A day out jerkbaiting for Pike saw Eddie Bowler, Jesper Fröberg and I setting off very early as we had to bring the boating gear. Outboard motor, an electric motor, fishfinder, batteries and fuel tanks were all hauled to the boat and the fishing gear was set up and organized for the day before we set off. the day began with the sun beaming down and flat calm conditions, hardly ideal for Pike fishing. Probably as a direct result we had a quiet start to the day, with nothing happening in the shallows. We moved to a shallow bay close by were the first fish of the day fell to Ed and Jesper. It is always something of a relief to get a fish or two in the boeat and we relaxed somewhat before planning or next move. We all decided of fishing a huge reedbed, an area which saw water of about four metres depth sloping up to a huge stand of last years reed in the shallows. It began slowly here before we experienced our first feeding spell of the day and the Pike suddenly seemed to switch on. Jesper and Ed had a fish here in quick succession before I hooked up and lost what felt o good fish. Jesper was soon in again and this time his rod showed a deeper arc as a powerful fish pulled back. a short while later the first double of the day was in the boat, a cracking fish...
As soon as it hard started the feeding spell ceased and we moved back to the bay without a lot of success. We decided to head for dry land as the fishing was quiet at this point and we had lunch. Cumberland sausages and bacon were the order of the day, they were soon sizzling away on the camping stove. It was a superb bit of grub and we were revitalized decideding to head south into unknown water. Using the fish finder we found some superb looking featueres for later in the year, remarkable drop offs and features that will surely hold big Pike, Perch and Zander later in the year. I was rather taken with the potential here for species such as Rudd, Bream and Tench. Despite all this we failed to locate any Pike in the area, perhaps the water was a simply too deep at around three metres in the shallows. We noted that the water was colder here too and figured this was the kiss of death as regards Pike, which were now spawning and we made the decision to head back to the shallow waters at the head of the fjörd. Cloud cover had now formed and duller, overcast conditions saw us head back to the long reedbed. After some time here without any fish we tried the bay, here a couple of small fish followed lures to the boat without taking. It had now been quiet for sometime and we decided to head for the extreme shallows were we had started first thing in the morning...
We entered the shallows which the fish finder told us were jusy 80cm Deep, the margins were no more than a foot or two and two our north the shallow water was festooned with last years loose, stubby reed stems. It didn't take us long to find the fish, which were tucked into this cover in a foot or two of water. Casting close to these stubby reeds saw violent takes, often just after the lure had hit the water. They were taking right off the Surface with gusto, we had found the fish. They were fish of a very good size as well, the quality of the fishing would prove to be superb. Jesper was at the front of the boat and was on fire, hooking some lovely fish. It was pretty special stuff as the Pike were hitting the jerks so hard, sometimes striking wide of the lures and missing them completely. One fish took Jesper's lure so violently it rocketed clear of the water with the lure in it's jaws as the Three of us looked on. It was during this period that I took my largest fish of 6.35 kilo, a fish which slammed into the jerkbait right on the top in the reeds. After an hour it went a little quiet and we decided to rest the area and moved off to other areas for a while. We had little joy elsewhere and after an hour we made out way back to the shallows...
As we began to cast it soon became apparent the fish were still present and again it was mayhem. Fish after fish walloped out lures and Ed at last connect with a big fish. Jesper again had the lions share of fish, Ed being a little unlucky to have three fish throw his lure. It went on for another hour and it was truly amazing stuff. As the sun dropped in the sky it broke through the cloud and the wind died completely. The water was now still as a millpond and the best cesed to take out lures. We moved off were Jesper took the final fish of the day from the margins. Incredibly, we had taken 24 Pike into the boat, with eight of these into double figures. The overall average weight was somewhere in the region of 4.5 kilo, which is remarkably good fishing.
At this point we decided to pack it up. Jerkbait fishing is demanding and we were tired from cranking these large baits all day. We mounted the engined and batteries on to trolleys and wheeled them back to the car. with the hard work done we sat down and fried some 200g homemade burgers off and reflected on what we all agreed was one of the best days angling we had ever experienced. We headed off as the sun sunk over a postcard, a stunning venue...
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