Cold days and good news!

Hi guys,

A bit more than a week now since the last post in the blog and a lot has happened since then. Earlier this week winter came to Karlskrona with snow and some very cold nights. I was supposed to go out fishing last Tuesday with Philip but the evening before we decided not to, since weather forecast promised snow and minus degrees.

Luckily, we stayed home. The forecast was for once correct and almost ten centimeters of snow was falling. The rest of this week has continued to be cold. Not to much more snow or rain, but still cold night temperatures. Early this morning temperature was down to negative six degrees and some bays already have a thin layer of ice. Yesterday most bays held temperatures between 2,5-5 degrees.

Since season is coming to its end, we have been pulling up many of our boats for maintenance and winter storage already. Only a handful of boats is left in the water and several of these are rented at the moment. Today there is actually many boats out on the water since Karlskrona Pike Tournament (KPT) is arranged with approx 40 teams starting. Hard conditions since most of day will be no wind, a few negative degrees and sunny. It will be interesting to see what the teams can catch. Our colleague Willy is competing again with his team Karlskronafiske. Can they manage to win this competition as well? We will see soon!

I also have some great news to share with you regarding next season. A few days ago we signed a deal to replace eight of our boat engines until next season. A big investment for sure but we want to continue our work with offering a great product that we can be proud of. This is a big step in the right direction to maintain the quality of our products. This means that 40% of our boat fleet will have brand new engines, 40% will have engines used one or two seasons, and the last 20% is still of good functionality but older than two years. It's hard to complain about the boat fleet, it's massive and of great quality. Already very excited for spring season even though we have a few months left of this year.

Next week will be warmer again with day temperatures up to ten degrees so all ice and snow will disappear again. More anglers to come next weekend but I will be off work upcoming week. It's time for my annual autumn trip to Rügen in Germany. Big pike mamas is the target as always and let's see if we can find any this time! Since I'm off whole week there won't be any posts next week but as soon as I'm back it's time for more updates. Until then, take care and thank you for reading.

// Daniel Wickman
   2016-11-12

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November starts good!

Hi guys!

Finally, November is here and cold temperatures outside is in my opinion very equal to good pike fishing possibilities. I must say that November is one of my favorite months for fishing in our area. Less boats on the water, a lot of fish in shallow waters with the chance to catch really big ones.

Last Friday I had a guided trip with a group of Swedish guys. Very strong winds from west and partly cloudy. We went far east to some big bays with some depths because water level was extremely low. Negative 65cm below normal more or less creates a new archipelago of the area and a lot of bays is not even possible to fish in during those difficult conditions.

At the first drift, it didn't take more than a few casts before the first fish was hooked. We drifted over 1,3-1,5m of depth with success. Pikes very coming up frequently and a few nice sized ones as well. The biggest pikes measured 101cm and approx 93cm. Only small/medium size lures was working well (less than 20cm).

Since I got reports from several other boats about slow fishing, I decided to stay in the same area whole day. It turned out to be a good choise since 38 pikes was landed. My friend Jakob also experienced slow fishing during the first half of Friday before they came to the same area. Within just a couple of hours they also landed many pikes before it was time to head back for the day. Their top fish was 102cm!

Overall, several boats had really low numbers last weekend. The water level continued to be very very low until Sunday and most of times this is equal to bad fishing. Fortunately, water level is back now and today we actually have +20cm over normal level. High water level is many times the opposite of low level when it comes to pikes willing to bite. Hopefully, all the anglers that will arrive today can have some fun out there during upcoming days. About 30 anglers will arrive today and a few more later this weekend. It's our last busy weekend of this season since the upcoming weeks have plenty of openings in the schedule. So it's not to late to experience great autumn fishing guys, book now! :-)

The day before yesterday I went out together with Björn who is the creator of Nettelbaits. We've been fishing together a couple of times before but only in really poor conditions. This time, we went out in good conditions. Strong winds from west, water level just about -10cm below normal and cloudy. I decided to go east again and explore some big bays. We began in the same area as where I was fishing last Friday and it took no longer than five minutes until the first pike was hooked. This was just the start of a long feeding frenzy.

The pikes was biting all day and we shared the strikes evenly between us. In a little more than six hours we managed to catch 55 pikes with several decent ones. The really big ladys were somewhere else this day but of course we were very satisfied anyway. Most pikes was caught on Nettel-laken 2 V2, Renz-Stein Beastly tail and Pig shad jr. All of them in motoroil/copper/brown colours.

Lastly, I also received a nice report from local angler Johan Månsson today. He was out yesterday in quite strong winds and obviously found a very good spot. A stunning fish of 111cm and 11,19 kilos was caught on a Big Bandit close to the reeds. A great fish and thank you once again for sharing this catch with us.

Now, let's hope for some more fishy activities during upcoming days!

