Pikesafari #1 2015

Hi there fellow readers!

It's Friday morning in the end of June and this means we yesterday arranged this years first pike safari. Weather is continuously cold for being end of June, both in air and water. Yesterday was no exception since we had approx 16 degrees in air and about 15 degrees in the water.

Wind was strong whole day with W 10m/s in average and even more in the squalls. With these conditions in mind we got a bit limited in places to go since many competitors are complete beginners to boat driving and fishing.

After a bit struggle with making up my mind of where to go, I finally decided to go a bit west of Dragsö. First stop we fished between Ramsö and Svinö. In total we were 28 anglers trying our luck.

In my boat I had Mattias and his 11 year old son who joined for some pike action. Luckily, it didn't take to long until the youngster caught his very first pike in his life! The pike wasn't big but what does it matter when it's the very first pike ever? Happy times for sure!

We contiued and had a few more pikes at the first site. After an hour we continued on to a new area which this time was between Andöarna and Skärva bay (North of Dragsö). Almost an hour was spent here before we gathered up again to go back. In my boat the youngster continued to fish good on his old ABU Garcia equipment with nylon line and a classic silver spoon. He actually caught 2 more pikes and saved one for dinner.

Back at Dragsö we summed up the first pike safari. My colleague Jakob joined for his first pike safari and they did good in his boat! When all boats reported their numbers Jakobs smile got bigger as he announced their top fish. 78cm was enough to win the first pike safari and the fish was caught by a guest in his boat on a small Real eel.

In total 23 pikes was caught and also a few perch. Overall a very successful first pikesafari!

We still have vacancy for upcoming pikesafaris and reservations can be made to info@dragso.se and also by phone 0455-15354.

// Daniel Wickman
   2015-06-26

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June biggies

Hi guys!

A bit strange to write a report this week since fishing season is "over" for this spring. We had one Swedish group here during last weekend for a couple of days but thats about 50-60 anglers less than previous weekends so for sure a big difference! Even though our official season for fishing is over, this doesn't mean that all pikes disappear and fishing sucks until August. It's actually many times the opposite!

I've been out trying my luck 2 times during the last couple of days with variating results. 4 days ago I went out a few hours before work and managed to catch 3 pikes between 85-92cm and a few smaller ones as well. I also had a M A S S I V E follower! First I made a long cast with a Real Eel 40cm and felt a small strike without setting the hooks. I continued on retrieving my lure and in the end when the lure came close to the boat a huuuuge fish followed with interest all the way. I estimated the fish to be +120cm......... Huge disappointment. Fortunately I managed to catch a beauty as well when a really fat and golden coloured pike ate my Real Eel 30cm. She measured in around the meter margin and was a small consolation for the big fish that followed a little earlier.

I also went out yesterday to try my luck. With moderate winds from west and sunny weather I decided to start in the middle part of archipelago around all the islands. Fishing didn't go to well so I moved even further out but without success. Only a few small pikes was landed before I accidently caught a horn pike. Since pike fishing was slow I spent some time to catch the horn pikes instead. Soon enough I moved on to fish for pikes again but this time inside some bays.

Obviously fish was found in the bays and during the afternoon my amounts got a bit better and I also managed to catch a fat meter pike in very shallow water on a Big Mcrubber. Great fun and this was also a good time to end up my day on the water.

A few guided trips is still on my schedule but on Thursday I will be going on a short vacation break so there might be a week until the next post will be written.

Until then, take care and have some fishy days!

// Daniel Wickman
   2015-06-09

 

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Spring season summary

So it's already time to sum up the spring season of fishing in Karlskrona. Time is literally running away and it feels like the main spring season is over faster than ever. Anyhow we've been open for fishing guests since March 19th and since then anglers from 14 different countries have been fishing in our area with Camp Dragsö as their base. These are pike enthusiasts from Sweden, Germany, France, Finland, Netherlands, Russia, Belgium, Latvia, Denmark, USA, Poland, Switzerland, Romania and Czech Republic (sorry if I have forgotten any!).

