Catching burbot on the middle Volga video

Content

• 1 Description and lifestyle
• 2 Habits and habitats
• 3 Tackle and technique for catching burbot 3.1 Catching burbot with mugs and stands
• 3.2 Catching burbot on a donk
• 3.3 Catching burbot with a fishing rod
• 3.4 Fishing for burbot using a spinning rod
• 3.5 Catching burbot with a side rod
• 3.6 Catching burbot using girders
• 3.7 Catching burbot in winter using a snitch

Habitat and features

The burbot fish has a long, narrow body without scales and a spotted, brown color. The size and color of the spots are special for each individual and are never repeated. The body is elongated and narrowed in front, and strongly rounded in the back.

This makes it possible to achieve less water resistance when moving quickly and allows the burbot to deftly maneuver even with an oncoming flow and deftly hide in scatterings of stones and boulders.

The burbot's head is narrow and low, and has a slightly flattened shape. The mouth is quite large. This is due to the fact that the adult feeds on small fish. Chitinous teeth allow food to be chewed before swallowing.

Chitinous antennae act as additional organs of touch. There are two short ones and one long one, all three are on the front of the head. This allows them to navigate in the dark without using much of their vision. In addition, adults have extremely small eyes, so this type of fish is practically devoid of the ability to see.

Burbot is a fish that lives exclusively in fresh water. By the way, this is the only fish of the cod family that has this property, which is why burbot is most often found in rivers . But it is not possible to find burbot in every body of water: it is necessary that the water be clean, unclouded and constantly renewed.

The muddy bottom will also be an obstacle to the life and reproduction of burbots: it must be sandy, rocky and not contaminated with garbage, bottles and other traces of human presence.

Description and lifestyle

Burbot
The appearance of this fish is remarkable. It has a long snake-like body with a very large, wide and flattened head. The upper caudal fin and anus are very long and wide, like all cod fish. The body, covered with abundant mucus, has a color ranging from almost black in young fish to olive green with a marbled pattern in old burbots.

A characteristic feature is a single mustache adorning his chin. In this it differs from the catfish, which has two long whiskers on the upper jaw and four more on the lower jaw. By the way, catfish is a competitor of burbot and, apparently, displaces it from southern rivers.

In the summer, when other fish are actively feeding, the burbot hibernates, and in the winter, when other fish stand in the pits in a half-asleep state, the burbot is blissful and fattens.

Burbot

- cold-loving fish. The predator greatly respects cold water and feels excellent in the icy water of our northern rivers. In the rivers of the Russian North and in Siberia, it is not uncommon to meet real giants - up to a meter in size and weighing 20 kilograms. But the further you go to the south, the smaller and weaker the burbot; in the middle zone there are fish no larger than a kilogram. In Central Asia, Crimea and Transcaucasia you will not find this fish at all.

The way of life of burbot is still mysterious in many respects; not all features of its behavior can be explained. As already mentioned, this fish is northern. Prefers clean northern rivers with a hard rocky bottom, always with running water. In general, it feels great when the water temperature does not exceed 12 degrees Celsius. Well, when the water becomes warmer (in summer), burbot perceives this as a disaster, goes to shady places, hides in holes and under snags, and falls into a kind of hibernation. At the same time, it hardly feeds, leaving its hiding places only under the cover of night.

Another characteristic feature is their nocturnal lifestyle. The nocturnal predator, as a rule, spends the daylight hours in some kind of hidden shelter (snags, piles, holes in cliffs, shelters among roots), and goes hunting under the cover of night. Moreover, what is most surprising is that for his robbery he chooses darker nights, preferably moonless ones.

Moreover, his appetite wakes up in disgusting weather. Burbot likes to play mischief when the night is stormy with rain and wind - then the burbot is especially active. Why this is so is not fully explained, but burbot hunters know: the worse the weather, the better the burbot bite. Burbot bite best on nasty autumn nights - cold, windy, rainy, so this kind of fishing is not to everyone’s liking.

In winter, burbot is completely free. While most of the fish sleep or doze sluggishly in wintering pits in the winter cold, burbot does not waste time. Swims up to the half-asleep fish and eats it. Burbot eats up in winter and grows fat, taking advantage of the temporary defenselessness of most fish. He feels at ease and with impunity in the cold winter water.

It feels so good that in the middle of winter, spawning occurs in January and February. It spawns on a hard rocky-pebble bottom, or less often on a hard sandy bottom. Again, there is still some benefit from such early spawning periods for burbot: while other fish figure out what’s what, they begin to eat the burbot eggs, and the burbot fry will already hatch from the eggs and spread throughout the entire reservoir. Peak activity of burbot occurs in December, spawning in January.

