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THE DRACHKOVITCH-SYSTEM Text and pictures by K.Tapani Loisa
Metal spoons were rare exquisities at the dining tables of the gentry at the end of the 19th century. The common people slurped their fish soup from the edge of a bowl or did their eating with wooden spoons and hunting knives. Our grandfathers still pulled up pike and other predator fish with their line gear but they used live baits or baitfish as lures. In old fishing gear catalogues there are several different bait rig systems presented: for instance there are the Herman Renfors´ Hai-spinner, K.W.Hanell´s Täkyluiro and J.O. Laakso´s Virviläuistin.
A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY My own first memories of bait fishing date back to my boyhood years in the middle of the 1950´s. After persistent begging my father finally agreed to have me with him as a fish carrier and we headed towards a small river in Central Finland to catch some pike. A long bamboo rod, an ordinary wooden reel, braided line and a hooked roach bait were the tools my father used to pull out one pike after another for the daddy´s little helper to carry. If I am right to recall my own carrying ability at that age amounted to a total of a couple of pike, so most of the catch ended up in my father´s rucksack. At that time fishing was still a relatively important means of providing food for the whole family. Water still comes to my mouth when I remember the smell and taste of the pike my mother used to cook in the oven. When I´ve presented the Drachkovitch-system to my fishing mates, many of them have at first had doubts whether this kind of fishing can be considered sportsfishing at all. After trying bait fishing all my friends have grown enthusiastic about this method of fishing. A pike generally strikes an artificial lure just once and abandons a wooden or metal lure after the first bite. A fish examining and nibbling at a real fishbait will follow it during the the whole time you´re reeling in. Often the predator will stay a long time beside the boat considering the final consumption of the bait. The amount of events and the possibility to see your catch in advance add to the excitement of fishing and make the angler´s adrenaline boil tickling his spine.
MR. PROFESSOR AND MY STUDIES In the beginning of August I was fishing for a few days on the Torsholm waters with a Swiss called Ernesto Wohlgemutt. Ernesto is a professional sportsfisherman of sorts because he owns a fishing gear importing company in Switzerland and also a chain of retail shops. He is also the leader of the Swiss angling team, so he´s been fishing all around the globe. As an apprentice to ‘professor’ Ernesto I went through an elementary course of using the Drachkovitch-system. These learnings I´m now trying to pass on to other sportsfishermen willing to experiment. On the first morning I was fishing with traditional lures meant for pike. During a two-hour session I boated three fish and had quite an amount of follows. At the same time Ernesto used a bait rig and boated well nigh thirty fish. It was straightforward annoying to observe the repeated counterstrike movements of his rod, when my own tries produced mostly algae I had ripped off the bottom. After having lunch we rigged my line with a Drachkovitch-tackle and started the elementary course. The first fish with the new method for the apprentice came on the third cast and weighed 4.2 kg.
THE SYSTEM Mr. A. Drachkovitch developed his bait rig in the 1960´s. The system is patented so its commercial copying is prohibited. The system is manufactured in nine sizes. The smallest sizes the mini- and the 20-rigs weigh four grams. They are intended for catching trout, perch and pike. The baits used are small five to eight centimetre fish. Sizes one and two weighing eight grams are made with two different middle spindle lengths. When catching pike and zander you slip an eight to fourteen cm baitfish on them. The twelve gram sizes three and four are used for catching pike. Number three is baited with a fourteen to sixteen cm baitfish and number four with an eighteen to twenty cm baitfish for giant pike.
