Late September update and BGF coming up!

Soon it's time for one of the biggest fishing competitions in whole northern Europe, Blekinge Pike Festival.This year the competition is held during 1-2nd of October which is on Saturday and Sunday this week. As usual our camp is fully booked for this event and of course we will compete ourselves, it's definitely one of those traditions that I'm looking forward to every year. A lot of guests, friendly chats about fishing and tactics, combined with competeing and eating way to much candy and food during these days!

For being this time of the year, temperatures has been very high both in water and air but finally it seems like autumn is here to stay. Day temperatures is now somewhere around 16-18 degrees and water temp around 14.5 - 16.5 degrees. Still warmer than usual, but for sure better than about ten days ago when we had 25 degrees in air and 18-19 degrees in the water.

A few days ago another big fishing competition was held in Karlskrona. It was one of the last qualification competitions for Sportfish Masters and 63 teams competed. Biggest fish measured 112cm and a few more over the meter margin was caught by about 150 anglers during last Sunday. Me myself had a guided trip during the same day with poor result. Only five or six pikes in the boat during a half day trip but a nice bonus perch of 42cm set a little bit of a consolation for us.

Overall, I would say that fishing seems to be quite slow lately. Sure, some big fish is coming up but there is also a lot of anglers out there. Last week the best boat had 77 pikes in one day, one boat, while the biggest fish caught by our guests was 111cm. There should also be mentioned that a few boats struggled to even catch a handful of pikes in a day.

We still have some prep work to do before upcoming weekend but I think it's gonna be a good one. Very strong winds is awaited tomorrow, Thursday and Friday. I think that might be what the pikes need to get active. We'll be back with a summary and reports during upcoming weekend! Make sure to follow us on Facebook and/or our Instagram account dragsosportfishing and you'll be updated about our success (or??) in the competition!

// Daniel Wickman
   2016-09-27

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High season

Hi,

So it's definitely time for a new update. Time is really flying away and we're now in high season of autumn pike fishing. At the moment we are having five groups here who has been fishing since last Saturday. Those groups still have a few days left before it's time to go back home. According to what I've heard, most of these guys have pretty good numbers but still missing that big fish that most dream of.

Today will be a busy day since nine new groups will come to us for a fishing holiday. There is also a orienteering competition this weekend so all cabins are booked for either that or fishing guests.

Last weekend we said good bye for this time to several returning guests. One group of them were Poulik and they sent me some nice pictures from their stay. They managed to catch a really nice fish of 105,5cm and also a few other quite big fish. It's very clear that guests who have visited us before uses their knowledge from previous visits and succeed better that first timers (generally).

Temperatures is finally a bit more like they should be in September. About 17 degrees in daytime and 8-11 degrees in nighttime. More and more fish are moving into shallow waters and most big pikes that are reported these days are actually caught in bays of 0,5-1,5m. It will for sure be interesting to see what upcoming weekend will bring. Forecast looks pretty good with mostly west winds of 4-6m/s in average.

Co-worker Willy went out fishing a few days ago and at their blog www.karlskronafiske.com they reported about 34 pikes caught, with top fish measuring 89cm. I actually spent my days off work this week going to Poland so no fishing for me. My batteries are loaded and can't wait to go back out there!

In the middle picture down below you can see the monster caught last week by our guest Daniel. So far the biggest fish of the autumn season by our guests as the fish measured 115cm.

To be back later this weekend with new catch reports!

// Daniel Wickman
   2016-09-22  

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The light in the end of the tunnel

Well, the headline might sound a bit depressing. But actually I refer to something very positive. For pike anglers, looking at the forecast for upcoming weekend is some very welcoming reading. I know very well that it's stupid to complain about sun, heat and "nice" weather as we're soon going to have ice and darkness. But honestly, seeing the temperature dropping 4-5 degrees with start from tonight is what I and many others have been looking forward to.