By the third year of life it reaches sexual maturity. Young individuals contain up to 200 thousand eggs, more mature individuals - up to a million. Unfortunately, only a small number of eggs develop into full-fledged fish - they become food for adult burbot and other predators.

However, winter fishermen know that where burbot spawn there is always a lot of ruff, which means that the ruff loves burbot eggs. But in the spring, when other fish begin to spawn, the burbot fry are already right there. And the burbot itself is not averse to feasting on someone else’s caviar in the spring.

In summer, burbot goes into hibernation. As soon as the water warms up to 15 degrees, the burbot abandons its hunting activities and hides from prying eyes. You can meet him at this time in crayfish burrows near cliffs, as well as in snags, especially if there are springs with cold spring water nearby. He does not like summer heat; it makes the burbot feel unwell. It doesn’t go with fishing rods or donks.

What does burbot look like?

In appearance, the burbot fish has a fairly distant resemblance to catfish, although they are from different families. In the description of the burbot, one can immediately highlight its difference from other fish; its body is very flexible, looks elongated and not high, rounded in the front part closer to the head and strongly compressed from the sides in the back part near the tail. The entire body of the fish is covered with very small and delicate scales that grow deep from the skin and are covered with abundant mucus, which makes this fish quite difficult to hold in your hands.

The burbot's head is very wide, more flattened, like a frog's. The mouth is wide and has numerous very small teeth, like a brush, and the upper jaw is slightly longer than the lower jaw. A small soft antennae protrudes from the bottom of the chin and two shorter antennae are located on the upper jaw. On the top of the head, more to the sides, there are small eyes.

Burbot pectoral fins are short, of which the first two rays of the pelvic fins are elongated into thread-like processes and behind them a pair of more rigid lateral fins. There are two dorsal fins on top, the short front fin is located close to the second dorsal longer fin, which extends to the rounded caudal fin, which has a large number of rays of 36-40 pieces. Adjacent to the caudal fin below is the anal fin, which is also very long and wide.

The external color of the body and what the burbot looks like depends on the quality of the water and the habitat of the burbot. The color of its body can be varied, usually the entire back, sides and lower tail, together with the tail and fins, have a grayish-green or olive-green background dotted with black-brown spots and stripes. And the throat, pelvic fins and belly are light in color, closer to white.

In many places, based on numerous observations, two breeds or varieties of the burbot family are distinguished. One variety is variegated, as if marbled, and the other variety is completely black in color. It is believed that the younger the burbot, the darker it is, and usually the males themselves are darker than the females. The main external difference between the sexes is that male milk jugs have a thicker head and a thinner body compared to the same parameters in females. And also males rarely reach half the weight of females, but males are much more numerous.

Habits and habitats

From the description of the way of life it becomes clear that this fish is very, very peculiar. And it's not so easy to catch her. You need to study its habits well before you start fishing. Beginning fishermen, those who are planning to catch burbot, must first of all know the places where you can meet this mysterious fish.

Where can you find burbot? First of all, you need to find a place on the river where this nocturnal predator can live. Let’s try to define the concept of what a “burbot river” is. This river should not be calm; it is better when the water in it is fast and the bottom is rocky, pebbly or hard sand. It is important that the water is not muddy, but clean, and it is also important that the river flows in wooded banks, away from people and any pollution.

Burbot distribution map

Almost all rivers of the Russian North, many rivers of the Urals and Siberia meet these requirements. And in the middle zone there are not so many rivers that have not been developed by human economic activity, except perhaps small wooded rivers that cannot even be called rivers. That is why we have little burbot in the most famous rivers of the Middle Zone. And in the slowly flowing southern rivers, muddy or silted, there is nothing to look for at all. It does not tolerate pouring warm or stagnant water.

We found such a fast, cold river with a hard bottom, and even in a wooded area - then we need to look for places where a predator lives. Burbot is a more or less sedentary fish, that is, it searches for food not far from its camp sites, which is why it is so important to look for such “burbot places.” In rivers it prefers to settle near steep yars, especially if there are coastal crustacean burrows there, but also loves holes, especially if there are a lot of snags in the holes and there are icy springs.

You can find burbot under rafts, piers, under floating grass islands (in lakes), at great depths among rocks or on a hard bottom where there is some kind of shelter (rocks, cramps, bottom changes). On large northern lakes it settles under rocks at depths, and to feed it comes out to rocky elevations - “tables”, ridges.

In the fall, as the water gets colder, the night robber begins to “wander,” that is, it leaves its permanent camps and spreads out along the river in search of food. It especially “wanders” in cloudy, damp weather, mainly at night. Later, the burbot's travels become purposeful. In late autumn, flocks of burbot move up the rivers in search of spawning sites.

