How to catch pike in the Danube Delta for only 171.54 lei!

Even if the question "How to catch pike in the Danube Delta?" generated in recent years the famous response... "Doesn't exist!", it looks like nature is getting the better of the bag once again. The pikes have returned to the Danube Delta in 2024 and are waiting for you for a beautiful game that we all have surely missed. Yes, they are caught, many and big, only the Bearded knows how they managed to survive in the conditions where this year the kilogram of pike roe reached a maximum threshold of 700 lei. But let's leave the sad stories aside for the moment, let's get back to our topic. We have a pike, how do we catch it?

How to catch pike in the Danube Delta with only 5 lures?

The article you are reading now is not by chance, a good friend, a fishing enthusiast, upon hearing the good news (It's catching, it's catching!) called me to recommend 5 lures to be safe and catch pike in the Danube Delta . Five, no more, no less, to be in stock, to be able to buy them all from the same place and not blow a hole in his budget. Why 5? Probably that's how he counted on the fingers of his hand or it had something to do with the meaning of the number 5 in numerology? Please, I didn't ask why 5, but I remembered the article this which I wrote a few years ago 5 rules for pike fishing, read it if you are a beginner (or not only). So 5 tricks to be.

Are 5 lures enough to catch pike in the Danube Delta?

Yes. It's a lesson I learned from Mircea Ciobanu at one of the pike fishing contests in the Danube Delta that I participated in in the past. Before the start of a leg on the grounds of Periprava, all the competitors, including the undersigned, carried in their boats like porters bundles of rods, bags and boxes that hid hundreds of lures that they would not have had time to fish in a lifetime, at least in - one day of competition. While I was trying to arrange my equipment that was literally blowing out of my little inflatable boat, next to me was Mircea Ciobanu in his even smaller Russian inflatable boat. I peek into his boat to spy on his lures and see only a rod, no sign of any other gear.

I got 5 on it

I ask him jokingly, more seriously, "Mircea, didn't you forget your luggage on the shore?". He replied calmly "No, that's all I need, a rod and this box." The box he tactfully pulled out of his vest pocket was the size of a palm and contained exactly five lures, a wobble spoon, a gummy, a spinnerbait and two wobblers. "Well aren't they too few? If you need more colors, weights, models...etc" I murmured. The reply came short and to the point: "If I have too many lures I waste time and change them too often, I prefer to focus on these five and rather locate the fish and fish each lure with confidence." He didn't do this maneuver only at the competition I was telling you about, but at several, with rudimentary equipment, Mircea had several podium results over time.

5 lures with which I caught pike in the Danube Delta

Returning to the phone and the friend's question, I answered positively, I entered the website Arrow International in search of the 5 lures that catch pike in the Danube Delta, no matter what. They are not a big surprise, there are 5 lures who have written, photographed and filmed many pike stories from the Danube Delta. Normally the list would be soooo much longer., I think I could easily top 20-30 must have patterns, be it oscillating spoons, spinnerbaits, topwater wobblers, spinners, frogs, Miuras Mouse, bigger gummies, etc. but I had to limit myself to 5 lures. It wasn't easy, some colors or models that I like more are not in stock (a sign that he got on well with them), but I found enough goods for which I would go pike fishing in the Danube Delta tomorrow without any regret.

1. Berti Linx nickel-plated oscillating spoon, 10g, 7cm, 19.95 lei

Manufacturer code: BERTI F3.B.AW.01.01001

Description of the arw.ro site:

Linx is one of the oscillating Bertis that wrote history. Its shape, the prints made, make this reel a must have on any pond that boasts large pike. Played both on recovery and on the fall, Linx Magnum has a more discreet beat, the ribs on its edge having the role of emitting waves that make it noticeable at long distances.

Footprint: Square

Specifications:

Lure Type: Spoon

Lure Model: Oscillating

Weight: 10.0 g

Color: Nickel

Hook or anchor size: #1

 

Berti Linx is the most versatile oscillating spoon of the Berti brothers, it has won many raptor fishing championships, saved many pike fishing matches in the Danube Delta and more. An oscillating that you don't need to know how to fish, in the first phase you can reel it like a private as you like, in the second phase you can fish it on the surface on a palm of water, in the third phase you do a proper jigging on the bottom of water when the pike are on the substrate. Evolves and grips all levels of water on both pull and drop. Speaking of privates and Linx, you have here a tasty story with Chef Sorin Bontea.

2. Gum Strike Pro Piglet Shad, Atomic Chicken, 10cm, 7g, 48.49 lei

Manufacturer code: STRIKE PRO SP.SP172E.C013

Description of the arw.ro site:

The Piglet Shad is part of the Strike Pro PigShad soft lure family. With a length of 10cm it is primarily intended for jigging fishing, but it is far from a "normal" soft lure. It has many unique features that make it special. Piglet Shad is made of rubber of different densities, in which the front half is impregnated with salt. Thus a faster fall can be obtained, allowing a more stable movement in the water.

Specifications:

Lure type: soft

Lure model: shad

Length: 10 cm

Weight: 7g

Color: Atomic Chicken – C013

Hook or anchor size: 4/0 or 5/0

Packaging: 6 pcs./bag

 

In 2017 we go head-to-head with Piglet Shad with full confidence. Okay, it was also from code orange, I wrote then, here, about it. I continued with this gum which brought me many pike in the Danube Delta and later both in competitions from the natural, as well as in those from SPEAKERS. I vacillated a bit on choosing a single gum, but I chose the Piglet in the end 15cm Pig Shad Jr, who in turn wrote history in pike fishing with big gummies not only in Sweden but also in the waters of Romania. Piglet Shad perform well on unweighted offset hooks if fishing in vegetation, on weighted hooks and jigs if fishing deeper gills or channels.