Once again we had a warm winter and due to this ice didn't stay for long at all. Ice was only present for a few days around Dragsö so fishing was possible almost whole winter and early spring this year. Fishing started out extremely well with many pikes above 10kgs reported already in February. Previous years I've been impressed every single time a pike over 10kgs was reported either directly to me or on social medias but this year 10kgs pikes was reported every week and sometimes several monsters every weekend in early spring. Still it's amazing pikes but you almost get a bit blind for these reports since you almost expected these fish to be caught every weekend. Crazy and amazing at the same time!

Me myself had a very successful spring and caught 2 very nice pikes above the magic 10 kilo mark. Very fat ladys with the measurements 11.35kgs - 113cm and 10.4kgs - 104cm. Just the way we like them!

With a warm winter water temps increased fast and first signs of spawning came in mid March already. Even big fish started before the end of March which about 2 weeks earlier than normal. Nice pikes was continuously caught though with meter pikes regularly coming up every weekend by our guests and also by me.

Numbers went down a little bit in mid April due to spawning and poor fishing conditions but a few decent pikes still came up by our guests. Fishing was slow for at least 10 days but then results started to get better again to the end of April. Local anglers did very good this time and the best boat managed to catch 6 meter pikes in one day, one boat!

From the last weekend in April to the last weekend in May we were very busy with between 50-70 anglers every weekend. This increased fishing preasure resulted in a few actions from our side. Firsly, we bought 2 more brand new Master500 boats with 40hp Selva engines. Except from these we also employed Jakob who just graduated from Sport Fishing Academy to cover up this increased fishing interest. So from now on we will be 2 guys working mainly with fishing business at Camp Dragsö which is well needed.

May was suddenly here and weather conditions continued to give us everything from rain, strong winds, sun, bright skies, hail, fog.. you name it. We got it all. The only thing we didn't get was high temperatures. Overall this May has been a very cold one and only a couple of days reached over 20 degrees in day temperature. This cold day and night temperatures has for sure kept water temperature down as well since we still have between 11-15 degrees in most areas even now in the beginning of June..

Overall fishing in May was good but as always with fishing some days good, some days not so good. The best days one boat could catch up to 100 pikes/boat and day while the worst days could result in a couple of pikes in the boat. Overall I would say that average catch was between 5-30 pikes per boat and day but it's very hard to tell since result variates alot between the groups. The longest pike caught by our guests was 113,5cm in May but even bigger fish has been reported by local anglers. When it comes to amounts the guys in Krolik company did best as they caught 1131 pikes in 6 fishing days and 9 persons!

What else to tell about this spring season? Well soon our new cabin suites are done! 5 unique cabin suites with interior themes 'Archipelago', 'Black/White', 'Glass', 'Retro' and 'Mountain' will be ready for rental in 2 weeks from now! More information about these cabins and pictures will be posted as soon as everything is ready.

When it comes to most successful lures this spring there is one lure that's been totaly outstanding. Svartzonker McRubber and Big Mcrubber in motoroil, eelpout, red tiger, gold/green colour.... They've been hammered by hungry southern girls this spring and many many many meter pikes has been falling for these magic creations. Other lures that works more than well is still Big Bandit (shallow/suspending), Buster Jerk (Shallow/Suspending), Relax softbaits in variating sizes, Real Eel 20-30-40cm, Svartzonker McTail, Mouse spinn fly, Wolf Tail Jr and many more.

Before I end up this summary I would like to inform everyone considering to come to us this autumn or next years spring. Some weekends are filling up fast and there is actually a few weekends in May 2016 that already is fully booked when it comes to Exclusive packages. So for sure it's about time to make up your mind about upcoming fishing holidays at us :)

We are now looking forward to a summer with strong pikes and sunny days!
 
// Daniel Wickman
   2015-06-04

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