We must also take into account the fact that burbot is a bottom-dwelling fish. It looks for its prey mainly at the bottom; it goes out into shallow water extremely rarely and reluctantly, again under the cover of the edges. However, at the very core of the river, where the current is strong and there is nothing to “catch onto,” the burbot also has nothing to do. And it rarely rises to the surface, except at night during a thunderstorm.

Burbot is a predator, and a voracious predator. The basis of its diet is mainly fish, a variety of fish, most often bottom-dwelling fish - gudgeon, ruffe, goby, but by autumn, when many fish sink to the bottom, fish of various species can be found in the burbot's stomach. Young burbots are also predatory, but they most often get smaller food - worms, insect larvae, benthic organisms such as amphipods, fish eggs, crayfish, frogs.

The young burbot does not disdain the carrion that it picks up from the bottom. The main technique of burbot hunting is to slowly creep up to the prey and, with its mouth open, pull it into itself. This hunt is more passive than active, so burbot gets mostly sleepy, sick or inactive fish for dinner. In any case, burbot always prefers to take prey from the bottom. This feature must be taken into account and taken into account when fishing.

Lifestyle and habitat

Burbot is one of the largest fish of the cod family. Thousands of fishermen wait until winter to begin their quiet hunt every year. Indeed, this fish is distinguished by its exceptional size and weight, as evidenced by numerous photos of burbot , and its meat is not cheap, which gives fishermen an excellent opportunity to make good money.

Tackle and technique for catching burbot

Catching burbot with mugs and stands

Setting up a burbot supply
catching burbot anywhere is a waste of time. The main thing is to find a burbot site or “trail”. This usually takes more than one day. Having set this goal, moored circles or stands are set up in specific places before dark.

In all cases, the sinker and hook are lowered to the bottom. The line reserve is left no more than 1.0-1.5 m, so that the burbot does not take the tackle into the “support” or tangle it behind the stones. The distance from the sinker to the hook is 400-500 mm. If it is smaller, then not only the leash will end up in the fish’s mouth, but also the sinker along with the carabiner. It is best to take a single hook No. 12-14, double hook No. 7-8 or, as a last resort, a tee No. 6-7. The use of large tees is undesirable, since the burbot, feeling restless, can move the tackle into the shelter, and it is harder for live bait to swarm at the bottom with additional interference.

So what to do if there are no visible landmarks, but you have a strong desire to catch burbot? Unfortunately, this is technically difficult to do in open water, but it is nevertheless possible by installing supplies in appropriate fishing areas.

Very often, mugs for burbot have to be anchored when “white lambs” are walking on the pond. Under these conditions, unnecessary delay in installing them is not acceptable, since a sailing boat may overshoot the desired location.

When fishing in moderate winds, it is quite possible to catch burbot using circles, the design of which prevents the line from spontaneously coming off. Such a circle is anchored with the help of a sliding sinker weighing up to 30 g. Additional and time-consuming devices for anchoring the tackle are used only by beginning circlers. The length of the leash is set to at least 400 mm. And yet, for catching burbot, the most suitable is a universal, all-weather setup, in which the fishing line is fixed in the end slot, from which it can only be released with the help of a predator. This setup is ideal for fishing in the current. Depending on the strength of the current, the delivery dimensions and the weight of the cargo increase.

The stands are installed from the boat in the places where the predator is supposed to stay. If necessary, they can be examined at night, but, as a rule, they are checked only in the morning. The supply of fishing line on the fishing line should not exceed the depth of the reservoir, since the burbot, having swallowed the bait, rarely goes to the side for a long distance.

Catching burbot on a donk

Donka for spring burbot fishing: 1) peg;
2) guard bell; 3) main line; 4) leashes with hooks; 5) end sinker. Catching burbot on a donk is one of the most common methods of hunting a predator. This gear does not make any great demands. Burbot does not show much resistance when fishing, so a fishing line can be used that can withstand not the strongest hooks. The choice of the shape and weight of the load is determined by the flow of the reservoir in which the fishing will be carried out; homemade types are often used. The hook will fit with a long shank No. 2. This choice is due to the ability to reduce the likelihood of deep swallowing, and then fishing will be easier. Many experienced fishermen use homemade designs to unhook the hook in the dark.

Burbot is often caught using live bait, frogs, and crawlers. More and more often, burbot is hunted using feeders and pickers. But still, the low popularity of this type of fishing is due to the small number of places where you can peck a predator. There are also cases of catching burbot using a spoon and live bait in a plumb line.

Burbot develops unprecedented activity in mid-October - early November, maintaining it until freeze-up. As a rule, it is at this time that the atmosphere is dominated by cyclones with precipitation in the form of rain and snow with frequent changes in pressure. That is, there is weather in which, as they say, a good owner does not let his dog go outside. However, it was precisely in this weather that burbots were caught on the same donks several times within an hour. Moreover, the best effect was observed when fishing with a running donka, as well as with a donka with a rubber shock absorber.

