Peculiarities of bream behavior in autumn
As the water temperature drops, the bream begins to move less around the reservoir and now the correctly chosen fishing point is even more important than in the summer. In the fall, bream begin to gather in schools and occupy pre-winter holes, while the fish no longer stray far from the parking area. Therefore, look for such parking points and try to make a bait table near them and then the chances of catching will increase.
You need to look for edges, slopes, slopes of channel holes and there try to bait the point from where fishing will be carried out. It is good if in such places on the bottom there is at least a small aquatic vegetation, where there may be various larvae that serve as food for bream. Such a point will be more promising.
Also in autumn, bream often moves far from the shore to depths and stays there, since the water temperature at such points is higher than on the surface.
Choosing a place and time of fishing
In October, bream gathered in schools do not change their preferences in choosing places to search for food. If you have experience of fishing in the summer on the proposed reservoir, then it’s easy to decide on a place for fishing, just take your favorite place, or one of the promising ones. When a body of water is unfamiliar, you should pay attention to frequently visited, well-equipped places:
- with trampled grass;
- mowed reeds near the shore;
- trimmed tree branches for better casting of the equipment.
The second month of autumn brings with it cool nights, which become longer and colder towards its end. The water temperature in reservoirs is becoming lower every day. This tendency affects the time the fish come out to search for food and the nature of its behavior:
- intelligibility to the offered baits and the equipment used is manifested;
- increased caution, which leads to almost unnoticeable bites;
- by the end of the month, hooking occurs most often when pulling out the feeder for re-casting, which indicates the inertia of the fish.
During daylight hours in October, an increase in the intensity of bites is observed after the sun comes out from 9 a.m., and continues almost until sunset. To catch trophy specimens weighing more than 2–3 kg, fishing continues in the dark. The fishing spot is stocked in anticipation of the night exit, which occurs after 10 pm and lasts until 3 – 4 am.
Feeder for autumn fishing
At this time, the bream is shy and behaves more cautiously than in the summer. Based on this, you need to properly prepare the tackle and equipment. And also pay close attention to the preparation of bait, which should interest the capricious bream.
Rod
Considering that you will need to look for a fishing point at a far distance from the shore, we take rods with a length of 3.9-4.2 meters, which allow long casts of up to 70 meters.
Ideally, to fish coastal areas, we take a rod 3.6 meters long. Feeder test up to 120 grams. With such a selection of rods, it is possible to fish the near, middle and far edge, which will significantly increase your chances of finding bream.
It is better to use a fiberglass whip (quivertip), as it is more sensitive and will show even the most accurate bite from a capricious fish.
Line and leash
Considering the fishing conditions and the behavior of the fish, it is better to use a braided line when fishing in the fall. This is mandatory when fishing for bream on a feeder at distances of more than 40 meters, but when fishing in coastal areas it is also better to use a cord, since it is more sensitive than monofilament and will better show uncertain bites of bream or bream.
Initially set the leash to a length of up to 50 centimeters and a diameter of 0.14 mm, if we are talking about early autumn. In October - November, a 0.10 mm leash is installed and used by the feeder when fishing on the river. A leash with a hook during this period is used more delicately.
Rigging and hooks
As an equipment, a working option would be the classic Paternoster. You can also use an asymmetrical loop, which is also capable of catching the smallest bites.
Place the feeder with a small feed capacity so as not to overfeed the fish with a large amount of food, but deliver food in small portions when casting. These should be open-type mesh feeders without a bottom so that the food is released faster and begins to work.
A hook for bream is suitable with number 12 or 14 according to the European classification, and if we are talking about larger bream, then use number 10. Remember that the hook for the feeder is matched to the bait, and if it is a bloodworm, then we use No. 14 with thin wire, and if it is a worm or maggot, then No. 10 is better, especially when fishing on the river.
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Float tackle
Tackle for catching autumn bream should be as inconspicuous and light as possible. This is due not only to the timidity of the fish, but also to the fact that autumn water is an order of magnitude clearer than spring and summer water. Rough and large tackle can simply scare away timid bream. Even if there is more than enough of him at the fishing spot, he will not risk approaching the bait on a thick line with a huge float loaded with a heavy sinker.
