Equipment, loading, production of foam rubber

What is foam bait?

She has a serious list of advantages, the main ones:

1. Even an inexperienced user can make foam rubber baits with his own hands. They are cheap, unlike plumb lines, wobblers, spinners and other baits, which are more difficult to make at home.
2. Elasticity allows the bait to play in the water, attracting the attention of predators. It guarantees that even with a lazy bite it will crumple and the fish will be hooked.
3. The porous sponge is easily saturated with mixtures, which means you can paint it the desired color or sprinkle it with a flavor that will last a long time.
4. Range. An experienced fisherman can easily throw the bait at a distance, further than a wobbler or spinner. Consequently, the likelihood of successful fishing increases significantly.
5. Efficiency. Fish take a properly made bait equally willingly in spring and winter, in November and May, so it is not surprising that fishing with foam rubber is becoming common.

Fishing technique

It should be taken into account that the foam bait stands motionless in the water. This means that for successful fishing you need to have a certain technique. It depends on the chosen location. So in shallow water it is recommended to do even wiring.

When fishing with foam rubber, you should follow some rules

First you need to fish points near the shore using a small sinker. Then you need to gradually move away from it, while changing the weight of the sinker to a larger one. This will give you more chances to catch a pike.

In places with snags and grass, it is better to do stepped wiring. At depth, do it in jerks. After the nozzle has sunk to the bottom, it must be sharply pulled towards the surface, then loosened so that it sinks smoothly. Repeat this several times.

Should I buy a foam fish or make it myself?

This problem faces beginners, while masters prefer to make the bait themselves. This option has its advantages: you can give the product any shape, color and aroma. This is important - standard ones will not always be catchy on a particular body of water, and knowing the habits and preferences of the fish on the nearest lake, the expert will return with a catch.

To learn more:

Rattlins for ice fishing for pike perch: top 5

On the other hand, the cost of this material is low. Of course, ready-made foam fish for pike-perch, pike or perch are inexpensive, but it’s worth considering that their service life is also short. Clinging to grass, small branches or snags, they will wear out, and once in the toothy mouth, they will lose their original appearance. Learning how to cut out crafts with your own hands is useful.

Catching pike perch with foam fish

Today we offer the topic: “catching pike perch with a foam fish” from professional fishermen. We tried to cover the topic as fully as possible. You can ask all questions in the comments after the article.

Catching pike perch with foam rubber is an old method of hunting fanged fish, which is used mainly by advanced spinning anglers. This bait was used even before the advent of the now popular “rubber”. Then she was supplanted by it, but was not completely forgotten. Today, “foam rubber” is the secret weapon of seasoned fishermen for the mass destruction of the pike perch fraternity.

Foam fish are an effective jig bait. Despite its simplicity, it has features that are important to consider when using it. In the hands of a skilled, experienced jiggit, “foam rubber” qualitatively complements soft plastic baits, allowing you to achieve success where ordinary people cannot even get a bite from a fanged one.

Foam rubber is a soft polyurethane foam that is 90% air. In the national economy, it is used as insulation, sealant or insulation. Fishermen paid attention to it because, once in the water, the fish from it have positive buoyancy and acquire mobility that realistically imitates the behavior of fry.

Foam fish for pike perch have the following advantages:

• Availability of material and its low cost;
• Ease of processing at home using available tools;
• The ability to independently create bait of any size and shape, focusing on fishing conditions and the preferences of the local predator;
• Once in the water, the fish always takes a vertical position, imitating a fry that picks up food from the bottom;
• The bait has a high range, which makes it the best in shore jigging on medium and large rivers. You might be interested in: catching pike perch with a jig.
• The fish can be impregnated with an attractant, increasing its attractiveness to fish.

Foam rubber fish are universal baits that can be used in any place where fanged fish live. They are used to catch fish in clean and strong places. The main locations where “foam rubber” is used are:

• Deep holes, ditches, whirlpools;
• Channel slopes, slopes, rifts;
• Sharp edges, slopes, depth changes;
• Snags, wells, rubble;
• Bridge supports and other hydraulic structures.

For snagged areas, foam fish are equipped with offset hooks, allowing you to effectively overcome obstacles. In clean areas, it is advisable to use open double or triple hooks.

Advice! Foam fish have their drawbacks, so you shouldn't rely on them alone. You should always have other jig baits on hand.

