Top Pike Lures

Buster Jerk



Belly Buster




Salmo Fatso

Salmo Slider

Salmo Slider

Salmo Skinner

Pike will be moving into deeper water now that the summer is moving on and it is a great time to catch the larger fish with lures. Over the last few years bigger lures and jerk baits have been developed and are now accounting for a lot of really big fish upwards from 20lbs. A few lures in particular are catching a lot of these bigger fish and some of the top ones are those above. All these lures are available in different sizes and finishes, though for Pike larger sizes are recomended for the bigger fish. They are expensive unfortunatly, so are best used in deep water in conjuction with strong line and sturdy tackle.

Salmo Skinner is a fairly shallow diving lure with a really strong side to side wobbling action and is a devastating lure. It is known to draw pike up from very deep water. It is hard work to fish with as the action puts a lot of strain on the rod tip due to the strong action of the lure.

Salmo Slider is a top Pike jerk bait. The rod is pointed down on the retrieve and is constantly twitched back. The lure reacts by darting to one side and rolling slightly off balance, only to dart immediatly to the other side on the next twitch and flashing its belly again. This simulates an injured fish and has devastating catching rates for pike. As with most of these lures there is an internal rattle to help attract fish. This lure comes in floating and sinking models, with sinking being the most useful as it can fish at any depth depending on how deep it is allowed to sink before the retrieve.

Salmo Fatso is another jerkbait and is usually fished in the same way as the Salmo Slider. It can also be straight retrieved and is a very good caster. It flashes and wobbles and moves to the sides and is widely regarded as one of the top Pike lures. Very popular at the moment and not always available as it is being snapped up in the shops very quickly.

Belly Buster is another jerk bait, is hugely popular and is catching a lot of big pike. Another lure that simulates an injured fish and is retrieved with sharp twitches and short bursts of reeling.

Buster Jerk is the top lure by far for the last few years. It was found in a survey last year by a top fishing magazine that over 75% of 2olb plus lure caught Pike in Sweden last year were taken on this bait. The very high percentage may reflect the lures popularity here slightly, but there is no doubting is effectiveness nonetheless. It is a large bait and hard work to fish with due to that but is devastatingly effective for big fish.

Updated Points

Quite a lot of fish caught in July, proved a great month to be out. Kevin had a jack Pike at Drevviken, Ian also had a jack Pike at the same site. Rafal had his huge Roach and I had several fish, a pair of Tench, several Rudd and a Pike. Worth noting that several species have yet to be caught at all such as Zander, Eel, Crucian Carp, Flounder, Rainbow Trout, Brown trout, Seatrout, Salmon, Chub and Grayling among others. Others such as Perch, Bream and Silver Bream have not been caught at any really good weights and are still wide open for end of the year bonus points.
If anyone has other fish to be added that I do not know about let me know and I will take them into account.

Updated Table as follows...

Al; 40 points
Rafal; 18 points
Karl; 9 points
Linda; 6 points
Kevin; 2 points
Ian; 1point
Baz; 0 points
Jim; 0 points
James; 0 points
Simon; 0 points

Rafa's Monster Roach;Dalarna

Here is a photo of the enormous 2lb 8oz. Roach that Rafal took in Dalarna on July 17th. As Roach go this is an abslolute monster. The fish gives Rafal 12 points on the table and is the first 12 point fish to be taken since the league started. It took a sweetcorn oil flavoured boilie legered on the bottom. I am sure this will be the largest Roach caught by anyone this year and will also take the 12 bonus points for largest of the species, a great fish...

Drevviken, 27th July 2007

1.91 kilo Tench

.41 kilo Rudd

Arived at the lake at 16.40 and immediatly found Rudd feeding heavily. Had groundbaited with pellets first thing and as soon as the worm baited leger hit the water it was taken. The second fish, also a Rudd, weighed in at .41kilo(14.5oz.) and gave me 1 point. Things remained hectic until 17.45 when a twitchy bite led to a powerhouse struggle as I battled with a terrific Tench that was clearly bigger than the last one I caught here. Eventually the fish came to hand and the scales tipped at 1.91kilo(4lb 3oz.) and gave me 5 points on the table. To be honest I thought it might go heavier, but was delighted with the fish.

