Winter fishing with a balance beam, how to fish correctly, which one to choose

Content:

1 Balancer selection
2 Best balancers
3 Features of winter fishing
4 Fishing on a balance beam in winter: underwater video
5 Possible errors

Winter fishing

- This is one of the most exciting and affordable types of winter recreation. As soon as the first ice appears, immediately on the river or pond you can see people dressed in winter uniforms and with backpacks on their shoulders - these are fishermen. Most of them don’t care whether he catches a fish or not, but the fact that he will relax after 5 days of everyday fuss is for sure. There are many baits in the arsenal of amateur fishermen. Among them you can find a balancer designed for catching predatory fish. The predator is especially active during the period when the first ice appears: then it is simply irreplaceable.

During this period, you can catch large perch and small pike using the balancer. The gear consists of a fishing rod for winter fishing, equipped with a reel with fishing line wound on it.

For fishing to be effective, the choice of balancer should be taken very seriously. Not all specimens offered by the trading network are capable of attracting fish. Most likely, many of them are cheap cereals incapable of believable acting.

Which line to choose for winter fishing with a balance beam?

Incorrectly selected fishing line leads to the following problems:

Poor performance of the bait due to incorrectly chosen thickness and extensibility,
Fish scaring,
Inconvenience due to freezing in the cold,
Breaks due to a hard grip, hook or sharp hook of a pike perch,
Entanglement.

Some fishermen use braid, citing its strength and lack of stretchability. The wattle becomes tanned in the cold, freezes heavily, and freezes on the reel, blocking unwinding. Experienced spinners say that in winter you should use only monofilament fishing line. Both regular monofilament and fluorocarbon will do. There are mostly negative reviews on the use of modern advertised nanofil on fishing forums. Nanofil requires careful use and special knots; the surface of such a thread is injured when cleaning from frozen ice, after which it becomes weak and easily breaks at the slightest jerking load. Next, we will consider what kind of winter fishing line for the balancer you need to install when equipping your fishing rod.

Balancer selection

To choose this type of bait, many factors should be taken into account: standing water or current, small or large specimens, for pike or perch. Considering the fact that perch predominates in reservoirs (amateur fishermen mainly catch them), we can give several recommendations for choosing a balancer for perch fishing:

To successfully catch medium and large sized perches, you can use balancers 3-4cm long.
As a rule, the weight of such balancers ranges from 4-6g.
The coloring should be bright and natural, reminiscent of perch or bleak.
Particular attention should be paid to the quality of hooks. With bad (dull) hooks you can’t count on effective fishing.

This does not mean at all that you cannot catch other predatory fish, such as pike, with perch bait. Pike also really like bleak and small perches, and therefore it is very possible to catch a pike with such a balancer.

Balancer - what is it?

A balancer is the design of a bait for casting directly from the ice or from a boat, which in appearance resembles the fluttering of a small fish that attracts predators. In the water it stays horizontal, periodically moving in a figure of eight of different radii.

This bait consists of a body, often in the form of a metal fish, with hooks in front and back, complemented by plumage, adding naturalness to the movement of the “prey”. There is a treble hook hanging freely at the bottom.

Now is the time to think about replacing last year's fishing line with a new one, so as not to let you down at the most inopportune moment. And many are probably wondering, “Is it possible to put a stronger braid on the balancer, instead of the usual monofilament or hard fluke?”

Now is the time to think about replacing last year's fishing line with a new one, so as not to let you down at the most inopportune moment. And many are probably wondering, “Is it possible to put a stronger braid on the balancer, instead of the usual monofilament or hard fluke?”

The vast majority of anglers will answer “no” to this question, and they will be wrong. I have been chasing perch with a braid on a fishing rod for more than 15 years, yes, when I first installed it, not all spinning rods used it in the summer, but for me it was on balancers in the winter.

I want to share my experience and talk about the pros and cons of such equipment. But first, I’ll tell you how I came to the cord in winter.

