Where to catch silver bream in winter and where to stay
The silver bream is found in various bodies of standing water, as well as in rivers. In addition, it is found in reservoirs and large lakes. This is a common type of fish that is caught both in summer and winter. The silver bream leads a gregarious lifestyle, therefore, catching it comes down to a simple task - finding a school of silver bream. The task can be simplified somewhat if you use bait. It can not only lure fish, but also keep it for some time at the fishing point. If the flock is found, then an active and stable bite is guaranteed. But this does not mean at all that bait sprinkled anywhere in the reservoir will be able to attract fish. Effectiveness can only be ensured by finding a promising location. After all, in winter the fish are not in their usual places.
The silver bream, like most fish, is very wary of various extraneous noises and strange movements. Behavior on ice should be as silent as possible. The sounds that the ice drill creates also scare away the silver bream. She can return to the hole only if bait is used.
The reservoir has characteristic places where you can find silver bream in winter:
Pits
They are a reliable winter shelter for most species of fish, including the silver bream, which lives in such places in whole schools. The silver bream can be found at a depth of 3 meters or more. If such a place is found, then it is better to fish it. Preferably using bait. Such places are also interesting because in addition to the silver bream, the catch can also be replenished with bream or roach.
Summer feeding areas
In traditional summer feeding areas, silver bream may appear during thaw periods when the ambient temperature rises. Typically, these are places with a depth of 1 to 2 meters.
Reverse current
These are very interesting places for the silver bream. Usually, larger individuals are caught here, but such places are quite dangerous, since the current can wash away the ice. In general, winter fishing is not an absolutely safe activity.
In areas with weak currents
In areas with fast currents, the silver bream does not feel comfortable, therefore, it chooses places where there is a current, but it is weak.
Having decided on a catchable place, you can start drilling holes. Any drilling pattern is selected, depending on the nature of the reservoir: drilling holes in a checkerboard pattern, drilling holes in an arc, drilling holes in a straight line or drilling holes from the center. You should drill at least 5 or 10 holes at a distance of 5-10 meters from one another. The tactics are as follows: drill the first hole and immediately feed, drill the second - and feed, etc. They start fishing from the first hole. If the silver bream is gone, it won’t be for long. She will return in about 15 minutes, attracted by the aroma of bait. If there is no bite within 5 minutes, then you can move on to the next hole. Similar actions are carried out until a bite follows. If there are no bites, then this is a signal that you will have to look for a new place and drill holes again. This factor indicates how difficult this winter fishing is.
Fishing for silver bream in bays without current
Gustera is not a rare fish species on the Volga. Its numerous flocks “occupied” all coastal areas, both the riverbed of the Volga and the shallow waters of the Cheboksary reservoir. It is also called “small-particle” fish. Grows quickly, ready to spawn in the third year of its fish life. Therefore, in winter it is sometimes better to bet on catching silver bream. Local residents living on the banks of the Volga often do this, stocking up on worms in the fall and going out on the ice with the goal of catching white bream, especially since they know the places where this fish gathers. Their gear is not particularly elegant, but the catches sometimes exceed those of urban fishermen with the most advanced gear.
In bays with weak currents and shallow depths, ordinary winter fishing rods with a bloodworm attachment and non-reeler gear are used. Most often these are the well-known “balalaika” type fishing rods. As already mentioned, local fishermen do not hesitate to use a fishing line with a thickness of 0.15 mm and are not left without catches. City fishermen are scrupulous and try to fish with thinner lines and tiny jigs. At the same time, they often lag behind the natives in catches. This, apparently, prompted the wounded urban professionals of the winter fishing rod to acts of retaliation in the form of the use of a “new weapon” - a reelless jig called “Medusa”. And progress won, these freshwater jellyfish began to catch local fishermen. But first, about the weapons of the opponents, that is, about the gear and tactics of local fishermen aimed at catching silver bream.
We have already talked about the fishing line, it is clearly not the thinnest, the bait is mostly worms, which fishermen from the city rarely use. The tactic, although not new, works effectively. The main method of local peasants is wiring from top to bottom. To do this, they first lower the jig with a bunch of dung worms to the bottom, then pull the fishing rod up, lifting the jig with the worms immediately to a distance of 1-1.5 m from the bottom. After waiting for a moment, the fisherman began to slowly lower the bait with the worms down, causing it to oscillate very finely, while at the same time making smooth swings of the jig. The technique is quite labor-intensive at first glance, but with practice it is quite doable. However, this method was used to catch fish back in Soviet times and was just as effective.