As on many other places in Europe, Karlskrona has been very warm for being September with most days last week or so around 21-25 degrees. Most of these days with no wind at all and about 18 degrees in the water. For sure not the best pike fishing weather. We've had four groups here since Saturday for a week of fishing, and three more groups that left today after four days of fishing. Most groups tell about quite slow fishing but there are a few exceptions. One group that I guided during last Sunday managed to go back to one of the places where I went with them and they caught a BIG pike of 115cm. They also caught a 105cm a few days later and some +90cm samples as well. Hopefully we can share some pictures from their stay later on!

Another group from Poland left today and their biggest fish also reached the 100cm mark. Returning guests from Belgium in the company of Lemestre always catch good numbers. Maybe not record numbers this time, but still several days when I've talked to them they were up to more than 30 pikes just in the mornings each day. Will be interesting to hear what their final numbers will be when they come back from their last day of fishing which is tomorrow.

Earlier this week I went of fishing with Björn who is the man behind Nettelbaits. Very impressive lure maker. He brought me two of his "Nettellaken" soft baits and of course I tried them out. Even if the conditions were horrible with no wind and sparkling sun, it didn't take more than five casts or so until a nice +90cm pike was landed. I also ordered a bunch of these lures to our camp so hopefully we will have them available in our reception by the end of next week.

Tomorrow and Saturday will be spent on the water again on guided trips. Winds from east, 6-10m/s is what the forecast say for both tomorrow and Saturday so hopefully we can manage to catch some amounts and good sized fish these days!

// Daniel Wickman
   2016-09-15

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Several days of guided fishing

Hi!

I'm back on Dragsö again after many hours on the water. Last three days has been spent on guided trips with both new and returning guests. Overall, results has been quite good if you have the circumstances in mind. Because honestly, weather last few days has been more like July rather than September.

Friday morning I was accompanied with two Swedish lads. They booked a half day (4hrs) and I decided to take them to a big bay as our first stop. We started fishing in low winds and sparkling sun. I didn't take long until the first couple of pikes was caught and released. The biggest fish at this stop measured 92cm.

We continued to new areas and found one pike at a time, widely spread out. When we entered a new bay a good sized fish striked a Big Bandit paddle tail. The lure was positioned like a classic harmonica in the mouth of the fish. This lady measured 87cm and was of good condition.

Our numbers this trip was 11 which was OK and gave the lads a good start of their fishing holiday.

In the afternoon, I went out with two other returning guests from Sweden. Last time they visited us, in the spring this year, their results was far from good. Actually, they kind of managed to catch more breams than pikes during their stay. Now it was time to change that!

Our first stop was set to another big bay located west of Dragsö. I knew that big fish was going to be there, so we started drifting. Not to far in to our first drift, a pike was landed. Actually, we ended up staying in this bay for more than two hours since fishing was to good to leave the place.

Within those two hours, my guests managed to catch several big fish of 102cm, 98cm and 93cm. Also a few fish just under 90cm as well so for sure great result, especially since weather conditions wasn't really offering the best possibilities to catch pike.

Back at Dragsö, we summed up a total of 12 pikes during our trip. Nice times!

Yesterday, I had a full day guided trip with a group of Swedes. Can you imagine, 10th of September and we enjoyed 24 degrees in the air, sparkling sun and no wind at all. The sea was calm as a mirror for several hours and this didn't really help us out in our hunt for the green predators.

Fishing started out slow and only a couple of pikes was landed within the first hours. We tried everything from bays, islands to the very outer part of the archipelago. Nothing worked. But then suddenly we got some wind and what happens? Fish starts to bite!

After lunch our numbers started to get better. We moved on between the islands and found a few pikes at most stops. It felt a bit strange to fish this day since there was boats, jet-skis, water skis and hundreds of people sunbathing and swimming in the water, in the middle of September! Can someone please get rid of the heat and give us pike friendly conditions?

Anyway, we had a good day out there and finally ended up with 19 pikes in total. One fish of 85cm as the biggest of the day if I remember right.