The main line should not be more than 0.2 mm in diameter, and the leader should not be more than 0.14 mm in diameter. You will need thin and very sharp hooks to keep the bloodworms and maggots strung on them alive longer, and, therefore, attractive to bream.
It is better to use floats weighing up to 2 g with a long antenna. When fishing at a great distance from the shore, you can use floats up to 10 g, but with their own weight at the bottom in the form of several screw-on metal rings. Such floats with loading are also called lifting floats.
It is better to choose a reel with a friction brake, since the first jerks of a large fish caught on the hook can break the leader, and only a friction brake can save your catch from an inevitable loss.
Float fishing for bream in autumn:
Bait for autumn bream
If you make a choice based on purchased bait for bream in the fall, then you should pay attention to the “cold water” marking, which should be on the package. Especially if we are talking about late autumn, when the water has already cooled down. This bait mixture has the following number of advantages:
- fine grind (dusty and light mixture);
- low calorie;
- many are spice-based;
- They have a dark color, which is less likely to repel fish.
When mixing autumn bait for bream, you can create a mix of several types of mixtures. Despite the fact that cold water bait is initially finely ground and does not contain large fractions, it would still be better to pass it through a 2-mm sieve.
Subsequently, if necessary, you can add a large fraction in the form of pastoncino, for example, which is more often used when fishing in the summer.
Cold water bait is very easy to over-wet, so add water in small portions when mixing.
Usually 300–350 grams of water per 1 kilogram of bait mixture is sufficient. After mixing, leave the food to absorb moisture, and just before feeding, you can pass the bait through a 3-mm sieve to saturate the mixture with oxygen, which will help attract fish faster.
It is known that bream in the fall needs food containing protein, so you need to add animal components to the bait. This could be live or scalded maggots, food bloodworms, or red worms chopped into small pieces. It is the worm that can attract large individuals to the point. Fish oil, bone or fish meal are also added. Usually, it is enough to add 100 grams of animal component per kilogram of bait.
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Catching bream in November with a float rod
Late autumn is a great time for catching large bream, the bite of which begins at 10 a.m.
Bream gradually begins to get used to temperature changes and behaves a little more active than in early and mid-autumn. Even a light drizzle with a pressure difference is not a big obstacle to catching a trophy specimen. Despite the fact that it is becoming increasingly difficult to meet bream near the shore, as it moves away to wintering pits, it is still possible to catch it with float tackle. The most productive fishing will be on a boat. However, “on foot” anglers still have a chance to catch bream and hang them throughout the long winter. Read also: Ice fishing for bream with a fishing rod The best bait at the end of autumn will be a bunch of bloodworms or several maggots. You can also experiment with different types of “sandwiches” - maggot + bloodworm, maggot + worm, etc. In some places, bream also take well on mastyrka prepared from peas, semolina and corn flour. You can add a little honey, unrefined sunflower oil or vanillin as a flavoring.
For successful fishing in November, you will need bait prepared from a mixture of millet, crackers, rolled oats, sunflower cake, ground roasted hemp seeds, bloodworms and maggots. At the same time, the fraction of components included in the bait mixture should not be very small, otherwise the bream simply will not be interested in it. Some anglers claim that the plant components in November bait only interfere with good fishing. They use only dry soil with bloodworms, maggots and chopped worms added to it to feed bream.
From a boat, it is best to look for bream using an echo sounder. You can find a school of fish at depths of over 5 meters (most often at 6-10 meters). True, on warm days bream can also go to shallow depths, but this happens extremely rarely. Basically, bream will spin in the following places:
- at a depth near the pits that he chose as his future wintering site;
- near the rocks, where the depth begins immediately from the shore (here you can fish well not only from a boat, but also directly from the shore itself);
- at great and medium depths with a muddy or rocky bottom (it’s better not to try to fish on a sandy one, since you rarely even see bream there anymore).
How to use aromatics
In cold water, you need to use various types of aromatics extremely carefully so as not to overdo it and not scare away the fish. However, you shouldn’t give it up completely either.
You can add a little molasses containing betaine, to which bream responds well. Molasses improves the digestion of fish, which stimulates its appetite. Molasses is added to the water when mixing bait. In late autumn, it is enough to add about 100 ml of molasses per 500 ml of water.
