How to make your own bait for cold water (autumn, winter). Natural baits in groundbait. What should not be added. What filler is used? What fraction should the bait be for cold water? What flavorings are added?
It is no secret that the success of fishing in late autumn and winter largely depends on bait, which in cold water must have certain properties. Of course, there are now countless ready-made mixtures on sale, but despite the intense advertising by respected fishing experts and the prices for these wonderful baits, they are not always actually mixtures that actually work. Often, even the inscription on the packaging indicating winter bait does not correspond to the contents, when the “winter bait” smells of fragrant biscuits and fruits.
The same story happens with fishing line, when designations and various pictures in the form of penguins and snowflakes only disguise and mislead fishermen, since the packaging often contains ordinary summer fishing line. The lies and cynical deception inherent in the trade in food and clothing also affected the sale of fishing goods. At the same time, gear and accessories for summer and winter fishing are quite expensive goods. Therefore, as before, fishermen try to make the necessary things with their own hands to the best of their ability. This also applies to bait.
Difference from summer
Before you stop preparing winter bait, you should find out what is the difference between it and traditional summer bait? And this difference exists, and not in just one parameter. First of all, it is necessary to note the fine-grained composition of winter bait, where all the ingredients are ground to a dust state. This composition of winter bait only stimulates the fish’s appetite, without saturating it. This small bait creates a noticeable food cloud in the water, attracting fish from afar, as far as visibility in the under-ice kingdom allows. Smells also serve to attract fish. And for this purpose, various low-calorie fillers are used, in particular, with copra, finely ground bran, grain husks, Belgian coconut and other components containing low-calorie substances.
On cold water
Summer will end soon.
According to my observations, the activity of perch noticeably decreases as the water cools. And you don’t have to wait for real cold weather. Already in September, the striped fish's bite noticeably worsens. On reservoirs, in the evening, he no longer sets up pots, and on rivers he does not chase fry near the edge of grass and clean water. There is no such thing as in the hot season that the perch sits on the hook on almost every retrieve... The bites of striped fish on ordinary twisters and vibrotails become more and more sluggish and as the water gets colder, the bite strictly declines, approaching zero. About 10 years ago, already in mid-late October you couldn’t count on catching small and medium-sized striped fish. It was time for trolling and heavy jigging. But now the situation is somewhat different, because fishermen now have edible rubber. The topic of using edible bait when fishing for perch still remains open, despite the fact that our fishermen already have quite a wide experience in using this type of bait. In particular, sports fishermen have made a big contribution to the knowledge of edible silicone. For them, perch is a fish that produces results. Many times fishing competitions took place during periods of inactivity of the fish, and it was necessary to look for a way out to achieve a result. Athletes have found it in the use of edibles. Passive fish really like fragrant, tasty rubber. The perch even picks up the bait lying motionless on the bottom, thereby making a bite. Such things cannot be rolled with ordinary silicone. But as I said, even though athletes have extensive experience in fishing with edible rubber, they still cannot fully understand this type of bait. On forums, in conversations between athletes, questions constantly arise regarding fishing techniques, types of edible rubber, tactics and strategy...
Ordinary fishermen do not need to delve into these conversations. Athletes chase places, and amateurs chase impressions. Therefore, it is absolutely not necessary to master all the intricacies of fishing with edible silicone baits for those who go to a pond just to relax and feel the excitement of catching fish. You just need to know some of the basics of catching perch with these baits, and you also need to learn how to choose the right food depending on the time and weather.
First of all, you need to remember one golden rule from which you need to build: the colder the water, the more passive the fish behaves. If, say, at the beginning of September you can count on an intense bite on all types of bait throughout the day, then literally in a month, the angler will have to try very hard to catch fish. Taking into account the water temperature and the activity of the perch, you should choose an edible fish. There are a lot of rubber on the market that differ in shape, size and smell. The more pungent the smell from the silicone and the longer it stays on the bait, the higher the price of the bait. At the beginning of the autumn season, the cheapest edible product with a faint odor works more or less normally. The perch is interested in the bait even before it hears the smell (during the fall or dragging). But when the water gets really cold, you need to switch to expensive, smelly baits. Only they will provide a stable bite. You shouldn't save money on silicone - the strong-smelling edible product really catches fish. I remember how last year at the beginning of November I tried to seduce the okushka with “Garik” and “Reins”. Unsuccessfully. I even thought that there were no fish at the point at all and decided, demoralized, to go home, but suddenly I discovered a pack of “Ketish” in my stash. I set it and the bite began. Although I did exactly the same wiring before. It was specifically the smell of the bait. It’s just that “Ketish” has it very strong. But the price of baits is much higher than that of the same “Rains”.
