Busy days!!

Hi guys!

Finally some time over to write a report and give an update about whats happening at Dragsö atm. The one and only reason why there sometimes is a longer break between my posts is lack of time. So is the case even this time.

During the last two weekends we've been exhibitors on fishing expos. The first one in Karlskrona which we arranged together with other fishing actors/camps. A great day where we gathered lure builders, camps, guides and important county administrative board. This project called "Karlskrona Fishing" is started to ensure and improve the fishery in Karlskrona area.

Second expo was held at the Sportfishing fair in Stockholm during last weekend. A three day long expo which attracted nearly 15.000 visitors. Busy but very fun days for sure! Me and Andreas worked together with Visit Blekinge's representative Malin. I think last time we participated in the sportfishing fair was 6 years ago so it was for sure about time to join in again.

Last week we also had some fishing groups at our camp and two guests were returning Swedes Anders & Peter. They visited us last year and decided to go back this spring to fish for some pre spawn ladys. Went out for a guided half day tour with them this time as well and we managed to catch about 10 pikes if I remember right, with the biggest one 86cm. No monsters but still a nice session and maybe next time we will catch that +100cm fish that we all wants to catch...

I also received some pictures from their stay and they actually managed to catch a nice sea trout on a pig shad as a bonus catch!

Furthermore, we also had a few groups here during last weekend while we were in Stockholm for the sportfishing fair. In two boats they caught 150 pikes during their stay which for sure is a good result!

During my few days of work last week and in the beginning of this week I went out together with Philip from Stinger Productions. Two days ago we caught 20 pikes in about 6 hours with a 92cm fish on top. Many pikes between 90-100cm were seen in shallow waters but obviously not interested enough to bite. In the same place I managed to catch a 99cm pike last week, so for sure big fish is found in shallow areas at the moment.

Water temp variates a lot, ranging from 4-8 degrees. It's always hard to say when spawning will start but I would guess that the first pikes will be starting in a couple of weeks if temperature increases as expected. We'll wait and see but until then we're looking forward to hear and see many more big pikes coming up!

I will try to give a new update this weekend so stay tuned! :)

// Daniel Wickman
   2016-03-23

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A golden beauty

Hi guys! Time for another catch report. Went out yesterday again for a day of fishing on my own. I went up early but after several unlucky incidents, I didn't make my first cast until 10.00. This day sun was shining like never before and low winds from south/south-west. About 5 degrees in air and 4 degrees in the water. Spring is coming!

Fishing started out slow. I drifted in a big bay without any contacts during the first 30 minutes or so. I changed my plan and moved closer to the reeds and immediately got in contact with pikes. Shortly, I was up to 7 pikes of small size.

Continuously, I stayed close to Dragsö this day and fished surrounding bays. It was very clear this day that the pikes didn't bite on big lures. I downsized to a Pig shad Jr and this was once again the most effective lure for me. In several bays pikes were just sunbathing, in big numbers! You could see as many as 30-50 "clouds" from pikes swimming away on muddy bottoms without interest of biting.

In the afternoon I went to a bay where I have not been fishing so much before. 0,5-0.8m of depth in most part of the bay and a little bit murky water. In my first cast at this site I landed a small pike and this was just the start of many strikes, followers and so on. Soon enough I also got a good strike in the beginning of a cast. Immediately, I understood that this was a good fish and I fighted the fish with one hand and got the fish net ready in the other hand. On fairly light equipment, a BFT Microwave rod 15-50gr, this fish gave me a good fight.

When I had the fish secured in my net, I prepared my camera for some quick photos and measurement. To my contentment, this fish measured 103cm and was in good condition. Success!

I ended up with 16 pikes and went back to Dragsö about 16:00. Good time in the archipelago as usual :)

The rest of this week is filled with working duties, but on Sunday returning guests Anders & Peter is coming back for a guided trip on Monday. After this, I believe I will have one or two days of for some fishing again. To be back with more reports, and hopefully also with some pictures from upcoming miniconvent on Saturday, when "Karlskrona Fishing miniconvent" is arranged. If you're around Karlskrona on Saturday, don't miss it out!!

// Daniel Wickman
   2015-03-09

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Half way to hundred

Hi guys!

Another weekend is over and of course I spent some time on the water. Or to be honest most of the daylight time during this weekend was spent on water, together with Philip from Stinger Productions and Daniel from Fiske&Outdoor in Jönköping.

We started 8am on Saturday morning and decided to go west. Very cloudy, cold and almost no wind. Fishing started out slow and even though we tried many spots, lures and methods we struggled to find active fish. Not more than 11 pikes in the boat on the whole day and one lost fish of approx 95cm.

