Winter ice hunting for carp has been practiced by fishermen not so long ago. It is difficult to catch such large fish. This is partly true, since this representative becomes extremely capricious when it gets cold and stops feeding. Therefore, only knowing how to catch carp in winter can you go after the coveted prey.
Catch on ice
How to find carp in winter
When going on a search, you need to take into account the temperature of the aquatic environment. This fish likes to settle where it is warmer (at the bottom). Despite the fact that under the ice crust there is the warmest layer (0 degrees), carp rarely rise so high. And given the importance of oxygen for a predator, it must be found where there is plenty of it. Such places include:
- dams;
- dams;
- rivers (former ravines);
- shallow water in ponds where there is a lot of vegetation, snags and deep holes;
- areas where warm streams constantly flow.
For beginners in this business, it is better to explore the reservoir in the summer, ask local fishermen and find out where the bite is best. Promising places in summer remain the same in winter. An echo sounder will make searching for prey easier.
We must not lose sight of the behavioral characteristics of fish with the onset of cold weather. She is characterized by a violent temperament, which often leads to damage to the gear. But this only happens in the summer. In winter, the predator falls into an ambitious state, although it does not stop feeding. Therefore, you need to choose good gear and everything else.
On wild reservoirs
Of course, it is best to carry out winter carp fishing on familiar rivers and lakes where they were successfully caught in the summer. If you are going to do winter fishing, then it is useful to simply come to these places in the summer or autumn and carefully examine them. But if you have to start right away in an unfamiliar place, then when choosing promising parking spots, you need to focus on the following factors:
- The presence of deep places - up to 6 meters deep.
- Finding nearby attractive places for shelter - snags, sunken trees. Large fish care not only about food, but also about their own safety.
- Places near the exit of underground springs. During winter fishing, you can find such places by signs of a decrease in ice thickness and the formation of thawed patches.
- Flowing streams or small rivers throw in warmer water than the average water in the reservoir. Maybe not by much, but the carp feels this difference. Places near the confluence of tributaries will attract him.
- Good fishing spots are located near hydroelectric power plants that release heated water. But this is already in the realm of pleasant additions - not every river has a hydroelectric power station.
In principle, winter carp fishing is possible even in the absence of ice. But catching it in open water is still exotic. If only because finding a winter river without ice, and even one where fish of this family are found, is not an easy task. Usually these are places near thermal power plants that discharge well-heated water.
Tackle and fishing methods
Unlike other, smaller inhabitants of reservoirs, carp strongly resists when fished. Not every tackle can withstand such pressure - it must be strong and moderately rough. Otherwise, it will become too noticeable, which will reduce the number of bites.
Fishing rods - fishing with a jig or spinner
Types of winter fishing rods
There are 2 types of fishing rods suitable for fishing: Balalaikas - their reel also serves as a handle. An option suitable for catching small carp using a jig. This type of gear is easier to maneuver.
Classic - float fishing rods with a handle, which are used when hunting for large game. Jigs are also used. They are more suitable for fishing in large ponds, where trophies weighing up to 3 kg are common. Unlike balalaikas, they are equipped with a volumetric coil. This prevents the rod from being pulled into the hole.
The length of the whip is selected depending on the fishing method - standing or sitting. Size 40-100 cm.
When catching carp from ice, fishermen use jigs - they go better with a nod. If hooks are used, then it is advisable to combine them with a spoon and a sinker. Both options are working.
Nod
It is better to take long nods
Since in winter carp are caught without playing as actively with a jig as in the case of perch, the nod serves more to signal a bite. Therefore, when selecting, we focus on the following characteristics:
- Length - within 15-20 cm.
- Material: lavsan or flat metal spring.
- The color is bright, attracting the attention of fish from afar.
- The nod must be attached to the rod whip using a rubber clamp.
Fishing with a float rod
Any floats are suitable for winter carp fishing.
If a float is used as a signaling device, it must be large. When the water temperature is slightly below zero, preference is given to small-sized “wagglers” or two-piece floats for winter fishing.
In the dead of winter, it is better to use floats in the form of tablets. When the weather is consistently warm and the ice is slightly melting, large sliding floats 50 cm long are used.
