The hope of any angler is a trophy pike! This dream can be different for every fisherman. For someone, this figure is equal to the span of the arms, for someone a considerable weight, and for someone a pike for a couple of kilograms, while it remains a dream of a trophy.
I will not write about my own vision of the size of the trophy, since it is necessary that playing a pike by 5 kg will leave more emotions than raising the "mother" by 10 kg. In my story, I will simply say what tackle and lures I have been successfully catching lately, very decent opponents.

And although I often came across large pikes on small lures, such as spinners from number 2, oscillating spoons, not very large wobblers and various silicone lures, I will tell you about my own experience of working with large lures. In my opinion, deliberately using the large size of various tricks, we are already deliberately setting ourselves up to search and catch a trophy, and we approach this by equipping our arsenal in a suitable way. As the saying goes: "A big piece and a mouth is glad."

By and large, despite my own solid fishing experience, I still feel like a novice fisherman before every fishing trip. Every trip to a pond, I try something new, I am not afraid to conduct an experiment, and even after catching some kind of bait, I can easily put it in a box, and try to understand and choose a game, for a novelty, or bait from old stocks, which have not yet "shot". Therefore, I advise you not to get stuck on the examples I have given, but to personally look for "your tackle" Just a couple of seasons ago, jerkbaits became such a tackle for me.

One of our most experienced and sophisticated jerkomaniacs recommended joining the purchase of jerk rods in order to reduce shipping costs. So I became the owner - jerk spinning, one and a half part Aiko Baltasar 160H

Simple and rigid, 165 cm long and 138 grams in weight. Tuning Extrafast (rigid stake), with a neoprene grip equipped with a reel seat for a baitcasting reel. This spinning rod belongs to the budget option, and has served me with faith and truth until recently. I must say that when fishing for such a form, you are unlikely - when you see how it bends into an arc, tk. pulling out even pikes over 12 kg., he only slightly bent under the weight of the fish. But one could be certified in its power. Even breaking off the tip by 15 cm, stepping on it in the boat through imprudence, and rearranging the ring, I resumed fishing with it in the future, without experiencing any inconvenience.

Having acquired such a kit, the problem arose about purchasing a baitcasting reel. Unfortunately, at that time, their choice in Krasnoyarsk was very modest. However, I saw a coil on sale Abu garcia ambassadeur.
I read about it on the Internet and realized that for a beginner, you can hardly find something better, for a fairly appropriate price. The provided reel is a classic jerk reel. First of all, because the essence of jerk wiring is powerful constant jerks, often of a heavy bait, which can quickly lead, in a trash position, a non-inertial coil, and, first of all, its bearings.

Due to the heavy weights of jerkbaits, I use braids with a diameter of 0.32 mm, which have hardly let me down yet. Monofilament fishing line is not suitable for this kind of fishing. it is very extensible. You also need special titanium or steel rigid leads that do not allow the jerk to overlap with the line.

The first serious check, my kit earned on a trip to the river. Angara, where we went with Andrey. On the first evening, on the Angara, experiencing one good hole, at the exit from which there was a strong bite, on a Salmo Slider jerk. Not a very long struggle, with an invisible monster, ended with a fish. When I examined the bait, I found that one hook on the tee broke, and the other two unbent, which I straightened with the pliers. The next morning, in the same area, there was a bite again.

Perhaps it was yesterday's predator, or maybe another came up. Here, the toothy fortune did not smile. The battle was intense, but it ended in my victory.

The tackle worked with a bang, and the pike, weighing 12.5 kg, became the merit. In the subsequent fishing, I caught a few more predators with similar baits.

Since then, jerky Salmo slider are some of my favorites.

The only thing is that when purchasing a fresh jerk, I replace it with tees, which have proven themselves well, from the Japanese company Owner, since the factory ones are somewhat weak.

This type of jerk refers to gliders. This type of lure is characterized by a reaction by throwing to the side, with each dash with a rod, up to a 180-degree turn. I have a set of floating (they have the letter F) and sinking (with the letter S) jerks. Accordingly, I use sinking jerks at depths of 3 meters, giving a pause on the fall, depending on the depth. At the same time, in the case of significant deepening, you need to throw off the braid from the spool a little so that the bait drowns in the casting zone. Thus, it turns out to force the pike to attack at different diving horizons.

The drowning jerk is nice because it can be made to work at almost any depth. As soon as we initiate the winding of the cord, with jerky wiring, the glider is immediately energetically connected to work. I generally use this type of jerk in places where the pike sticks deeply. But, with floating jerks, you can fish in places with a very shallow depth. Often, the attack of a pike can be seen firsthand. We can see a torpedo-like trail from a predator, followed by a splash, followed by a blow to the bait. Here it is important not to jerk the rod right away, perhaps by tearing it out of the mouth, or not allowing the pike to grab onto, but to make a micro-pause, which should not be very large, before a sharp sweep. And now powerful jerks, fish candles and the struggle of a toothed tooth for life will make your blood boil, and with it guarantees a powerful adrenaline rush.

