So the Karhu tastes good and we let Kari take the boat to a next island a bit more upwind. We plan a drift along the shore of that one. Well, Hajee and I look at the map and the winds, then send Kari towards the spot with us and call “nomoto” on him if we judge our position right for a drift. Luckily the wind is not howling today, otherwise a drift with such a high boat and no driftbags or any kind of rudder would be a big drama.
We drift along the next island and reckon there are some nice spots on it. Unfortunately there is not a single bit of action. But hey, this drift goes great and we can see that if we keep on drifting we might go a bit further away from the island, but straight into the area where Simon caught the first Finnish pike we did see on this trip, right in front of our eyes on practice-day. So we fish on with confidence. Then I hook a nice branch. I pull it towards the boat slowly (never use your rod to drill branches) and take it out of the water. I think I heard a splash.
It must have been some sort of gut feeling that made me want to mark this area somewhere out in the open, and I push the branch I just landed into the muddy bottom about 1.5 meters below us. The back of the branch sticks out for about half a meter out of the water. And then I hear the sound again, sounds like fish, so I turn to Hajee and ask him if he did see something. Nope. He says he thinks it was the little attempt Kari made to brake our speed a little bit with the paddle that was lying in the boat for so long.
Then I hear the splash again and look over my shoulder. A swirl, I am sure about it. I point it out to Hajee, but he does not see it any more. It was pike, I am sure about it. And then I spot a fish swimming right underneath the surface, about the size of a decent ide. It swims a bit distracted and it draws my attention. I point it out to Hajee. And at that moment, a huge swirl right behind it. That is pike, definitely. The fish rushes away in fear and we can follow it. Another swirl in it’s neighbourhood. And another one. There is a pike chasing down this big baitfish. Not much later we see yet another swirl a bit farther away. We call upon Kari for the moto, and I am still not sure if he saw anything of this action or just missed it all together. Then about 40 meters in front of us a huge pike strikes again in the surface. We can see it almost head and tail in a trashy fast forwarded way. With some big splashes.
And then we lose sight of this active fish. But surprisingly just half a minute later I can see the injured baitfish swimming around again. We try to stick close to it, but there’s no action anymore. Okay… at least there was a pike that was very active and chasing a fish for a longer trail. Not a place we would have recognized as a hotspot, but the fish was a whopper, that’s for sure and we both know it would have been one that would go on the scoring charts.
As we sit and wait if something more happens all of a sudden I think about the branch. I know almost exactly where the first swirl of that big pike was…. So we make up a plan (all based on Dutch polder-knowledge and imagination) on what to do with the couple of hours we still have left for this tournament day. In the Dutch polder we would leave a pike that has been moved but not hooked alone for a while. Let it set back into it’s ambush (in the polders they stand in the exact place minutes after they have been hunting) and try for it after a small break. Maybe it is the same here? We think it is a good idea to let Kari go around this area and set up another drift, aiming at the branch and hoping the big pike will have gone back to it’s place when we pass by on the second drift.
As the wind has shifted a little bit we have to start the drift a bit further away of the island than our first drift. More open water. But still we let Kari stop the engine quite a long time before the boat will be in the “hot place” near the branch, because we want to be sure not to spook the fish.
We start drifting and fishing. Making casts and retrieving, looking out for the part of the drift we both will be able to make two or three casts in that area where I suspect the pike to be. We drift past a couple of rocks and reed. I make a cast towards this structure, as it gives at least some impression of the structure in the water.
Not even a single strip completed....kabooom! A fish nails down my streamer quite aggressively. I strip-strike full force and it is quite a mass on the business end. Yessss! My first pike of the trip, and I am sure it is one for the scoreboard. I spool it on the reel, not because I think it is so strong, but just because I don’t like all that loose line in a small boat when you are also trying to land a fish, measure it and take some pictures. As I have the fish on reel I notice how nice it bends my TFO TiCrX. And it even breaks through the drag of the Vosseler... This fish has some strength, not bad considering the fact we are fishing with a 9 or 10 weight.