In those days, vacation at my work was voluntarily and compulsorily divided into two parts - two weeks in the summer and two in the winter.

It was time for winter vacation, the month of January or February, the frost was in the thirties.

I’m not afraid of frosts, but a hurricane wind of more than 10 meters per second, coupled with such a temperature, would definitely not allow me to fish (I don’t use a tent - catching perch requires constant movement, which is impossible with a tent).

Half of the holiday had already passed, and the frost still did not subside.

And here, according to the weather forecast, the temperature is warming to -23° and the wind is weakening. It’s decided, tomorrow I’m heading to the “distant cordon”!

In fact, the path lay across the Volga, about 2 km, further through the forest, the same amount, and there will be a treasured bay, in which large perch were always caught at that time.

Already above the hole I met the dawn, and along with the first rays the bite began. It didn't take too long, but I caught 3-5 specimens from each hole.

The perch is generally not large - 200-300 grams, but there were still a couple of half kilos in the backpack.

And then, on one of the holes, something very large flies in near the bottom. I’ve been chasing perches for several years now, I’ve also caught fishermen, but this was just a perch (you can’t fool the senses) and a very large one. I lifted this humpback whale to the ice several times, hit it on the ice and under the pressure of the opponent at the other end, I had to release the line (by the way, the line is good, 0.2 in diameter). As usually happens with me, the hook was lying in my backpack several tens of meters away.

In general, I decided to force it anyway, and, of course, there was a cliff. It's a shame, annoying, but okay. I got dressed and went on to chase perches.

A couple of holes later, almost from under the ice, the nod didn’t just rise, but directly jumped up, hooking, and the same weight hung on the balance beam as the first time!

I couldn’t believe my luck, one huge humpback whale - it happens, and here, almost next to it again! This time the struggle was even longer, we even had to remove the line from the reel, but the result was the same. The line broke and the perch left.

The balancers, by the way, were unusual, of my own design, without a front hook and two tees, below and behind.

As a result, I got ready and wandered home; I didn’t want to fish anymore.

The next day I went to the nearest store and bought winter braided Power Pro ICE.

An excellent braid, it freezes not much more than monofilament, but the difference is not very noticeable. For many years I went with it, but now I started using the colored one - it’s better visible on the ice.

So, the advantages of braided fishing line

First of all, this is, of course, strength; you can go through the entire season without a single break; it’s mind-boggling how many snags I pulled out, and you can drag large fish more confidently.
Inextensibility - even very weak bites are transmitted to the hand very clearly.
And of course, this fishing line is soft (unlike flyline) and is less susceptible to abrasion on the edge of the hole.

Of course, unlike monofilament, it freezes more strongly, but I’m already used to it and just peel the ice off the fishing line with my hand more often.
Due to its uneven structure, when winding onto a reel, the nod becomes more clogged with ice. There's nothing you can do about it; you have to clean it more often.

Here, it seems, are all the pros and cons of using braided fishing line for winter fishing. Everyone must decide for themselves whether they want to use it or not. I decided for myself a long time ago - just braided wire and that’s it. I caught it even at -36°, and I didn’t want to change it, even after such extreme fishing.

The length of the fishing line wound on the reel should be 20-40 meters.

The most popular equipment for winter fishing for perch is a balance beam. It is a fish that has hooks on its head and tail, as well as a tee on its belly. Due to the tail, it plays in a horizontal plane. The color range is wide and only practice will help you understand which balancer the perch will bite on better.

Tips for fisherman: How to catch perch in winter using a balance beam - Features of choice

The dimensions of the balancer are usually from 2 to 6 centimeters. There are also larger specimens, but this does not mean that the larger the balancer, the larger the catch will be. Large perch and sometimes pike can also bite on small balancers.