3. Strike Pro Baby Buster glider, 10cm, 25g, color CAE06, 43.66 lei

Manufacturer code: STRIKE PRO SP.EG050.CA06E

Description of the arw.ro site:

Baby Buster is perhaps the most successful jerkbait on the market. It is equipped with steel balls for perfect balance and the most accurate launches. Its unique lateral action perfectly imitates an alert prey, a behavior that stimulates the predator's aggression to the maximum. Its structure is very robust, brilliantly resisting even the attacks of large fish.

Specifications:

Lure Type: Wobbler

Lure model: floating

Length: 10 cm

Weight: 25 g

Color: CA06E

Well, with Strike Pro Baby Buster the story is longer. It wasn't love at first sight and it took me a long time to gain confidence in fly fishing, before they became a common type of lure in the kits of all pike fishermen in Romania. It all started for me around 2008, read here, and continued for many years, is the wobbler with which I have won many pike competitions in the Best 5 system. Honestly, I have not used it in the last two years, I have not been in the Delta, nor in competitions, and in Sweden I played more with Strike Pro Pig Shad and Miuras Mouse.

4. Vobler Minnow Suspending Strike Pro Montero, 9cm, EG190A, 6g, 37.72 lei

Manufacturer code: STRIKE PRO SP.EG190A.GC01S 37.72 lei

Description of the arw.ro site:

A minnow wobbler with a ballast system that helps achieve long, steel ball casts, but which also has the double role of creating the specific mid-frequency noise.

Activation depth 0.5-0.7m

Specifications:

Lure Type: Wobbler

Lure model: suspending

Yeah, a little bit of information in the description. As I had in the beginning. Minnow suspending jigs are a lethal weapon when pike refuse to cooperate with anything you throw at them. I fished them a while back before Arrow imported them, received in a package from Strike Pro for field testing, given away for free like drug dealers. The revelation came in 2015, read on here. Just like Piglet Shad above, I saved a competition I won in the Danube Delta on Lake Isac with this Strike Pro Montero 110SP suspending minnow wobbler. I had entered the water with them for the first time. When they became popular we had a lot of private requests from fishermen with old states in pike fishing in the Danube Delta for colors or models that are not available on the Romanian market.

5. Spinnerbait Berti Shallow Killer, Colorado-Willow paddles, firetiger, 7g, 21.72 lei

Manufacturer code: BERTI FBAW.04.00011

Description of the arw.ro site:

The category of spinnerbait lures is different from other lure models due to the amount of effects it produces in the water. In addition to the vibration generated by the paddles in the form of Willow or Colorado they are very easy to throw, being able to be easily recovered in areas with obstacles, vegetation or sunken tree trunks. The additional element that determines the kidnappers' attacks is the silicone skirt, which on recovery / stop has the jellyfish effect.

Specifications:

Lure Type: Spoons

Lure model: Spinnerbait

Weight: 7.0 g

Color: Chartreuse

Colorado + Willow pallets

The spinnerbait is by far the best search lure in fast type fishing power fishing. Not only in the Danube Delta, on any water that still holds pike. In evolution, you practically don't have much time at your disposal, nor does the pike to think whether the flashes, turbulences and colors that pass quickly in front of it are a fish. Eugen gave the spinnerbait lesson a long time ago, see more here. The spinnerbait goes over everything, you can fish it in all water levels, in the surface, in the middle of the water and on the bottom of the water, continuously or with stops, you just have to feel its paddles, like rotation. For added confidence add a rubber on the trailer hook. More tips here. And one more bonus, it goes with it when the wind blows.

6. Speaking of bonuses, Strike Pro Hunch Back, 6.8cm, 4g, EG112, 32.53 lei

Manufacturer code: STRIKE PRO SP.EG112.A06ES

Description of the arw.ro site:

The Hunchback is a "wake bait" wobbler with activation depth close to the surface of the water, producing the furious attack of predators. The patented shape produces a truly unique action, like a disoriented prey fish. This perfect wobbler for the professional or beginner angler who wants a walk the dog action without the typical rod tip action. Just slowly recover and Hunchback does the rest.

Specifications:

Lure Type: Wobbler

Lure model: sinking

Length: 6.8 cm

Weight: 10.4 g

Color: A06ES

I know I said that we are only talking about 5 lures with which you are guaranteed to catch pike in the Danube Delta, but I will give you one more tip, also for free. Of course, to make a round sum of 200 lei. In 2018, if my memory serves me right, and I've been playing tricks lately, I'm going to the Arrow showroom before a competition in the Danube Delta to give a kit refresh to a lot of the above lures. One of the salesmen, Marci, pulls me aside so my colleagues can't hear, effectively drags me to the Strike Pro panel and shows me a Strike Pro HunchBack wobbler out of the corner of his eye, then grabs my arm and whispers in my ear "Get this one , you are bumping on the pike in the Delta. Just kidding, seriously, it's the ugliest wobbler I have in my kit, but I followed his advice. He was right. I'm still wondering how the hell I got that hunchback. Repeatedly.

Final basket 171.54 lei

Or if you put the last wobbler in the basket, that ugly one, you will slightly exceed the amount of 200 lei. I'd go with the 5+1 option, like beer, because no great fishing story ever started with someone eating a salad, but rather drinking a beer. Do this exercise, either with the lures I have recommended, or with other lures from other manufacturers or following other recommendations. Focus on the lures, on the technique, on the location, fish legally, responsibly, release as much as you can, even if you are not constrained, so that we have more in the future, because there is no shortage of lures.

Andy Arif, 2024, out.