Pikesafari #5 2013

Wow another week has obviously already been passing by. In Karlskrona we've had very nice weather lately and is in the lead when it comes to sun hours this summer.

Yesterday was a bit of an exception though since most of the day was cloudy. With these factors in our mind we had high expectations of the evening. We were fully booked this time which means 10 boats and 40 anglers.

With less wind this Thursday we decided to go to the island groups of Smörpundsholmarna. Before the stop over there we went to Kobebus just south of Karlskrona city. Unfortunately for us, great amount of algae growth that appears during warm summer periods has now reached our area. This affects water visibility so even though we had low winds this pikesafari, water was murky.

In some boats fishing was okey at the first stop and David caught a small cucumber almost directly. In my boat a little kid managed to catch two small pikes in short time on a classic ABU Atom spoon, herring colour. Happy smiles in the boat for sure!

After an hour we went to Smörpundsholmarna to continue our pike hunt. We picked a rather big area since we had 10 boats.

Overall it was very happy faces that with interest gathered up by our fishing lodge to see who would win this pike safari. As always we asked boat for boat about their fishing and most guests reported about very strong but small pikes that has been caught during the evening. Winner pike this time measured 70cm and at least 3 other boats were fighting just behind with sizes 67-68cm. With these sizes mentioned, you can understand that this was a night of kinder activity. After some counting we could sum up 41 pikes, which is a really good result.

Two more pike safaris to go this summer...

Have a nice and fishy weekend!

// Daniel Wickman
   2013-07-26

 

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Pikesafari #4 2013

Yesterday we runned our fourth pikesafari of the year and this time we was fully booked, at least the day before. Unfortunately, we received a few late cancellations this time as well but still we got 36 anglers in total yesterday.

With 9 boats we had to choose a bit bigger areas so everyone could fit and not feel trapped in their surroundings by other boats. Since we also had rather tough winds we was even more limited in possible fishing locations. So after some discussion with David we decided to go to the area around Ljungskär/Västra mark just north of Dragsö.

In my boat this evening I had two Swedish guests who knows how the pikesafaris work out since they've been following several times before. Following was also a Danish guest who followed for his first time. Luckily, all of us in the boat managed to catch pike this time and so was the case for several boats this evening.

Since I obviously have a thing for tailbaits at the moment, I continued with these even this time. This was a lucky move since a pike of 101cm decided to take a blue/white Svartzonker Mctail. A few smaller individualls was caught at the same site before we went to next area.

After a bit more than an hour we went to the area between Svinön and Ramsö a bit west of Dragsö. The later in the evening we got, wind was decreasing and finally we had a very nice evening and sunset.

Back at Dragsö we could sum up a total of 35 pikes and also 5 perch. My 101cm was by far the longest pike so many small ones was interested this evening.

Next week we expect to be fully booked again so if you find our pike safaris interesting you should make your reservation as soon as possible. At the moment we have 6 boats booked already so 4 more to fill!

Have a nice & fishy weekend!

// Daniel Wickman
   2013-07-19

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Street fishing for perch

Good morning. Went out early this morning to try the fishing for perch in the city with David. Clock was ringing 4:50am and a big coffee later I was ready for some perch hunt. As always when fishing perch at this location in town we are bottom fishing with shrimps since perch in great wideness feed on these creatures.

We only had about 25 shrimps to fish with and these was about to get used very fast! Great action with good average size. Many of them weighed around 0,5 kilos which in my oppnion is a decent size.

Great fun and nice to catch something else than pikes sometime!


// Daniel Wickman
   2013-07-16

              

 

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With July comes wind, meter fish and pigs?!

Last couple of days we've received great wind strength, mostly from west. Yesterday I was more wet than dry when I got back from a short fishing trip due to high waves pushing over the boat edge.

Today we had about 6-7m/s in the morning and increasing the longer to the afternoon we got. Went out 9am this morning with Albin from Ronneby Havscamp. We tried a few areas that I know is holding good sized fish. It started out hard but soon enough both me and Albin had contacts with meter sized pikes without successfully land any of them. After about 1 hour I decided to switch to a Big Bandit and it didn't take to long until I experienced a breathtaking strike.

I told Albin "This rod is awesome for jerkbait fishing (Daiwa Aird interline). Look how long I can cast with this one." and I used a bit extra force on my cast. Just a few moves into to process I get a huge strike just below the surface and instantly I realize that this is a big fish. Not more than a second later everything stops and the end of my line feels very light. While a minor tsunami is created on the water where the fish striked I scream out loud "HOLY SHIT!", but in a Swedish way (with lots of bad words).

This is the first time it happens to me. My 1.0mm fluorocarbon wire was directly snapped off by the teeth of a pig, or a pike... This fish will give me nightmares for days. Very hard to estimate the size, but I feel kind of sure that the fish weighed +10kg, which in centimeters would be around 110-115cm.

Fortunately, a small revenge was given to me since I landed a 101cm pike about an hour later. A meterfish is always nice, but today the lost pike still stays in my mind. That was a biggie.

Overall we didn't catch to many pikes today and we went back about 2pm due to work and also to hard winds. A nice fighting 87cm was also captured by me just before we went back.

