Catching pike at night with a spinning rod: secrets and subtleties of fishing

Choosing the time of fishing

In order not to return home empty, it is recommended to study the pike fishing calendar. This will allow you to choose the best time for fishing without relying on luck.

Night fishing for pike using a spinning rod improves with the arrival of warmer weather. In some parts of the country the season opens in May, in others in June. The effectiveness of spring fishing depends on the water level and the behavior of the predator.

The activity of pike in summer depends on weather conditions, air and water temperatures. In June, the predator comes out to feed after sunset and then before dawn. Activity also depends on the behavior of the forage fish.

During the July heat, in most cases you should not start fishing before midnight. Daytime fishing is mostly fruitless. Strong sunshine makes huge adjustments to the behavior of fish. She becomes lethargic, apathetic, and does not respond to bait at all. With the onset of darkness, it begins to actively feed, attacks the bait, not giving the fisherman time to rest.

With the arrival of autumn cold weather, many close the season, since pike fishing at night is much worse. Some reservoirs offer catches until November.

The bite depends on the phase of the moon. The best is observed during the new moon, when natural light is weak. Then it gradually worsens, disappears during the full moon, and becomes more frequent as the moon wanes. Then the cycle repeats.

Pike cannot be caught at night on a spinning rod in bad weather. The predator waits for it in a shelter and is not active.

Does pike bite on a spinning rod at night?

Physiologically, pike hunts not only through visual observation of an object. Like most fish, it has a lateral line, with which it senses vibrations in the water, and even without seeing the victim, it can attack the object no less successfully. Night hunting of the toothy fish is carried out with the help of this sense organ, so pike is caught at night no worse than in the daytime. Another thing is what contributes to its activity at night and where exactly the predator is located under the cover of darkness - these are the main questions that the fisherman should study.

Each body of water is distinguished by the peculiarities of its structure and the composition of the predator’s food base, and weather conditions make significant adjustments to the night bite of pike. Comparing all these features together with the practical skills gained as a result of night forays into the reservoir, some spinning pike anglers consider night fishing to be quite a promising activity, which does not differ in effectiveness in terms of the number of catches from daytime fishing. Therefore, it is possible to catch pike at night using a spinning rod, and we will discuss the comparison of the most suitable conditions for this in our further discussion.

Gear requirements

When going night fishing, you need to be confident in the gear you choose. They should not fail at a crucial moment and not overshadow the fishing process. Particular attention should be paid to the reliability and durability of the set, since fishing is carried out in the dark, and the angler reacts to many situations intuitively.

Photo 1. Convenience is the main thing in night gear!

The spinning test and the breaking load of the line should be appropriate for the baits used and the potential size of the prey. At the same time, you need to choose gear that is somewhat more powerful than a set for daytime fishing in the same place for the same fish.

Advice! You cannot take too powerful gear, otherwise its sensitivity will be lost, which plays a key role at night.

At night, it is recommended to use braided wire. Tensile nylon thread does not allow high-quality control of the wiring, tracking the behavior of the bait. The cord guarantees sensitivity. Also, when biting with multi-filament fishing line, hooking is not required; the predator is detected itself at the moment of a sharp grip.

At night, fishing is carried out mainly short-term. There is no need to make long casts, so there is no need to purchase a long rod. The optimal “height” of a spinning rod for fishing in the dark will be 2.10 meters.

Spawning ban on spinning rods and when does it apply?

Many novice fishing enthusiasts are wondering: is there a ban on spinning fishing? Regarding the time of day, there are no barriers: you can fish in the morning, evening and even late at night. The fisherman has the right to choose the optimal time for his hobby and no one will interfere with him. Temporary prohibitions primarily relate to the time of year, and this is spring.

In the spring, the fish go out to spawn, during which industrial fishing is suspended, but spinning is quite legal. In addition to this, during this period it is allowed to fish with such gear as fishing rods with a float, mugs and girders. However, they should not be homemade, because homemade is equivalent to poaching. According to the rules of legal fishing, gear should not have more than ten hooks.

