Fishing in winter with a lure is an old Russian method of winter fishing. Exceptional interest, fascination and accessibility are the reasons for its wide distribution. In certain periods it is so productive that it has long been of commercial importance for the Urals, Belarus, the Middle Volga and the North.
It should be noted that there is an increase in under-ice trolling in the Moscow region. Schools of perch, peta, ide, and roach have perfectly adapted to the new conditions and are rapidly multiplying. Every year there is an increase in such valuable fish species as burbot and tench. Small pike from small rivers flowing into the canal have grown into excellent specimens and are tempting prey for anglers. Particularly encouraging is the observed increase in the number of pike perch.
Spoons for winter fishing
Spoons for winter fishing
The spinner should be most attractive to the predator with its movement and various vibrations. When fishing with a spoon, you need to take into account the various depth and light conditions of fishing, the color of the water, the time of year and hours of the day, and the distinctive features of a particular breed of fish.
All achievements in this area, acquired by long-term experience and creative quests of thousands of fishermen, are by no means the limit.
You can make a spinner for winter fishing with your own hands; for this you use brass or copper plates, tin, lead in various weights, sizes and colors. By giving one shape or another, varying the distribution of gravity, using the shine of the metal, you can make the “game” of the spinner extremely varied, with the largest possible radius of movement.
To attach the spinner to the fishing line, use a small ring on a thin copper or brass wire, paying special attention to the strength of the connection (soldering) of the ends of the wire on the ring. The base of the spoon at the hook is wrapped with bright red wool in one row of 2-3 millimeters; a higher winding is not recommended - it will affect the “game”. The wool does not lose its bright color in water, unlike silk and paper threads.
The hook is attached to the spoon in such a way that its tip moves away from the base at an angle of 35 degrees and, together with the barb, is pushed onto the spoon. The constant sharpness of the sting is extremely important.
The best and most widely used are spinners with the center of gravity mixed towards the hook from the tin (lead) solder that secures the hook, and the bending of the spinner towards the hook, giving it a diving movement with oscillations along the long axis when immersed in water. When twitching, such a spoon will dive in different directions, faster or slower, depending on its width, weight and size, within a radius determined by the height of free fall. The “game” of a spinner is achieved not only by its correct construction, but also by the art of controlling it in the water. With the help of a fishing rod and a fishing line, at the end of which a spoon is attached to a ring, you can force it to make a wide variety of movements in the water - from complete rest or barely noticeable oscillation in place to a sharp take-off and rapid or smooth movement to the sides.
By carefully observing the movements of the rod, which produce the most attractive play of the spinner, causing the fish to bite, you can develop them to the point of automaticity.
Randomly “dipping” a spinner in a hole usually does not produce any results.
Controlling a spinner largely depends on the correct fishing line and rod. If possible, the fishing line should not, by its resistance to the mass of water, affect the movement of the spoon. The thinner the line, the fewer knots it has, the less its influence on the free movement of the spoon.
For catching perches, a fishing line of 0.22 millimeters is used, less often - 0.35; when fishing for pike and pike perch - 0.35 and 0.5 millimeters.
The rod, with a minimum weight, must have sufficient strength and elasticity, be comfortable for the hand and be suitable in length for ice fishing.
The success of lure fishing in winter almost always depends on changing fishing locations in search of fish sites. Changing depths requires lengthening or shortening the line. In order to speed up this process, an additional reel is installed on the rod, closer to the tip.
To secure the line at the end of the rod, make a shallow split. A more convenient method of fastening is a clamp between two thin rubber tubes, one of which is pulled over the end, and the other, put on a thin stick, is wound close to the first by four-fifths of its length. The use of a ring for the same purpose is not recommended, as it reduces the control of the spoon due to the sliding line.
The easiest control of the spinner is achieved with a rod length of 50-60 centimeters; using shortened rods requires great effort, which tires the hand; excessively elongated ones make it difficult to observe the forest.
Mostly perch is caught using lures in winter. Gathering in large flocks in the fall, it chooses deep holes for wintering, into which it slides with the onset of cold weather. Usually these are annual stops, the most favorable in terms of oxygen conditions, with a quiet or no current at all: deep snags, holes near the mouths of small rivers, springs and springs, roots of flooded trees under steep yars, mill whirlpools. The perch stays in them all winter, leaving only at the beginning and end and less often in the middle of winter to search for food in neighboring shallows. Being disturbed by sudden changes in parking conditions: strong thaws, a sharp drop or rise in water, the perch wanders around nearby places for a short time and returns again.
Perch feeds in winter in the morning and evening hours, but with sudden changes in temperature, strong northern or eastern winds, it stands in the pits in a half-asleep state, not paying any attention to the most tempting and varied lures.