Hajee gets a chin grip on it and I take it over from there. We measure it and it is definitely a fish that goes on the board. The boat shivers and trembles as Kari pulls out another of these Hula-moves. Four arm movements this time and the man is running out of breath because of all the excitement. As he lights up another cigarette he refuses one of the hot beers we offer him. We do a small shootout with me and the fish and release it carefully. Cheers mate!
I take a look at the streamer, what a mess, but with some water it is back in shape quite fast.
During the shootout and drilling the drift was continued and now the boat is past the branch. But hey, who cares… we are here, 2 friends enjoying the tournament and we propose to do the same drift once more. It is great to see the learning curve of our guide. He quickly knows he has to motor the boat around this area and start yet another “nomoto” drift. We start casting again and after about five minutes Hajee takes a good strike of a big fish. Unfortunately it does not get hooked, but hey, we got action. We continue the drift as we are still not at the spot where we assume the pike we saw hunting could be positioned.
Some 50 meters further we are close to the branch as Hajee takes another strike and sets the hook. This time the fish stays on and his TFO Axiom goes into a deep and nice curve. He drills the fish towards the boat and when I get it to hand for him we both are enjoying yet another lovely fish. This will put us up on the scores for sure! Although we don’t know how the others are doing, we finally get some good fish to the boat. As I take the fish out of the water and hand it to my buddy I see another great Hula of our guide. He needs to stop for a haul on his cigarette, and then makes two more awesome swings. The boat is rocking and we are having a ball. We shoot some pictures and open up our last beer (stupid me, I only took 3 beers with me). It goes down like one of the best ever.
We don’t even need to talk to Kari anymore. A pointing of the rod and he knows. Start the engine, cruise widely around this area and set the boat for yet another drift. Meanwhile we set some alarms on my phone. We have to be back at the dock at 4 o’clock sharp. If not the score is disqualified and we do want this on the board!
On the next drift it is a madhouse. I miss a huge fish, strike it, feel it and then almost tumble backwards as the fish gets loose. I make a back cast and intend to drop the streamer in the same area again. What streamer??? It is gone! I strip in my line. The crosslock is all bent out and I guess there is a big pike mama around that got herself a souvenir. That’s why barbless fishing is so important. Pretty sure she gets rid of it within a couple of shakes with her head. Goodbye good streamer and goodbye trophy fish (you know… the one that got away).
That same drift Hajee misses a big one too and now we are both totally tripping on adrenaline. We are obviously on a good spot with quite some big fish that are in their feeding period. We call the spot Big Mama’s place already. This is fishing, in all the excitement and passion you want it. Drifting and fishing and being aware that every cast and retrieve could trigger a big fish to strike.
We make yet another drift. And the first alarm goes off. Time to start thinking about returning back in time. And again Hajee picks up a strike. Unfortunately another long distance release follows. But hey, we still got time for another drift. And as we point it out Kari already knows exactly what we want. He’s enjoying the fishing just as much as we do. Motor across to the starting point. Then a “nomoto” drift and for four consecutive drifts we had action.
On this next drift the alarm on my phone goes again. But as it is so exciting I don’t want to take it out of my pocket for a snooze. Damn...lost focus! A big fish hits my streamer and I set the hook. After a short but hard yank on the line the fish is off again. I take out my phone and shut it off. “Terrible amateur” is my silent thought about myself. Just letting that phone distract you a bit and missing yet another very big fish. But I am not the only one, as Hajee also scores another long distance release. It is insane how active these big fish turned all in a sudden and we wonder if it is happening in the entire Delta or just here.
Unfortunately the phone just beeps again. Time to head back to the docks. But hey, as we run off to the meeting point we have a euphoric feeling. Despite the large amount of missed or lost fish, this kind of action is what we both had in mind about fishing in the Baltic. On the way back we wonder how the others did and what their tactics were.
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