The rig in picture has been best in yealding pike at least at sea. Annealed acid proof wobbler wire is well fit for making the rig. The middle spindle is made out of 0.8 mm wire. The parts of the Drachkovitch-system are as follows (the measures of No 3 in brackets): 1. the spindle (80 mm) 2. the side hook 3. the rear hook 4. the attaching wire 5. the lead
THE FISHING TACKLE Even if the rig itself weighs twelve grams at the most. The whole weight of the system with the bait amounts to max over a hundred grams. Casting such a heavy rig sets requirements on the strength of the rod. In Central Europe there are rods available designed especially for use with the Drachkovitch-system. Of the selection of rods available in Finland the long rig rods are the ones most suitable for this system. The lure recommendationof the rod must be between fourty and a hundred grams. The minimum length should preferably be at least eight feet (2.40 m) because you have to more like swing the rig system instead of using the normal accelerating cast. At least the following rods have been found adequate for the Drachkovitch-system: Blue Fox Striker, the sturdy rods of the Shimano FX-series, Dam Senso Power and the Ugly Stik 1581/300. Normal sized spinning reels and multipliers are well functioning reels. The counterstrike succeeds best with inelastic line. Suitable lines are for instance Fireline Fusion or Hypron. In front of the bait you tie a swivel or a short piece of 0.6 mm monofilament.
THE BAITFISH Compared with the urban fishing with spoons and wobblers baitfishing is more labourious and a lot messier. As part of the basic accessories you should have a towel you can wipe your hands with after setting the bait. Of course the fishing begins by catching the baitfish. You can do it with the landing net, by float angling or by jigging. In the Drachkovitch-system you use a dead but fresh baitfish. Roachfish like roach, silver bream, bleak and Crucian carp are well catching attractions. At sea you can fish pike with Baltic herring or smelt as baits. The basic disadvantage of the shining baitfish is their vulnerability. Baltic herring spills its intestines out of the first bite of even the smallest longnose. I had rigged a small ten centimetre silver bream. A three kilogram pike darted at the titbit at a pace leaving only crumbles of the bait floating by the boat. Perch is definately the best lasting and the most effortless baitfish. The perch itself is spiky to eat so a pike will go on nibbling at the bait several times evev though the hooks have already pinched holes in his jaws. A perch bait will endure the attacks of several longnoses when the conditions are right.
FISHING TECHNIQUES Fishing the Drachkovitch-system is somewhat like jigging. Your handwriting must be straightforward. Excessive trembles of jigging are strictly denied because the system easily tangles around the line or the swivel. In the basic technique you first let the bait sink on he bottom. You then swim it towards the angler making short bounces. The bait should move in the water like a dying small fish: swim upwards and then sink towards the bottom. This pattern should be repeated at short intervals. The pike will most often strike when the bait is sinking. The angler must diligently follow the slightest tremble of the line. The tremble will tell him that the hoped-for visitor has come to nibble at the offering. The final strike may often take place near or under the boat when you have the patience to jig by the boat after reeling in the line. Of course you do this every time there is a follow and nibbling so that you can see the pike. The countersrike has to be quick because the jaws of a pike are bony and hard. At most times the fish will be caught in the aft tailhook by the corner of its mouth. During a fishing trip I took a count: only one out of ten pike is caught in such a way that it is ready for the pan. The others were hooked neatly by the corner of their mouth and easily released. The proportional amount of released pike is at least the same as when fishing with wobblers.
SETTING THE BAITFISH I.E. RIGGING THE SYSTEM FOR FISHING 1. The middle spindle is pushed into the mouth of the baitfish so that the upper part sticks to the roof of the mouth.
2. The spindle is pushed precisely far enough that the fore loop is just inside the lower jaw. In finished rigging the weight has to be able to move freely.
3. One fork of the side and aft hooks is sunk into the baitfish. You can attach the hooks by the sides as in the picture. The side hook can also be fastened at the neck. Then, to attain the required balance, the aft hook is fastened by the tail on the abdominal side.
4. The attaching thread is pushed through the fish´s head via the eyesockets. A sowing needle is handy when threading the bait.
5. Next the thread is pushed through the fore loop and the lower jaw.
6. After the first threading the mouth of the baitfish is fastened tight.
7. Threading through the eyesockets and the lower jaw is repeated at least three times. Surplus copper wire is wrapped around the jaws of the baitfish.
By following these instructions you at least get an alibi that is your hands smell of fish. Diligent soaking of the Drachkovitch-system at pike lies wil also surely end up in tightening lines and the pleasant whirring of your drag.
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