Late August report

Hi everyone.

We have reached another weekend which means it's time for new guests to arrive. 3 fishing groups this weekend will try their luck in our arcipelago. This time guests from Sweden and Czech Republic.

As you might have been reading already in previous posts, fishing has actually started out really well this autumn season. Many nice pikes above +1m and several +10kgs in Karlskrona archipelago. Hopefully season can continue on like this!

Since this is a little bit of a calm week for us, I now take the chance to clean all boats properly. A lot of barnacles and sea weed on a few boats that has been unused for some weeks. Soon all boats are cleaned though so we will be ready for upcoming fully booked weekends with good working boats and cabins.

Earlier this week the registration to Blekinge Pike Festival 4-5 October 2014 opened. In just two days more than 400 anglers were registered! For sure great interest in the competition and fishing overall in our area.

Today weather didn't really invite to good pike fishing opportunities but I was proven something else. A 4 hour guided trip this morning resultet in 16 pikes which is to be considered quite good since most of time was spent in sparkling sun, no winds at all and clear waters. Great fun though with several visible pike strikes!

 Hopefully there will be some more reports to share with you guys later this weekend!

// Daniel Wickman
   2014-08-29

#Selfiepic

Read More

Autumn starts good!

Hi guys,

In previous post I wrote about fishing season was about to start. Now, 10 days later, we're definitely in it. Both water and air temperature has dropped quite fast which means that we now experience 16-17 degrees in the water and maximum 18 degrees in air during daytime and just about 10 degrees in night time.

We've already had our first couple of guided fishing trips during this week with okey results. The day before yesterday with a Swedish group resulted in 24 pikes in an 8 hour trip but to be honest fishing was rather slow. During the last week winds and overall weather has been really bad. Wind squalls up to 19m/s for many days and some hardcore rain. This had an negative effect on most pikes since they went passive and not into feeding. Most pikes that came up both yesterday and the day before carried plenty of parasites due to passivity.

But, It should also be mentioned that several really nice pikes has been caught since last post 10 days ago in our surrounding area (Karlskrona). Top pikes last 10-12 days according to what I know has been measuring 118, 115, 111, 107, 106, 104cm. Several above +10kgs. 4 of these caught by our guests! Great start of autumn season for sure.

Weather looks much better upcoming week so I hope that big pikes will keep coming. 4 groups to come next week and a couple more guided trips.

Went out yesterday on my day of work for a half day and caught 21 pikes with a friend of mine. No big ones but still fun fishing. To be mentioned is that pikes are very spread out at the moment. Lately I've experienced fishing to be good really far out in the archipelago as well as in the middle part. A few reports about acticity in shallow bays already as well.

Just said bye bye to a group of Swedish guests that made their first visit to Karlskrona. In 2,5 days of fishing the 6 lads managed to catch 146 pikes with this beuty beast of 111cm - 11.1kgs on top. Great results!

Tight lines!

// Daniel Wickman
   2014-08-24

   

Read More

Autumn season has started!

Hi guys!

Since fishing season is here by now, posts will be coming more regularly. Our first guests of autumn season has already left and new ones to come soon. In July I experienced fishing to be quite hard with high water temps and vegetation in abundance. Today, Thursday 14th, we're having 20 degrees in the bay of Dragsö. From now on temperatures will only drop for every week and fishing will be better and better the further in autumn we come.

I had two days of work earlier this week and tried my luck both days. Last Sunday I went out with a friend of mine. We caught 16 pikes within a half day with a top fish of 107cm! A couple of more pikes just under 90cm also experienced a day above the surface. This day we had our best results far out in the archipelago where the water was rather clear. In middle archipelago and close to shore water is still a bit coloured from algae blooms in July so we for sure experienced fishing to be harder there. It should be mentioned though, the biggie was caught very close to shore in 2m of water on a 40cm Real Eel.

Monday I tried to fish mid day with good results. 16 pikes myself and most fish measured above 80cm so good average size. Most fish was caught on SZ McTail adapted with bigtail, McRubber Jr in Motoroil colour and also Relax Kopyto 6'' in Motoroil. This day longest pike measured 95cm.

Other fishing teams in town also reports about good fishing and several meter+ pikes last two weeks has been reported. A great start of autumn season!

When it comes to booking situation we still have availability all weeks this autumn but soon to be fully booked in week 36 and 39. If you plan a fishing trip this autumn it's about time to make up your minds about dates soon to avoid disappointments. A few alternatives left for Blekinge Pike Festival as well.