And after a while, having won or lost in this fight, lighting a cigarette with shaking fingers, you will again and again begin to replay everything that happened in your head. And on long, winter evenings, you will remember these moments, dreaming of experiencing them again.

Jerky Salmo, very easy to animate. I think that even a beginner will be able to quickly navigate what's what. The art of guiding the bait is simple enough. Having lowered the tip of the rod to the water, you “hit” from top to bottom with short jerks or broaches. In this case, the hand and the elbow joint are involved. Your jerk should perform sharp turns during each phase of the dash. It is possible to constantly rewind the cord during wiring, in this case the bait is constantly in horizontal motion. It is often useful, after making a certain number of jerks, to pause when the bait hangs, sinks, or floats, not forgetting to take out the slack in the line. These pauses can provoke an inactive predator to attack.

You can do the wiring and pulls obliquely. Depending on the vigor of the fish, the rate of posting should be varied. The main thing is to try to control all phases of the wiring. What other bait can be made to work, in different rhythms and drive speeds? Salmo's glider is just such a bait. Therefore, you need to try different techniques and ways of playing. From aggressive jerking to light stretches and long pauses. Jerky Salmo comes in a variety of sizes and colors.

Therefore, by often changing the color scheme, you can achieve success on a seemingly empty point. These jerkies are attractive not only for fish monsters, but also for smaller pikes.

They often attack so greedily that they are ready to drive them down the throat. The sound of the bait rushing into the water, raising a loud splash and sweeping play of jerks, creates such acoustics that the pike can approach the bait even from a long distance.

Often, even perches rush to prey so big for them. The versatility of these jerks is also in the fact that they are produced in not very large sizes and in weight, which means that they can be used to fish with just a fairly stiff rod. And if gliders, I refer to lures for active summer pike, then another type of bait, divers, are more capable of exciting inactive pike. Remembering the pike I caught on the Angara, I must say, in its stomach, and one might say in its mouth (as the tail was sticking out in the throat), a burbot was found weighing more than a kilogram. Even then I thought: “this is the size to catch, and what color”

And so, last year I saw a jerk, similar in color to a burbot, or a snapped perch, with white, dull eyes and in a very good size. It was a Savagear Deviator jerkbait diver. 16cm, 68 gr., Slow-sinking. It is already equipped with Owner tees, inside the jerk there are attractively tinkling balls that create some kind of effect that attracts a predator under water.

With uniform guidance, with smooth jerks, it perfectly walks left and right, when hitting the rod down, it is able to dive into depth. But its most remarkable quality is vibration when falling, during pauses. He seems to show a trembling, sick fish, convulsing and slowly sinking to the bottom. In fairness, I must say that in the summer I did not catch a single fish on this jerkbait, but the autumn acquaintance with it became extremely unforgettable. After the first wire, I lifted the jerk to the surface and dropped the cord to watch it sink, trembling all over. Suddenly, before my eyes, a large shadow flashed, a pike flew out from under the boat, grabbed the jerk and pulled it hard, dragging it back under the boat. Out of surprise, I did not have time to hop, and the predator, apparently realizing that she was cheated, managed to spit out the bait. After a while, drifting past the rocks, with an exit into a small bay, at the moment of winding up the loosened braid, after a short pause, I felt a weight on the other end of the cord. Intuitively hooked, but did not feel any resistance from the other side. The impression was formed that the jerk was caught on some kind of obstacle. This happens at times when using a sinking bait. Convinced of the tackle, I began to pull the boat to the "hook". Suddenly the cord is loose. "Really ripped off, cutting off on the rocks?" - the thought flashed. He began to wind it onto the reel, when suddenly he pulled himself up again, forcing the reel friction to work. It was clear that it was not a bad fish that had sat on the hook. Unlike smaller pikes, a real trophy rarely beats on a leash, makes candles and other tricks. A hefty pike bluntly crushes its weight down, forcing it to be lifted to the surface of the water by the "pumping" method, when, having raised a little heavy load up, sharply lower the tip of the back to the water and reel in the weakened fishing line, repeating this technique over and over again.

By raising the pike to the surface, I always direct my attention to how it sits on the hook. If the bait is deep in the mouth, then I, without forcing the game, enjoy the moments of the struggle, forcing the trophy to give its last strength in the struggle for my life. Such a struggle does not always end in favor of the fisherman, but it brings the very sensations for which we go fishing.

In this case, it was seen that the pike took the bait from the side, slightly clogged with the second tee.

Since there was a risk that, shaking her head, she would free herself from the hooks, I had to significantly speed up the process. But the pike worked hard to do everything to win this fight.

She tried to go under the boat, which is fraught with the cord catching the motor propeller, and had to hold the braid with her hand so that the friction clutch would not work backwards, to keep it at the required distance.

It is not so easy to hold such a mother on a leash with one hand. Here the help of friends is often needed, who help to get the monster into the landing net.

