This time, two articles instead of one. Where the other was written briefly about last year’s fishing, this one goes a little deeper into the experiences we’ve had this year. It was a different game, with temperatures changing every day just as much as the wind did. From hot summer days to freezing cold days with bad winds from the east. In this article, I will give you a little recap of how this trip went, and which things regarding approach, or baits, made a difference!
Relaxing on the Hotel balcony and preparing for what may come..
Fishing for pike in Sweden depends on a number of factors, namely the ambient temperature and the water temperature. No two springs are the same, and it is quite possible that the fish will have already spawned. If you travel north earlier in the spring, you can often find large fish that are still full of roe, but the later in the spring you arrive, the more likely it is that this will no longer be the case. The water temperature can vary considerably, mainly due to the location of the lakes where you will be fishing. On our last trip, for example, the temperature varied from 10°C on one lake, which was quite clear, to 15°C on another, which was dark in color.
A wide variety of lakes to fish!
Although the former lake was high in the mountains, it was reasonably sheltered, but due to its depth (30 m) and so-called “wind-blown edges,” it was still on the cold side. The last body of water, where the average depth was 6 meters and the color was very brown, a so-called woodland lake surrounded by rocks with trees both above and below the water, clearly had a completely different climate underwater. Here, the aquatic plants were already halfway out of the water, even though the two bodies of water were not that far apart (6 km). So you can certainly encounter a variety of situations.
Unlimited areas to fish!
You can use different fishing techniques, namely those in deep and shallow water, and I prefer the latter. Action throughout the day makes it all the more fun. Here you can try a wide variety of (new) lures, because they take everything. This gives you confidence once you’re back home to try them out here as well.
I prefer to fish with all kinds of jerkbaits between 10 and 15 cm, preferably lures that can be fished fairly quickly. Sometimes you have to fish more slowly, but as a rule, faster lures work like a magnet. Sometimes you can trigger a bite with them. In Sweden, I generally fish in shallow water, focusing on the endless bays with reeds and rocks, or plant debris or trees, preferably bordering deep water. When the wind is blowing, you’re in luck, and you can experience some really exciting action.
Smaller baits, such as this Rapala Super Shadow Rap Jerk, were a favorite.
Long casts are by far my favorite, and when fishing from a boat, I like to be as far away from a potential hotspot as possible. With the Minn Kota autopilot, you can navigate very precisely along a side, so make the most of this feature here too. It won’t be the first time you think, wow, that reed bed looks so idyllic, that’s where it’s going to happen, but it happens far before the hotspot. Unlike fishing in the Netherlands, where pike are often more concentrated, in Sweden, you can expect action anywhere on the water.
And with action everywhere, this also means on an underwater island, where the bottom suddenly rises from 25m to 6 or 8m, and here you can apply shallow water fishing, but with soft baits that in this case run to a depth of about 3-4 meters, which in itself is a whole different kind of fishing, but I prefer calmer waters and less of a one-shot fishing experience.
Deeper water is always successful with larger baits! In this case, the ULM Gigabite V2 21cm
What is also striking about Swedish fishing, and what makes experimenting so interesting, is that there are fish everywhere. As with fishing in the Netherlands, for example, it can be tough when conditions are poor, but in Sweden, there is always something that works. Nature is overwhelming and so is the number of spots, because they are unlimited, but eventually you will learn the patterns and then it’s easy going. Here, you need to take your time to analyze an edge with all kinds of lures.
Natural Colors, such as this Rapala Super Shadow Rap Jerk, can work great!
In Sweden, you know immediately whether you need to move or not. If you don’t get a bite within five casts, there are most likely no fish around. Of course, there are always places where this is different, but on the whole, you will always see a follower or a false bite. In that case, I immediately switch lures and cast again in the same spot, which usually results in a bite. Quickly offering something different can sometimes work surprisingly well!
Natural colors, like this ”Glitterborren” on a Fatboy Swim by Freewaterpictures, can work great!
When it comes to rods and set-up, I prefer to keep everything as simple as possible, with a maximum weight of around 150–200 grams, in case you suddenly hook a large fish next to the boat that needs to be hooked with some backbone from the blank. Again, 80 or 100 lb X8 braided line, to keep the lift in your lure above weeds or emerging weeds, and also because when fishing next to reed beds, you regularly get stuck in the stumps in front of them. This allows you to easily pull everything loose with a jerk on your line without breaking the line, and for the fishing itself (in terms of scaring the fish away), it doesn’t matter. I always fish for pike with the thickest line possible. The advantage of fishing with a thicker line is that your lure automatically rises due to the upward pressure of the water. This allows you to fish a lot shallower, and then you can lower your lure deeper if you want. So you can always fish deeper, but not shallower, and you can change this by fishing with thicker lines.
A great combo for Pike, the 13Fishing Concept A3 with 80lb Sufix 832 + the Rapala Super Shadow Rap Jerk.
In Sweden, you can expect action throughout the whole day. In May, for example, it is still light at 23:30 p.m., and depending on where you are, twilight begins again at 2 a.m. So if you want to be effective “on the fish,” you should be on the water by 2:30 a.m. However, you also need to sleep, so I choose to go out on the water around 8 a.m. This gives you plenty of time for fantastic fishing, and our last trip to Sweden proved that this approach works well. The fishing days were quite intensive, lasting 12 hours a day, but there was action throughout the day. Last spring, for example, it was 28 degrees, and in the middle of the day, we went to a spot out of the wind, where the water was crystal clear with weeds and reeds growing freely.
Almost 23:30 and still light on the horizon
On our last trip, we had some truly absurd days with more than 40 pike, and one after another, in 20 minutes, 20 pike, double bites, and fish that jumped after the jerkbait, literally jumped after it, on a reed bank where the northeast 5 had been blowing all day and a cold front had just passed, it suddenly went crazy. And then you can try anything. It doesn’t matter what bait you put on; the fish go wild, and lures are brutally attacked. And then after the feeding frenzy, you look around and realize where you are, actually still in the same place where the bites started. It’s unbelievable what certain sides can bring about. And it happens not once, but several times a day, that you can hit the jackpot a second time in certain areas of water. For a moment it goes wild, there is a silence, and later they are there again. Just like a pool full of trout that seem to swim in and out. And often there isn’t even any bait fish around, but they are lying on top of each other.
A lot of action is great fun! This one went for the ever-producing ”Alaska Gaddan” Fatboy Swim by Freewaterpictures
And everything is mixed, from meter-long pike to 40 cm pike, and they are all hungry and attack your lure like crazy. Which is strange in itself because they bite much harder than in the Netherlands, and also because the food supply is many times greater. But that is undoubtedly due to the reset that still prevails in the north, namely, a longer period of cold weather, in the form of ice on the water. All in all, every year is different, but this year was greatly productive and I cannot wait for what lies ahead…
Good luck on the water!
Christian Drost