Things went fairly quiet after that with ocassional flurries of activity with Perch, Bream and more Rudd taken. Another Tench rolled on the surface several times but did not fall to my rods before I left at 22.30.

Drevviken, 22nd July 2007

A very poor evenings fishing today. Karl, Ian, Rafa and myself struggled to catch. Only one half decent Rudd of .23 kilo on the worm, which was very poor. A 1.96kilo(4lb 5oz.) Pike saved the day somewhat on a float paternastered rudd bait. Ian the chipped in with perheps the smalest Pike ever seen on a spinner! A point each nevertheless!

Drevviken, 20th July 2007

1.47kilo Tench(3lb 4oz.)

.47 kilo Rudd(1lb 1/2oz.)

.36kilo Rudd(12.5oz.)

.46kilo Bream(1lb)

.34kilo Bream(12oz.)

A great day at Dreviken with fish coming to the bank throughout the day. Arrived at 09.30am and groundbaited with pellets, sweetcorn and breadcrumb mix. Several Bream came straight away up to a pound in weight before a thumping bite saw me land a strong fighting Rudd that went just over one pound in weight.(2points) More Rudd, Bream, Perch and Roach followed before a slow pull on the rod saw me hook into a powerhouse fish on the swingtip rod, and the next few minutes saw me enjoy a fabulous fight from my first swedish Tench, a real surprise. The fish was a male and weighed 1,47kilo(3lb 4oz.)(3 points)

The day continued with Bream and Rudd, one Rudd going over 12oz. and gaining me an additional 1 point. Fishing was quieter in the evening as it turned out, nevertheless a really enjoyable day...

Making Boilies

One of many recipes to make your own boilie baits, which are expensive to buy ready made. Better fun to catch on your own anyhow. You can experiment with all kinds of flavourings like Vanilla, Strawberry, Curry or whatever. Also might be worth adding Sweetcorn Oil. Great baits for Carp and Tench. In smaller size could be super for big Rudd, Roach, Chub, Bream etc.

INGREDIENTS; 2 dl. Plain Flour(vetemjöl), 2 dl. Soya Flour(soyamjöl), 1.5 dl. Breadcrumb(Skorpmjöl), 150g crushed dry dog food, 150g Cottage Cheese(kessala), 20g Sugar, I packet Sodium Bensoate preservative(natriumbensoate), % Eggs, Red Caramael Flavouring(karamellfärg)

Whip the eggs and add the Sugar, Kessala and a few drops of the flavouring. Seperately blend the flours, breadcrumbs, dog food, Sodium bensoate etc. Then gradually add the dry mix to the liquid mix until you have a dough. Roll this into long sausages and cut into small pieces before rolling into balls. Then drop the balls into boiling water for 30 seconds to 3 minutes depending on how hard you want them to be. Remove from water and dry on flat surface or rack for a few hours and they are then ready. The boilies can be frozen or stored dry. The Sodium Bensoate helps to preseve the bait for long periods...

Långsjön; 18th July 2007

Went out to Långsjön for a few hours to check it out. The wind was extremely strong today and made fishing extremely hard and at times almost impossible as it gusted. However, the lake is very much worth a second look as it contains Tench, Carp and Crucian Carp as well as Zander, Pike, Perch and Roach. No sign of any feeding fish today though the habitat seems good in places. Not overly deep at about 6 feet around the margins. The water is coloured and seems rich with life. Expect that biggish baits will be required to help catch Carp and Tench, not that they wont take the smaller baits, but to avoid the nuisance of the numerous Roach in the lake. Despite very tough conditions still caught plenty of small Roach on sweetcorn. Switching to worm brought Perch to half a pound or so.