The smell of bait
There is another important factor that influences the attractiveness of winter bait. It's the smell. If in the summer, fish from the carp family are offered mixtures with bright fruity and biscuit odors, then in the winter, such aromatic baits with a strong odor can, instead of attracting fish to a fishing spot on an autumn river or to a winter hole, on the contrary, scare them away with such aggressive odorous substances . It is better to add various syrups for cold water to the bait, which, without having any strong odors, nevertheless attract autumn fish to the fishing point. Such syrups are: “Hemp in Fish”, “Smoked Crayfish”, “Salmon”, “Red Caviar”.
Flavors with the smell of bloodworms, worms and maggots can also be effective in the cold season. Well, and, of course, introducing natural baits into the groundbait would be a good solution. It is clear that worms can only be added to bait if they are chopped into pieces, otherwise they will scatter at the bottom. Bloodworms and maggots are also not very persistent, but it makes no sense to “halve” them, otherwise these larvae will leak out.
Tip #4 - Remember Rod Hutchinson's Golden Rule
Rod Hutchinson once formulated a rule with which it is impossible to disagree with: “even under the most unfavorable conditions there will always be a chance of catching at least one carp if there is at least some food source in the lake within 24 hours.”
Terry supports this rule, in fact, he firmly believes that some carp adapt to cold weather faster than others. In his practice, there was a case when, in a relatively small reservoir, he caught carp weighing 11.5 kg three times during the winter, and also one more time a year later. Moreover, one of the captures occurred at negative air temperatures.
It’s better to call this advice simply food for thought. You must understand that, after all, fishing in cold water is quite difficult and is not as rich in bites as in summer. But you definitely shouldn’t despair at all; you can catch carp even under such conditions.
Preparing bait for cold water (autumn, winter)
Of course, you can prepare winter bait yourself without such exotics as Belgian coconuts and other foreign ingredients. This component can be replaced with dry semolina and bran. And the main component of the bait can be made into pea porridge in the form of puree. You can then add slightly undercooked millet porridge, dry semolina, barley and corn grits to the pea puree.
To make it more crumbly and create an attractive food cloud in the water column, you can add breadcrumbs and milk powder to the bait. The addition of fried finely ground seeds serves the same purpose. They are an active component that, when washed away, will create movement of the bait in the water column. All these ingredients will not be able to saturate the fish, but can only attract it with the smell, appearance of the food cloud and movement. This is why you need to add undercooked millet to the bait. In the water in which the porridge is to be cooked, you need to add just a little granulated sugar and salt, just a little. These components are also attractive to fish. Salt, by the way, is also found in many artificial baits made from edible rubber.
Add syrups to the finished mixture and the cold water bait is ready.
Wobbler for pike
Ball fishing
Spinner with a spinner on a hook
The subtleties of catching white fish in ice water
Photo by Anatoly Mailkov
The characteristics of autumn fishing for peaceful fish are determined both by the behavior of the fish itself in cold water and by changes in fishing conditions. The water became not only cold, but also transparent, due to the death of microscopic algae. Underwater vegetation in icy water has stopped growing. Insect larvae and aquatic worms hid in the mud, descended closer to the depths, or “huddled” in the foliage that had fallen to the bottom from underwater and above-water plants. The lack of available food causes well-fed fish to become less and less active. The bite is often observed for not just hours, but several tens of minutes. However, despite such a pessimistic forecast, right up to freeze-up you can catch roach, gudgeon, bream, silver bream, large bleak and even crucian carp well and effectively. The main thing is to adapt to fishing.
ROACH
The places for catching roach remain the same as in the summer, but the tackle, groundbait and bait change. The tackle is distinguished by maximum subtlety and sensitivity, which is absolutely necessary in order to deceive cautious fish. The rod is chosen to be the lightest class, 5-7 meters long, with the thinnest possible tip. For fishing, “bleak” equipment is ideally suited. This is a fishing line with a diameter of 0.06-0.08 mm, a float with a carrying capacity of 0.5-0.8 g and a hook No. 20-22.
The roach now feeds on animal food of natural origin. Therefore, bloodworms act as the best bait. Using “pure” bloodworms causes difficulties in delivering the next portion of bait to the fishing point.
I proceed as follows. Before feeding, I soak the bloodworms in water, use a sieve to separate the larvae from excess water, but do not let them dry out. You can do it differently - “tie” the bloodworm with a small amount of domestic “winter” bait, or even better with soil.
It makes sense to use only bloodworms, maggots and caddis flies as bait. Very rarely, and only large roaches, can be tempted by pearl barley, bread or sweet corn.
The ideal bait for fishing in the fall is caddisfly. But the colder the water gets, the deeper the caddis fly goes. Now you can find caddisfly in the reservoir at a depth of 2-3 meters, but preparing it for fishing is very difficult.
