Catching pike perch on the Don in October: how to catch pike perch if it doesn’t want to be caught

October is the best month for pike perch on the Don - usually the “fanged” one bites everywhere and on everything. And my friend and I decided, before he left for Moscow, to devote a couple of days to fishing on the Don for pike perch. He really wanted to treat his family with fresh fish. It would seem, what could be simpler? However, catching pike perch on the Don turned out to be very difficult. Already at home, looking at the weather diary, I understood why the pike perch was so “sausage”. The pressure was constantly jumping up and down. First bright sun, then strong wind, then precipitation, then quiet, clear and cold again!

A treasured place for catching pike perch on the Don

Remembering that a lot of fishermen would come to the left bank of the Don on weekends, we decided to cross to the right bank and try our luck there. We were the first to reach the desired place. True, very soon several cars arrived at the same clearing. Some for mushrooms, some with a spinning rod, some with bottom fishing rods.

This didn’t bother us at all: we had already taken cool places and the first good zander weighing 1.8 kg had already been caught. There is nothing surprising in this: the place is familiar, the catchable bait is known, the tackle corresponds to the fishing conditions, Andrey was nearby and helped catch the fish with a landing net.

But still there were not enough bites. Usually it was pecked more often in this place. Many anglers constantly moved along the shore, here and there catching perch and small pike from under the shore. But we only needed pike perch! For this reason, I was still marking time in the catchy place, constantly increasing my result. By lunchtime, four pike perch, a pike and three perch were awaiting their fate on the kukan.

A friend from Moscow, frankly speaking, was not having a good time fishing. He was never able to catch anything worthy. Several perch, a pencil pike and one “transparent” zander, which he released back into the water.

Perch's whims

It would seem that October is the most catchy month for pike perch on the Don. Usually the “fanged” one bites everywhere and on everything. We decided to move a little downstream, check out a new place, cook fish soup and fish at dawn. There you can spend the night in tents.

While I was cleaning the fish and preparing the fish soup, Andrey returned from fishing again with nothing. No bites! How so? It’s deeper here and there are snags where pike perch can hide – a classic pike perch place! All hope was for the predator to come out in the evening, but this did not happen. In the evening a strong wind blew, such that it bent our tents and blew all the dishes off the table. There was no question of any jig fishing. We went to bed amid the howling wind and falling rain.

The morning was not at all encouraging with good weather. The same wind, although it didn’t knock me off my feet, made me hold the spinning rod tighter than usual. The braid was blown out in a loop and the contacts of the bait with the bottom were completely invisible. Instead of 25 grams, I tied 35 grams, which slightly improved the sensitivity of the entire tackle, and immediately got a wild bite, which even Andrey noticed from the shore. The lead weight was left with deep grooves from sharp pikeperch fangs.

Sometimes it happens that bad weather, on the contrary, contributes to the predator’s pecking. But the pike perch was still capricious. He jerks once, hard, but doesn’t show himself anymore, as if he wasn’t there at all. My load had already been torn apart, as if by a rasp, and I still couldn’t catch a single pike perch. All bites occurred either in the tail of the foam rubber or in the lead “bullet”.

After thinking a little, we decided to leave this place and move to the Bystry Channel, where the same wind was supposed to blow across the current, that is, in the fisherman’s face. This is better than the side one - it is easier to track bites and you can use lighter load weights.

Fishing for pike perch on the left bank of the Don

I think there is no point in writing about the same thing. The pike perch continued to be mischievous. We only saw three bites each, but we didn’t catch anything. In bewilderment, I started calling fishermen I knew, who reassured me: no one had really caught anything these days, and even less so from the shore.

Those who fished with baits with open hooks were content with rare bites and spotted fish. We had more bites in the snags than others, but baits with pressed hooks did not detect capricious fish well.

We decided not to tempt fate, but to spend the night in the city and on Monday make a last attempt to catch pike perch in the Vertyachiy farm, after which we went home: he to Moscow, I to Volgograd.

The best baits for catching pike perch in spring

The range of baits that can be used when fishing for pike perch is pleasantly large; fishing stores offer various designs of wobblers, silicone baits for jig fishing, as well as rotating and oscillating spoons. Any of the options for the proposed baits has its own characteristics and advantages, but there are also baits in each category that occupy leading positions in terms of efficiency; let’s look at some options:

• The Litl Cleo model spinner is highly effective when fishing for pike perch on rivers and lakes. The model demonstrates game stability when retrieving slowly, which is mainly used when catching a passive predator.