Tyresö Slott;17th July 2007

Spent a few hours in the evening at the Slott, fishing at the tip was quiet so moved back to the bridge where Bream were biting freely all evening. Linda got the best of these at .53kilo(1lb. 30z.) Best for myself was a Perch of .34kilo(12oz.)

No points scored but enjoyable all the same.

Drevviken, 16th July 2007

Went to Drevviken for the day and Linda followed me out at 4pm. Fishing very slow with Rudd again the predominant species. The best two Rudd came in at .35kilo(12.340z.) and .36kilo(12.69oz) and combined are worth two points. Actually thought I had just missed out on the 3/4 Pound mark with these fish until I converted the weights online when I got home...

Linda had a nice Rudd not far off the required weight, also had a Perch of about .75lb as well as some Roach and Loi.

As darkness fell constant twitchy bites had us driven crazy before we realized the culprits were not fish as such but Crayfish. Seems to be a huge population of them here at the moment and it is practically impossible to bottom fish after dusk with worm or meat baits after dusk begins to fall.

Other news today came by mobile text from Rafal in Dalarna where he took a monster Roach tonight of 2.5lb on sweetcorn oil flavoured boilie. A superb fish which will give him 12 points straight up and must be almost a certainty to be the biggest Roach of the season.

Källtorpsjon;15th July 2007

Karl and I checked this one out for a few hours this evening and the only result was a modest Perch on the worm. Nice looking area, but seems to lack Pike and not a lot to report at the second attempt at the venue...

Updated Points Table

In addition one species, Crucian Carp will be awarded points as follows;
Any;1pt. 1lb;2pts 1.5lb;3pts 2lb;5pts 2.5lbs;8pts 3lbs;12pts

Crucians dont grow huge but are a challenge to catch, apparently they are great fighters too. There are a few lakes in Huddinge where they are present and may be worth paying them some attention over the next 8 weeks as they are a summer species only.

Rules are now simplified, you catch a fish you get points according to the table above. The heaviest 20 individuals of each species caught by each person are counted. The heaviest specimen of each species caught will be awarded 12 bonus points at the end of the calender year. There are lots of species that have not been caught by anyone, so it is well worth seeking out these species with regard to points. Also the heaviest fish of the year of any species will be awarded an additional 12 points. This means that the a pike 0f 25lb, if it was to be the biggest fish of the year would net its captor a whopping 36 points, in other words this league is wide open!

Drevviken, 30th June 2007

Arrived with the intention of fishing for Rudd at 11.30am. With the moon at it's highest point at 12.54pm I thought the fish might be feeding and they did not dissapoint, with constant bites coming over the next three hours or so before the swim went absoloutly dead. The reason for this suddenly became crystal clear to me 30 minutes later. I finally got a bite at this point and struck into a good Rudd of about 3/4 pounds. After a good tussle on a light swingtip rod I was drawing the fish across the surface when it was engulfed by a very large Pike. The line immediatly parted and the Rudd was gone. I rigged up a fixed patternoster with float immediatly on the pike rod and then spent another 30 minutes trying to catch bait, which eventually came in the form of a small Bream. The bait was only in the water 2 minutes before it was taken and I met with solid resistance, the fish initially refusing to move, so I pulled it towards me. As the fish came into view I was gobsmacked at the sight of the fish, an easy 20lb, while at the same time the fish suddenly realized something was wrong and bolted for the middle of the lake, making three runs that took 50 yards of line from the reel. The fish then sulked around for 4 or 5 minutes as I gradually gained most of the line back. Just as I thought I had the upperhand it bolted along the bank to my right and fouled my line with several lengths of heavy weed and then, sickeningly, the line went slack and I realized I had lost the fish, I was completely gutted.

Despite the dissapointment about 40 Rudd were taken, the best 4 fish weighing .27kilo(9.5oz.), .28kilo(9.9oz.), .32kilo(11.3oz.), .35kilo(12.35oz.) These are the 4 fish photographed above. The largest, being over 3/4lb, earns 1 point on the league table.