The best balancers

For catching perch, we can offer four of the most catchy balancers:

Balancer "LuckyJohn
", model "
Classic4
»
Four centimeters long with different colors imitating fish such as perch, bleak, roach. Designed for catching medium-sized perch. Costs around two dollars.
Balancer "LuckyJohn
", model "
Classic3
»
Three centimeters long. Can be offered for catching smaller perch.
Balancer "Rapala
", about 3 centimeters long and weighing about 6 grams
Its color is that of natural perch. Great for catching perch. Equipped with a branded tee. Its price is within 5 dollars. By the way, for “Lucky Johu” balancers, tees must be purchased separately, and it is better to purchase high-quality, branded models.
Balancer "Krapal
» length 3cm
Lure handmade by Ukrainian craftsman. Costs around 1.5 dollars.

The choice of balancer also depends on the nature of the reservoir and its size: on large lakes it is better to use more massive models, and on small lakes - smaller ones. At depths of up to 3 meters, 3-centimeter balancers can be used, and at depths above 3 meters, 4-centimeter balancers can be used. The effectiveness of the entire fishing will depend on how correctly the bait is selected.

What kind of fishing rod is needed for fishing with balance beams?

As in a spinning rod, the rigidity of the fishing rod must clearly correspond to the weight of the bait. Ideally, you need to select a fishing rod that does not bend under the weight of the bait. This gives us the opportunity to play the bait very sharply, briefly, and at the moment when our bait moves to the side and comes back, we will not have parasitic bouncing as with a softer fishing rod. Parasitic bouncing always worsens performance because it slightly disrupts the game and alerts the fish.

After swinging, the fishing rod should always stop sharply and not twitch. In addition, when we hold the fishing rod, we do not hold it rigidly, but a little relaxed, and therefore at the moment when our bait goes down, we slightly soften the blow on the tip of the fishing rod and the bait lands very softly on the tip of the fishing rod. This is also very important. If you hold the rod tightly, the tip of the rod will bounce.

Fishing rod for fishing with balance beams

During the fishing process, we use our finger, this increases sensitivity and allows us to clearly record everything that happens to the bait. We can perfectly feel any bites, even the most careful ones, with our fingers, and since the fishing line is also matched to the weight of the balancer, this also gives good sensitivity to the finger when biting and makes it possible to make a timely hook.

The optimal length of a fishing rod for fishing with balance beams should be in the range from 40 to 50 cm. With such a fishing rod you can fish both standing and sitting.

Features of winter fishing

As mentioned above, winter fishing is an exciting activity that requires a lot of effort. You can choose a balancer, throw it in your backpack along with your fishing rod and arrive at the pond with a feeling of complete satisfaction and the thought that all the fish will be yours. When you arrive at the pond, everything just begins.

In winter, perch, like all fish, behaves less actively, as it also feeds less actively. To catch him, you need to find him, or rather, his parking place. In winter, it does not move long distances across the reservoir, but is concentrated somewhere in one area. That's why:

From one hole, it is unlikely that you will be able to catch at least some fish, although sometimes it may fail you. For greater reliability, you should drill from 10 to 20 holes at 5-7 steps from each other so that they cover both shallow and deep water. By constantly fishing hole after hole, you can hope for a catch.
In cold water, the perch is not very active, so no active play of the bait is required.
The game of the bait is that it sinks to the bottom and slowly begins to rise from the bottom surface to a height of 20-30cm. Then a pause is made for a few seconds and the balancer is raised, just as slowly, another 10-20 centimeters, after which a pause is made again. After the second pause, the bait sinks to the bottom and the process repeats. While moving up, you can make small swings of the bait left and right.
While lowering the balancer to the bottom, you can make several hits of the bait on the bottom, which will undoubtedly cause silt to rise from the bottom, which is very attractive to perch. Then the game should be similar to the one described above.

It should be noted that the game can be purely individual and be the result of many years of experience. The main thing is that the game brings results.

fishing line

Situations often occur when you have to catch pike in shallow areas with shallow depths, but with only heavy balancers in stock, and you come to the understanding that this reduces the number of bites. A heavy bait moves too hard both when turning and when returning to the starting point, which pike do not like in shallow waters. The use of a thick fishing line can save the situation; such a vein somewhat slows down the movement of the bait, but the main thing here is not to overdo it.