Since they are caught mainly in the bottom layers, the color of the floats is not so important - in cloudy water, the fish still will not notice what is looming from above at a distance of 5 meters. The top of the alarm, which has a rich scarlet or dark green color, is slightly submerged relative to the water surface by 2 cm. This prevents it from freezing into the ice.
Fishing with a float rod is considered a classic method, requiring a certain patience and control over the tackle. The method is suitable for both active and passive carp. For fishing at night, large floats are used, and the bait is corn with bloodworms or worms with maggots.
fishing line
When fishing for carp in winter, use monofilament or braided fishing line. Monofilament with a diameter of 0.12-0.22 mm is good for fishing for small fish. For larger representatives, scaffolding with a cross section of 0.2 to 0.3 mm will be required. Braided, diameter should be 0.06 to 0.12 mm.
When using thickened monofilament line, they try to choose a color so that it is not very noticeable in the water. These are dark colors.
Carp jig
Allows you to smoothly maneuver the bait, shaking it periodically. A similar game is acceptable for catching sluggish carp - it can provoke it. Slow rises and descents of the jig near the bottom also help. If the fish does not bite, but discovers itself by touching it, you need to freeze for a while or make slight oscillatory movements when retrieving.
Jigs
Successfully bites on standing jigs. You need to choose a smaller one, but with a large hook. It is important that the product not only reaches the bottom of the reservoir, but also stays there with the nozzle. In this regard, jigs like:
- pellet;
- oatmeal;
- a drop.
The color of this element of gear does not matter. But fishermen more often buy black, rich green or dirty red. When fishing with jigs, the signal that the prey is hooked will be the swinging of the nod, followed by a jump or going under water.
Bait - fishing with corn and other baits
Carp react more actively to bait of animal origin:
- bloodworm;
- earthworms;
- maggot.
The bite on vegetable baits is a little worse: corn, porridge, peas. Many fishermen combine livestock with plant lures (for example, adding a couple of bloodworms or maggots to a corn grain).
Fishing with girders
Fishing for a zherlitsa can give good results at the beginning of winter (on the first ice). During this period, carp still continue to actively search for food, so they live mainly closer to the surface. In early spring, you can also use the girder, since the fish begins to rise - they begin their pre-spawning feast.
A zerlitsa is a tackle in the form of a reel and a signal flag
Experienced fishermen manage to catch carp on a girder even in the dead of winter. Carp constantly changes its location. If there is no bite on one hole for 1-2 hours, you need to move to another.
Baits and lures
For carp hunting to be productive, you need to prepare and feed the holes. Working food for carp, according to the advice of experienced fishermen, consists of 90% inedible (low-calorie) ingredients, and 10% edible. You should not use flavorings, just add a little bloodworm. Such bait will perfectly attract fish to the hole without saturating it. No more than three hundred grams are thrown into the hole per day.
Read! Fishing for carp in May
The feed mixture can be either finely or coarsely fractionated, used raw (compound feed used in fish farms) and boiled. Each fisherman has his own secret recipe for making it.
Catching baits and attachments are: dung worms, bloodworms, insect larvae, boilies, pearl barley and wheat grains.
Composition of carp bait
Complementary feeding is important both in summer and winter. Necessary for luring fish closer to the hole in the ice. Only in winter it is not so voracious and requires less food to satisfy itself. Therefore, you should not overdo it, otherwise the predator will quickly eat enough and stop pecking altogether.
Carps love to eat, so fishermen call them “piglets”
The bait can be ready-made (sold in specialized stores) or homemade. In the first case, compositions for catching crucian carp or crucian carp are selected. The composition of mixtures prepared independently usually includes the following components:
- millet (it is not fully cooked);
- powdered milk;
- crushed roasted peanuts;
- bran (preferably rye).
You cannot add any flavorings to complementary foods - they will only scare off prey that has a developed sense of smell.
The attractive mixture is flavored with a small amount of water from the pond. When it swells, roll it into balls and throw it into the hole. Then feed bloodworms are poured in there (literally a pinch).