The disadvantage of “foam rubber” is its low strength. After several violent grips of the fanged one, the material breaks and the bait becomes unusable. Foam rubber also absorbs water. After fishing, once in the box, the hooks and fittings begin to rust. Even if you squeeze the material well, corrosion still appears. Therefore, foam fish are short-lived; the spinning angler should periodically update his arsenal by cutting out fresh baits.

Pike-perch is not always caught well on a foam rod. The best results with this bait are achieved in cold water, when the fanged fish behaves passively. It is advisable to use foam rubber baits in the following situations:

• In early spring before the spawning of pike perch;
• Late autumn, in November, until freeze-up;
• In winter, on non-freezing sections of rivers.

In the warm season, foam rubber loses to silicone, front-loaded spinners, rattlins and other baits that behave more mobile, provoking an active predator.

In order for the pike perch to bite, the foam rubber bait must be presented correctly. The basic wiring of the “foam rubber” is the classic stepped one. It is no different from serving a twister or vibrotail and brings good catches.

In water, the fish behaves somewhat differently. On the rise, she flies up, wagging her whole body. During a pause, it begins to go down, continuing to oscillate. When the sinker touches the bottom, the “foam rubber” is positioned with its tail up, swaying due to inertia and flow. This behavior resembles a feeding fry crawling in the ground.

Catching pike perch with a foam fish is also possible by dragging it along the bottom. This animation technique is used when the predator does not respond to a stepped feed. To implement this, you need to make the bait heavier and slow down the reeling of the fishing line. Retrieving can be done monotonously, you can make periodic stops, swing the tip of the rod, pull with acceleration - it all depends on the mood of the fanged one. Read more about catching pike perch in winter.

You can make your own foam lures. They are rarely sold in stores, and their range is small. It’s better for the fisherman to start making them with his own hands - it’s not difficult. To do this, you will need ordinary stationery scissors, a blade, wire cutters, pliers, and waterproof markers. Materials needed:

• foam;
• hook;
• steel wire with a diameter of 0.5–0.8 mm;
• winding rings;
• eared sinker;
• waterproof glue.

Making foam fish for pike perch is as follows:

1. From a piece of foam rubber we cut out a rectangular block of the required length;
2. Using scissors, we form the future body of the bait from the blank. You can use stencils prepared in advance, you can cut it “by eye”;

Advice! The bait can be made in the shape of a fish or a carrot. The first one looks realistic, the second one is faster to cut.

1. Using steel wire, we lengthen the fore-end, fixing it in the eye of the hook;
2. We make a longitudinal cut in the belly of the bait with a blade and place the hook there so that its sting is directed upward;
3. Glue the cut;
4. At the free end of the steel wire we form a loop close to the head of the bait;
5. All that remains is to fasten the lead sinker of the chosen shape and required weight using the winding ring;
6. If desired, color the bait using waterproof markers in black, red, and green.

That's it, the foam fish for hunting pike perch is ready. If a collapsible Cheburashka is used, then the need for a winding ring disappears. When making a non-hooking version of the “foam rubber” with an offset hook, an incision is not made in the belly of the fish; the body of the bait is pierced with the offset tip and removed from the back.

Foam rubber fish for catching pike perch are simple, inexpensive, but extremely catchy baits. Any fan of jig fishing who wants to achieve results regardless of the circumstances must have enough of them, especially when going to a pond during the cold season

It's nice to catch pike perch at any time of the year and with any bait. It’s especially nice when you come across not just one random undersized zander, but several good ones at once at one point. This means that the angler was well prepared and selected the right key.

It’s even more pleasant to catch pike perch using homemade baits, the cost of which is low. Such baits, without a doubt, are foam fish. They're so easy to make that manufacturers don't see much point in distributing them widely.

In this article we will figure out which foam fish are suitable for fishing for pike perch and how to catch them.

Everyone, even novice fishermen, is well aware that pike perch prefers deep-water areas on the river. Imagine a wide river where you need to find walleye habitats.

Let's look at a specific example of how to look for pike perch on a river. Beginners, and even more experienced fishermen, often have doubts about where exactly to look for pike perch. It is not clear how one can find it on such a wide river. If you have a boat and an echo sounder, then the task becomes easier. If you are also an ice fisherman, then you can explore a section of the water area with a wireless echo sounder while moving on the ice.

In any case, our task is to find the river bed, the deepest holes and steep slopes in a specific area. Let us give one example of a site on a river with pronounced depths.