Now about the tactics and strategy of fishermen from the twenty-first century. The reelless “jellyfish” works in the same vein, that is, on reverse wiring from top to bottom, which, as you know, likes silver bream and bream with large roach. There is nothing new here yet and different from the tactics of the Volga fishermen, except for the fact that there is no attachment or bait on the jig hook. But the “jellyfish” has new technologies that differ from the “devils” we are used to. On these jigs, the hooks are suspended from the side, which creates their movements similar to the tentacles of real jellyfish. Moreover, it is not at all necessary to make very energetic movements to make these pseudo-tentacles vibrate even more. Even with the slightest actions like slowly lowering the bait down, even without hesitation, the hooks move like living legs or something like that, apparently reminding the fish of amphipod jigs or other underwater bugs or insects. As underwater filming has shown, fish are very attracted to oscillating hooks equipped with beads of different colors. This distinguishes “jellyfish” from “devils”, which arouse the fish’s interest in the shape of the jig itself, even with bare hooks, that is, without various additional baits. The first reaction of a large fish to the game of a “jellyfish” is a clear desire to tear something away from this rather large insect and the attack first falls on the hooks with beads. Or the “big fish,” attracted by the movements of the hooks, tries to swallow the jig whole.
The main advantage of this jig can be safely called the lateral placement of freely suspended hooks with replants. And it turns out that such a jig, one might say, is two in one: an active reelless bait with a new hook suspension and the popular “devil”, since there is a clear similarity between these two baits. And the Volga silver bream and bream frankly liked the “jellyfish”.
So, city fishermen began to beat local fishermen in an unspoken competition for catching silver bream. But all the same, fishing with a jig with a worm had and remains one important advantage: if fishermen with reelless reelers like “jellyfish” had to drill new holes all the time, looking for new fish to replace the caught one, then local fishermen easily caught almost all the fish in a day with one holes. Moreover, this hole was not always fed with something. Just at the smell of a punctured worm, the fish came and came, replacing their departed comrades... But the newcomer fishermen are not born with bast. They began to use bait, although this seems to be not customary when fishing with a reelless bait.
In addition to the success of the new “jellyfish” bait, knowledge of the bottom topography often plays an important role. If the hook starts to catch various shells from time to time, it means the right place has been chosen. You need to notice and mark it, best with the help of a navigator. And why? Well, shells and shells... The fact is that shell plantations can be said to be Eldorado for the silver bream. It “grazes” here, if the larger ones feed on mollusks, and the smaller individuals simply peel various underwater inhabitants from the shells, such as the amphipod jig.
The best time to catch silver bream is in winter
White bream is actively caught throughout the day, but with the onset of darkness its activity stops. Moreover, it bites in any weather, both during periods of thaw and during periods of severe frost. It seems that the silver bream is not affected in any way by pressure changes and sudden changes in weather conditions. In this case, it can compete with burbot, for which the harsher the winter, the better for it. But this does not mean at all that it behaves equally actively in all bodies of water. If fishing is carried out in a familiar body of water, then calculating its activity is quite simple. As for an unfamiliar body of water, everything is much more complicated here. Going to such a body of water, you can be left without a catch, especially if you fail to find a catchable place. At the same time, you need to know whether there is a silver bream in it. It may happen that it will not be in the reservoir and all efforts aimed at catching this fish will be in vain.
The silver bream is most active on the first and last ice. During this period, fishing can be not only productive, but also dangerous, since the ice may not be so strong, especially when the first ice appears.
Winter silver bream and fishing features
After the first ice and generous fishing, when every now and then quite decent humpback perches bite and you can find a school of bream in the depths, there comes a period of sluggish calm, and in some places a complete absence of bite. The fishermen are only pestered by annoying and impudent ruffs, roaches, rarely the size of a palm, fiddle with the bloodworms, and perches of the same size play with the jig and lick the bloodworms from the hook so delicately that you won’t even notice. Often, only garrison fish still have a chance to catch large fish. But they are also bored of sitting among the palisade of girders or walking on the ice, tapping their hooks on their shoe covers. For the most part, no other fish bite near the girders, so all that remains is to wait for the pike to bite.
All these are the costs of the wilderness. And such an unpleasant period begins somewhere from the end of December, and continues until the end of January. But these are conditional terms. It all depends on the weather and ice conditions in each specific region.