And now the pike is in the boat! Nice and weighty trophy, which pulled almost 10 kg.

trophy pike fishing video

Soon, fishing for the nearest rolling pins, I saw a splash not far from the boat, literally half a meter from the steep cliff. I throw the jerk into this place and, having barely managed to pick up the slack, I feel a decisive bite. A sweep, and soon a good specimen, which delighted with candles and breakers, ended up in the boat.

The next day, this jerk brought another fascinating episode. Half an hour earlier, our comrade Gerych's pike tore off a DAM spinner together with a leash. And it must happen that at the same place, this pike also attacked my jerkbait.

And already being in the landing net, I managed to make a somersault, hooked the Gerych's spoon sticking out of the mouth by the landing net and thereby freed myself, not only from it, but also from the tees of my bait.

Not believing its own happiness, the pike stood for a few seconds near the boat and went into the depths! And Gerych's spoon remained in my net, causing the owner's real surprise when we returned it to him!

Unfortunately, on this fishing, the dead hook of the spinner, behind an underwater obstacle, forced the tackle to break, leaving the bait at the bottom.

Summarizing the work of this jerk, it should be noted that in order to successfully catch it, one must have some experience in tackle management. It is better to first make several wires near the boat, without deepening the jerk deeply, in order to understand how it reacts to different jerks and pulls. Well, be sure to try to pause, imitating a dying fish. Even if this bait is not the most obedient in control, having mastered the methods of its game, you can undoubtedly count on catching a trophy.

The next lures that delight me with their effects are large wobblers. I'll tell you about the favorites of this season, who have brought more than a dozen of the most real trophies.

I fished with them for spinning Major Craft Rizer, RZS-792 M with a dough of 7-28 grams, having a fast action. This is a powerful spinning rod that allows you to successfully make postings, both with stubborn wobblers and jig lures.

So, the wobbler demonstrated itself safely this season Pontoon 21, Moby Dick Series.
In my set, they are available in versions 100 and 120 mm, differing only in the size of the blade, which allows you to make wiring at different depths.

The wobblers are floating, have a magnetic balancing system that allows you to make accurate and long casts. The wobbler has large and sharp hooks, which have one drawback. During operation, they leave a deep mark on the body of the wobbler, removing the paint. The wobbler can be carried out both with a uniform wiring and with a twitch. They work stably with any wiring and any beginner can manage them. Pikes were especially good at it in the evening. Both on the Angara and on the Krasnoyarsk reservoir, this wobbler did not leave the predators impassive both in shallow water and at depth. They did not disregard this snag, decently peeling the paint off the wobbler. So, the coating is probably its only weak point.

I was very impressed, in the past year, wobbler Strike pro CHALLENGER X
As a lure from the budget series, it has caught many of the famous and expensive brands in my assortment. A wobbler with a large paddle, allowing it to be deepened to a depth of 5 meters, consistently brought worthy rivals to the fisherman's sacrifices.

The wobbler is stubborn, dangles strongly during wiring, making winding movements, shakes shallowly, emerging from the depth on a pause. It has gill openings, which, apparently, creating turbulent currents, force predators to greedily attack the bait. There are balancing balls in the wobbler, which make it possible to make an accurate and long cast, and also help to create a wave-like wiring, waddling inside the body of the wobbler from one side to another. The wiring itself is fairly straightforward. When casting, by a sharp winding of the cord, we deepen the wobbler to a predetermined depth, and then guide it with uniform wiring. He is already wagging his ass under water so that he will not leave anyone indifferent. It can be useful, sometimes, to nudge and make short stops.

Well, my main favorite, among the wobblers of this year, were the lures of the Japanese company "Maria" MJ-1, 130 mm, 22 g., floating, with a depth of 3.5 meters.

Very solid performance, with excellent "volatility", tapping balls - they brought me several very worthy trophies last autumn at the Krasnoyarsk Exhibition Center.

When wiring, these wobblers stand at an angle of 45 degrees, quickly gain a predetermined depth, and are able to turn on the spot when stopped. Sharpened hooks helped me win the 8kg pike, which they stuck into the bony upper part of the nose and gripped the predator tightly despite several determined attempts to get away.

I don't know if it is possible to attribute to the shortcomings the fact that a large pike, with its sharp teeth, bit through the plastic body of the wobbler, because of which it began to accumulate water and lost its game. At home, I filled the hole with resin and the wobbler started working fine again. In the next season, I intend to give these wobblers more study.

At the end of my monologue, I want to state that in the future, no one has any illusions. Having bought everything for jerk fishing, including a variety of lures (and jerks are by no means cheap in price), purchasing various wobblers, including those listed above, your trophy fishing will still depend only on you. From your experience, from the ability to animate the tackle and "read" the reservoir.

And the fact that with these baits you will still be rewarded with a full-fledged trophy someday, you can be sure, believe me! Good luck to everyone, we'll meet you fishing!