Winter fishing
Winter spinner. Errors
Winter spinners may lose their former effectiveness, as already mentioned, due to a change in fishing location and a change in depth in a new place. It happens that such changes are not necessary. The fisherman fishes with some proven and stable baits at a depth of no more than two to three meters. But suddenly I had to move to another body of water, where the depth is different, and the fish prefers deeper edges. And suddenly everything went wrong in the new place. The fish refuses to take it, and meanwhile, friends who invited the fisherman to another body of water catch large perches one after another. This means it’s not a matter of weather and lack of fish.
And the reason is that gliding winter spinners, at least many of them and especially narrow ones, lose the ability to stop and go to the side, which is called hanging. This suspension in the water column becomes less and less with increasing depth. And after six meters such baits generally turn into pieces of iron falling vertically to the bottom. They do not deviate to the side at all, which is similar to the so-called carnations - narrow spinners, which often attract passive perch in the middle of winter with their straightforward, poor game. Sometimes only carnations help out in the dead of winter. But glider spinners are not supposed to work like that. At the same time, anglers sometimes do not immediately notice that the spoon simply falls to the bottom without hanging in the water column. They, as usual, count a certain number of seconds during a pause, not knowing that the bait no longer obeys the fisherman, but seems to live its own separate life.
In addition, at great depths the concept of poor bait performance due to thick fishing line is lost. It just doesn’t matter anymore what the thickness of the line is. The bait can play the same with different fishing lines. Moreover, sometimes even carnations come to life and start planning for no reason. This happens if the line wound on the reel is thick and rough.
Fishing time in winter with lures
The bite is most active in the first 10-15 days of first ice and in the last two to three weeks of spring ice. At this time, the perch wanders throughout the reservoir in search of food and greedily grabs any spoon. The catches are most abundant at this time.
An angler who has successfully identified a perch’s resting place and mastered the art of trolling often pulls out from one hole in a row several dozen of these voracious predators, stubbornly unwilling to leave their favorite place and, apparently, not paying attention to the sudden disappearance of their relatives.
After the first ice rush, the intensity of the bite drops sharply to complete absence in some days and even weeks. The perch no longer grabs the spoon and approaches it with great caution, as if reluctantly. A bite is indicated by a slightly noticeable push from the hanging spoon, barely felt by the hand; the perch “knocks” on the spoon, anglers say.
But this is not the last expression of the perch’s caution and lethargy. Sometimes a bite is indicated by a barely noticeable weakening of the fishing line for a fraction of a second without any sensation of a push. A fisherman who misses this moment to hook sometimes loses a large catch.
In order to increase the biting activity, they use the bait of a roach or even a perch on the bait hook, which often gives excellent results.
When inserting the hook, the tip of the hook is shallowly inserted into the muscular part of the eye, clearly marked by a whitish spot on the side, and, having hooked, is passed out; the pupil should be on the side of the sting.
Using small spoons with small thin hooks, they successfully use a bait of three or four pieces of bloodworms. Baiting small pieces of bright red gills doesn't pay off very well.
Less interesting is the trolling of pike. Finding it is more difficult; you have to fish large and sparing reservoirs, cutting countless holes, which is only possible in the first weeks of winter with relatively thin ice.
The behavior of pike in winter conditions differs from the behavior of perch only in that it chooses deep places for parking and after the first ice rush it is almost never caught with a spoon. The exception is deep mill pools, where a stream of water from a mill wheel disturbing the rest of the pike stimulates its activity for some time.
In such places they also shine successfully in the “dead” winter months in the first half of the day.
A pike bite is felt by a sharp jolt when the rod is twitched upward, as if the spoon caught on some kind of weight in the water.
When trolling pikes, larger spoons are used with a small, 8-10 centimeter, thin wire leash and a slightly larger wrapping of red wool.
Fishing for pike perch in winter using lures
How to catch pike perch using a spoon in winter
Fishing for pike perch using lures in winter attracts more and more fishermen every day. Every fisherman dreams of catching pike perch in winter, and the frequency of questions about how to catch pike perch with a spoon in winter is growing rapidly. In winter, pike perch prefers to live in deep places, holes and rubble. Very often you have to catch pike perch at depths slightly below the level of the river mouth. It is also worth paying attention to reeds and underwater vegetation, where the predator often rises from holes in search of small items. There are much fewer such fish in reservoirs than others, because they prefer to be found only in clean water.
Tackle for catching pike perch is somewhat similar to perch, only the elasticity of the rod tip differs, it is slightly larger. The length of a pike perch fishing rod is about half a meter. A not very thick fishing line is used, 3-5 kilograms per break. It is preferable to use spinners with a narrow body, up to 10 centimeters long. Very often you can see fishermen with homemade winter lures for pike perch. They are made in different colors and shapes. The spinner ring must be equipped with a tee. Some people think that a tee is not enough and add a few more single hooks, soldering them.