Today I also had a half day trip together with guests from Ukraine. In the morning we had once again very low winds so I decided to go back to one of the productive bays from past days. Unfortunately, water was a bit to clear and pikes wasn't willing to dance with us. Only a few followers was seen so we continued to some islands instead. It took almost two hours before we caught the first fish and it continued to be slow fishing. We ended up with a total of four pikes and lost at least the same amount after some short fights.

Now I will have a few days off work. Weather is going to be sunny and with low winds and warm temperatures. Still not the best conditions for pike fishing but I think I'll give it a try anyway!

Thank you for reading.

// Daniel Wickman
   2016-09-11   

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September fun

Hi guys!

Another weekend is coming up and I would say that this is when the fishing season really starts. Last couple of weeks we've been visited by several angling groups but this weekend is the first when many guests are coming for fishing holidays. Four groups arrived today, all from Sweden, while seven more fishing groups will arrive on Saturday and Sunday.

Weather is still warm for being September. 20-24 degrees most days and mostly low winds. Maybe not the best conditions for fishing but actually some days now offer good fishing. Several boats reports about 20 pikes or more in the boat in one day while others experience some difficulties with finding the fish.

Yesterday I went out with Philip for a day of pike fishing. Morning started out quite OK with a 94cm pike caught early on a Beastly Tail in motoroil from Renz-Stein Lures. Low winds made our drifts a bit slow in the bay but we know that big fish is moving in the area so we spent several hours in the first bay. Before lunch we were up to 14 pikes and a nice 87cm fish was caught in the same area before we continued to new spots. To be honest, fishing was slow in the afternoon and we struggled to find pikes willing to bite.

We ended up about 15:30 in the afternoon with 16 pikes in total, most of them caught on Beastly tail in variating sizes.

Upcoming days will be spent on the water since I will go out with two different returning groups tomorrow for guided trips. Saturday is also a full day on the water on guided trip with a Swedish group. To end up this weekend, one more half day guided trip on Sunday is on my schedule. Most probably I won't have time to give another update until the beginning of next week, but then I'll be back with catch reports and hopefully some nice pictures!

// Daniel Wickman
   2016-09-08   

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Season starts NOW!

Finally, September is what the calendar shows when I look at it in the reception. September is for me and many others the month when pike fishing starts for real again after a few months of summer laziness. I guess not many others than fishing nerds understands when I say that I look forward to cold temperatures, windy days and freezing fingers more than the swedish summer. Lovely, isn't it?

Last weekend we had three groups here for a weekend of fishing. One of these groups with returning guests had good fishing with approx 85 pikes caught and one nice meter+ pike on top. The water is still 16-17 degrees, some places even warmer but still some pikes are already in the bays. In early spring and late autumn you can many times see the pikes standing on the bottom of the bays, but at this time of the year the pikes are moving a lot more so it's difficult sometimes to know if the pikes are there or not.

Yesterday was a good example. I went out with Philip for a day of fishing and we tried many different spots. Islands, coastline, bays, harbours... We tried it all and actually most pikes that we caught was inside bays. In one bay of 1,5m depth we managed to catch four pikes very quickly, all of them between 84-94cm. We thought "Wow, they have already started to feed in the bays!". Guess how many more pikes we caught in the same bay within the next hour? None! We could barely see any fish in the bay but obviously we found some pikes on their way of hunting.

Anyway, we continued on and managed to catch 20 pikes in total. Six or seven of these were 84cm or bigger, which is pretty good! Most of the pikes was caught on big tail baits. The funny thing was that a parrot coloured McTail with different kinds of big tails worked best this day. Sometimes the odd things works, even when the water is rather clear and most guys (even me!) would say "Use natural colours!!"

Earlier this week we pulled all the boats out of the water, one by one, to clean them once again from barnacles, algae and other shit that makes the boats slow and look dirty. For sure a hard work, but It's such a relief to have the boats 100% cleaned and ready for the autumn season.

From now on fishing will hopefully just get better and better. More and more anglers will come but this weekend is still a pretty calm weekend. Only 4 groups here while the next weekend will be a bit more busy, nine or ten groups as it looks now.

To be back with more reports!

// Daniel Wickman
   2016-09-01  

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