By Harald Hoel

A new fishing technique has taken the world by storm and taken pike fishing to new adventures with adapted tackle. We are talking about jerkbait fishing!

The bite comes as an explosion and spreads all the way to the spine. The rod is raised and the fish is hooked. The hand around the reel and the “dead” fishing line gives a very good feeling with the fish which rushes out. The fight is on and after 10 minutes and several rushes, a beautiful pike of 20 lbs lies in the boat.

The yellow dotted fish is released from the big plastic fish which it believed to be a suitable prey. After weighing the elegant female fish is put back into the water.

We are on a large lake in Norway in the beginning of August and are fishing on some shallow banks far out. Today we are fishing on the same spots were we earlier used to do trolling. But now we are concentrating the fishery on certain spots, and have equipped ourself with modern pike fishing tackle, jerkbaits as pike lures or musky lures.

The name comes from the movement you make with your rod tip, making small jerks which make the bait swerve sideways and become very much alike an injured fish. Its perfect for triggering the bite reflex with big predator fish.

Jerkbait fishing is mostly aimed towards pike and musky, but can also be concentrated towards other predator fish as perch and trout.

When you bring the bait in you hold your hand around the reel, and use both reel and rod tip to make the movement. Short fishing rod, “dead” fishing line and heavy baits, make you throw far and can fish on large areas.

The jerk reel is a little baitcast reel which are reinforced to withstand heavy pressure. Penn fishing reels have many good alternatives.

The fishing rod should also also be powerful to give decent hooking. It should have top action for best steering of the bait. Shimano fishing rods is recommendable to this fishery.

You should always have tight lines during retrieving. It can be wise to variate between fast and slow retrieving.

Stiff wire trace gives a resilient effect and provide better side movements of the bait. Out on the shallow banks it`s only 10 – 15 feet deep. We fish high in the water to make sure the bait is inside pike`s visual range. When the pike is in a biting mood it likely dive up several feet to grab a bite.

Usually drifting or anchored boat are used, but you can also do this pike fishing from land.

Harald Hoel, expert of pike fishing

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