Mostly found in fishermen's catches are roaches. If you find a good place, then a roach of quite decent size can bring a lot of pleasure from high-sport fishing, when on the thinnest fishing line with a diameter of 0.06-0.08 mm it is not a giant fish that resists, of course, but if it is two hundred to three hundred grams, then This is already good luck for the middle of winter. But there is a trick here. If you equip the reel with a slightly thicker fishing line, for example, with a diameter of 0.12 mm, then you may not even see a bite from a large roach. Here the complete opposite is the silver bream. This fish is often large in size and is not as careful as the sorog. You can’t “scare” her with a thick fishing line, within reasonable limits, of course. But a fishing line with a diameter of 0.15 mm will not stop the white bream from biting. And this is its clear and characteristic difference from other fish that remain active in winter and are caught by fishermen.
The restless silver bream quite often keeps the roach company. Unlike bream, it does not react so sensitively to seasonal and weather metamorphoses. And if the tackle starts to catch fish of average condition, then fishing will become quite successful for the winter. The silver bream resists in a special way, stubbornly and heavily at the bottom, like a bream. And the bite of a silver bream resembles a bream bite with a soft rise of a flexible nod as the jig lowers to the bottom. This is easily explainable from a biological point of view, since with a semi-lower mouth this fish is more convenient to take a bait that goes down to the bottom than when the jig rises to the hole.
What to catch silver bream in winter, the best baits
In winter, they mainly use bait such as dung worms, maggots or bloodworms. Combinations of these components, so-called “sandwiches,” show good results.
If fishing is carried out with bloodworms, then it is better to plant an odd number of larvae - 1, 3, 5, etc. For unknown reasons, the silver bream prefers exactly this number, as if it can count.
It should be inserted so that the hook tip is securely hidden. The silver bream will not take the bait if it suspects something, especially a protruding hook tip.
The silver bream does not have a large mouth, so you will have to use the smallest jigs with the same small hook. Gustera prefers jigs in the form of a shot or a drop, which are silver in color. At the same time, very often, an “ant” type jig catches any other jig.
Tackle for silver bream
Since this fish can be located anywhere in the reservoir, this means that slightly different tackle will be needed. They will not be much different from the means of catching roach in winter. Searching for silver bream involves using an ordinary “balalaika”, which has a thin fishing line, 0.1 mm thick, and a sensitive nod. The jig is suitable for the “pellet” type, medium-sized “ant” or “uralka”. It is important that it has low volume and high weight. The hook must be of high quality and sharp. The bait for it will be a medium-sized bloodworm so that the small silver bream does not break off too often.
When fishing a hole with this gear, the fish will certainly identify itself. The main thing is to correctly determine the size of the prey that bites, because the fisherman is interested, first of all, in solid specimens, and not in small things. You should throw bait into the successful holes you find, to which this species will definitely react, without worrying too much about the composition. Catching silver bream in winter involves using a bait mixture from the store, specially adapted for cold water, or preparing it yourself from fine breadcrumbs and ground fried seeds. Some fishermen use crumbly millet porridge. It is important not to overfeed the fish, otherwise you may not dream of a good catch. One feeder is enough for starter feeding. It is worth supplementary feeding if the bite weakens, but not through a feeder, but by throwing small clumps of food directly into the water.
When the silver bream is found, it is advisable to change the “balalaika” to tackle with a stronger fishing line, the thickness of which is 0.12 - 0.14 mm. This fishing rod is equipped with legs so that it can be easily installed on ice. A leash with a hook is tied above the end jig to determine the current habits of the silver bream. Now they use maggots as bait, and catch several of them at once. Some people catch silver bream in winter semolina dough. The fish also willingly bite on it.
Tackle for catching silver bream in winter
As a rule, a regular winter fishing rod with a nod or a float . Most winter fishing enthusiasts use a fishing rod with a nod. For fishing for silver bream, such a fishing rod is ideal and there is no point in inventing something extraordinary. The fact is that the bites of this fish are quite cautious and the float is not able to respond to the bite in time. Therefore, to catch it, it is better to take a winter fishing rod with a sensitive nod.
To catch silver bream in winter, the tackle must meet certain requirements. Therefore, the following gear elements are selected:
- Line diameter 0.08-0.15 mm. The optimal option is 0.12 mm.
- A small jig, with a body of 2-3 mm and a small hook.
- Sensitive nod.
- Sensitive float, if the tackle is float.
It is not recommended to deepen the tackle, as a thicker line can alert rather cautious fish, such as silver bream.