// Daniel Wickman
   2013-07-15

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Pikesafari #3 2013

Once again another week has passed us by, and once again it's time for a pike safari summary.
Yesterday we had 21 anglers devided on 6 boats. We expected more anglers this week since this third pike safari of the year has been fully booked last couple of years.

This time the weather forecast didn't look to promising for fishing with powerful winds from north and the water level was rising with at least 25cm over the day. Forecast the days before also promised rain but fortunately the rain stayed in the sky. Maybe the forecast scared of a few guests since we received 3 cancellations yesterday and a few ones also hesitated due to the weather.

Fishing was going to be good though. Our first place of the day was the area just south of Verkö, east of Karlskrona city. We stayed in the area for just above one hour and several boats reported fish when we gathered up. Me myself missed a nice fish after just a few casts, but landed a 83cm pike just a few casts later.

Second place this evening was the area of Kalsholmen, Basareholmen and south-west Verkö. This place delivered good and most boats reported a bit cryptic about good fishing. At this place we landed a fish of 85,5cm in my boat and for a short while we thought that the winner fish of the day could have been captured.

Back at Dragsö we summed up the evening boat by boat with variating results. One boat managed to catch 10 pikes, while one boat went back with 2 pikes. In total 36 pikes was caught and when David reported about their catches, he told and proved that they caught a pike of 91cm. Obviously they won and got the winner caps this week!

Overall we had a very nice evening with good fishing and much better weather than expected.

To be continued with another summary next week!

// Daniel Wickman
   2013-07-12

   

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Pikesafari #2 2013

Another weekend is approaching and time is flying by. It feels like I was writing the first summary of pikesafari just a few days ago, but actually it has been a week from now.

Anyhow, yesterday the second pikesafari of the year was performed. We had really nice weather the whole day and it continued during the evening as well. Approx 22' degrees, no clouds and barely no wind. Not really the best conditions for pike fishing but it was for sure an enjoyable evening.

With 20 anglers distributed on 6 boats, I decided to go a bit further west today. We started out by Tromtö, Ivö island and Ekeskär. Fishing wasn't to good to be honest and only a few pikes was eager enough (or stupid enough?) to bite. Sizes? Well the pikes that actually was caught here didn't really write themselves into the scorebooks.

Furthermore, we did gather up after about one hour of fishing to go to next site which today was the area between Haglö/Varö island, just a bit closer to Dragsö and Karlskrona city. At this place, pikes seemed to be a bit more active but still the bigger samples obviously was somewhere else this evening. In my boat, I was fishing with two young, and very talented anglers together with older relative. In just a few minutes one of the kids managed to strike a better sized pike on a natural coloured softbait. Unfortunately this fish was fighting to well and won the battle after some fighting. Luckily at least 5 smaller pikes was caught in my boat and when we got back we summed up a total of 17 caught pikes on 6 boats. Also one perch was reported of 35cm, which is a pretty good size.

Winnerfish this time measured unspectacular 67 centimeters so this evening was for sure a trip in the kindergarden. Hopefully we can manage to find better size next week!

Have a nice weekend everyone!

// Daniel Wickman
   2013-07-05

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Success in sunset

Went out yesterday with friends and tried for a few hours. Fishing was not to good in the early evening hours but just before sunset we managed to catch some pikes. First a 90cm fish that found interest in my Real eel 40cm, and just a bit later we got a double strike where I immediately felt that my fish was of good size. The fish was incredibly strong and fighted very well. Just before I was going to land the pike with my hands, my stinger wire broke up and the pike was standing still on the surface for a short while. Sorry Savage Gear, but this was the third time your wires broke for me and I recommend everyone to make their own stingers if using their lures...

Since I early discovered that the treble hook was set just below the mouth, a firm grip with just the hands was going to be risky business. But as the situation was, I had no other option than trying to get a fast and firm grip of the fish. At that moment the hook was easily forgotten and fast like a King Cobra my hand was placed with a steady, but still risky grip around the gills. Fortunately we had a net in the boat that I could use to secure the fish and myself before getting rid of the hook.

After a quick photo the pike was measured to 102,5cm and then released to its right environment. Once again a good sized pike and at the moment pikes seems to like what I present to them.

Fishing is great fun!!!

// Daniel Wickman
   2013-07-03

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Great summer for anglers!

Hi,

Yesterday we throw away June from our calendars and welcomed what in many Swedish people minds is the best month on the whole year. It's time for holidays and July.

Normally, July isn't really the best month for pike fishing though. Great heat and many times water temperature exceeds +20 degrees celsius. This year July has started out different. Wind strength has been strong last couple of weeks with approx 6-8m/s in average, and air temperature hasn't been more than about 18-23 degrees last week.

Since I had a day off yesterday, of course time was spent on water. Continously nice fish is coming up almost every time and my top fish yesterday measured a few millimeters beyond the meter. Still of course it's a nice fish, even though I hoped that this fish was going to reach the three digit numbers on the scale.

I also received a text message from our Swedish company that are here for a week of fishing. They ended up yesterday evening by finding a good spot after recommendations from me. 97, 92 and a 85cm fish was caught in short time just by the sunset.

More to come!

// Daniel Wickman
    2013-07-02

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