From the above it follows that the spawning ban does not apply to spinning rods. Regulatory authorities do not have the right to issue you a fine, however, there are some pitfalls here:

• It is prohibited to go fishing by boat.
• It is prohibited to fish in places where they spawn.
• You can fish exclusively with one fishing rod and one hook.
• You can fish in any place that is not a spawning area.

Before you go to a body of water, make sure that it is not one of the prohibited places for fishing and, in particular, places where there is a ban on spinning fishing. Such places exist in Russia, but, fortunately, they are few.

Lures for catching predators at night

The color of the bait at night does not matter; its behavior in the water is decisive. The more noise it makes, the more likely it is to bite. Let's look at which baits you can use to catch which fish.

Wobblers, cranks. Chub and asp respond well to them at night. Since the depths where fishing takes place are shallow, the bait should not go too deep and float up quickly. It is also worth using poppers; perch can also attack them.

Pike at night on a wobbler

Jig, turntables. Pike can be attracted to silicone and rotating lures. Only turntables should be at least No. 5, and jig baits from 3 to 7 cm. In autumn, the size should be increased.

Also, pike perch can bite well on wobblers, but it is better to use a jig with glowing rubber on it. A catfish can also react to it.

Using small spinners, you can catch perch.

First, it is better to fish your area, using small baits in the hope of getting bites from perch, chub and asp. After this, you should move on to heavier baits and try to catch a larger predator.

Lighting for catching predators at night

Catching a predator at night

It’s great if the process takes place on a clear moonlit night. Its light will allow you to navigate the selected area, but if it is cloudy and there is no moon, then you should use a headlamp. Without it, you won’t even find what you need in your bait box. You can also light a small fire on the shore; in addition to the reflections on the water, it will allow you to warm up if it’s cold and boil tea.

How to increase your fish catch?

Over 7 years of active fishing, I have found dozens of ways to improve the bite. Here are the most effective ones:

• Bite activator. This pheromone additive attracts fish most strongly in cold and warm water. Discussion of the bite activator “Hungry Fish”.
• Increased gear sensitivity. Read the appropriate manuals for your specific type of gear.
• Pheromone-based lures.

A few words about the pike itself

Pike can reach one and a half meters in length. Its weight, to the delight of fishermen, is not even limited to 30 kilograms. Although, based on average statistical data, predators are usually caught weighing up to 10 kilograms.

Its food can be perch and roach, silver bream and ruffe, bream and gudgeon, minnow, char and goby. As you can see, pike diversify its menu. However, tadpoles and frogs remained and remain a delicacy for the predator.

Autumn for pike is the time when it fattens up for the winter. That’s why fishermen go to feed on this fish in the autumn.

Choosing a fishing spot

Before you catch pike at night, you need to choose the right place. There is no point in focusing on daytime promising areas. The behavior of a predator in the dark is different, which means you will have to catch it in the wrong place.

On summer days, the predator prefers to stay in areas overgrown with algae, and at night it moves to shallow waters with minimal vegetation. This is partly explained by the fact that pike does not have acute vision like pike perch and uses other senses when hunting at night. The chances of finding it on a hard bottom are much greater, since here the activity of potential prey can be easily heard.

Fishing for pike in the summer will give results in the following areas:

• shallows, spits with a sandy bottom;
• coastal areas near coastal edges;
• shallow waters with a rocky bottom and slow current;
• depressions before the rifts;
• tree branches and snags flooded near the shore.

In addition, when night fishing for pike perch with a spinning rod is carried out, there is a high chance of catching a pike. It is unpredictable, often waiting for prey near pits and tubercles.

In autumn, pike visit shallow water areas, but they differ from summer ones. The pike rests on:

• shallows near channel holes, whirlpools, where she plans to spend the winter;
• areas with slow or reverse currents where forage fish typically congregate.

Pike fishing at night

> What to catch > Pike > Catching pike at night

Large and open reservoirs with sufficient depths and rich in oxygen, according to many experienced fishermen, are not suitable for night fishing for pike.
Night fishing for pike
in the central regions of Russia can only be considered as a special case in fishing practice.