Features of winter bait
The most important rule for catching carp in winter is not to “overdo it” with bait. Moreover, not only with its total quantity, but also with the sizes of individual elements. The thing is that during winter/cold periods, carp not only rarely look for food, but also during “light” hunger they only pick up small pieces of “food”. Some fishermen explain this by the fact that fish have no reason to look for huge pieces of food when digestion is slow. Others believe that the fish is extremely cautious, and therefore, first checks how this food is absorbed by its body. Therefore, if you throw in a lot of bait, then the carp will quickly get enough (say: “thank you!”) and will be indifferent to food for a day.
Fishing technique - hooking and retrieving
When catching, you need a special technique. It is important not to miss the moment when a bite occurs and immediately make a hook. After this, you need to competently pull the fish out (the process is called reeling).
When there is a bite, the upper part of the float is activated
When fishing with a float tackle, when a fish is caught, the signaling device begins to twitch slightly and rise in the hole. If a nod is used, the float first begins to tremble and straightens sharply. Sometimes the alarm sinks instantly and the nod bends (this happens with small fish).
When catching carp with a jig, the main thing is to make the hook in a timely manner. It should be short and sharp, immediately after straightening the nod or when raising the alarm above the water. Here it is unacceptable to swing too much or hesitate - in the first case, the hook can tear the lip and it will break, in the second, the jig will jump out of the fish’s mouth.
Small and medium-sized ones are caught quickly. If you come across more impressive prey, you should pull it towards the hole carefully, without forcing events. At the same time, carefully collect the fishing line and throw it aside so that it does not interfere with the process.
When faced with serious resistance, they clamp the line with two fingers and cast it under pressure - a few passes like this and the fish will run out of steam. Then the carp's head is inserted into the hole and pulled onto the ice using a hook.
What to do with flavorings?
As practice has shown, most flavorings are not able to dissolve well enough in cold water. Some of them, under the influence of chemical processes (at low temperatures), immediately float to the surface. Others, on the contrary, “freeze” at the bottom, and at one point. And, only some varieties can “disperse” evenly, which is very important in order to catch very (!) sluggish carp in winter.
Therefore, experienced carp fishermen advise us to use a combination of at least three flavors in baits. And then, let the floating “aromas” rise to the top, let the dispersive ones spread wider, and let the difficultly soluble ones remain in place. As a result, using the available range of flavors, we get a completely working option for winter carp fishing!
What time to catch
The period of successful fishing on a pond depends on the degree of ice cover, as well as weather conditions and time of day. In winter, and even at night, you should not hope to catch this predator. Even during the day he doesn’t come out for long, so you need to have time to provoke him to bite.
First ice - December
Fishing in December guarantees success. Under the ice that has not yet formed, the carp continues to feed as before. They go hunting from early morning until 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Therefore, every avid fisherman looks forward to the freeze-up period.
Glukhozimye - January
Carp becomes passive in the dead of winter. No more than half an hour is enough for saturation - during this time the fish come out of their hiding places. Such “outings” occur more often after lunch. They note an improvement in the bite on cloudy days with light snowfall. But in cold weather, with a sharp drop in atmospheric pressure or strong wind, the fish stop eating.
Last Ice - February
In February it comes to life - prepares for spawning and begins to feed intensively again. At this time, the fish reacts to any bait. In sunny and warm weather, the bite can last up to 5 hours.
Choosing a reservoir and searching for carp
A favorite pond or quarry with a lot of fish in winter may not respond to bites at all. And there are good reasons for this. Carp do not show activity when there is a lack of oxygen.
Therefore, when choosing, exclude closed and poorly flowing lakes, small or heavily overgrown ponds. The rotting of underwater plants further reduces the oxygen level, and the carp becomes completely passive. Fishing can turn into dragging small rotans or carp.
For carp fishing choose:
- large flowing lakes;
- deep ponds;
- quarries with underwater springs;
- reaches of quiet rivers.
Lakes
On flowing lakes, carp, as a rule, stand in deep places near the confluence of rivers and streams. There the water is more saturated with air. If the topography of the reservoir is familiar, holes, dumps and edges will be promising.
Ponds
In ponds and quarries, look for places with the thinnest ice; there is a high probability that the springs flow there, which means the fish are close. Places with flooded trees and snags may be optimal.
Reservoirs
Look for difficult bottom topography, for example, areas near dams or dams, various channels and places near locks may be good places. Waste water is often discharged there, and at this time the carp come to the warm oxygen-saturated water in search of food.
