of the bay when sun is shining up the whole area partly because of this. And a connecting aspect is that when the sun most of times lights up the water and increase the visibility at some areas, pikes get less active.

To sum up this chapter, I would like to say that most important to think of is the wind direction since pikes often follow with the water movement for several reasons. Sunny spring days heats up the bay temperatures fast and starts the migration of the pikes into them.

And remember, fishing is alot up to what yourself believe in. This is a part that is going to be reflected in our next chapter!

Next weekend; Chapter 3 - Learn Your Gear

Daniel Wickman 13-04-06

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