So, for example, on large rivers, large reservoirs and lakes, Moscow, Vladimir, Ryazan, Ivanovo, Kaluga and other central regions, pike practically do not bite in the time interval from 0 o’clock to 3 o’clock in the morning, or bites are very rare. And night fishing here is usually observed only in autumn.

However, large rivers and lakes are one thing, but small shallow lakes of the swamp type or peat bogs that are replete with aquatic vegetation are a completely different matter. And the pike completely dominates here. And even if the lake is vast, but shallow and swampy, it will also be dominated by pike.

Thus, if we consider reservoirs with uncomfortable living conditions for pike, then in most cases the pike in them is very active at night, especially from 0 o’clock to 4 o’clock.

Despite the fact that night fishing for pike

more difficult than the daytime one, but it is very interesting and exciting. In those reservoirs with low water levels and uncomfortable conditions for predators. As a rule, in the middle of the summer period such reservoirs form a bottom, powerful thermocline.

During this period, a huge amount of aquatic vegetation and its growth have a very negative effect on the oxygen saturation of the reservoir. And in connection with this, almost all the fish are literally pressed to the water surface. And her food activity during the daytime is almost absent. And only at night does it become less active.

In view of this, pike biting at night cannot be considered as a universal phenomenon, and in most cases it is caused by a number of negative factors that affect a particular body of water separately.

Choosing a fishing spot

At night, it likes to go out into shallow water in places where there is little or no vegetation. The toothed predator prefers to attack live bait at a depth of 1.5-2 m, in places bordering holes, or close to its permanent shelter. In the middle of summer, when the pike is usually well-fed, it is generally reluctant to move around the reservoir, and at night and at dawn it often stands still. But the activity of its potential prey in the pre-dawn hours often provokes the pike to actively bite. If, for example, we take carp fish, then about an hour and a half before dawn they begin to have the highest physical and biological activity. So, for example, an hour before dawn, roaches form schools and rush around the entire reservoir not in search of food, but obeying their biological rhythms. And this behavior of the roach literally provokes the pike to sudden and active actions.

Thus, night pike fishing

is more likely to be more successful at 4 am than at 3 am. At this time, the roach loses its usual caution and can come close to the site of the toothy predator. And this situation occurs in most reservoirs with a closed cycle throughout the European part of Russia. Usually at this time the most productive pike fishing occurs.

Fishing tactics

For successful night fishing

you need to choose a place that is well known from daytime fishing. But you need to be able to navigate along the coastline when searching for the right place on a body of water. In this case, the accuracy of choosing such a point should have an error of no more than 3-4 meters.

If the reservoir is shallow, poles can be stuck into the bottom as landmarks, this is very helpful, especially for inexperienced fishermen.

At night, it is best to use mugs that are resistant to false revolutions. As a rule, the total number of bites of pike of different sizes significantly exceeds the number of bites during the daytime. So even 150-200 gram individuals, which during the day can themselves become the target of attack by larger relatives, at night actively attack live bait of equal mass and size. So for a large live bait weighing 60-80 grams in the dark there are many times more bites than for a standard live bait weighing 15-39 grams.

Apparently, at a time when visibility is limited, predatory fish react to live bait, or rather to the vibrations it creates, more with the help of lateral lines than with the help of vision. In this regard, night fishing for pike is carried out with large circles that can withstand the weight of live bait of more than 150 grams. In addition, such mugs can be clearly seen in the light of the moon. To make the mugs easier to observe, it is recommended to cover some of their parts with reflective film.

During night fishing, the fisherman must constantly monitor the circles and constantly direct the light of the flashlight at them. When the beam hits the reflective film and at this time a flash seems to run through the circles and then they are very clearly visible.

Bite

As noted earlier, the pike most often attacks before dawn, from its hiding place and, having turned over in a circle, often remains motionless for a long time. Fishing for pike at night

on mugs requires caution; when a fisherman detects an inverted mug, he must pause for 3-5 minutes, and then, being careful, move towards the tackle. As the boat approaches the rig, the predator can jerk sharply to the side, and at dawn even make a candle.