Observations by skilled fishermen indicate that in most cases the passive pike does not approach the hole, attracted by the play of the bait. You need to find the fish and give it a balancer right under its nose. And even knowing the reservoir well, you have to drill a lot of holes. A winter day is quite short and one hole is rarely fished for more than a minute. The holes where there were bites are usually always re-checked after some time, and this brings success.

Balancers believe that no artificial bait is able to filter out the bite of a large pike, and the balancer is no exception. It’s just that on lakes in some places large pike are more concentrated, and in others small ones. And considering that the balancer catches pikes of different sizes equally well, and also that the gear is as mobile as possible, lake fishermen still try to find sites for large pikes.

But be that as it may, experienced fishermen consider the balancer one of the most difficult artificial decoys to master.

Any specific model should be understood and clearly represented by the game of the bait at all stages of the retrieve. And it is unlikely that you will be able to understand this bait in a home bathroom - you will have to fish a lot with each balancer in order to understand how high and how quickly to raise the bait, and how long to pause.

It is necessary to equip the fishing rod with a short 30–50 mm nod made of hard lavsan or a flat steel spring. Firstly, the nod allows you to see the most careful bites. Secondly, the nod gives the spoon additional weak vibrations, which attract the attention of the perch.

When fishing with a balancer up to 50 mm long, a fishing line with a diameter of 0.14–0.15 mm is usually used. When using a larger bait, the diameter of the fishing line should be increased to 0.18 mm. Preference should be given to modern fishing lines that have virtually no memory, such as SLR, EXEL.

It is necessary to equip the fishing rod with a short 30–50 mm nod made of hard lavsan or a flat steel spring. Firstly, the nod allows you to see the most careful bites. Secondly, the nod gives the spoon additional weak vibrations, which attract the attention of the perch.

I would like to mention the ice screw. Spinner fishing requires an active search, and the catch is often proportional to the number of holes drilled. An ice drill made in Finland or Sweden will be very useful, and an auger diameter of 105–110 mm is quite enough for hunting even large perch.

FISHING TACTICS

In the middle of winter, in many bodies of water that do not have a current, there is a lack of oxygen in the bottom layers. Perch, looking for more comfortable conditions for themselves, rises to the intermediate layers, often ending up under the very ice, regardless of the depth in a given place. This must be taken into account when fishing all layers of water.

Tips for fisherman: How to catch pike perch in winter using sprat correctly - Answers for beginners

FISHING TECHNIQUE

The technique of fishing with a balance beam is not complicated. These baits are not so demanding on the nuances of the game, and if you are just starting to catch perch on a balance beam, then use proven baits, for example, RAPALA-No. 5, KUUSAMO-60 mm, NILS MASTER-No. 7 or RAUHALA-50 mm.

At the beginning of fishing, you should put the balancer on the bottom, then pause for 5-10 seconds to allow the underwater inhabitants located near the fishing spot to calm down, and only then start the game.

You should definitely play longer near the lower edge of the ice. And that's why. A passive perch is interested in the game of the balancer, accompanying it and not daring to grab it. The attack often follows only at the final, highest point of the wiring, almost at the very ice. It can be assumed that the perch has the impression that the potential victim will soon disappear from sight, and this serves as an incentive to attack.

If a bite occurs, then you already know what bait movement the perch prefers today. The found cycle of movement of the bait should be remembered and carried out as monotonously as possible, achieving monotony, thus irritating the passive predator, forcing it to attack the bait.

It happens that success is brought by fishing in one hole alternately with balancers from different manufacturers. You can put a shortened body from the smallest twister on the tail hook of the balancer. A soft bait successfully complements the balancer, often helping out on days when the perch ignores the horizontal spoon. It should be taken into account that the weight of the balancer must be at least 10 grams, otherwise its movements will be chaotic and this will scare away the predator.

