In the middle of autumn season

Time for another weekend of fishing and new anglers to arrive shortly. About 30 anglers will arrive today and almost 20 more to come later this weekend.

Me myself have been of work last couple of days and spent both days on the water. The day before yesterday I went out on my own and tried my luck. Continuously, we have N-NE winds and water level is dropping slowly. For sure not the best conditions but it's always possible to catch something, right?

In total I went to seven different areas and only two of them were productive this time. Most places offered very clear waters and therefore shy pikes. When I finally found a place where water had a little bit more colour pikes started to bite immediately. It's easy for me to say that I went from zero to hero, since I managed to catch 17 pikes in the same area within a couple of hours. Top fish was 101cm and also two pikes of 92cm as the biggest ones of the day. Very dark colours of the lures was working best this day (brown or brown/gold).

Yesterday I went out again together with Anders from Daiwa. Weather was pretty much the same again with N-NE winds, cloudy and a little low water level. Of course we went back to the area where I had good fishing the day before. Water was now clear again and pikes not active at all. Only a few followers and no pikes willing to bite. We moved on further west in the archipelago and caught our first pike after a couple of hours. Not a big one but still the important first pike of the day.

We continued our hunt in several bays and tried everything from 0,3m to 2,5m but nothing worked very well. Only a handful of pikes were caught during the day and nothing bigger than 85cm. Still it was a pleasant day to be out with many jokes, laughs and testing new (and impressing!) products.

Catch reports from our guests tells me pretty much the same facts that I have experienced last couple of days. It has been difficult to find the right spots but when you do, you can have good fishing!

Upcoming two days will be spent on the water. Half day trip tomorrow with Visreis from Netherlands who will start selling our product from now and the rest of this weekend with a Swedish group.

To be back with new reports!

// Daniel Wickman
   2016-10-13

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Big pikes and windy squalls

Hi guys!

We're in the middle of a busy fishing weekend with almost 50 anglers on site at the moment. Our in house guests comes from Sweden, Poland, Denmark and Netherlands.

For almost a week now we've been having very strong winds from N/NE. Winds squalls up to 23m/s made boat driving extremely tough but the ones who tried their luck this week has been quite successful. A returning group from Denmark left us today and during their five days of fishing they caught 180 pikes.

I went out together with colleague Willy the day before yesterday and we tried for a little less than four hours before work. In total we caught 14 pikes and Willy managed to catch a fish of 104cm. Nicely done! Most fish during our trip was caught in shallow water of 1-1.5m depth.

Water temperature is dropping fast and we're now having about 9-10 degrees while a week ago the temperature was 14 degrees. This is for sure inviting the big mamas to hit shallow waters.

A couple of more pikes over the magic +100cm mark has been caught by our guests last couple of days and I guess more is to come during the day. Wind strength is now down to 7m/s in average and up to 14m/s in squalls. Still strong winds but nothing compared with last few days as the squalls reached 23m/s several days.

To be back with new reports shortly!

// Daniel Wickman
   2016-10-08

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Blekinge Pike Festival & Windy days

Hi guys!

A new week is here and at the moment the camp is very quiet since most guests left us yesterday evening after Blekinge Pike Festival. During last few days we've been completely booked in our cabins so approx 100 anglers stayed here last few days.

This year, about 275 anglers started from Dragsö on Saturday morning and did so in quite good weather. Sunny with some clouds, not to cold and pretty strong winds. Day temperature was almost 18 degrees so it was for sure pleasant to be out there. Water level was just about -10cm or so which was way better than a few days earlier. Water level was going up and down a lot between -50cm and +5cm several times in just a few days. These changes are more or less never good but fortunately the water stabilized during the festival. Big fish was going to be caught but by who and how many was the question.

Well, in my boat we didn't succeed at all. Actually we only caught a handful of pikes during the day and no one with a size worth mentioning. It felt like we tried everything from shallow bays, to deeper parts of bays, to outer part of the archipelago, but also inside Borgmästarefjärden. Nothing worked but still we had a nice time. I was fishing together with Andreas and our friend Patrik, and instead of fighting big fish we ate a lot of candy and other junk to feel better :)

During the first day, a total of 17 meter pikes was caught by the 575 competitors. Top fish measured 114cm so we knew that it would be hard to catch a fish good enough for a top position during day two. Weather changed a lot and rain was pouring down early in the morning but stopped just before we started our drive in the morning.

We changed our plans and drove far east to some big bays. Unfortunately for us, fishing continued to be very slow and we didn't find what we was looking for. Only a handful of pikes were caught in our boat before lunch and no one of good size. Rain started to pour down and strong north/east winds made our day out a bit less nice.....

Back at Dragsö we heard from many of our guests that they also experienced fishing to be slow. A few boats did well though and had maybe 30 pikes or so per day in their boat. Other boats had no pikes at all per day so for sure it wasn't easy. Even though some experienced slow fishing, the final score was impressing. In total 25 pikes over +100cm was caught and the winner this time was actually two anglers who managed to catch a pike of the same length, 114cm.

Today the water level is actually +25cm and it looks like it will be high for most of this week. Normally, fishing is only getting better when the water level raises. NE winds will be present during whole week so hopefully next fishing groups that arrive on Thursday will have some great fun out there.

Today I also received a great report from my friend Philip who caught a stunning fish of 114cm and 10,26 kilos! I hope conditions continues, because then more big fish will come!

// Daniel Wickman
   2016-10-03

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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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