As for the aroma, in the form of a liquid, for example, it can be added directly to the bait before mixing. That is, add it to the dry mixture and mix. Thus, not all of the bait will be saturated with aromatics, but only some of its particles, and they will be saturated unevenly, which works well when fishing in the fall.
What to use to catch bream in the fall on a feeder
When choosing a bait for bream in the fall, first of all you need a large bloodworm, without which fishing in the late period is unlikely to be successful. Maggots are often placed on the hook of bloodworms, but worms are usually added to the bait. However, you can use the worm as bait as an experiment.
Further, while fishing on the feeder in the fall, be guided by which bait is best to use depending on how the bream reacts to it. If the fish eats the bloodworm, but the maggot remains untouched, then we remove it from the hook and try to catch only with bloodworms. Here you can also experiment and put different numbers of moths on the hook.
Last year's experience
It was morning, and nature was just waking up. The glare of the sun reflected and shimmered on the water. Suddenly there was a splash and some fish threw up a fountain of water. Most likely, it was bream, which already inspired certain hopes for a successful fishing outcome. Although I remember last year, when a local fisherman, who was located on the other bank from us, caught four times more fish than us.
Fishing on the Oka (last year's photo)
Of course, he knew the topography of the river bottom in this place and was more familiar with the behavioral characteristics of the local bream. But the thing was that for fishing from a boat he used two donks, and we used “rings”. Now having taken last year's lesson, my friends and I are fully armed. We realized that fishing on the Oka requires a feeder.
Fishing tactics on the river in autumn
Usually feeders prefer to fish with one feeder rod, but in the fall it is better to base their fishing tactics on fishing with several feeders. The location of bream in autumn is unpredictable, and in order to quickly find a fishing spot, it is better to use 2-3 rods. The fish may stand several meters before the edge, or after it, and searching with one fishing rod will be more difficult.
We recommend starting your search for a point at close range, as it is easier and faster. As a rule, this is a point at a distance of 25–30 meters from the shore. Next, we look for a point at an average distance of about 50 meters, and at a far distance up to 70–80 meters. After finding the points, we clip the line on the feeder and begin feeding.
For the initial feeding, it will be enough to make 5 casts each, and then make recasts at intervals of about 2 minutes. Make starter feeding without adding live ingredients to the bait, so as not to quickly saturate the fish. Later, during the fishing process, you can add bloodworms and chopped worms to the food.
Start fishing at a close distance, and if no bites are observed within 30 minutes, then do not linger and move to the next distance of 50 meters. Always increase the distance if there are no bites.
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Fishing
Finally, the happy moment came, and we cast our gear. The first bite is worth a lot, and waiting for it fills the soul with a joyful feeling of the upcoming catch. But ten minutes passed, then another ten and, finally, almost an hour, and there was no result.
Suddenly a fairly sharp jerk threw me off balance, and I immediately began to pick out the fishing line. When I got to the hook, all my hopes were dashed, as I saw only the gnawed bait and nothing else.
Well, I think the trouble has begun and I throw the tackle again. As soon as the bait reached the bottom, a jerk immediately followed, and the rod took the shape of an arc. I again began to valiantly choose the line, since the depth was still decent, but, not yet seeing the fish, I already felt that there was a catch and it should please me.
Indeed, the water column opened, and the body of a large bream appeared before my eyes. I quickly caught him with a landing net and sent him into the boat. Then he straightened up and looked around with pride. My friends were clearly jealous of me, since theirs was still empty.
Fishing on the Oka - the first handsome bream
Bummer and the eternal Russian question “what to do?”
I thought that my pride was not yet of a decent size, so it urgently needed to be enlarged with even larger specimens of bream, and if I was lucky, maybe I would catch a catfish. Moreover, fishing on the Oka for catfish is a promising activity, since this fish has not yet disappeared from the river.
And guess what, success awaited me again. As soon as I threw the tackle, the bite instantly became apparent and, feeling the drive in my whole body, I worked hard with my hands. But what came into the world was not a bream of respectable size, but some small fry that did not exceed the size of my little finger.
Anyway, I caught a minnow that was robbing me of my pride. Finally, I make a third attempt, feel a bite, pull, and they get an even smaller minnow. For the next thirty minutes, the fishing process did not change and I was only pulling minnows, which led me to the idea of changing my fishing point.