I’ll go a little off topic, but I’ll mention that pike perch can be caught very well on dead fish. But let’s not get distracted and move on to the fishing process. The technique of catching pike perch has very few differences from catching perch. First you need to lower the spoon to the very bottom, then fix the fishing line. Then make a sharp swing of the rod, 40-50 centimeters. Then lower the bait again and repeat the rise. While lowering, the spoon moves in such a way that it attracts pike perch. It is in this way that you can provoke the fish to bite.
If you hear a bite, you need to hook the pike perch very sharply, then pull the line out of the hole with your hands. The best time to catch pike perch with a spoon in winter is considered to be the first ice. Also, pike perch responds well to bait during prolonged frost, but not very cold. In windy weather, it is better to cancel your fishing trip, as the fish are not very active. It is best to spend time fishing in the morning and evening.
Winter lures for pike perch
Winter lures for pike perch should be narrow and long, since these are the baits that the fish prefer. But you shouldn’t choose too narrow baits, they may simply not catch fish, so the rule of the golden mean applies here, choose a bait that is not too wide, but not too narrow.
An important factor when choosing bait is its color scheme. It is best to choose brightly colored lures because pike perch live in deep water and will be attracted to bright colors. Many people consider fluorescent lures (those that glow) to be the best winter lures for pike perch. This bait will be visible even in complete darkness.
Don't forget about the weight of the spinner. The choice of bait weight is influenced by two factors: current speed and line thickness. The main thing is that your line stretches under the weight of the spoon. By the way, please note that a light spoon will not reach the bottom even with a supply of 5 meters of fishing line. And it is not suitable for catching pike perch in winter.
Fishing for pike perch in winter using lures
The ways of further development of the lure of this predator in winter will apparently lead to the replacement of the lure with a dead fish, mounted on a thin bass with an oblong weight and a double hook. This method, called “trolling,” is successfully used in the hot summer months to catch pike, which at this time are lazy and do not use other gear.
The fishing of pike perch is still little widespread and studied. They catch pike perch on the first ice using medium-sized spoons, in deep, cluttered holes, exclusively in the morning and evening hours. The bite is usually transmitted by several frequent jerks, which should be followed by hooking. A characteristic feature of pike perch is its grip, like a bulldog. When fishing with a seine, pike perch often hangs on it, without changing its position even when pulled ashore. When fishing with a spinner in winter, which the pike perch grabs in the middle with its small teeth, with a weak hook, without being caught by the hook, it continues to hang on it almost until the hole, at the last moment opening its mouth and freeing itself.
According to the testimony of Moscow fisherman A. Avilov and others, this mostly happens when fishing with spoons filled with tin, which, due to its softness, the pike perch holds tightly with its teeth. The correctness of this conclusion is confirmed by the traces remaining on the tin. The use of smooth metal spinners can prevent such derailments.
In the middle of winter, the pike perch bite, which is quite rare, is observed in the same deep holes more in the evening hours.
With the appearance of the edges and the rise of water in the last weeks of the freeze-up, pike perch begin to emerge from the holes and appear in schools in relatively shallow places at the mouths of rivulets and streams. At this time, he is perfectly caught with a spoon, but does not stay long in one place.
It is possible that using the “trolling” method when trolling pike perch can give good results.
In addition to perch, pike and pike perch, small lures, especially when hooking bloodworms, can catch ruff, chub, raft, ide and even bream. These cases are rare.
Fishing in winter
Winter Spinner Fishing: Predator Bite Options
Not only does an experienced fisherman know what pace of play of the bait is more tempting for a certain type of fish, he can also easily identify the fish that grabbed the spoon by the nature of the bite. Take, for example, a perch, it is characterized by a grip with a push or “knock”.
Although there are also soft bites, especially when the bite is sluggish or when the perch attacks the bait from below, as if towards the angler. Only a professional can feel such a bite: the line sharply weakens, and the tip of the rod straightens, instead of the usual bend.
- As for the pike, its bite is felt with a strong, sharp push, however, sometimes it is also quite soft if the predator grabbed the spoon before it fell;
— Pike perch quite often takes the bait at the moment when the vibrations of the bait die out. At such a moment it is difficult to feel the bite. Only after the angler begins to lift the spoon, after a pause, can you suddenly feel the heaviness.
And if a sharp hook does not follow, then you may be left without a trophy: seeing the light in the hole, the pike perch will open its bony mouth and... get off the hook.
It may also happen that the fish, while playing, simply hits the spoon, but does not take it. You need to change something - either the pace of play with the bait, the bait itself, or move to another hole.