The worst thing is when the perch ignores any bait, no matter how you present it. And then, in order to achieve at least some result, you have to apply the suspension to balancers weighing more than 8 grams. In such cases, I use tackle with an additional hook or jig. The perch, even being in a passive state, still reacts to the movement of the balancer, and gives preference to additional bait.

If you are using a micro jig on a separate two-centimeter leash 12–15 centimeters above the balancer, then put a compact attachment of animal origin on its hook, for example, a burdock moth larva, small maggot, etc.

If a hook No. 16–14 is used as a suspension, then you can do without bait of animal origin by covering it with one and a half millimeter pieces of black and yellow or black and green cambric. You can also use a fly, but choosing it for a particular body of water is very difficult. When using a suspension, the pause should be longer, since the bite occurs at the moment the vibrations of the jig or hook die out. The length of the pause is determined experimentally.

Felix USTIMOV, Korolev December 8, 2004 at 00:00

For catching perch and pike-perch, a leash in a balancing tackle is not used;
When fishing for pike, thin and short models made of tungsten and copper string with a total length of no more than 7-10 cm are tied to the main line. Ultra-thin titanium leashes are comfortable and durable.

Possible mistakes

As a rule, beginning amateur fishermen learn from mistakes. Of course, experience comes over time as a result of mistakes and their subsequent analysis. If you don’t analyze them, then you can spend your whole life fishing with mistakes and not catch a single fish. To avoid them, you should pay attention to the following features:

Fishing for predators does not allow for thin fishing line. The optimal diameter starts with a value of 0.18mm and ends with any reasonable number, for example, 0.22mm. This is due to the fact that it can take a trophy specimen, which will be problematic to fish out on a thin fishing line.
When using a balancer, for effective fishing, you should abandon the leash, as it negatively affects the action of the bait. At the same time, there is a risk of losing the balancer if a pike bites, but perch is better caught using bait without a leash.
To install the balancer, you should use reliable knots that cannot come undone while playing fish. Of course, this applies to large specimens, which are found very rarely.

Alternatively, you can suggest the Palomar knot or the Clinch knot or the Double Clinch knot. How to tie such knots? Information about this can be found on the Internet and types of other knots and methods of knitting them.

To protect the line from breaking or chafing, it is recommended to solder a copper ring to the balancer arm. Due to the fact that copper is a soft metal, burrs that appear as a result of wear are not dangerous for the fishing line. You cannot refuse a guard, which makes it possible to react in time to a bite. To prevent your eyes from getting tired, you can attach a bright ball to the tip of the guard.

Secrets of fishing with a balance beam in winter

The pauses between strokes should not be too short. This behavior of the rig will only scare away the predator. It is much better to wait 5 to 10 seconds.
Your playing technique needs to be changed as often as possible. It is not without reason that they say that fishing is a process that requires a creative approach. You won’t be able to catch a predator with refined, mechanical movements. Fishing with a balancer implies constant experimentation.
A soft balancer behaves more naturally in water than a hard one. When choosing bait, you should still stop at the first one.
Before fishing, it is better to stock up on several sets of gear: choose fishing rods for the balancer for different weather conditions, stock up on replacement reels for perch, pike and pike perch.

Tactics

Despite the abundance of predators who are not averse to feasting on the balancer, perch is of the greatest interest to anglers. Indeed, this artificial bait does the best job of hunting this particular predator. It is worth selecting a reservoir in advance, aiming for increased activity of the striped fish. Nevertheless, fishing with balance beams involves hunting for pike perch, pike and even trout. The choice of prey is limited by the personal interest of the fisherman.

Wiring technique

When fishing, you should not focus on one specific place. You can hunt at depths from half a meter to several tens of meters. The bait sinks to the very bottom, then moves upward. The balance beam is raised by 3-5 centimeters and a sharp swing is made with an amplitude of up to half a meter.