Seasonality
Differences in carp behavior can be roughly divided into fishing:
- on the first ice;
- wilderness;
- on the last ice.
The beginning and end of winter are especially active. In December, approximately the same result is shown by the search and the wait-and-see position on bait.
During the low winter period, everything depends on weather conditions. Short-term biting usually occurs on wells fed in advance. At the end of winter, an influx of water begins to flow into the reservoirs and the carp become more active.
Dependence of the bite on the weather
Weather conditions directly affect biting activity. In persistently high frosts, a trip to catch carp is pointless. An increase in water temperature during thaws that last for several days increases appetite. Lighting is of great importance.
The thickness of the snow does not transmit light well and this also affects activity. The carp bite usually occurs between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and lasts from 15 to 30 minutes. In sunny weather, the probability of catching the coveted trophy is much higher than in cloudy weather.
Expert opinion
Valery Andreevich Sizov
Professional fisherman with 35 years of experience
Important! With increasing atmospheric pressure, the oxygen content in the water increases, which leads to the activation of carp.
Fishing tricks - tips from experienced carp anglers
A larger hole is clearly needed
In addition to the standard rules of conduct when fishing from ice, there are several more subtleties that affect the effectiveness of the process. Here are some pro tips:
- at the beginning of winter, when the ice is still thin and carp are scurrying near the surface, shade the hole with snow (cardboard or whatever is at hand) or do not completely remove the ice crumbs;
- to drill holes in the ice, use an ice ax with a diameter of more than 130 mm - otherwise, when fishing, a large fish will not slip through the small hole;
- if the bite decreases, add more feeding in combination with bloodworms;
- When the fish does not bite or repeatedly leaves the hook, check the sharpness and also replace the line with a smaller diameter one.
- Experienced fishermen recommend making several holes. This is in case there is no bite for a long time. Then you can quickly move to another hole and try your luck again.
Drilling holes
The number of holes for carp fishing is an individual matter. But fans of this type of fishing advise doing about 9 pieces. This technique has proven itself to be effective. After you have decided on the choice of location, you need to visually outline an isosceles triangle with sides of about 9 m. And drill holes along the perimeter after 3 meters.
Many do it in a staggered pattern or along the shoreline, and there are also fishermen who prefer just a few pieces. There are mandatory conditions.
The holes must be darkened; carp are too cautious fish and will not approach open light water. To darken, use cut out circles from scrap materials with a hole for fishing line or simply sprinkle the hole with snow.
Expert opinion
Valery Andreevich Sizov
Professional fisherman with 35 years of experience
Important: Carp is a large fish, so use a 130-150 mm drill. When fishing, this will help you deal with the prey faster.
Seasonal fishing patterns
First Ice
During first ice, carp are most active. In different bodies of water, freeze-up may occur at different times, but the beginning of December is, as a rule, a favorable time for catching carp from the ice. Carp can be caught every day if the weather is favorable, and you can either wait for the fish to come for bait or actively search for carp.
Glukhozimye
January and February are traditionally the least promising months for carp fishing. During the deep winter period, the carp bite can be very short-lived and may not even happen every day. Fishing on constantly fed holes may be optimal, but even here the angler should have patience.
Last Ice
With the onset of warmth, fresh water rich in oxygen begins to flow under the ice, and the activity of the carp increases. In March and especially in April you can count on good catches.
Winter carp fishing tactics
Before you start fishing for winter carp, it is important to learn the main rule: never take it into warm hands. Since this will serve as a rather serious shock for the fish, from which it may even die. Therefore, before taking the carp into your arms, be sure to lower your hands into the pond for a minute (let them “cool down” properly). Thus, the risks of temperature shock will be minimized, and your conscience before nature will be crystal clear.
Which strategy should you choose? In principle, there are only 2 ways to catch carp in winter. The first of them (“long-lasting”) is to scout out one fishing point and patiently wait for a bite, while admiring the winter nature. The second one is suitable for more experienced fishermen, also with an “active” / restless character. Its essence is to divide the fishing zone into small sectors, and then, one by one, throw bait to the carp, as they say, right “up to the nose.” However, for this option, it is advisable to know the reservoir - rated “excellent”.