Since Saturday wasn't to good our expectations for Sunday wasn't much better. Still cloudy and cold, 2-3 degrees in the water and wind from east/north-east. This day we decided to go east and tried several bays. Fishing started out slow with only two small cucumbers in a couple of hours. Finally we found a spot where fish was active and pikes started to bite on everything. Soon enough we were up to 19 pikes and I had a super cool strike close to the boat. I used a Red tiger McPike 25cm and looked at it as it came close to the boat. Out of nowhere a massive mouth opens up and inhaled my lure.

At first I thought that this was a very big fish. It sure was a big fish since she measured 96cm but I thought she was going to be even bigger the first seconds after my strike.

We continued on to some new areas and rain started to pour down. For a short moment we even had a mix of snow and rain. Pikes went slow again but in the afternoon we managed to find a few spots that delivered well. Pikes were almost flying in to the boat since we ended up with 50 pikes! Nice result for being March and 2 degrees in the water. Another big fish was landed by yours truly before the end but she didn't reach over the meter margin.

Overall a nice weekend and maybe pikes have started to feed again after some time with minus degrees in night time.

Tomorrow I'll be out for another day on the water so the hunt for this seasons first real "pig" continues.

// Daniel Wickman
   2016-03-07

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We're getting ready

Hi guys!

A little bit delayed report this week since a lot of other duties unfortunately stood higher on my to do list. In the beginning of last week we only had 1 boat in the water. Today, 7 days later, we have 18 boats ready for fishing! The last two boats still have some work to be done but soon enough all of them will be ready. Most of our boats has been facing some paint jobs but also many bottom plates (floor) has been changed. They simply look much better now :-)

Last weekend I had both days of and during these days I was accompanied by my friends Jocke and Stefan. A few months ago Jocke and I tried a half day of fishing in Karlskrona but unfortunately he arrived when temperature went down a lot the night before, so fishing was bad by that time. Hopefully we were going to have better fishing this time for some fat spring ladys.

Unfortunately, minus degrees and ice came back the night before our first fishing day. The first 1000 meters we had to drive through 0,5-1cm of ice to even reach open water. As you might understand, this wasn't really the best conditions and fishing started out slow. A few hours later we started to get plus degrees and sun. This saved our day since pikes started to feed a little bit and Stefan hooked up with a good fish. Directly, I shouted "It's a big fish!" but Stefan wasn't that convinced yet. Shortly the fish came close to the boat and it was no doubt that the fish measured over +100cm.

Soon enough I could secure the fish in our landing net and we thought that the fish actually could reach the magic 10 kilo mark if we were lucky. Moments later we checked weight and length. This lady measured 109cm but weight scale stopped a small cheeseburger away from the magic two digit mark. 9.95 kilos but still a very nice fish and a personal best for Stefan. After some photos she went back to her right environment, with a new wisdom to not try to eat a Pigshad Jr again.

Overall fishing continued to be slow and not more than 7 or 8 pikes was caught on the whole day. At one of our last stops close to Dragsö I had a very very nice follower but this lady didn't bite. Probably over 10 kilos but I will try to catch her next time instead! It was a very nice day to be out on the water though and with some nice burgers and beers later in the night, this day was a good one.

The next day, Sunday, started out like the first one. We had to drive through 0,5cm ice during the first 200 meters or so, with -2 degrees in the air. Like our first day fishing started out very slow. We did see many pikes sun bathing in shallow bays but with no interest at all to strike our lures. It took us several hours until the first fish was landed and overall slow fishing in more or less no wind. Later on after lunch we received some wind and then we also started to catch some fish. No big ones but still nice to feel something in the other end of the line. In total we caught about 8 fish this day as well.

Another weekend is approaching and of course some fishing will be on my schedule. This time together with Philip from Stinger Productions, who by the way caught a +10 kilo fat lady last week in Karlskrona. Time to catch another fat pig this weekend!

// Daniel Wickman
   2016-03-03

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Season around the corner

Hi guys!

It's been some time since my last post but finally it's time to give you an update. I've been out for a nice and long vacation in Asia and last week I ended up with a 5-day fishing trip to Rügen in Germany. Excellent results! But you know what? It's equally nice to now be back in business with spring season just around the corner!

Ice went away several weeks ago and local anglers are already up to several big pikes during the first weeks. Numerous pikes between 10-12 kilos (105-115cm). It seems like this spring will be a good one!

Many weekends from the middle of April starts to fill up and actually we're fully booked several of the most popular weekends in May. Fishing interest is increasing and I'm looking forward to see you all at our camp during this season. It goes without saying that if you're intrested in coming this spring it's literally about time to make your reservations asap.

If you have missed it, late last year we released our Camp Dragsö Sportfishing video made by Stinger Productions. Check it out to see a presentation of our camp: Camp Dragsö Sportfishing presentation

In a few weeks from now we will be participating in two Sport fishing fairs in Sweden. The first one is located in Karlskrona and is arranged by us together with PikeStrike Sweden, Karlskrona Båt&Fiske and Sandhamn Marine on March 12th. Many lure builders, anglers and exciting lecturers will be coming so a fun day is approaching!

