Venom - Buster

Buster combines a dark body, gold spots and an orange accent near the tail. It is worth starting with in slightly murky water when you want a dark silhouette with gold flashes. It is also a colour to try under cloudy skies and against a background of aquatic vegetation.

Yes, it is worth taking to compare with silver and bright colours. Try it in sheltered bays with aquatic vegetation and where wind has slightly clouded the water. In a clear bay with a shoal of silvery fish, you can start with Dirty Roach and switch to Buster when you want to show the fish a darker lure.

It is worth trying as the light fades while it is still light above the water. Its dark body can give a clear outline, especially when a pike looks up at the lure. The gold spots and orange tail cannot replace light, though, so also pay attention to the right depth and a steady, gentle retrieve.

Cast along the edge of the vegetation and through gaps between the plants. Use short movements to make Venom glide from side to side, then pause at a gap or the end of a reed bed. Check how fast your chosen size sinks close to the bank so that it does not drop into the vegetation during a pause.

When the water becomes murkier, compare it with Carrot UV or Fluo Yellow. If the water is clear and you see roach or bleak, try Dirty Roach. When pike follow Buster without striking, first change the speed and pauses, then try the more subdued Old Gold.

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.