Very soon a special offer will be posted on Facebook for November fishing this season. Keep your eyes open!

// Daniel Wickman
   2014-08-14

Read More

Pikesafari #7 2014

Hi fishing enthusiasts,

Yesterday we arranged this summers very last safari and what a great interest once again. Last year not more than 16 participants joined in but at this years last safari we were fully booked again. We even had a que of at least 10 more guests who wanted to follow but wasn't able to since we were fully booked. With 40 anglers again we decided to pick quite big areas. Since David has begun his regular full time work again he wasn't able to join in this time. In his seat Willy helped out for his second safari of the season.

Many new guests joined in yesterday that never tried our safaris before. With this in mind, it took 20 minutes before we were able to leave Dragsö. Many of our guests needed a small education about boat driving before depature so this took some time.

Continously, we went west of Dragsö to a big area between islands Haglö, Varö and Smörpundsholmarna. About 45 minutes later I received a phone call from one of our guests. They had a major propeller failure since all 4 propulse blades were gone. No extras were brought this time so I had to go back to Dragsö to get a spare one. This safari I felt really sick but I managed to run the safari anyway. It didn't help me feel better with this problems occurring..

With the propeller fixed we continued on to another big area located between Kobebus and Kurrholmarna just south of the city. About one more hour was spent here and a lot more action here than at the first stop. In my boat we landed 3 pikes and lost maybe 10 pikes that didn't want to follow all the way into the boat.

Our boat neighbour Willy and his company of the day were also successful here and they landed a total of 16 pikes! Record high numbers for one boat during this years safaris.

When we gathered up I got information about another boat with propeller failure. 3 more blades gone and fortunately I brought 2 spare ones when I got back to Dragsö for my second time so this matter didn't take so much longer time.

About 25 minutes delayed we were back on camp again and talked about our results. In total we caught a season high 36 pikes with top pike measuring 80cm. Fishing is for sure starting to get better again after a couple of weeks of slow fishing and algal blooms!

So, overall this summer we caught 158 pikes and ended up with an average size of 81,5cm (winner pike average). On 7 safaris we've had 231 guests joining in this year, compared with last years 185 persons. Super fun with this great interest!  

        Participants            Pikes caught        Winner pike
1.             14                              18                       60cm
2.             21                                9                       85cm
3.             35                              22                       80cm
4.             40                              28                       81cm
5.             41                              30                       95cm
6.             40                              15                       90cm7.             40                              36                       80cm

Average winner pike size 2011: 74cm
                                              2012: 74cm
                                              2013: 77cm
                                              2014: 81,5cm

Finally, down below you can see some mixed pictures of this seasons pike safaris!

// Daniel Wickman
   2014-08-08

Read More

Pikesafari #6 2014

Hello guys,

To begin with I'm sorry that this summary is a bit delayed. Normally these posts are published every Friday or even the same day (Thursday) as the safaris.

Anyway, we were once again fully booked which means 40 anglers. Last couple of weeks has been very warm and this isn't really good for fishing. Water temperature is at the moment around 22-25 degrees everywhere and at this pike safari we measured 24-25 degrees. This wasn't the only problem though since winds were strong, about 7-10m/s, and water level was at least 35cm lower than normal.

With warm temperatures in air and water we also receive algal blooms which affects water visibility and by that worse fishing conditions. As you might understand, we didn't really have the best conditions to fish this pike safari. With 10 boats and many unexperienced families we decided to stay fairly close to Dragsö. First stop was a very big area. All the way from St. Andön just north of Dragsö and all the way north to the very end of Rosenholmsviken.

In my boat we struggled to find any fish at all. It took at least 45 minutes until I had a bite and that fish didn't even stay on for long. Only a few boats managed to catch fish at the first stop so we continued to the area just west of Dragsö called Ramsö to Svinön. I still experienced fishing to be very slow and hard. To be honest we didn't catch a single pike in my boat this afternoon...

Out of ten boats actually 4 boats came back with a zero in their score. In total 15 pikes was caught with top fish measuring 90cm. Not to bad in my opinion with so hard conditions. Of course we hope that fishing will be better next time.

So next safari will be this summers last one and at the moment we have about 6 available spots in total. We look forward to this event even though it's a bit sad to run the very last safari of this year.

Until next time, take care!

// Daniel Wickman
   2014-08-04

Read More