Pike bait for Krokodil Jaeger

What is worth waiting for. We are on the market with our first two pike baits just in time for the pike season. Two lures that have already shown us in the tests that they can reliably deliver pike on almost any body of water and in any situation. Right from the start it was important to us to offer a clear range, with which you can catch pike of all sizes, from the polder to the Bodden waters, from spring to winter. In late winter, a large proportion of the pike are still on the deep edges. But especially on the warmer winter days, the first fish can already be found in very shallow areas, controlled by their mating instinct and looking for suitable spawning grounds. Either way, they are still very sluggish at this time due to the water temperatures and a more subtle action is more catching in most cases. But the bait can be a little bigger at this time.

From late summer to autumn, on the other hand, the pike prefer to hunt swarms consisting of rather small and medium-sized fish. At this time, the predators are still extremely active, have a high metabolism and shoot through the entire water column. Our rubber can have an expansive and aggressive action in order to draw the pike's attention to it in the first place. Are two types of bait sufficient for all these cases? Definitely yes! And not only pike, but even some good zander in the test phase prove that with the SEMO and the MEGO , two first-class big fish baits have been developed.

But before I take you with me and present the two baits in detail, I would like to explain what was fundamentally important to us during development. As is already the case with Jaeger Fishing, toxic plasticizers such as BPA's and phthalates were also avoided here, but we have managed to create a smooth and extremely seductive barrel. In addition, both shads can be fished on the jig hook as well as on the shallow rig. So I can jigge the bottom in passive phases, but also lure my bait through the middle water. It is similar with the right tackle. The larger and heavier MEGO still only weighs 55 grams. This means that it is still possible to fish these shads on heavy spinning rods without any problems. On the other hand, this is also enough weight that heavier casting rods can be properly loaded with the ready-rigged baits. Without wanting to reveal too much here, we have come a long way with the topic of wanting to develop our own perfect pike rod. All in all, one or two surprises await you this year.

SEMO

But now more about the first lure, our SEMO. A classic shad with a shovel tail, with a length of almost 18 cm and a weight of 44 grams. What you immediately notice when you unpack it is its very bulbous shape and the large tail plate with its indentation on the outside. Due to the very bulbous shape, the SEMO gets a rolling movement. He crosses from one side to the other with a steady train. On some days this additional stimulus can simply bring one or the other bonus fish. This effect also makes the silhouette of the actually quite narrow lure look much wider, which means that the pike can see and attack it better from a greater distance. Since the large caudal fin with the concave indentation is only connected to the body by a very narrow transition, a very aggressive and rotating movement of the tail plate occurs here, even at a relatively slow speed. With these properties, we manage that the pikes perceive the SEMO visually on the one hand, but also become aware of it through their lateral line organ.

But that's not all, because what is striking are the well thought-out little things. The lure has very realistic 3D eyes and pectoral fins protruding from the body. Not only does this look great for us as anglers, it can also make a difference with the pike in some cases. Especially in waters with high fishing pressure, every pike angler knows the phenomenon of followers who follow the bait to their feet but then don't take it because they are too suspicious. Such subtleties, which make our rubber fish look even more like real prey, can still tempt such pike to bite, we are convinced of that!

What does this mean for us as anglers? The fact that the SEMO demonstrates its advantages above all in warmer water temperatures but is also an excellent search lure that even makes the very old and big mums weak. I also like to use it for bank fishing in late autumn and winter. At our large and deep dams, the robbers like to stand up directly at the first edge at around 8 meters on the ground. In the active phases, pike have absolutely no problem coming up to the surface to hunt prey. However, these phases are often only a few minutes a day at the mentioned time of year. So I rig the SEMO on a big jig hook, throw it over the edge and then let it sink all the way to the bottom. Then I reel him in very slowly, so he then searches the entire edge from bottom to top and there is always a pike that can't stand it. As an additional small practical tip: with clear water and sunshine, the color DARK AMBER is a force!

MEGO

As can be seen from the shape of the bait, a frog served as a model here. A very large frog, mind you. Because with a length of 20 cm and almost 55 grams, you can already speak of a real big pike lure that can still be easily cast all day long. Of course, details such as the 3D eyes and the front arms of the frog were not spared here either. But what fundamentally differentiates the MEGO from the SEMO is its barrel. The curved double tail starts to run seductively with the slightest pull and on the shallow rig even without weight. This makes it the perfect bait whenever you have to fish very shallowly or very slowly. After all, that is the case in winter, but also in spring when the pike are standing flat in the weed. For me, however, the MEGO is also an ingenious bait for targeting that one big pike.

Immediately after the spawning season, the big pike move straight back into the open water. That means, almost in the middle of nowhere, partly over water up to 50 meters deep, in the middle of the water and without any structure or special features. That's because the bigger one of these predators gets, the more likely it is to be a loner and want to be left alone. In addition, pike of this size no longer have natural enemies and do not need to hide near the bank like their smaller counterparts. This open water fishing is not easy, often you only get a single bite all day long. This is mainly because you have to find the few fish first. An echo sounder helps immensely, so these pike often stay close to the large schools of forage fish in the open water. But of course that is not accurate and then this one fish has to perceive our bait and attack.

That's where the MEGO comes into play again, because it has a huge advantage with this kind of fishing. Due to the double tail, its wide silhouette runs horizontally in the water column. This is different with all normal rubber fish, when the pike looks up it only sees the often quite narrow belly. As a result, I attract much more attention and also get pike from a greater distance to my bait. You should always try to fish over the heads of the pike. Because our robbers always look up but never down. If you underfish them now, there will be no bite.

Tips & Tricks

1. Fish shallow in late winter
Even if it is still very cold, the first pike move onto very shallow water as early as January, controlled by their mating instinct. These are also the places where you can find and catch them in May after the spawning season.

2. Fish off edges
Especially in inactive phases, when pike often lie on the bottom, it can be worth rigging your shads on just one jig head and then dragging them up the bank edges close to the bottom.

3. Dream fish in no man's land
The big ones from the water usually stay in completely different areas than their smaller conspecifics. This is often in deep open water, here you should stick to the large schools of forage fish to find the pike.

4. Overfishing top, underfishing flop
Pike only perceive what is happening above you. If the water is clear enough, they have no problem climbing several meters up to their prey.
If the pike is in midwater and we are fishing on the bottom, it will not even notice our bait. When in doubt, this means that we prefer to fish one floor higher.

5. Lightweight and flexible
With our SEMO and the MEGO you are prepared for all situations, but still clearly on the go and not overwhelmed with what you should fish.


Petri wishes you salvation and bloody hands
Julian Wurziger