The peculiarity of night fishing also lies in the fact that when located next to the shelter, the pike usually swallows live bait. And he does it thoroughly. This means the leash must be of sufficient length. Moreover, the movement of live bait on a long leash causes greater excitement in the pike. Therefore, the length of the leash for night fishing should be 40-60 cm. And where individuals over 4.5 kg are caught, at least 70 cm.

Published: 06/19/2014

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Preparing gear and devices

Fishing at night with a spinning rod will be successful if the fisherman takes the preparation of gear responsibly. Pike is a strong predator, has a powerful jaw and sharp teeth. She can break the spinning rod, break it, bite the fishing line in a split second. Therefore, the tackle must have a solid reserve of power and be prepared according to all the rules.

Spinning

There is no point in using a long spinning rod at night. Fishing is carried out at a short distance, and the attack occurs almost under the shore. A rod up to 2.4 m long is easier to control and catch large fish. It should be powerful, absorb shock, and absorb shocks. Read here how to choose a spinning rod for pike.

Coil

A powerful and strong spinning reel will do. It is recommended to choose power options. Speed ​​does not matter, and traction will allow you to fish out prey more efficiently.

What to remember when hunting at night?

The best results are obtained by fishing for pike at night with a spinning rod in the fall, when the evening time is significantly extended. At this time, fishing is most effective from 1-5 am. But, in general, it is not necessary to catch pike at night in the fall; this can be done in another season. Hunting is especially effective in the warm season, when it is too hot during the day, the pike only gathers for prey at night, as it rests in the morning.

What's the best way to fish? Of course, the best option is hunting from the shore, since fishing on a boat is not an option in this case. The water vehicle will create additional noise, which the pike really doesn’t like, and it won’t even swim up to you at night. Due to the fact that all types of fish are resting and sleeping at this time, the pike will simply get scared.

Fishing for pike at night with a spinning rod should be carried out completely silently, as carefully and quietly as possible. In addition, you should be prepared for the fact that in case of a bite you will need to fish out the predator, which is why the other inhabitants will be scared. Therefore, as soon as you get one pike, be prepared to wait a few minutes until the fish calms down and goes hunting again.

Attention! To continue active fishing after fishing in one place, you can either wait a little or move to another area of ​​the reservoir where the fish have not yet seen you.

In addition, you need to take care of gear, lures and bait.

Retrieving and hooking for night fishing

The bait is cast across the current. As it is demolished, wiring begins. It is difficult to determine which type of fish will like which wiring, so they should be changed. It is recommended to start by pulling the bait with the tip of the spin and then reeling it in. The line should always be in tension, as sometimes the bite can be barely noticeable. In general, you need to react by cutting to all the incomprehensible sensations that are transmitted to the hand. It’s better to make one more mistake than to sleep through a real bite. The hook should be sharp and with a large amplitude, which will allow you to pick up the slack in the fishing line and detect the predator. This is especially true when biting pike perch, which has a very hard mouth.

In what places to look for pike at night?

On a hot summer day, the toothy beast stays in vast shallow areas, abundantly covered with algae, and on channel edges, clinging to the bottom. However, at night, it changes its positions and moves to clean areas with hard pebble, sandy or rocky soil. You need to look for it in the following characteristic areas:

• sand bars and shoals;
• coastal zones with a hard bottom near sharp coastal edges;
• single flooded snags and tree branches located in the coastal zone;
• shallow places with slow currents and pebbly bottoms.

Pike is an unpredictable fish that can be found in any part of the reservoir. It often gets bitten when fishing for other fish. For example, when catching night pike perch, attacks by a toothy predator are possible, since it can be located nearby in the pits and behind the tubercles on the bottom. Therefore, it is advisable to use a steel or fluorocarbon leader to avoid cutting the bait.

In autumn, pike also enter shallow water areas. But in this case, she visits the shallows close to the channel holes and pools, in which the predator gathers in the cold season. She likes to go to areas with a reverse or slow current, where small roach, silver bream, rudd and other small fish can concentrate.