The numbers indicate the depths on the river, and the blue arrow indicates the direction of the flow. Areas with depths of 5-8 and 8-12 meters are most suitable for catching pike perch. We focus on them. At what specific points do you need to make wiring and place the boat? Ideal places would be areas with a sharp difference in depth. Graphically this can be expressed as follows:

Circles and a red arrow indicate points where you can do step and jig wiring when fishing for pike perch. In winter, you can safely drill holes in designated areas and fish each one. In the summer we put the boat behind the dump and cast using the fan method and catch.

Where the depth is shown as 8-12 meters, the deepest holes are located. And the blue stripe that stretches down the middle of the river is the riverbed. There is also a reason to fish this riverbed zone. Using an echo sounder, you can measure all promising areas and get your own map of the depths of a specific area of ​​the river. Some models have a navigator, so you can memorize maps with depth values ​​already plotted. Having such a map, you will no longer blindly catch pike perch.

Let's prepare a successful basis for further equipment

Whether you get a catch or waste your time depends on the correct execution. All work is done step by step:

1. Take a suitable piece of foam: upholstery material, dishwashing sponge and any other. Experiment with different hardness and porosity. White foam rubber is better suited - it can be easily painted in any color and applied a complex pattern. But you can also take ready-made painted material.
2. Cut out the blank - choose the shape yourself. Some will choose a bleak as a template - thin but tall; others prefer a gudgeon - almost round in cross-section. It makes sense to make several blanks in order to determine during fishing which one is more catchy. To cut at home, you will need scissors and a razor blade.
3. Soak the foam rubber with water so that it springs less and is easier to process. Round the corners, give the head the appropriate shape, and make a cone-shaped tail.
4. Cut the narrow part to create a place where the hook will be installed. If other hooks will be used, this step of the instructions can be skipped.

The base of the foam rubber bait for pike, perch, pike perch and other predators is ready. Let's look at different rigging methods so that each fisherman chooses the one that suits him.

How to make a nozzle

Before you start making a foam fish for pike with your own hands, you need to prepare the necessary material:

• Foam rubber. You can take a simple dishwashing sponge.
• Stationery knife.
• Glue. It is advisable to buy one that will not damage the attachments.
• Hook.
• Jig head or sinker.

Making bait is intuitive. You can make a homemade product in a couple of minutes. First you need to cut out the shape of a fish with or without a tail from foam rubber. Then, using a knife or blade, you need to make the bait whiter and more natural, similar to a fish.

The bait is made from available materials

By the way, the shape of the fish does not affect the choice of hook in any way. Further, if white material was used, then it can be painted in the desired color. But it’s better to take the easy route and cut out the bait of the desired color. Lastly, we attach the hooks and jig heads.

Soft fish on a jig head

Quite productive, and therefore a common type of bait. Of course, a jig is noticeably more expensive than a regular double or tee. But there is no need to rack your brains over the additional load, which will probably regularly cling to various obstacles, threatening to break. Take a jig hook, the shank of which is 3-4 cm less than the length of the base. Carefully pierce the foam from the front so that the sting sticks out from the “belly”. Make sure that the hook goes completely into the bait - only the weight should be visible.

To learn more:

Ice fishing for perch on Baldu

All that remains is to squeeze out a few drops of glue to securely fix the foam rubber to the weighting agent and let it harden. Now you know how to make a foam fish with your own hands, and you can always repeat the procedure, which means that every trip to a river or lake will bring rich fruits.

Making a “carrot” for a foam rubber tube with your own hands

Many fishermen note that dishwashing sponges make very good foam fish. Making foam fish from this item is very simple. The length of the sponge is 9 cm. We will make the simplest foam fish, which spinning fishers call “carrots”. From one sponge we cut out three strips of equal width. Cut off the top of the sponge with a folding knife blade.

As a result, we will get a piece of foam rubber with a thickness of 1.5 cm, a width of 7 cm and a length of approximately 9 cm. We cut this piece into three identical strips.

The width of each strip will be a little more than 2 cm. After receiving the blanks, we take a hook with a long shank and try it on our blanks. We select the hook size according to the object being fished.

Next, we proceed to trimming the edges of the blanks. First, cut off all four edges. Then we cut it again to a conical shape

Our task is to ensure that at the end of the workpiece we get a thin tail. Carefully and evenly cut off the sides of the workpiece with scissors and get this carrot:

In the upper part we also trim it a little and cut off the foam rubber. Next, we try on the hook to the bait and determine how tightly it should fit to it.