The playing technique imitates the natural behavior of fish. There is a short pause. A few swipes will be enough to detect the presence of a predator. If there is no bite, then you need to move to another hole. Fishing with a balancer is an active matter. It may be necessary to cut a considerable number of holes, but the patient angler will get what he deserves.

Fishing rod

When buying a fishing rod for fishing with a balancer, first of all you need to pay attention to its strength, convenience, reliability of fastening the rings and the build quality in general. Carbon fiber is considered the ideal material for a whip. It is light and clear, unlike plastic, it does not become “wooden” in the cold and does not crack. It can only break if there is a large temperature difference, so you can’t immediately put a load on it. When leaving the car, it is better to wait about ten minutes until it cools down, and then start fishing.

The flexibility of the fishing rod is selected taking into account the weight of the bait. For example, if you intend to use small Rapala balancers, then it is advisable to choose a softer model for them. A rigid fishing rod almost does not bend when lifting a light bait upward, which is why it acquires an excessively frisky game. Sometimes this is good, but most of the time, smooth animation is effective.

Fans of winter fishing with a balance beam never cease to argue about whether such equipment requires a nod. Some put it on, others refuse it. This element smoothes out the bite, thereby reducing sensitivity in the hand. Serious minus! On the other hand, when the activity of underwater inhabitants is low, you still cannot feel the careful touch of the fish on the bait with your hand, so a nod is necessary.

An indispensable bait for catching large perch. It is widely popular among fans of winter fishing for striped predators. Colors 13H and 15H would be more preferable.

Which balancer to use on pike

For fishing to bring the desired success, you need to have several types of balancers in your arsenal. They should be selected depending on the characteristics of the reservoir, weather, and the size of the desired prey. After all, it’s difficult to catch one with just one bait, since pike are picky – they’ll take it one day, and the next you won’t get a bite.

Experienced fishermen prefer to have several different species, and try to fish with them, selecting a more catchy model. To choose the most suitable one, you need to know several features that affect the fishing result. Basically it is the color and size of the balancer.

Size

The size of the bait will determine the number of bites, so it should be chosen carefully. It should be taken into account that the larger the model, the less often the pike will bite, but if it is tempted, it will be big. Therefore, if you want to catch only the cream of the crop, then you should take the appropriate size.

To begin with, you can try to catch predators in small sizes. If you choose a four-centimeter one, there will be no problems with biting. But the size of the prey will rarely weigh more than 0.5 kg. In addition, not only pike, but also perch will be tempted by such bait.

The best way out is to buy a bait measuring 7 cm. It will be able to attract a large pike, 1-2 kg, and will scare away the perch, and if not, then its size will not be inferior to the pike. When the fish activity is quite strong, it is fashionable to try a larger option - 9 cm. With its help you can quite easily catch a large trophy. Just be prepared for rare bites, sometimes there may be no bite at all. Of course, there are also larger sizes, but they are worth fishing only after mastering hunting with smaller baits.

A parallel can be drawn between the size and the amount of bite: the smaller the size of the bait, the more fish will be caught, and vice versa. If the pike does not want to take the bait, then you should change it to a smaller one - this will help activate the predator. Afterwards you can fish with large balancers.

It is also worth taking into account that in the dead of winter there are very few bites than in warm weather, so it is better to postpone large ones until the beginning of winter or its end.

Color

Coloring affects activity much less than the size of the balancer. But you shouldn’t take the first one you come across. After all, a pike may refuse to take the bait just because it doesn’t like the appearance.

If the hunt takes place at great depths, where it is dark, or where the water is muddy and visibility is poor, then you should give preference to bright, acidic colors that can stand out against a dark background.

Natural colors can provoke a predator to attack, even when it is inactive. These types of baits are most loved by fishermen. Dark colored lures are best used when hunting in shallow or light water. Although many fishermen use them in any body of water, and the result is still good.

You should always take several different colors with you, so that if one doesn’t work, then change it and try your luck with another. This method is guaranteed not to leave you without a catch.