Armed with an echo sounder, I began to examine the bottom for fish. Having suffered a little, I discovered a fish standing nearby, which was located in a snag.
At this time, my friends began to drag bream one after another, and I was still left with one caught specimen. It took quite a long time to settle in the new place, since it was characterized by a strong current.
Fishing on the Oka - offensive lack of bite
When the process of my preparatory actions was completed, I realized that the day had moved into the second half. This fact could clearly reduce the bite to a minimum. But still, I tried and as a result, my catch increased by one bream, which weighed about two hundred grams. Then there was only silent silence, which forced me to join my friends and go ashore for a little rest.
With new strength and thoughts….and intelligence
When our vacation was over, I decided to go a slightly different route and cast a fishing rod not in the Oka, but with the locals who were fishing nearby. I decided to find out from them the best bream fishing spots.
Swimming up to a local resident’s boat, I entered into a conversation about what the local Oka River was like and, in particular, fishing on it. During the conversation, I managed to find out that nearby there was a flooded tree where bream had been pulled out more than once. I decided to take the advice and went to this place.
About twenty minutes later I managed to find the supposed point of successful fishing. Having quickly settled down and thrown the gear, I went into a painful wait, which was periodically illuminated by rays of hope that now the tip would shake and I would experience the weight of the fish at the end of the line.
It took about half an hour before the querentip arched greatly. This is the moment I've been waiting for for a long time. Already choosing a fishing line, I felt that this time the catch should please me.
The premonition did not deceive, and the body of a fairly large bream appeared from the water. Picking up the landing net, I deftly moved my trophy into the boat. The catch turned out to be a feast for the eyes, since the estimated weight of the bream was clearly in the region of one and a half kilograms.
Fishing on the Oka - a new place and a new bream for 2 fish
Then the fishing process took on an avalanche-like character. I did not have time to free the hooks from the whitebait, which weighed from three hundred to eight hundred grams. The sunken tree became an excellent stopping place for fish, which could hide here and find food.
Time to go home
I ended up catching a lot more bream than my friends. They, of course, also had a good catch, but my beauties are the most gorgeous specimens of bream, and their specimens are a parody, not a fish (“a joke of humor”).
For me, this fishing on the river. Oka brought not only long-awaited communication with nature, but also the joy associated with a serious catch. The excitement of the fisherman was able to completely spill out of me, and I received pleasure that cannot be compared with anything.
The way home was spent in a state of peace and tranquility, as I was very pleased with myself. In general, thank you Oka for the fishing that you gave me. With this, I consider the report “fishing on the Oka in Serpukhov” complete.
Have fun fishing!
Fishing depending on month
Fishing for bream in the fall can be different and a lot depends on the region and weather conditions in this region in a particular month. Somewhere in September there may still be warm, almost summer weather and then fishing will be easier, but in late autumn it will be real hard fishing with a lot of experiments.
September
In September, if the weather stays closer to summer, then the fishing strategy is not much different. You can feed more, and when fishing, try to use not only baits of animal origin, but also plant baits, such as corn, for example.
Read more about the nuances of catching bream in September on a feeder.
October
In October, as the weather gets colder, the preferences of bream are already beginning to shift in favor of protein, and here you can no longer take vegetable baits with you. Finding bream in October is already more difficult, and where it was in September it may no longer be there. We need to be more active in searching for fish.
In October, it is already harder to catch a trophy during the day, and fishermen effectively make night trips, when there is a greater chance of catching a large bream during this period.
Bream in September and late autumn
Fishing for bream in the fall is most interesting, while the water has not completely cooled down. In September, when the weather is still warm, and until the very end of the “Indian summer,” bream swim at medium and shallow depths of up to 5 meters.
It can be found near aquatic vegetation that has not yet died out, near thickets of reeds and sedges, near edges, at changes in depth, and near coastal rocks. In addition, bream loves places with a muddy or clayey bottom.
Bream can also be found on the rocks, where its main competitor will be annoying gobies, the first to pounce on the hook even with a large crawler strung on it.
Small breams prefer to feed on the sandy bottom. But where the bottom is covered with mud, it is useless to look for bream - it avoids such places.
In October and November, bream begins to lose feeding activity as the water cools. It groups in increasingly larger flocks and should be looked for at depth near wintering pits. In some regions, depending on the weather, bream can already be caught from the ice in November.