If we need to get a hook-free hook, then we apply the hook more tightly. And if we want the stings to protrude a little, then lightly apply the forend of the tee. Then we make a cut with a blade up to half of the bait in the place where we will insert the hook.

We insert the hook into this cut in this way.

In this case, we want to make a foam rubber fish that does not catch, so we will insert the tee deeply so that it fits snugly against the foam rubber.

As a result, we get a nice carrot. There are few questions left on how to make a foam fish with your own hands. The final stage of making carrots will be gluing the tee. Take a tube of glue and a blank. We bend the cut on the body of the bait and drip glue into it.

You need to coat the cut walls well with glue. Leave the workpiece for a few minutes so that the glue is well absorbed. Next, take the hook and apply a layer of glue to it. After that, insert it into the workpiece and compress it a little. Then we lay the bait to dry.

Foam fish with double and tee

Before you start making bait, it is advisable to cut out the tail fin - it will play, attracting additional attention from predators. After this, carefully, using a thick awl or thin scissors, make a hole from the “abdomen” to the “muzzle” of the homemade fish. Pass the base of the double or tee through this hole, and then connect the separate parts into a structure using glue.

Some craftsmen, when making foam rubber for fishing with their own hands, decide to use not one hook, but two at once. It's just a little more complicated:

1. A larger base will be needed; only a large pike or pike perch can swallow it. Cut it out of foam rubber of a suitable color and density.
2. Make two holes in it - in the stomach and near the tail. They should come out in the area of ​​the muzzle. Insert the hook into the first one and push it to the outlet hole. Solder a small piece of soft but strong wire to the other hook. You can use a metal leash. Pass the wire from the tail hole to the outlet hole.
3. Moving the foam aside so as not to damage it, solder the second tip of the wire to the other hook and let the solder cool.
4. A little glue to ensure high reliability.

The equipment is complete - you have received the tackle with which you will catch big fish. Surely she won't be able to spit out such bait.

Coloring a foam fish

After making the body of the bait, you can proceed to painting it. The easiest way is to use an alcohol stain.

Using a regular brush, apply it to the foam blank, making 1-2 longitudinal stripes. Gills and eyes are also drawn.

The latter should be large and expressive. For example, you can make dark blue pupils surrounded by red.

Author of the article: Vitaly Leonidovich Ivanov, 2021.

Foam rubber plus twister

Another bold but effective solution. Production will be more expensive, but the likelihood of a bite with each trip will increase. The fact is that foam rubber is a soft, easily torn material; it will not be possible to make a large tail from it that would oscillate in the water. A twister will help you make a catch fish with your own hands. In this case, the base should be made short and thick - without a tail. Thread a tee or double into it using the method described above.

To learn more:

The best wobblers for catching chub

Which foam fish are suitable for fishing for perch?

The main parameters of foam rubber for fishing perch are the size and weight of the weight. As a rule, foam rubber 3-5 cm long and with a weight weighing 7-10 grams are used. During the current – ​​up to 15 grams. These are the cute fish that spinning anglers use to catch large perch.

We see that these are homemade baits. The good thing about foam rubber is that you can make several dozen of them literally in one evening. Often spinning fishermen and other fishermen do not know what to do with themselves during the off-season. Here is a clear example of how you can spend your time usefully.

We see very regular fish. Let us first note the location of the hooks. They are pressed tightly to the body of the bait. It turns out to be a reliable non-snag. Such a fish will pass through vegetation and the number of hooks will be minimal. We know that perch often prefer places near vegetation, among water lilies and algae. Catching it in such areas can be problematic. The foam rubber overcomes various obstacles without any problems. Her ability to shrink and quickly return to her previous shape will be very useful.

In the image we see fish with notches. What are they needed for? The fact is that in water such fish show more active play. It turns out that each segment makes movements in turn and the body of the bait seems to consist of several parts. When the perch is active, it is enough to lower the bait to the horizon where the predator is, and the fish will immediately attract the attention of the school. All you have to do is move the tip of the rod a little, and the foam rubber will make intense movements.

Here is another type of foam rubber:

We see that these fish consist of two parts, which are connected to each other by rings from tees. A tee is attached to each half. No matter what part the perch attacks, it will still catch on the sting of the hook. Such models are very effective when fishing for perch in the summer, when it is active. It is good to fish with compound baits in standing waters. They show very active play and attract predators from afar.