For pike

Toothed “sleepwalkers” are found at night in the coastal zone - along sandy rifts (often along small holes below the rift) and spits of varying lengths, along grassy shallows, at the entrances to small old rivers and backwaters. But along such cool edges during the daytime, including coastal ones, pike were rarely found. Most of the bites are at dawn, when it turns a little gray, but a lot of pike were caught at night. Moreover, no special “pike night hours” were noticed; the toothy one could bite at midnight or at two o’clock in the morning - whenever it wanted. The main thing is to find and “persuade”, but there are problems with this - a significant part of the bites are barely noticeable! It seems that no one touched the twister, but as soon as you take out the bait, the tail is cut off as if with a scalpel. It is especially difficult to notice a bite when retrieving lightly with light heads - during the day you can watch the tip of the rod, but in the dark this is unrealistic. Then inquisitive fishermen found a way out - they began to attach a “firefly” to the tulip, just as the beavers do. This technique turned out to be quite effective. However, a drawback was also discovered - long-term observation of the “firefly” leads to the fact that everything around is plunged into darkness and it is not clear where to throw, where to step, but, as they say, it’s two evils...

Read: Autumn pike

Due to the shallow “night depths”, you have to fish with an outright micro-jig with heads weighing 3-5 g, maximum 7 g, but the jig game is worth the candle, because it is the rubber that gives the majority of bites. However, there are fishing trips when all the pike are brought in by wobblers, and it was not possible to deduce any pattern in the choice of bait - it is selected at random. Shallow-water (diving depth up to half a meter) minnow wobblers work best, and not with a jerky retrieve, but with a uniform retrieve. Shallow-water “veils” are also different. In calm weather and moderate currents, large turntables also bring their own. If the pike doesn’t take it, this does not mean that there is no night bite - there may not be any fish here. But it may be suitable - spinning anglers assure that from time to time pike move in small groups around the water area. Which tactic to choose (wait or search) is up to everyone to decide for themselves.

The night feeding of pike was noticed in pike perch places when the fanged one fell silent for some reason. But as soon as the pike perch began to show activity, the pike froze. However, there are rare periods of nighttime “general” feeding, when mixed with pike perch, not only pike are caught, but also chub and catfish have pecked. During such memorable night fishing trips, an “all-out battle” of different predators was observed - in large sandy and silty shallow waters bordering the channel depths. Being here at the right time is a huge success!

Features of casting with a spinning rod at night

For an inexperienced fisherman, night fishing will be very difficult. You need to have a great feel for the spinning rod, fishing line, bait, and be able to imagine how and where it will fall after casting.

At night, long casts are not needed; it is enough to throw the bait no more than 15 meters. One day my partner, fishing already at dusk, and even among dense tall bushes, sent a wobbler forward with a brave flourish. It was on a small forest river. The bait quickly flew over it and crashed into a stump standing on the other bank. At the end of the braid there was only a ring with which the wobbler was attached.

An angler planning to go night fishing must be confident in his skills in handling a spinning rod.

What gear should I use?

Some people fish for pike on a spear at night, but I mostly use a standard fishing rod or spinning rod. The main thing is to use tackle of a more rigid type, but at the same time light, since otherwise the hand gets too tired and it is inconvenient to fish out the prey.

It is best to use noisy baits. For example, if I take wobblers with me for catching pike, then I also take with me special types of rattles, since pike sees and hears incredibly poorly, it mainly focuses only on vibrations. It is precisely noisy baits that can create such vibrations in the water.

Important! If you use floating wobblers, their weight should not be more than 20 g and their length should not be more than 15 cm.

An important element in night fishing is a retriever, which makes it possible to fix a sufficiently large number of small tools on the cord so that they are all nearby. You may also need a yawner, since pikes have an incredible number of curved teeth; therefore, you can only pull out the hooks on which it is caught with the help of a special device. One day I didn’t take it with me and I really regretted it; my hand was injured, which is why I even had to “travel” to the hospital.

Important! A useful device for catching pike - a forceps - is also a special unit that allows you to pull out hooks without putting your hand into the predator's mouth.

I sometimes use a ligrip for fishing, since it’s not very convenient to use a landing net at night. And the ligrip is an indispensable tool.

How to determine a place for fishing at night?