The next fair we're participating in will be the Swedish sportfishing fair in Stockholm 18-20th of March. Me, Jacob and Andreas will go so if you're around come and visit us! We will also arrange a competition in our booth so come and try your skills to win nice prices.

Lately, I've received many requests for early boat reservations. Since ice is gone I will launch a few boats later this week already so from Monday 29th of February we will have a few boats ready for rental. We're busy with fairs and other duties upcoming weekends so we will have limited or no rental possibilities during weekends (Saturday-Sunday) but during weekdays (Monday - Friday) will be no problems. From 24th of March we're open every weekend again as usual.

Of course I have to share a little fishing report as well. About 1 week ago I went out for my first pike fishing session in Karlskrona this year. Went out a half day and managed to catch 14 pikes in the boat with my girlfriend with two pikes just under the meter on top. My girlfriend also had a monster (approx <110cm) at one place following all the way in to the boat without attacking the Mcrubber. Nice time on the water! All pikes was caught on McRubber and BigMcrubber in motoroil colour.

From now our activity will be increasing with more reports on our blog, Facebook and Instagram. Subscribe for latest reports!

// Daniel Wickman
   2016-02-22

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Christmas pig!

Hi guys!

We're just a few days away from christmas holiday but the weather is still warm. Very warm actually. Day temperatures variates between 7-12 degrees and will continue like this for another week according to the forecast. This invites to great fishing possibilities and of course I tried my luck when I was of work a couple of days ago.

This time I was fishing alone for the first time in months and it actually felt quite strange. No one to talk to, except from the pikes following my lures :) Anyway, first stop in a shallow bay gave me good spirit directly since I had a follower within the first casts and caught a small one on my third cast. Weather conditions were promising with 5-7m/s winds from west and cloudy skies.

Pikes seemed to be very cautious since I had many followers but few strikes. At midday I decided to try some places I have not tried for a long time and this showed up to be a lucky decision. Just a few casts later I got a massive strike while drifting on a side of an island. Immediately I understood that this was a better sized fish and I successfully landed a beauty with my net. She had a very wide back, like a horse! This lady measured 105 centimeters and since I was alone, photo session becomes a bit difficult. A few iPhone selfies later and a short Go Pro clip gave me a few okey pictures. 19th meter plus pike for me in Karlskrona area this year so hopefully I can reach 20 before this year is over! :)

In total I managed to catch 13 pikes this day but I also had many many many more followers.....

I wish you all a merry christmas and a happy new year if there won't be any more reports before the end of 2015!

Best regards,

Daniel Wickman
2015-12-21

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December is awesome!

Hi guys!

Even though our season is officially ended by now, this doesn't mean that we stop fishing. Last couple of days I've finally been able to go out fishing, together with Philip from Stinger Productions. Winter this year is still quite warm and we had day temperatures between 2-7 degrees over the two days this weekend. Water temp in the bays we tried this weekend was between 3-5 degrees.

Saturday started out slow with clear water on our first spot so we decided to go somewhere else to look for more colour in the water. At the next spot conditions looked good, even though water level was well over +50cm this weekend. It didn't take long until the first pikes was landed and our self esteem directly increased. This day I fished a lot with McPike in red tiger colour for the first time and what a success! A nice pike of 113,5cm inhaled my lure in 0,5-1.0m of water.

We continued on to catch some nice pikes around the 90cm margin and during mid day I landed another meter pike of 102,5cm. Super nice condition and strong fish!

Since sun is down at 15:30 this time of the year, we drove closer to the city of Karlskrona to give the surrounding area a final attempt of the day. Luckily, Philip caught another beauty of 111cm on a big soft lure called Renz the giant. Since it was very dark by the time this beauty was caught, things got a bit complicated when measuring and taking photos. Soon enough she was released and total happiness in the boat! In total we managed to catch about 20 pikes with our top 5 pikes measuring approx 507cm in together. Great result!!

Sunday was also spent on the water and once again we found the pikes quickly. Both days we were accompanied by Jens from Jenzza Lures who fished from his own boat in the same areas. We chatted a bit directly in the morning and was told that Jens already had seen a few pikes around the meter margin before we got there. I told him "Call or shout if you need any help if you catch a good fish!". It didn't take longer than 5 minutes before he shouted, "Hey! This could be a 10 kilo plus pike!".

We drove up beside his boat and helped him out with measuring his stunning catch and Philip took some great photos. This beast measured 107cm and 10,15 kilos! Congratz Jens to a great fish.

After this fish we continued on and got in contact with many pikes during the first hours. Several nice pikes between 85-96cm in our boat and we ended up with 18 pikes this day, and many many more followers and bites.

December is awesome!!

// Daniel Wickman
   2015-12-14 

 

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