// Daniel Wickman
   2016-11-03   

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Final weeks of autumn season

Hi guys!

It's been some busy days (as always!) at Camp Dragsö. Last weekend we were fully booked since the final of Sportfish Masters (Gädd-SM) was arranged. About 100 anglers arrived last Thursday and all with one target in mind, to win the competition!

In this competition, approx 187 teams (513 anglers) started and they spent two days in very hard conditions. Water level was low, rain was constantly pouring down and winds quite strong during some parts of the two day competition. After the first day, our colleague Willy with his team Karlskronafiske was in the lead.

During day two, it was clear that several local teams was about to end up in good positions since approx five of the top ten teams had Karlskrona as their home waters. During the day we followed the teams progress on a live feed and it was a tight race! Luckily, Willy and his team managed to preserve their lead from day one and won the whole competition! Their top five fish result was 484cm which is a very good result, especially when you have in mind that the conditions were hard. So except from winning a brand new Linder boat and other cool stuff, they also won a ticket to be in the Youtube series 'Fly vs Jerk' which will be broadcasted in 2019. Awesome right?!

Last few days I've been of work and yesterday I tried my luck together with Philip from Stinger Productions. We were not very successful. The first thing in the morning he texted me "Shit! Negative degrees outside". And he was right. The first night with -2 degrees outside and when we came to Dragsö most things, including the boat, was covered in frost. This combined with sparkling sun, no wind and about -25cm of low water level didn't really peak our expectations.

At the first stop, we actually had several nice followers directly and it didn't take long until I hooked the first fish of maybe 85cm. Only minutes later, I also had a nice fish over the meter margin following my lure in the clear and shallow water. We continued on to catch some pikes in the same area and soon we were up to six or seven fish in the boat. Suddenly, pikes stopped biting and we had a really hard time finding any fish at all. We tried several new spots without success and ended the day with only nine pikes caught. A dissapointment but still always nice to be out there!

At the moment we're having approx 25 anglers on Dragsö, this time only from Sweden. Tomorrow will most probably be a difficult day since water level will be almost -65cm below normal! But finally, there is going to be south-west winds upcoming days which we have waited for several weeks now. Hopefully this can help us out a little bit in the hunt for our beloved green predators.

To be back with new reports and thank you for reading.

// Daniel Wickman
   2016-10-27

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Busy days with big pikes in mind

Hi guys!

Time for a new update. Many anglers has been out on the water last couple of days. Both from us, but also anglers who have been in Karlskrona to rehearsal for Sportfish Masters final which is held Friday and Saturday this week. About 500 anglers will start from Scandic Hotel in the center of Karlskrona to compete in this years final.

What about the results then? Well, to begin with I must say that the conditions has been tough, really tough. Very strong winds from east or north-east, with squalls up to 20m/s. Upon that, the water level is and has been low. At the moment about -40cm below normal and last few days has been pretty much the same. For sure not easy conditions, but for the experienced anglers, this is also a time when the big mamas might dance. A few boats managed to find those spots where the big ladys was willing to take a dance.

Viktor and his girlfriend brought their own boat here to try the archipelago. Nothing else than a success. During Saturday, Viktor managed to catch a big and nice lady of 110cm. The fish was caught on a Nettellaken which we also sell in our reception. Great fun! In their last day yesterday, his girlfriend also managed to catch a 99cm fish. Both of these pikes were personal records so for sure a successful trip.

Last few days we've been visited by Dutch fishing agent 'Visreis'. Joris, his brother Lars, Henry and Tim tried our waters for the first time. They were mainly here to gather information and evaluate our product so it can be offered in Visreis portfolio. I must say, their results were great!

I went out with them Friday morning but fishing was quite slow. I think we ended up with ten pikes or maybe a couple more. No big ones. Still, the half day trip gave the lads an idea about where to fish and how. During Saturday and Sunday, all the lads had great results. Joris boat was up to 50 pikes yesterday, and 44 pikes the day before. In total, the four lads managed to catch 151 pikes in three days of fishing. Most of their fish was caught in shallow bays of 0,5-1,5m. I believe they're driving home with a smile on their faces today!

Local anglers are also doing well at the moment. Andreas Nilsson who makes Nilles handcrafted lures was out on a rehearsal during the weekend. They caught several big fish of 113, 106 & 102cm in the same day. Our good friend Fredrik from Renz-Stein lures also did good as his boat scored 466cm in their top 5 longest pikes of the day last Saturday. Impressive! Great results guys!

As mentioned earlier, we still have approx -40cm below normal water level. This is making the archipelago quite difficult to drive in with the boats. During last two days we have now switched seven propulse propellers for our guests. So one thing is for sure, you really need to be careful when driving out there upcoming days!

To be back with more reports later on :)

// Daniel Wickman
   2016-10-17

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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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