The “elastic band” is equipped with replaceable leashes that reach the bottom. If the burbot site is chosen correctly, and the angler wants to see the bite of a nocturnal predator with his own eyes, and he is not afraid of natural disasters (burbot does not take on a clear starry night), then fishing with an elastic band is just for him.

Catching burbot with a fishing rod

Winter donka for burbot
Fishing for burbot is done with rods and shells close to the fishing rod, almost exclusively in winter, during spawning. Hunting fishing itself can be divided into spring, autumn and winter; In the summer, burbots are not caught with a fishing rod at all. Since this fish feeds only at night and walks along the very bottom, it can only be fished at night and from the bottom; At the same time, it was noticed that the darker the nights and the worse the weather, the better the burbot takes. On moonlit nights, as mentioned above, it bites poorly, also (at least in some places) on the new month; nevertheless, the fire of a fire or a lantern undoubtedly attracts burbot and improves their bite, so light is necessary not only for the convenience of the angler.

Fishing for burbot using a spinning rod

Although fishing with this gear at dusk is quite problematic, it is spinning that brings unexpectedly good results on summer nights. In practice, it has been noted that it is better to take a rod from 2 to 3 meters. The preferred test is 20-40 grams. As for the coils, any will do: both inertial and inertial. The main thing is that they are of good quality.

It is more effective to cast not from boats and boats, but from the shore. This is explained by the fact that burbot comes out to feed in shallow water, where the depth is no more than 2 meters. The best lures are oscillating and rotating. But you need to remember that these baits have the highest percentage of hooks. Therefore, you can use jig heads with hooks from #6 to #12, depending on the size of the local burbot. It is better to put foam fish on the hook rather than silicone baits. Why? It's all about a little trick. This fish is pre-soaked in the pulp of crushed live bait or fresh minced fish. Burbot, as you know, does not rely heavily on vision; it uses its sense of smell. This fish lasts for a maximum of 10 casts, then it needs to be soaked again.

Wiring must be done slowly. It is performed as follows. The cast is made, the fish should sink to the bottom. Then we make 3 turns of the coil and take a short pause. Then we repeat the maneuver. A pleasant bonus of this type of fishing is the frequent fishing of burbot and pike perch along with it. Instead of a foam fish, they also take live bait, but it doesn’t last long. It quickly loses its “marketable appearance”. In some places, good catches are achieved by hooking large crawlers on a jig head. But a small burbot goes after him. The weight of such “trophies” is up to 300 grams.

Catching burbot with a side rod

Design of an onboard fishing rod
In addition to spinning, burbot can be caught using an onboard fishing rod. But it is used at great depths, approximately 2-4 meters. To see the bite, place a glow stick or ball on the end of the nod. But not bells or bells, the noise scares the burbot. Take any reel, monofilament line, diameter preferably 0.2 mm. The sinker is a standard olive, the equipment is sliding. Live bait is chosen as bait. It can be any local fish - roach, gudgeon, ruff.

The fishing technique is stepwise. The live bait is lowered to the bottom, then it is smoothly lifted 10 cm up and allowed to fall again. At the same time, the fisherman, being in his silent boat, drifts freely in the places where the burbot is supposed to live. A bite in most cases is expressed by a playful twitch of the nod and a weak pull. Despite the fact that this method is incredibly simple, it is the one that is most effective in places with pronounced depth. In addition to live bait, you can also use a jig head. Large worms, bird offal (liver), and pieces of fish meat are placed on it. The fishing technique is to periodically lower and raise the bait, tapping the bottom. Sometimes a simple foam fish soaked in minced meat or live bait pulp is also effective.

Catching burbot using girders

In addition to those previously described for catching burbot, you can use all designs of girders used for pike hunting. The differences are that there is no need for leashes, the placement of the nozzle 2-3 cm from the bottom or on it. For bait they use worms, dead fish, cut fish, etc.

The burbot's bite on the girder is very careful. It is worth hooking only after a clearly expressed stretch. Burbot is usually cast on a spoon at a distance of 15-10 cm from the bottom. In winter, spinners for burbot are light and wide, which move 35-50 cm to the side when lowered. First, the spoon is lowered and raised several times. Then they drop it to the bottom and pause for 5-15 seconds. Afterwards everything is repeated.

The most primitive trap for catching burbot can be made from a pole, a 1.5 m piece of fishing line (more than 0.40 mm) and a number 8-10 hook. A pole through the hole, with a fishing line tied to its lower part, is stuck into the bottom. Its upper end is above the ice. The cord with the nozzle on the hook is straightened by the current along the bottom. They use baits for burbot (under-ice girders) for fishing, which are frozen into the ice. They are a stick placed above and across the hole, with a small reel with a cord and fishing line attached to it. A weight is attached to the free end of the latter, and a leash (~1.0 m) with a hook is attached to the very end. In unsnarled areas, you can install vents equipped with an underwater forest clearer. There is enough fishing line with a margin of 1.5-2.0 m. Check the tackle with a wire hook from a hole drilled nearby. They also pull her to the surface.