Long lasting shine in winter
Correct identification of predator sites in a reservoir is extremely important. The fisherman’s task comes down to studying the reservoir in advance, before the onset of winter. Searching for these places during fishing in the second half of winter, in the presence of thick ice, is very difficult. You should find several sites, remember them well and fish them periodically.
Long-term trolling in one place with rare bites is usually not successful. The best results are obtained by alternately fishing several holes, punched at intervals of 3-5 meters. Often, a newly punched hole in the immediate vicinity of the last one rewards the angler with an abundant catch in just 10-15 minutes.
As a rule, the predator reveals itself at the very beginning of trolling, often preventing the lure from reaching the bottom; This should never be forgotten when making a hook at the first weakening of the fishing line.
Success also depends on the position of the fisherman. They do not flash while standing, since in this position it is impossible to closely observe the fishing line, especially in windy weather. In addition, the constant transitions from hole to hole are quite tiring and soon take their toll.
It is best to fish while sitting on a bucket, box or folding chair, with your back to the wind, with the end of the rod approaching 10-15 centimeters to the surface of the hole with the spoon down to the bottom.
Equally important is the correct preparation of the hole when cutting through ice 20 centimeters or thicker. The punched hole is cleaned from crushed ice using a “scraper” (skimmer); All sharp protrusions on which the scaffolding could get caught are removed from the bottom edge. After cleaning, the surface of the hole is covered with a layer of snow or fine ice and “darkened”; a small hole is left in the center for the passage of the spinner. In frosty weather, care is taken to ensure that the snow or small ice on the surface of the hole does not freeze, for which purpose it is crushed from time to time with a rake. Poor preparation of the hole often causes the loss of good fish that were hooked on time, skillfully brought to the hole, but did not fit into it.
Just as carefully, if necessary, clean the fishing line from the ice that forms on it.
Having prepared the holes, they begin to glitter. Having lowered the spoon to the bottom, attach the line to the end of the rod so that the distance from the surface of the hole to the end of the rod is no more than 10-15 centimeters. With a small swing of the rod, lift the spoon from the bottom by 10-15 centimeters and with the next sharp movement of the rod end downwards, allow it to fall freely, stopping the fall near the bottom. After a short pause, these movements are repeated in various variations, with the spoon rising to a greater height, stopping it at different depths, smooth and slow upward movement, and the like.
Short pauses are required after one or several movements, during which the spoon hangs almost in a calm state, oscillating slightly in place. This moment is usually the most attractive to a predator.
According to the figurative expression of one of the experienced Moscow fishermen, V.I. Makarov, the fisherman gradually, through experience, develops his own “handwriting”, which is well understood by the fish.
Bite and hook during winter fishing
A bite is determined by a feeling of sudden heaviness on the line, a more or less strong push, a “knock” transmitted by the rod, a slightly noticeable weakening of the line at the upper end or a slight shift to the side.
A hook, a small sharp upward movement with the end of the rod, should follow immediately, even at the slightest suspicion of a bite.
Wandering in search of food, predators, especially perch, sometimes rise into the middle and upper waters. With this in mind, you should fish at different depths to get a bite; Having discovered the depth of the perch, continue fishing at this depth.
It is not recommended to change spoons frequently, but if there are no bites for a long time in different holes and places, you should try other spoons from the existing stock.
The hooked fish, if it is small, is quickly pulled out onto the ice, pulling the line out of the hole with wide movements. Larger specimens are fished using a rod clip, without gripping the fishing line with your fingers, at the fastest possible pace, with selected parts of the fishing line pulled to the side and upward with the outside of your free hand so that the resistance of the fish is overcome only by the end of the rod. Large prey brought into the hole is pulled onto the ice with a hook - a large, sharp hook attached to a stick 50-60 centimeters long.
Tips for beginner fishermen
Clothing should be warm, loose, not restricting movement and as light as possible. The best thing is padded trousers, a quilted jacket and a sheepskin short fur coat; in the cold, a fur hat with earflaps.
Shoes should be durable and loose, protecting your feet from dampness. The best thing is light felt boots with deep galoshes and woolen socks, in the spring - rubber boots with two pairs of woolen socks and warm foot wraps.
When moving on ice, especially in unfamiliar places, be sure to carefully tap the ice pick in front of you. At the slightest suspicion of danger, you should immediately stop and carefully step back.
Under no circumstances should you start fishing until the ice thickness reaches 5-6 centimeters. You need to be especially careful on the river, remembering the possible, even in the middle of winter, ice holes, sometimes covered with snow. Do not come close to places where springs and springs emerge on the surface, as the ice here always remains thin.
Having fallen under the ice, spread your arms wide, do not make sudden movements, smoothly and slowly, slightly raising yourself on your arms, roll your body onto the ice and, without getting up, crawl away from the dangerous place.
During the last days of ice fishing, do not get close to reeds and sedges sticking out from under the ice, as polynyas form in these places.
