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| On Feb 6 we we were extremely pleased to catch
this very nice fellow after a full day of fishing in mild weather and thick snow and ice.
He is 10.3 pounds and 30.3 inches - 4.7 kilos and 77 cm,
which definitely is a BIG ZANDER/WALLEYE. David
saw a burbot (3 pounds) on the ice for the first time and also caught his first bigger
perch (almost 2 pounds) on an ice rod. We also had two pikes and a bite from an unusual
visitor - a crayfish that chewed off the head of a baitfish on the bottom! |
On February 18 we managed to hook this 43,3 inches
long and 28,7 pounds (110 cm and 13 kilos) heavy pike. It was pretty short but very thick.
David reeled her in on my ice rod after having to wait for about half an hour. During ten
minutes we didn't dare to try to move her upwards from the 5 meters where she took our 18
cm baitfish. I have good pretty thick line on my reels and one big single and one treble
hook, so we were very hopeful to get her onto the ice. The line was very tense though.
During the time David waited for her to tire somewhat I had three other bites so traffic
was intense. I ran around him like an elk. I also opened up our hole a bit more after
having seen her for the first time in the hole. David was very careful all the time and I
was happy to have him there. I managed to place my lip grip at the right spot on the first
try and up she came. There were wild shouts to be heard from two very satisfied fishermen.After a photo session we let her go again - an impressing pike you don't
get to see every day. Please bite again in three years! This was probably one of the
biggest pikes caught in Sweden during this ice-season. |
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| Two
tourists and ice-fishing enthusiasts from Rostock, Germany had the fishing of their
lifetime with me as coach/guide on February 22.
Günter, right, has bought and made all equipment needed for ice-fishing for pike and
zander and brought his friend Mario to Småland. One 2 kilo pike and two huge zander were
the amazing catches. Mario first caught one weighing 4,2 and measuring 73 cm. Enormous
joy! As if that wasn't good
enough he grabbed another rod and managed to land another zander - 7,5 kg, 90 cm and 55
round the waist were the measurements. We shouted for happiness and my guests were ever so
pleased and promised to come back and fish here a lot more. A new zander guiding record
for me made me even happier.
Günter is one of the few tourists who has
discovered and understood how fantastic winter fishing is around here.
I had enjoyed an amazing two weeks of fishing and I
just wonder what will happen next. |
Due to
far too much work with other things, my book "Gösfiske" for instance, I have
been away from fishing for a while. Here are some reports though. On May
15 it was still cold in our area and the winter garment was still
necassary to wear. There were plenty of zander out to feed. Here's a 7 pound one that hit
in broad daylight. |
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| Trolling
is of course still my basic method and I have caught quite a lot of nice zander this
spring by rowing my little boat very slowly. I have noticed that rowing, with the somewhat
more uneven movement forward, is sometimes better than using motors when it comes to
fooling zander. I have begun
painting my wobblers decorating them with different patterns and colours. I've been very
successful here and even pike have been stunned by my "artistic" ability and
attacked the masterpieces. I have used permanent ink and now I need to put on more as it's
badly bitten by sharp zander teeth. June 15 |
William
and his father Manuel had asked for a combined perch/zander tour. It started off at full
speed with lots of perch chasing fry along a shallow reef. I rowed the boat and every time
my fish finder indicated that we were on top of the reef, the perch hit the silver Mepps 3
spinners. The activity lasted quite a while but we had to leave to have a break ashore. Maybe using my MAGNUM PAJK-cap is lucky! July 24 |
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| The
zander was there and when the sun had been down for 10 minutes we had three in a row.
Manuel and William were delighted because zander was new to them. It is an impressive
fish! Headlights were necessary to get the hooks out and the wobblers back into the water
again. Of course we used the Magnum Pajk Great White & Light planer boards. |
Simon and his mother and father from Lyngby in Denmark were just as lucky
as William and managed to catch both perch and zander (sandart på dansk). Despite some
rain and thunder in the distance to begin with, we had a fantastic evening trolling slowly
at 5-7 meters. I used my lousy Danish but I do think they understood much better when I
spoke Swedish. Simon was ever so happy and proud and will probably remember this adventure
in Småland for a long time. His parents too. August
3 |
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| The pike
fishing for me started off real well with this 6 kilo - 101 cm pike. Mark from London and
I trolled with two Great White-rods and one free rod using our usual yellow 15 cm Nils
Masters. I showed him how to get the wobblers out. He managed very well although trolling
for pike was a new thing for him. After 5 minutes he noticed that one of the Great White
flew backwards quickly. He grabbed the rod and after a nice fight with lots of excitement
I lifted the pike onboard. Shouts were heard and Mark was one big experience richer.
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Well as
if Mark's great evening wasn't enough. Manual had an almost unbelievable birthday, his
10th, with great fishing. He beat his personal best twice. He started with a 2,5 kilo pike
and had a great bite on one of the usual Nils Master drawn by a Great White. 7 kilo and
101 cm was more than enough to believe he was dreaming. Shortly afterwards he had an even fiercer bite on a 15 cm shad jig with an
extra treble hook. After having waited for a couple of minutes just holding the rod he
slowly and with some difficulty got her in. August 20 |
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| After
many rushes, great excitement and some preparations to get the pike into the boat, she
slowly swam up and rested beside the boat. Magnificent pike with a huge head. 9 kilo and
106,5 cm was the fantastic new PB. In all he had six of them. |
Congratulations
William! You did everyhing right and you didn't mind letting the pikes go back into the
water again at all. The guide was ever so happy, and so were William's parents who had
given this trip to him as a surprise birthday present. If he was happy himself? Well, look
at his smile. |