Catching burbot in winter with a snitch

Catching burbot in winter with a snitch
This gear is an active type and requires the fisherman to constantly move. It consists of a winter fishing rod for burbot (suitable for trolling perch and pike-perch), monofilament fishing line 0.25-0.20 mm, a hook (horizontal spoon, jig head, sinker with a No. 10 hook on a winding ring or a specially cast sinker) . Crawling worms, dead fish (top swimmers, bleaks, minnows, sprat), sliced ​​fish and meat (beef, pork) are attached to the hooks of the snitches.

This tackle is a piece of metal of different sections (triangular, square, round), equipped with hooks on short leashes. Pieces of meat are placed on the hooks. The device is lowered to the bottom and then raised/lowered. The fish are attracted by the blows of the hammer on the bottom. The grip of the bait by the burbot is felt by a slight push.

Technique for catching burbot in winter using a hook: the nozzle with bait on hooks is lowered to the bottom. First, it is raised by 10...15 cm and lowered, then the amplitude is reduced to 3...4 cm. The fish is hooked only after the feeling of a pull.

Fishing methods. Spring fishing with donks. Catching burbot in autumn

It is not easy to find burbot on the river, but it is even more difficult to force it to bite. It would seem, what is the difficulty? Burbot is a voracious predator, it bites greedily, swallows the bait reliably, almost always detects itself, but come on, it’s not easy to catch it. The burbot is sometimes capricious and lazy; it does not always want to take your “treat”, but for the most part sits in its hiding places, without showing the slightest activity.

In the summer, for example, it is often completely impossible to lure a predator out of its hiding places, awaken it from sleep and force it to peck. How to catch him? Perhaps with your hands, rummaging in the holes of underwater cliffs or under snags, as they caught, I remember, in Chekhov’s unforgettable story.

A good time for fishing is early spring. Unfortunately, this time does not last long, until the water brightens and warms up. As the water warms up, our hero loses interest in bait. When the river enters its usual banks, the burbot bite gradually subsides.

Fishing in the spring can begin almost as soon as the ice melts, in muddy water. Therefore, the best time for catching burbot in the spring is the month of April, the beginning of May (it varies in different areas). Moreover, what is interesting is that the day for fishing must be chosen with unfavorable weather - a period of cold weather, and even with light rain. At such times, the bite is usually reliable.

Burbot is almost always caught from the shore. It is better to choose places where it is convenient to install fishing rods, but it is better where the edges approach the banks - under steep yars, and if on the beaches, then on the bends of rivers. In spring, burbot, as a rule, moves along the edge, picking up everything that the stream brings to it on its way. Thickets of last year's grass and flooded meadows are not the best places to search for burbot. The bottom predator rarely goes out to “water”, except perhaps at night.

Fishing rods that are convenient to use at this time are the so-called half-bottoms. This is a 4 meter long fishing rod equipped with guides and a reel. 20-25 m of 0.3-0.4 mm fishing line is wound onto the reel. A sliding sinker of a flat shape is used so that it is not carried away by the flow of water.

There is no need to cast far, it is enough to cast 5-10 meters from the shore, so that the nozzle hits the border of the current and the edge. The bait is a bunch of worms, sometimes cut fish (you can even use salted fish - sprat, anchovy). If small fish (goby and ruffe) eat worms, they are caught exclusively with dead fish (the same ruff, goby).

They usually place several half-bottoms on the flyers close to each other, so that they can keep an eye on them all at the same time. A bite can be detected by the trembling of the rod tip or by the way the line sags or changes direction of tension.

Spring fishing stops with the lightening and warming of the water. In the summer, as already mentioned, a predator can only be caught by accident when setting up donks at night. Almost all summer, our cold-loving creature hides in shelters to escape the heat, and hardly eats. True, periods of long cold spells and prolonged bad weather can sometimes “stir up” the burbot. But this is not the rule, but rather the exception.

The most favorable time for catching burbot should be autumn and pre-winter. As already mentioned, in summer burbot remains passive. But the water gets cold, refreshes the blood, and our hero’s appetite immediately awakens.

Burbot is a nocturnal predator and its activity begins at night. Moreover, the more inclement the weather, the colder the night, the better the bite. This is not surprising if we remember that burbot does not like bright nights and bites in rainy weather. The active period of the life of the “cold lover” begins. During this period, burbot is not particularly picky about food. Baits can be any animal food - worms, frogs, leeches, chicken guts, live bait and dead fish or parts thereof.