Little Cleo

• The Spinnex Atom model spinner is in great demand among professional fishermen. The bait is suitable for fishing in moderate currents. The model is offered in an assortment of colors; among its many advantages, we can note an excellent price/quality ratio.

Spinnex Atom

• Wobbler Pontoon 21 Greedy-Guts, the model has two tees, each with a No. 8, the bait is characterized by positive buoyancy. When performing a slow retrieve, the wobbler can dive up to 2.5 meters. The greatest efficiency is demonstrated when fishing using twitching.

Wobbler Pontoon 21 Greedy-Guts

• Wobbler Yo-Zuri L-Minnow-44, the bait is perfect for fishing from the shore; it can easily be cast over a considerable distance. There are balls inside the wobbler that significantly increase the aerodynamic properties. The model is suitable for fishing in still water and on currents. The weight of the wobbler is 5 grams, during wiring it is capable of going under water 1.5 meters, it is a sinking model.

Wobbler Yo-Zuri L-Minnow-44

• The Bugsy Shad 72 vibrating tail has a unique body that looks like a caterpillar. The bait has a pronounced smell of mackerel or mackerel. Demonstrates excellent game with stepped or uniform wiring. Can be used with an offset hook or equipped with a jig head weighing up to 7 grams.

Vibrating tail Bugsy Shad 72

• Twister Crazy Fisn Angy Spin 2, with this bait you can successfully catch not only pike perch, but also pike, as well as large perch. Twister is offered in two scents: shrimp, squid. This silicone bait works great with a uniform slow retrieve and a classic step.

Crazy Fisn Angy Spin 2
We reviewed only two types of each type of artificial bait, which, according to anglers, are the most effective. However, we note that there are many other models, cheaper in cost, which, if served correctly, can also demonstrate decent results when fishing for pike perch not only in the fall, but also in other periods of the year in open water.

Seize the moment to fish for pike perch

The weather forecast was one hundred percent correct. The morning turned out to be sunny, quiet and cold. Quite quickly I adapted to the snags that lay along the shore, and, moving the bait along it, I saw the first bites.

The pike perch behaved “decently” this time. After the first bite, they continued to be interested in my bait and I managed to catch them. I caught three pike perch one after another, one of which weighed 1.5 kg. Here you go! Finally! True, Andrei again did not succeed. Only by lunchtime he was able to get away from zero with a small but quite edible pike perch.

In that place the pike perch became capricious again, the wind rose again, and the situation repeated itself exactly as yesterday on the right bank. Rare and angry bites, but without any continuation. Either they bite off the tail, or they leave marks on the cargo. And then the rain started to fall...

Everything went as if according to the worked out scenario. We had to admit our powerlessness before the forces of nature, respect the reluctance of pike perch to eat our bait and be content with a modest catch.

Already at home, looking at the weather diary, I understood why the pike perch was so “sausage”. The pressure was constantly jumping up and down. First bright sun, then strong wind, then precipitation, then quiet, clear and cold again! If I had chosen a day for fishing, I would definitely not have gone anywhere, but stayed at home. Nevertheless, I am grateful to my Moscow comrade that he practically forced me to catch fish at a moment when it did not want to be caught.

And this is very interesting! It turns you on, and makes you angry, and hits you with disgusting weather. Rare bites are regarded as a reward for diligence. Despite all this, I returned home happy: the fish soup was cooked, my friend went home with five good pike perch, and I soaked a whole basin of poplar row.

Alexey Kolomiets

Fishing for pike perch in the lower reaches of the Don

> Where to fish > Fishing in Russia and around the world > Fishing for pike perch in the lower reaches of the Don

One of the most famous places in the lower reaches of the Don is Rogozhkino. Many fishermen from Rostov go to this place to fish. Driving here does not take much time - this place is located only 35 km from Rostov. The abundance of different types of fish is the main thing that attracts a lot of anglers here in the autumn. After all, at this time a huge amount of various fish accumulates here. Here you can catch pike, ram, carp, sabrefish, bream, pike perch, perch and many other fish.

Simply put, all the fish wealth of the Don flows into its lower reaches, and for a certain time they feed heavily, trying to gain more fat before the freeze-up. Fish are attracted here by the calm current, the abundance of shallow holes, and long underwater ridges that are located along the entire right bank.

