Venom - Original

Original has green and yellow sides, dark stripes and orange-red accents. It is a bold firetiger pattern worth trying in murky or greenish water. It can also be a good colour to compare with natural patterns on a cloudy day.

The stripes suggest perch, but the colours are stronger than those of a real fish. Original combines a fish pattern with bright colours. It is worth trying where pike hunt perch and visibility is too poor for the finer details of a lure to matter much.

Yes, especially when the water is greenish or murky. Fish along vegetation edges, wider sections of the canal and around inflows. In a shallow canal, keep track of how far the lure sinks during pauses. If the water turns out to be clear, compare Original with Dirty Roach or Old Gold.

Yes, you do not need to put a bright colour away just because the water is clear. Original is worth trying as a change after a natural pattern, especially when you can see fish or get follows without strikes. On a calm, clear lake, though, you can start with a less vivid colour and compare the pike's reactions.

Original combines green, yellow and dark stripes. Carrot UV lets you try a strong orange, while Fluo Yellow offers a more prominent yellow side with a dark back. When one colour does not produce bites, compare another in the same place and at a similar depth. This makes it easier to judge what the fish respond to.

Venom is a lipless glider jerkbait that slides from side to side on the retrieve. Use it along reed edges, in gaps between aquatic vegetation, over underwater humps and along drop-offs near shallow water. You can take it to Masuria, Swedish lakes and coastal skerries, Finland or Dutch canals. Choose the size and colour to suit the conditions where you fish.

Venom 12 cm weighs 37 g and is slow sinking. Choose it when you want to offer pike a smaller lure or fish above shallow aquatic vegetation. The 15 cm version weighs 80 g, also sinks slowly and is a good starting point for lake fishing. Venom 20 cm weighs 170 g and is sinking. It is worth trying when pike are hunting large fish, such as sizeable roach, bream or herring, or when you need to get the lure deeper. For this version, you need tackle suited to its weight.

Start with short twitches and pauses. After each movement, take up excess line but leave the lure free to glide to the side. You can also work it with short bursts of speed on the reel. In cold water, try a slower retrieve. If a pike follows Venom without striking, change the rhythm or pause length on the next cast. Keep checking that the sinking lure does not drop into the vegetation or below the fish.

For the Swedish coastal skerries, take Fluo Yellow and Blue Mackerel — both colours work very well on these waters. It is also worth bringing Gaspar Tail Bait 7 cm so you can offer pike a smaller lure with an active tail. For clear lakes in Sweden and Finland with roach and other silvery fish, take Dirty Roach or Immortal. Add Brown Trout if pike there hunt trout. Water clarity varies across Scandinavia, so bring several different colours.

First look at the water and the fish living in it. On clear lakes, start with Dirty Roach, Immortal or Old Gold. In slightly brown-stained or greenish water, compare the gold of Golden Fury with the contrasting Buster. In murky canals and bays, try Original, Fluo Yellow or Pink Pie. The same rule is useful on Rügen: choose the colour to suit visibility and what the pike eat, rather than just the name of the destination.