Drevviken, 28th June 2007

Fishing brisk today for Linda and I, with a lot of Rudd to 80z. and several Bream also caught. One Roach of 7oz. and several Perch to 9.oz. also taken on the leger over groundbait close to the bank. Though no points were scored today it was not all dull and Linda lost a very powerful fish which bent her rod over double before snapping her off, not that easy on 12lb test line. There are some very good fish in this lake and I predict with time that Rudd in particular over 2lb and perhaps Perch over 3lb will fall to someones rod...

Drevviken;24th June 2007

A poor days fishing, Rafa and I were out all evening, with just one good fish taken by myself, a Perch weighing .53kilo(1lb 3oz.) The fish gives 2 points to the league table.

The only other highlight was a small jack Pike which attacked a small Roach I was reeling in. The fish released the fish at the bank and I baited the same Roach up under a float on wire trace. It was immediatly taken only for me to miss the fish again.

The perch failed to swim away and was gassed up so I took it home for the table. Most interestingly the stomach was crammed with crayfish, as was the last Perch I filleted. crayfish tail may prove to be a good bait for the species...

Updated Points Table

2007 Points table to date now looks as follows;

Al; 22pts.
Karl; 9pts.
Linda; 6pts.
Rafal; 6pts.
Kev; 1pt.
Ian; 0pts.
Baz; 0pts.
Jim; 0pts
James; 0pts

Drevviken;18th June 2007

Drevviken was the venue today in still, humid conditions. Arrived with Rafal at 16.45 and fishing was brisk for the first hour. Rafals first cast with a mepps spinner produced a Perch, which was soon followed by a small Pike which grabbed the lure as he was taking it from the water.

I groundbaited the swim and half an hour later came up trumps on the legered worm with a superb Rudd, a personal best which tipped the scales at .69kilos(1lb 9oz.) A really beautiful specimen which gave me 6 points. A Bream and some small Perch follwed this before Karl arrived and we moved swim after it went quiet. The new swim produced 2 more Rudd for me weighing .4kilo(130z.) and .28kilo(90z.) The larger of these two gained me another point on the table. Rafal had a point for his Pike and also had another Pike a few days ago for which he also gets a point.

Fished through the night for Zander, but without success as the fish were not feeding on this occasion...

Drevviken: 14th June 2007

Very windy on the lake today and this made fishing rather tough. Linda and I arrived at 15.30 and immediatly settled on legering a worm on the bottom. Over the course of the day several Bream and small Perch were caught. Fishing improved at around 19.00hrs when I managed to land a suprise in the form of a Rudd, while normally a surface or midwater feeding fish it took a worm of the bottom... A really well conditioned and superbly coloured fish, it tipped the scales at .29kilo(10oz.), there are undoubtedly much bigger specimens in the lake.

Heartbreak followed when I struck into a rather delicate bite and was suprised by the severe resistance I was met with as the fished lurched away strongly taking line as it went . A tremendous scrap followed before a huge Perch came to the surface and plowed off again. The line then parted 8 inches above the hook leaving me gutted, the biggest Perch I have ever seen gone. Still it is a good indication of the potential of the lake for the species....

Linda picked up a Ruffe towards dusk, lovely little fish when viewed close up, though never grows to more than a few inches in length..

Kev's Mother in Law!

One caught by Kevin Moran while in Australia last winter. Still unidentified at the moment but was refered to as a "Mother in Law Fish" by the local anglers on the basis that they are not great to eat, so thats who you would give it to rather than eat it yourself! Doesn't count in the league here in Sweden, but still a great fish.

Will update points table soon, takes a bit of work and need to contact everyone to see if they have more points to log.

Kev's first of the year!

Well, Kevin Moran finally managed to get off the mark with this 2kg(4.4lb)Pike which fell to the plug above. This gives him his first point of the season. Not far off the 5lb mark and a nice start. fish was difficult to land due to reeds and a lot of other bankside vegetation, which accounts for its appearance, but was returned alive and well nevertheless.