It is better to fish with a donk, because burbot is a bottom-dwelling fish, looking for its prey at the bottom. During the day, the predator sits out; its hiding places are known: coastal crayfish holes, under stones and in windfalls. Burbot also likes to stay under rafts, in pools, especially near springs, where the water is colder even in summer.

The structure of the donkey is the most common: a rod with a reel and guides, a sliding sinker, a long leash with a hook. You can put bells on donks.

Night fishing for burbot on a donk can be organized in different ways. You can abandon the donks, leave them on the river bank, and go home to watch colorful dreams in order to return to the river in the morning. But, of course, then you need to be prepared for the fact that a predator, even if it bites, will tangle some of the gear and lead it into snags.

It is much more interesting to while away the night on the river bank, lighting a fire and placing a tent or hut next to it. This fishing is quite romantic. A fire on a cold autumn night creates unique comfort and a feeling of familiarity with the secrets of nature. A fire helps pass the time, warms the body and cheers the soul. And it’s more convenient to untangle tangled fishing lines not in the pitch dark, but by the light of a fire. They throw the donks, hang bells on them and plunge into anticipation. If there is burbot in a given place, the bite will not be long in coming.

Let's not forget that burbot does not like to move away from its hiding places. Therefore, casting must be done close to its habitats - snags, dumps, bottom ledges, cliffs. It happens that, due to the laziness of the burbot, its bite is almost unnoticeable; the predator that has swallowed the prey can stand in place for a long time, not moving anywhere.

There is no need to hook the burbot, for the most part it swallows the bait deeply, but you need to drag it to the shore quickly so that it does not have time to drag the gear under stones and snags. When fishing, burbot offers rather weak resistance. Still, if you come across a large predator, it is better to pull it out of the water with a net, it is very slippery - you won’t be able to hold it in your hands. For this reason, it is not always possible to pull the hook out of its mouth, especially if the burbot has deeply swallowed the bait; it is easier to cut the leash and tie a new one.

Burbot is insatiable and gluttonous. They say that he can swallow two live baits on two donks at once. It happens that one place brings many bites. But it also happens that in the place where the donks are placed, there are no bites for a long time. Then you need to move to a new place.

Features of seasonal burbot fishing

Fishing for burbot in summer

Although burbot, as already mentioned, is a lover of the cold season and cold water, in some cases it can be caught in the summer.

One example of not very sporty, but sometimes very successful fishing is the search for burbot among the snags at the bottom, where it freezes in a daze in anticipation of the cold weather. A.P. Chekhov perfectly described this situation in his story “Burbot”. But even today, in many settlements, young fishermen actively use this method, pulling half-asleep burbots out of strong places. However, this method, with all its colorfulness, is problematic to call fishing in the full meaning of the term fishing.

But there are many places in Russia where burbot fishing is productive in the summer and with conventional gear in the summer.

The fact is that the activity of burbot depends on the water temperature. But in our country there are many reservoirs in which, even at the height of summer, the water temperature does not rise above 3-5 degrees. Mainly such rivers and streams can be found in the regions of the Russian North, in the vast expanses of Siberia. In such reservoirs, burbot remains active in summer, and you can catch it in the same way as in spring, autumn or winter. True, the activity of burbot at this time is still less great than in winter, and in order to become the owner of decent prey, you must be sure to find the burbot trail.

Burbot fishing in the off-season

Burbot biting schedule
However, you can enjoy real burbot hunting only in the off-season - in the spring with the end of ice drift and before the first leaves bloom on the trees, and in the fall with clearing of the water and before freeze-up.

Let's start with the autumn period of burbot fishing, which is perhaps the most successful. It begins with the onset of the first light frosts. It is best to catch burbot at this time on completely dark nights, remembering that the nastier the weather, the better the burbot bite you can expect.

At this time, burbot is caught mainly with coarse blind equipment using the bottom method, or, simply put, with short donks, one and a half to two meters long. The end sinker on such a bottom is placed depending on the strength of the current. For bait you can use a wide range of baits. This could be, for example, live bait, if, of course, there is an opportunity to “get hold of”, which is extremely problematic at such a time, with several live fish. In some regions of central Russia, in small rivers, fishermen do the following: on the eve of burbot fishing, they go to the river with a shovel, go into the water with their boots on, and scoop up sand from the bottom onto the shore. In this sand there is a lot of river lamprey, or sand miner - the favorite food of burbot at any time. And they go out to the fishing itself at night, having a supply of lampreys with them. However, there is hardly any point in recommending such a fishing method - the fact is that the European river lamprey is listed in the Red Book of the International Union for Conservation of Nature in the category “Vulnerable Taxa”. And, although there is no direct violation of the law when catching European lamprey, the IUCN Red Book is only advisory in nature; it does not hurt to think about the future of the fauna of our rivers and lakes.