Where to look for silver bream in winter
As a rule, flocks of larger individuals are not as numerous as clusters of medium-sized birds. In addition, the largest fish prefer to stay in moderate currents along with bluegill, white-eye and bream. But on the other hand, numerous flocks of medium-sized silver bream often delight fishermen with a good bite in shallow bays, especially in the mouth expansions of rivers at the confluence of the Volga reservoirs in the middle reaches of the river. Particularly promising places for catching silver bream in winter are dumps and bay edges, which are accumulations of shell rocks. These are real table silver breams, which are very fond of river mollusks. These bays are usually remembered in the fall and by the first ice. And here large crowds of fishermen often gather, sitting on fishing boxes standing nearby, resembling flocks of penguins.
Playing with a jig
Catching silver bream requires a kind of jig play. Gustera does not tolerate sudden or fast movements, so playing with a jig comes down to slow, even and low-amplitude movements.
Something like this: the jig approaches the very bottom, after which it is slowly and smoothly raised to a height of about 20 cm. This is followed by a pause, and without fail. Without a pause, fishing will not take place. In conclusion, the jig also slowly and evenly falls down. After the jig touches the bottom, there is a pause again. The silver bream attacks the bait while the jig is moving upward or during a pause. As practice shows, 90% of bites occur during pauses.
If the silver bream pecks during a pause, then the moment of the bite can be easily recorded, but if during the rise of the jig, then everything is more complicated. This is due to the fact that the fishing rod, along with the nod, is in motion, and the fish takes the bait very carefully. As a rule, you can’t catch a fish without hooking, and in order to hook it in time, you also need to notice it in time. If you manage to catch several white breams, you can adapt to this type of bite.
Depending on the conditions, the silver bream can be located on any water horizon, starting from the very bottom and ending with the uppermost horizon, located near the ice. Therefore, the task is further complicated by this factor. The fisherman quite often has to change the fishing depth in order to find a school of silver bream.
Catching silver bream in spring on a feeder
Catching silver bream in the spring on a feeder is considered the most effective fishing method.
Tackle for catching silver bream in the spring on a feeder
As an optimal option for catching silver bream in the spring, we can recommend a medium class feeder rod with a medium (M) action and a weight of up to 100 grams. The length of the rod is selected based on the casting distance and for spring fishing it is 3.6 meters. If you plan to catch silver bream in the spring with a feeder on small rivers, then you can get by with a light feeder with an upper test limit of 60 grams.
Feeder rods usually come with interchangeable tips that vary in sensitivity. The choice of the appropriate tip option depends on the nature of the current, the weight of the feeder and weather conditions. To equip the feeder you will need a spinning reel with a spool size of 2000-3000 according to the Shimano classification.
Depending on the casting distance, monofilament line or braided cord is used in the rig.
Monoline is usually taken for fishing at a distance of up to 40 meters, and in other cases a braided cord is used.
The diameter of a monofilament line for catching silver bream in the spring on a feeder ranges from 0.2 to 0.25 millimeters, and a braided cord with a cross-section from 0.12 to 0.16 millimeters is suitable. Along with the braided cord, the rig will need to include a shock leader made of monofilament fishing line with a diameter of 0.25 to 0.3 millimeters, which acts as a shock absorber when casting and retrieving fish.
The length of the shock leader is equal to two lengths of the feeder rod and in this case is about 8 meters. For making leashes, fluorocarbon fishing line with a diameter of 0.14 millimeters is suitable. Depending on the speed of the current, leashes with a length of 20 to 80 centimeters are selected. Feeder feeders are selected weighing from 30 grams.
Read Techniques for fishing with a retractable leash and installation of equipment
You can determine the required weight of the feeder on a reservoir, taking into account the depth and speed of the current at the fishing site. The size of the hooks is No. 10-18 according to international gradation. A paternoster (Gardner loop) is suitable as a feeder rig for catching silver bream in the spring. For fishing, you will also need a stand or stand on which the tackle will subsequently be placed.
Technique for catching silver bream in the spring on a feeder
Before you start fishing, you need to make several casts with a marker sinker to find various depressions and depressions on the bottom surface where large silver bream likes to stand
First of all, you should pay attention to holes, areas with sharp changes in depth and so-called “tables”. When we find a promising point, tie a feeder to the equipment and fill it with bait mixture
Having chosen a landmark on the opposite bank, we move the rod back and cast.
When casting, try to keep the rod in a vertical position to avoid overlapping the equipment. After the fishing line or cord sag, we make a short but sharp hook to free the feeder from the remnants of the bait. Then we clip the length of the fishing line, that is, we fix it in the stopper located on the reel spool. This way all subsequent casts will be accurate. After making several casts, we place a smaller feeder and tie a leash.