The simplest type of foam rubber is carrots:

They are suitable for summer perch fishing. When he is actively hunting for fry, he will also take carrots. These are really catchy foam fish. They are suitable for bottom fishing, when small amplitude jerks are made with a spinning rod and the bait wriggles in the bottom layer and touches the bottom. It happens that schools of perch replace one another and predators actively grab everything that moves, including carrots. And it’s easy to do. It is enough to take foam rubber and cut 3-5 cm long blocks from it, just for the perch, and carefully cut off the edges to get blanks like those in the image. Then all that remains is to install tees or doubles with weights, and you can start fishing. With such simple baits you can catch a normal amount of perch in a good place from a boat within 2-3 hours.

A good place is when something like this happens at the bottom:

The bait is simply lowered from the boat into the bottom layer and small jerks with pauses are performed. The perch doesn’t look at the fish for long and immediately grabs it. Moreover, if there is a decent line of relatives behind him. Such a distribution cannot but please fishermen, and in this case not only foam fish, but also twisters and vibrotails will work well.

Returning to the varieties of foam fish for perch, here is another good option:

This fish has an oblique cut in the nose. Due to this body geometry, the bait makes active movements even during slow retrieves and pauses. The perch loves foam rubbers to move; it attacks them without hesitation. This model showed good results when fishing in thick water with jerks, pauses and when performing stepwise retrieves.

Many spinning anglers attach various bright elements to the fish. These can be red thick threads, silicone strips, various bows and small beads. Connect fish with silicone baits. Everyone shows their imagination and in the end we get such bright models:

The next successful bait for fishing perch is the octopus. It looks like this:

This is also homemade. It's very easy to do. It is enough to cut a long and wide strip of soft foam rubber and fold it in half. Next, a nylon thread is tied in the upper part, as shown in the figure, and then strips are cut out, and the result is something like an octopus. The tee is hidden among these flats and is almost invisible. Returning to the idea that an active perch attacks everything that moves, let’s say that he will take such a bait without question. It is best to catch an octopus in a plumb line. We just lower it to the bottom and wait for it to land.

Then we just make small jerks and wait. The perch takes at different times. He often attacks while landing, while flying, or while charging. You can slowly raise the bait or just hold it above the bottom for a while.

This octopus really stands out from the other items. When it goes down, stripes develop in the water. It turns out very beautiful and at the same time productive from the point of view of perch hunting. And again, making such an octopus is not a problem even when fishing. If you have foam rubber, scissors, threads and tees. Use tees or doubles for perch approximately the same (Nos. 8-10) as in this photo:

Regarding the color of the foam fish for perch, when it is active, it takes on any fish. In the second half of autumn, the perch already switches to moderate feeding and stands in deep areas. At this time, it is not reasonable to catch it with bright baits. It is better to use fish colored in gray tones and with black dots. The result will be something like a small bull, gudgeon or bleak. In general, it is better to fish with foam rubbers that look like fry. Here are some good options:

What foam is best to use for fish? For fishing perch, soft, medium- and fine-pored foam rubber is best suited. You can cut a tail, fins and stripes from it. All these elements, each individually, will wriggle in the water, make noticeable movements, play, in a word. For fishing perch, lures with active action are suitable so that they make different somersaults, tremble slightly, etc. Soft foam fish are capable of such play. Hard foam rubber produces baits with limited playing capabilities.

And one more important point when fishing for perch. Many fishermen have noticed that if the foam rubbers are given a fishy or bloody smell, the number of bites will noticeably increase. Predatory fish determine the presence of fry by smell, among other things. If you rub the foam rubber on the roach, it will become more natural and believable. Roach, by the way, has a very rich smell. After its capture, mucus with such a pronounced smell remains on the hands. If you rub the fish on the roach and fish with them, you can get very good results.

Foam spinners often take fish oil with them. It is diluted with water and a very suitable attractant is obtained. This liquid is poured into a small container and the bait is dipped in it. The results are very catchy foam fish. You can also dip it in diluted blood or make a paste of worms and bloodworms and dilute it in water. Such natural smells are very attractive to perch, especially in cold weather.

Impregnation with attractants is an important point

As mentioned above, one of the main advantages of foam rubber baits is the possibility of using special flavors. This important advantage should not be neglected. You can purchase attractants at any fishing store. The porous material absorbs these substances and retains the aroma. This is especially true in muddy water - fish can track the bait by smell, and not just by swimming close enough to see it or feel it through touch.

But you shouldn’t get too carried away - one drop of attractant is enough for the foam base to retain a noticeable odor for a long time. An overdose may result in the scent repelling prey.