There are certain patterns for night fishing. First of all, these are depths. The predator will most likely stay on the shallows, where the depth does not exceed 2 m. It’s great if there are ambush areas, rifts and exits from holes nearby. In general, it would be a good idea to do some reconnaissance before such fishing. Having looked at a promising place during the day, you should stay overnight. Strong splashes in the shallows will give away a hunting predator. You should also take into account that night is not suitable for walking fishing, so the section of the river where you are going to fish should be at least 100-150 meters long without any obstacles or high vegetation. You need to study it during the day to avoid injuries, snags and other troubles. Successful fishing during the day will also tell you where to fish. It is unlikely that a predator will go far from this place in the evening.

Now let's talk about wiring

The bait should move as slowly as possible, as the current allows. Acceleration, pull-up and short-term stops are also necessary parts of wiring, which can be carried out completely evenly. Which method is better is selected only by practical means, and for each fishing area separately. After studying this area, the trajectory of the wobbler will not become random. For example, dragging the bait along the same breaker more than a dozen times, a spinning angler may feel more than one heart-stopping bite, but a successful hook can happen an hour later, and sometimes before sunrise. Knowing for sure that there are ide and chub in this place, you must constantly come here, and some night your patient wait will be rewarded with real bites, which, to be honest, is quite rare. But the feelings that come after deliberately catching an ide and chub are incomparable with the feelings after fishing, as a result of which ten pike perch were caught. Although this predator can also be considered a serious rival, with whom you can seriously fight at night.

Equipment

Great attention is paid to equipment for night fishing. Not only the fishing result depends on it, but also the health of the spinner. At night, even in the summer months, the air temperature drops. If you don’t take care of warm clothes, you can catch a runny nose, cold or pneumonia.

Be sure to take a jacket with waterproof properties when fishing at night. It will provide additional warmth if a jacket or sweater is not enough. Its pockets are convenient for storing small things - phone, documents, matches, etc. Outerwear will also protect you from annoying mosquitoes, which become more active after sunset.

A hat is required in any weather. In summer, you can use a cap or hat; in spring and autumn, it is advisable to have a warm knitted hat that will protect you from cold winds and low temperatures, preventing you from freezing and getting sick.

Shoes should keep you warm and protect from moisture. At night, especially in summer, you have to catch it by going into the water. To do this, use wading overalls, high boots or waders. Regardless of the type of “equipment” chosen, you need to select its size and design so that the foot is always in a stable position and firmly fixed. Otherwise, while moving during the fishing process, you can twist your leg and get an unpleasant injury.

When fishing in a boat in the autumn, your shoes should keep you warm. Being on the water, your feet freeze much faster. In addition, there is no room to move around in a boat to keep warm. The right choice would be to use foam rubber boots with thermal insulation inserts. You can buy winter boots with improved properties for removing condensation from your feet in case of overheating.

In cold weather, gloves will come in handy in a spinning player's outfit. Today, different models are produced with different designs. There are with cut off fingers, there is with a tapered cut. In any case, they should not restrict movement and significantly reduce the angler’s tactile sensitivity.

A mandatory element of a fisherman's equipment for night fishing is a flashlight. It is advisable to have several devices - a head-mounted one with a spare set of batteries, one or two pocket-sized ones as an additional light source.

In addition to the listed equipment components, when going for night fishing with a spinning rod, you need to take with you:

• knife;
• matches and lighter;
• watch;
• a piece of rope.

A good assistant for modern fishermen is a smartphone with a GPS navigator function, a camera, backlight and other useful options.

Photo 3. And at dawn a pike bit!

Pike fishing on the river in autumn

Who can say that a pike caught by yourself is not a desirable trophy?
There is no such fisherman. And therefore, as soon as autumn comes, many of them go to the rivers and purposefully to pike. The “hunting” process is interesting and the “result” is delicious. Poachers who caught 317 kg of fish were not punished

A group of fishermen revealed the name of the secret bait during interrogation.

Category: regional news.

Why in autumn? Because at this time of year the freshwater predator is most active. Her character, i.e. behavior as a hunter changes dramatically. It is capable of following the spinner not for meters, but for tens of meters and, in the end, will overtake the prey, often finding itself in the same position. Just what a fisherman needs.