But let’s return to the baits used in late autumn for catching burbot. Many fishermen are more than confident that preparing live bait for catching burbot is too troublesome, and that burbot can be caught using much simpler baits. For example, using small fresh-frozen fish purchased in a store for this purpose. Successful experiments using thawed capelin to catch burbot have already been described. Also good results can be obtained from pieces of bird or animal intestines, pieces of animal liver (in this case, however, you will have to change the bait often so that it remains red), as well as piles of worms. Also suitable are frogs, zebra mussels, various insect larvae, leeches, and many other living creatures found in the river.

A very desirable attribute of burbot fishing in late autumn is a brightly burning fire on the shore. There is nothing surprising here, however. It is difficult to say for sure whether light attracts burbot, although many fishing authorities claim that light is an additional and very significant factor in successful burbot fishing. But the fact that in October or even early November it is impossible to spend a night fishing without a good fire does not require proof.

Burbot fishing is also successful in the spring, immediately after the flood. At this time, it is already possible to dig up earthworms in certain warmed areas of the earth, which we are very keen on. Often at this time, to search for and catch burbot, they use (where this is, of course, permitted) with hooks located at a distance of 4-6 meters from each other. This is the easiest way to find a burbot trail, and without much difficulty provide yourself with a sufficient number of burbots.

Fishing for burbot in winter

Fishing for burbot in winter
After the formation of the first ice, the activity of burbot temporarily weakens, and resumes only after spawning, which usually takes place in late December - January. The spawned burbot greedily grabs any bait at this time; the fish's feeding does not last long, but it is very effective. They fish at this time, as a rule, with winter baits, remembering that under no circumstances should you give too much fishing line to the burbot. In many Siberian rivers, during the winter feeding season for burbot, extremely simple gear is most often used to catch it. Many holes are drilled, a fishing line with a hook and bait on it is lowered into each, which is tied to a thick stick installed across the hole. To prevent the holes from freezing, a bunch of reeds or other grass that grows abundantly along the banks is squeezed into each hole. That's all - from time to time the fisherman walks through the places where the gear is installed and checks whether the burbot is sitting.

If the hole still freezes, another one is drilled nearby, the main line is hooked with a special wire with a hook at the end and the gear is checked. If necessary, the bait is replaced.

In recent years, active gear has also been used to catch burbot on the ice - burbot is caught using lures. As a rule, large narrow white spoons, clearly visible in the water, are used as bait. The peculiarity of wiring is that after every three or four sharp swings and knocks of the spoon on the bottom, you need to pause for 10-15 seconds, while carefully watching the fishing line. At the slightest suspicion of a bite, you should definitely hook sharply.

It has long been known that burbot are especially attracted to the sound of the spoon hitting the bottom when trolling. Attempts by fishermen to use a wide, massive winding ring in the upper part of the lure, which, if successful, creates an additional knock on the bottom, have been successful. Perhaps it is this knock that attracts the predator.

Spoons can be with an ordinary soldered hook, like for pike perch, and winter spinners with a tee installed in the lower part on a winding ring. Using an ordinary hook, many fishermen put a dead fish on it, sometimes without a head. Flashing burbot is extremely exciting, if only because it is perhaps the only option for successful active fishing for this fish. True, it is worth saying that this method does not have so many adherents, be that as it may, and walking for a long time along a reservoir, tapping the bottom, is very tiring. We must also take into account that the best results are achieved by bad weather - a snowstorm, blizzard, drizzling rain, which is not very comfortable for the fisherman.

Winter ice fishing. Winter girders. Flashing of burbot.

Still, the best time for burbot fishing is winter. Let us remember that burbot is cold-loving and spawns even in the middle of winter, during the bitterest frosts. In winter I'll find some freedom! Cold winter water invigorates his blood, there is plenty of food for him, and most of the fish stand in a daze. That’s when it’s time for the burbot to eat enough for the whole year. In winter, burbot thrives, lives happily and leads a very active lifestyle.

In winter, burbot is caught with a variety of gear, the most famous of which are ice jigging and lure fishing. An under-ice trap or postavusha is designed simply: a stick across the hole, and a reel with a wound fishing line, a sinker and a leash is suspended from below. Why do you need to lower the vent under the ice?

In winter, the nights are cold, the hole instantly freezes and all the tackle is frozen into the ice; in the morning it will be difficult to pick out both the tackle and the caught fish from the hole. Therefore, they do this: they drill a new hole near the frozen hole, and take out the fishing line with the caught burbot using a hook. The bait on the girder is lowered to the very bottom, it is important that the fishing line is not too wound up by the fish that pecks, it is given no more than one and a half meters of free movement. Otherwise, the burbot will get caught in the snags - and remember his name. And the stavushi are placed at night in those places where burbot are expected to pass up the river.