From my own experience, I can say that I catch more roach in the fall rather than in the spring. In the spring it is very difficult to “catch” the moment of the roach’s movement, but the fishing gear is quite primitive. And in the fall it’s the other way around: you need very careful gear, but if you find a roach’s resting place, you can literally catch the entire flock.
BLEAK
In addition to roach, it is very interesting to catch large bleak. The vast majority of anglers consider it a “spring” fish. The reason for this opinion is poor technical preparation. If you only have one rod with a 0.2 mm fishing line and a worm hook, then you can’t expect to catch bleak in the fall. In October, the bleak becomes well-fed, cautious and very selective in relation to the baits offered to it.
The gear is completely similar to the gear for autumn roach fishing. This applies to both the rod and the equipment. The equipment should be of the simplest design possible, so that the trigger can be quickly changed. As when catching roach, it is better to distribute the sinkers over three points - the sub-sink (10-20 cm from the hook), a sinker weighing twice as much as the sub-sink (20-30 cm from the sub-sink), and the main sinker - another 30 -50 cm above.
Choosing a place on a reservoir is not as simple as in the case of roach. Bleak occupies the upper deep edges of pits and channels. Doesn't work in small places. Therefore, it is worth working hard to find the place where the deep edge approaches the very shore.
Bloodworms are bait that can activate bleak in late autumn and stimulate an active search for food. And not small, but large, “attached” bloodworms. It is very effective to throw 20-30 bloodworms at the fishing point, but first you need to squeeze the larvae with your fingers so that they fall to the bottom more slowly and quickly release components that irritate the fish. In addition to bloodworms, bleak is easily and quickly activated by maggots and casters. Casters float and must be crushed before being tossed. Cold water baits work, but not always as well.
If the place and time of fishing is chosen correctly, then one hundred grams of baited, large bloodworms is enough to activate a large flock of bleak, which has taken its place on the upper, deep edge of the wintering pit. If this succeeds, then you will be convinced that it is better to catch large bleak not in the spring, when it is defenseless and stupid, but when it stands at a depth of 2.5-4 m and is waiting not only for the ice to form, but also for your bait on a small hook and the finest equipment.
The technique of catching in autumn is, one might say, filigree. Casting the lightest rig with one bloodworm on the hook. Waiting for the moment when the float takes its working position. Pause. Very slow movement of the equipment to the side. Throwing a small dose of bloodworms. Control cutting. Changing the nozzle. Casting equipment. Observation of the fall of equipment with a nozzle. Pause. And so on until the first bite. You just need to remember that before each cast you should change the descent by 5-10 cm in any direction. Having empirically found the depth at which the fish is currently standing, you need to fix it in memory. Further – it’s easier. Having caught the first fish, you just need to strictly repeat your actions and try to avoid getting lost.
The only difference in the technique of catching roach and bleak is that the roach often takes the bait either from the bottom, or when it drags along the bottom, and the bleak rises a meter and a half above the bottom, towards the falling bait.
BREAM
Autumn bream fishing in reservoirs is very interesting, especially where pre-winter water is released. Often the entire watering of a reservoir is exposed, and the water remains only in the channel and holes.
Fish are very sensitive to any fluctuations in water level, and even more so to the rapid release of water. Therefore, it waits until the moment when the discharge is completed and the “winter” level in the reservoir remains unchanged.
The choice of fishing location is critical. Bream gather in large schools and stand in certain places that need to be found. Usually these are places above the holes on the riverbed, and as the water gets colder, even the holes themselves. It is no longer possible to select a fishing spot based on the splashes of fish, since the bream stops melting and betraying its presence with any external signs. You have to search empirically, that is, feed the chosen place, try to catch the bream for 2-3 hours, and if there are no bites, then change the place. As experience shows, fishing during the day leads to the fact that the bream quickly becomes alert and leaves, while it can go quite far along the riverbed, and a lot of effort and time will be spent to find it again. In addition, during the day, due to the fact that the depth of the reservoir has become shallower and the water has become more transparent, large bream practically do not bite, but small underbream take the bait. When fishing, you just feel that there is bream, but it doesn’t want to peck at any bait. Experienced fishermen switch to night fishing.
Since it is still before dark to feed, and also due to the fact that after the water is released, a noticeable current appears in the reservoirs, you have to take a relatively large amount of bait with you. For effective fishing in the autumn night, with continued fishing during the day, the amount of bait can reach several kilograms. It is not worth feeding at night. Large fish don't like things falling from above. She becomes wary and freezes. If you throw one or two balls of bait at the fishing point, the break in the bite can last for one and a half to two hours. Of course, there are exceptions that it is better not to count on.
Working with a fly rod is simple and familiar. This is dignity. The disadvantages include the fact that the fly rod does not allow you to absolutely accurately deliver the bait to the fishing point. This is impossible because there are no landmarks at night.
Using a plug rod eliminates all technical problems.
Andrey Yanshevsky November 5, 2013 at 15:29
