Last tournament day part 2

Harmen-Jan and Erik made a drift into a pool where they had some action the day before, Hajee and I also knew the place already and we referred to it as Harmen-Jan’s pool. On our drift we came close to a nice reed-bed close to an island, but as we got closer the guide told us to stop fishing. He pointed out to a small house on the island and explained: “crazy woman!” so from then on that corner of the Delta was called “crazy woman’s place”
We decided to make one drift over at big mama’s, as we still believed strongly that would be the ultimate place when talking big pike. Unfortunately I only had one sized fish missing my streamer, so it was time to go on. We circled around the island to another nice looking area with lots of dead reed protruding from the water. In between there were small canals and we tried them all. Hajee got a sized one and two jacks, so it paid off.


was it the spot or the old backwards cap trick*?

(* the old backwards cap trick makes fish think you are going home and they feel save to predate on baitfish again as they think your leaving)

Then it was lunch time. We lost sight of Netherlands 1 and there was no other boat to be seen. As Simon was guiding the British there was no one passing by with updates and we could only hope for the others to have a nice day as well. We stranded the boat into some reeds and ate our sandwiches, this time Francois had made sandwiches with cucumber, cream cheese and ham. Which was the same as all days before and still tasted good. Together with a good lukewarm beer it was nice sitting. The sun was out and believe it or not, it was May in Finland and we were sitting there in t-shirts.
After this pleasant break we drifted out the area, but we did not see anything and after 20 minutes of nothing we decided to move. That was another part of the tactics. If we would not get any sign of fish in half an hour it could be wise to move to somewhere totally different. As we believe that fish have to be active to be able to catch them. Or like guy says: “they have to be in the mood”
Our next spot was amazing. I started out a bit frustrated, hooking lots and lots of reed, but also Hajee obviously got more strikes. Maybe it was the rig? So we made a rig similar to Hajee’s for me (in another topic I’ll explain about the rigs). When we got into the new area I had a jack-pike on at the first cast. That gave some confidence about the rig. We drifted it out, resulting in a sized fish for Hajee in the corner most downwind at the end of the drift. We measured it with the guide and it was 78 centimeters. We recorded the score and Hajee made another cast on almost the same spot. Two strips and another pike rushed out of the reed to get his streamer. He had it on and the guide showed to be a man with a good sense of humor. “ah no, 78 centimeters”-he said. The three of us had a laugh, it ended up to be 73 and yet another fish on the scoreboard for us.
We decided to drift a bit more in that area and it turned out to be an afternoon with two faces. Hajee did manage to get more fish, even another one for the scoring board. Myself I missed 2 and had two jacks in the boat. It was obvious there was a huge difference. At a certain point I took the front position in the boat and made some casts into a corner in the reed. It was obviously a hotspot and I would have sworn there should be at least one hungry pike down there. After 4 good casts and stripping back in through that zone I took it for granted there was no fish in there. But as Hajee was on the back of the boat he then had a chance to make a cast to that same hotspot. As we have been fishing together so long we both approach such a spot with the same kind of cast, same spot, same retrieve. To my big surprise and frustration within three strips of the streamer Hajee had a nice pike on…. WTF! Was my first reaction. But at least good for both of us, this pike measured 80 centimeters and was yet again good for the score.



We discussed things and it looked like we finally got a little clue. This day Hajee had put on a small EP streamer (well, small to our standards) of about 6 inch long. Reassembling a baitfish pattern. I fished with the standard streamers I would fish everyday in the Netherlands and these are about 10-15 inches long. Could the difference in size and shape make such a big difference?
As Hajee now had 4 sized pike on the scoreboard we decided he should try to get his fifth. After that we would switch streamers, as his streamer was the only small baitfish thing we had aboard (yeah, I know, we tied hundreds of streamers and still don’t have it….). We drifted out the same area again and to my frustration Hajee hooked some jacks again where I did not see any action at all.
It was half past three and we needed to get back to the docks. At least we had four fish and it would all depend on how the others did if it was a good score or not. For the day total it was obvious, Hajee had about 15 pike on that single EP-streamer. Myself I had only landed 3 jacks.
When we exited the area we saw the others. Erik and Harmen-Jan. They were stoked. Erik had missed a big fish and got a second chance in the same area, getting a pike of over a meter to hand. That was fantastic news, perhaps this could help us get closer to victory. They had some other sized fish too, so it would be a good score for both Dutch teams today.