Fishing in the lower reaches of the Don

It is carried out with a variety of gear, many fish with a donkey with a spring, which is filled with bait, or a piece of makukha (pressed cake) is tied to the donkey, many prefer fishing with a “ring”.

As a rule, traditional baits and baits, maggots, worms, crayfish meat, bloodworms, dough, pearl barley, canned corn, etc. are used.

Some of the fishermen, who are usually in the minority, are the most active in hunting predatory fish. As a rule, they do not stand in one place, and explore the banks or ply boats in the lower reaches of the Don, exploring the bottom with spoons and vibrator tails, hoping to catch a greedy pike perch or perch.

In some years, a huge number of pike perch enter Rogozhkino and migrate after the forage fish. Sudachi zhor usually begins in the second half of October and lasts until the coldest weather.

Erik Kabachy is one of the best places for catching predators in the lower reaches of the Don. Of course, it is better to take a boat with you, although you can negotiate with the locals about the watercraft. Even during the week, the entire water area of ​​Erik is covered with fishermen’s boats, and on weekends there is nowhere for an apple to fall. The depths here are decent and there are many promising holes and edges where a 27 gram pike perch with a vibrating tail likes to feed; here it can go into the depths like into the cosmic abyss. So fishing for pike perch in the lower reaches of the Don

On Erik Kabachy the business is very promising. However, there are quite a lot of pike here, and the size of the spotted predator here is considerable.

Experienced fishermen said that most pike perch bites when fishing on the Kabachy erik occur in reed windows and small bays on the right bank. The places are good and there are not many snags there.

Below, all the way to Erik, there are also good places for catching pike perch, but there are a lot of snags there and if there are not too many baits and they are expensive, it is better not to fish in these places.

The habits of the local pike perch are not much different from the habits of pike perch in other bodies of water; pike perch generally prefers to stick to places with decent depth and variations in depth. If a high wind blows, then you should look for pike perch on the edges near the right bank. When the weather is calm and windless or there is a weak downwind, pike perch often scatters throughout the entire water area of ​​the channel, but is quite rare near the left bank in any case. And many fishermen who tried their luck there did not see anything good in these places.

Many fishermen in the lower reaches of the Don successfully use two fishing methods. This is horizontal wiring and vertical fishing. Pike-perch fishing in the lower reaches of the Don

, involves rafting with the current and fishing in promising areas, while the bait is smoothly lowered and then raised. The amplitude of movements is usually about 30 cm. In this case, the angler must have an excellent feel for the bottom. As a result, if vertical fishing is carried out at depths of 10 m and higher, then the vibrotail must be placed on a head weighing at least 27 grams. If the head is lighter, then it is “lost” in the water column, which means that fishing efficiency decreases.

During horizontal wiring, sudden movements should be avoided. It is best to do a smooth pull and reel in the line at the same time. Then take a short pause and stretch again. At this time, the vibrotail moves in steps, stopping on the ground, which is very attractive to pike perch and other predatory fish. Pike perch has a specific bite, usually there is a feeling of a certain heaviness, or dull short pokes are felt on the fishing line. Even the slightest hint of a bite is a reason for a sharp, immediate hook, or there is a risk that the fanged one will simply spit out the artificial bait. It should also be taken into account that pike perch have a very hard mouth; to pierce it, you need a sharp hook and a hard rod. Otherwise, at least 50% of bites will simply be idle.

As for the fishing line, for catching pike perch it is better to use a braided cord; it does not stretch and perfectly allows the fisherman to feel the pike perch bite, and it is good to hook the pike perch. Mostly braided wire with a cross section of 14-16 mm is used.

Fishing in the lower reaches of the Don, among other things, requires the angler to experiment with various baits. However, there is something that works great in the lower reaches of the Don almost always. These are branded fish of bright orange color, yellow with a bright green back, and green with a bright red tail.

As a rule, pike perch's feeding begins at dawn and usually lasts until 10 or 11 am. Then it resumes in the afternoon from 2 or 3 p.m. and can last until dark. In autumn, some anglers prefer night fishing for pike perch.

Of course, night fishing for pike perch in the lower reaches of the Don

, much more difficult than daytime fishing, but with good experience and knowledge of the reservoir it can be much more effective than daytime fishing. In addition, in the dark, fish are caught in larger sizes than during the day. This is probably explained by the fact that pike perch is less timid at night than during the day.

Also, night fishing for pike perch requires special equipment and equipment. What needs to be discussed separately.

Published: 06/18/2015

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