It is better to choose places that are not particularly deep with a sandy, rocky bottom, but rather near steep banks. It is known that from mid-winter burbot moves into deeper holes, where after spawning it is eaten by fish. Sometimes, on long winter nights, burbot is caught by the light of a lantern, placing a tent directly on the ice. Sabaneev also wrote that fire somehow attracts this fish. Therefore, fishermen make a fire on the ice and burn it all night.

They can also fish from the ice using artificial baits - spoons. They catch burbot in places where they aggregate, in deep lakes, and in holes at river bends. It is important that there are driftwood, stones and any bottom trash at the bottom. Burbot is lazy; he only takes the bait that falls right under his nose. Burbot spoon is a light, narrow spoon with a soldered single hook. The spoon can be white, yellow, it is better if it is small, only 5-10 centimeters. Lowering the spoon to the very bottom, make infrequent strokes - stretches.

Sometimes this type of spinner is used: two heavy oscillating spinners are attached to one winding ring and a carabiner is attached. The spoons should touch with their convex parts, and a tee is hung on one of them. It turns out to be some kind of rattle, which rattles when shaken.

The double spoon is lowered to the very bottom, lifted and thrown sharply down. There is another interesting way of fishing - a spoon bait with a dead fish. The spinner is equipped with two soldered hooks, upper and lower. The body of a fish without a head is put on both hooks, creating a kind of tackle. This tackle is played at the bottom, two or three strokes and a pause.

There is information that in winter they can even catch fish from the ice in Siberia using a wobbler with a sliding sinker placed on a fishing line in front of it. The wobbler is slowly pulled in and then released, while the bait oscillates at the bottom. This type of fishing is only possible in strong currents.

Where does burbot live?

The distribution area is directly related to the anatomical characteristics of the fish, which is unable to feel comfortable in water that is too warm and stagnant. The largest population is typical for cool water bodies of the northern hemisphere: the Arctic Ocean basin, Siberia, the North-Western and North-Eastern regions of Russia. Nevertheless, the predator settled much further south, but at the same time shredded it. In rivers flowing into the Black and Caspian Seas, the weight of the average specimen does not exceed 0.6-1.0 kg.

To learn more:

Smelt: description of a fish from the smelt family

Even in deep northern lakes, burbot will look for a cooler place, often settling near underwater springs. If this is not possible, pits, piles of stones, and snags are chosen as permanent habitats. In this case, the composition of the bottom is not important; it can be sand, pebbles, clay, etc. The only exceptions are heavily silted areas due to the risk of the formation of dense turbidity, in which the predator is poorly oriented.

Reproduction and lifespan

The life expectancy of burbot reaches 24 years. The first few years of life they feed mainly on fry, small plankton and other simple aquatic inhabitants.

Then a smooth transition to a fish diet begins. At the same time, hunting is carried out most often at night, which makes it possible to more effectively attract fish with sounds and bait.

When it comes to reproduction, burbots spawn on average two to five times during their lives. At the same time, the age at which the ability to reproduce can vary and depends on the region of residence and ranges from 2 to 8 years. It is noteworthy that there is a direct proportion between the location of the region and the age of sexual maturity: the further north the habitat, the higher this age.

Spawning of burbot lasts up to six months and takes place mainly when the water temperature is minimal and close to 0 degrees, so it is much more likely to catch spawning in the northern regions and regions. Wintering occurs in places with clean running water, a clean sandy bottom or a lot of stones and pebbles.

What does burbot eat?

The basis of the predator’s diet is the inhabitants of the bottom layers of the reservoir. Small immature individuals (1-2 years old) willingly eat worms, leeches, larvae, small crustaceans, mollusks, fry, fish and amphibian eggs. As they grow older and gain weight, burbot eats mainly large ones:

• minnows, ruffs, perches;
• loaches, smelts, loaches;
• lampreys, frogs, crustaceans.

The wide mouth and throat allow it to easily swallow prey the size of a third of the hunter’s body length. Thanks to the structure of the bristle-like teeth, this process occurs without sudden and hasty movements, and the burbot bite is confident, but smooth and unhurried. This species has also justifiably acquired the status of an omnivorous scavenger, especially in reservoirs with poor benthic fauna. A developed sense of smell allows one to smell stale food from several kilometers away, which is what experienced fishermen use when hooking dead fry and other strong-smelling baits.

To learn more:

Description of bluefish fish: habitats and fishing methods

With the onset of summer heat, the fish stops feeding and spends most of its time in hibernation. Only in the fall do burbot emerge from their shelters and begin active feeding from evening until dawn, restoring strength and preparing for spawning.