Peculiarities of rotan behavior
Rotan continues to spread from year to year, and its unpretentiousness to the habitat contributes to reproduction in conditions unsuitable for other fish. It follows that first of all, you need to make sure that rotan is present in a particular body of water.
The larger the lake or pond, the greater the likelihood of catching a trophy specimen. With a sufficient amount of food and small peaceful fish, which are potential prey for predators, rotan fish can gain weight of more than 0.5 kg with a height of over 35 cm. If there is no pike in the reservoir, then rotan, eating eggs and juveniles of peaceful fish, reduces their population.
Can it be eaten?
Even 100 years after the fish appeared, people ask: “is it edible or not?” The answer is yes .
Rotan is not very tasty, its beneficial properties of meat are regarded as dietary. Another advantage is that the predator has few bones. You can cook fish with any dish; it goes perfectly with rice.
Fried rotan
You can clean rotan from scales with a regular knife. Removing the insides is easy. After cutting, it is recommended to soak the rotan in cool water and cut off the fins. This will get rid of the smell of swamp and mud. Rotan meat is dense, since rotan is a predator and is used to hunting a lot for prey.
To learn more:
Description and characteristics of Baikal grayling
Cooking recipes
Under the marinade
Boil the meat and remove the bones. Cut into pieces and arrange evenly on a plate. Grate the carrots on a coarse grater and cut the onion into small cubes. Fry carrots and onions with tomato paste and spices to taste. Pour the marinade over the boiled rotan meat and let it stand in the refrigerator for two hours.
Balloons
Pass the pre-cooked rotan carcass through a meat grinder. Mix the resulting mass with mashed potatoes, 1 to 1. Add egg, butter and spices. Form the balls into the desired shape and roll in breading. You can fry it on the stove, or stew it in a saucepan.
Rotan in spring
After the ice begins to melt, rotan in the spring continues to remain in the “wintering” areas until the freeze-up completely disappears. These are depressions overgrown with algae and places with abundant dying vegetation. At the beginning of spring, increased activity is observed only in small rotan. On sunny days, flocks can be found throughout the ice-free water area of the reservoir.
As the water warms up, small fish and water insects “wakes up”. The largest rotans living in a particular body of water begin to move behind them. In the second half of spring, the predator is found everywhere. Before spawning, sexually mature large predators begin to eat. During this period, he reacts to everything that reminds him of his usual prey.
Side nod and winter fishing rod
Winter fishing rod with jig for perch and rotan
We have combined these two types of gear due to the fact that they are very similar. More detailed article on winter fishing for rotan. Both here and here the same equipment and the same baits are used. The whole difference is that the fishing methods and the actual sizes of the rod differ.
The equipment of the nodding fishing rod in both cases is absolutely identical:
- Fishing rod.
- Nod.
- Fishing line.
- Spinner or jig.
- Bait.
The spinner or jig in this gear is used to visually attract rotan, and the bait itself forces the rotan to show itself and bite.
How to play?
The game itself is quite simple; you need to periodically pull the fishing rod, remembering to pause. Some fishermen in winter prefer to make several holes and walk from one to another, playing each one periodically.
Watch a video on catching rotan in the dead of winter on thick ice, youtube:
Fishing with live bait
If you decide to catch rotan with live bait, then the equipment is not particularly different from a standard fishing rod. It is equipped with the following elements:
- With a noticeable gatehouse;
- The standard line is about 0.2 mm.
- Sinker.
- Stopper.
- Matching hook.
The hook is placed on the baitfish's back and/or mouth and lowered into the hole. In this case, the depth should be selected in such a way that about 10-20 cm remains to the bottom. When catching rotan with live bait, you can catch a really large predator, although medium-sized predators are also caught with live bait.
Features of catching rotan
- This predator is liked by many anglers for its persistent and simple bite. He swallows the bait really deeply.
- In a reservoir it can be located in all layers , so when fishing you should select the most suitable depth.
- If the hooking was too early and the rotan broke, then you should not worry that it will go far. Often, if you lower the bait into the same place, the rotan will start biting again.
- This predator prefers quiet bodies of water, with virtually no current . If the reservoir does not freeze, then you can catch it throughout the whole year.
- It has been noted that large rotan prefers a “sandwich” rather than bait of the same type.
- In autumn and early winter, larger rotans prefer animal baits .
- He doesn’t pay much attention to the fishing line, so there’s no need to use too thin one.
- Rotan is very well caught in the presence of vegetation in the reservoir , because that's where he likes to hide.
- This predator usually bites where it stands. He waits for prey, and does not search for it throughout the entire body of water, like a perch.
- The most optimal time for catching rotan is April and May , when the reservoir is completely free of ice. The fact is that the fish strives to accumulate strength for spawning, so its gluttony is almost constant. And it is caught using completely different baits.
These are the most important features of a predator such as rotan, which should be taken into account in the process of preparing for fishing.
This is interesting: Fishing for garfish
Rotan in summer
At the beginning of summer, rotan spawns. It can last until the second half of June, and during this period, targeted fishing for rotan by amateur fishermen is usually not practiced.
After spawning, the predator is highly active during daylight hours. Experience shows that the best bite is observed at dawn and sunset. But this is not dogma. It is known that even in the sunshine you can expect a rotan bite.
Biting calendar in spring, summer and autumn
Fishing for rotan does not depend on the season of the year and can be successfully carried out both in open water and from ice.
Important! The fish feed throughout the year, despite the drop in water temperature, and stop only during periods of freezing of the reservoir to its bottom, where even in these extreme conditions the fish successfully survive.
Spawning occurs in batches, starting from mid-May and ending by the end of June, and while one batch is spawning, the other in the same reservoir continues to actively feed.
Important! We can confidently conclude that rotan bites constantly. The main thing is to find his parking place.
Let's consider the main nuances of fish behavior based on the changing seasons in order to thoroughly understand the principles of its migration through a reservoir in order to determine promising points for searching for a trophy.
Spring
After the ice melts and the water warms up above ten degrees, the fish comes out onto the shallows into the vegetation that is beginning to grow rapidly and reliably occupies places suitable for ambush, remaining in their area for the entire summer period.
Important! The best time for fishing in spring is early in the morning, when the predator's food items are in a daze and waiting for the daytime water heating to begin.
The easiest way to catch rotan is on the bottom topography with differences in depth in the coastal zone, feeding baits into the middle levels of the water horizon. In the spring, a float fishing rod looks more productive than other fishing gear.
Fishing for rotan in summer
Summer is considered the peak season for the predator's prey. After spawning is completed, the fish aggressively recovers lost energy by devouring any moving objects that are large enough to fit into its mouth.
The firebrand descends to the bottom layers to feed, staying 10–20 cm from the bottom, in areas of water areas heavily overgrown with algae. Based on the difficulties of hunting in the thickets, catching rotan in the summer with a jig is the most preferable method, allowing you to catch the most secluded places where fish rest. It is promising to supply baits to free windows of clean water near coastal reed or sedge thickets.
Important! The bite continues throughout the day with the same intensity, even despite the variability of the weather.
Autumn
The beginning of the autumn period in terms of fishing strategies does not differ from the summer season and the predator continues to be searched under duckweed and in thickets near the coastlines. With a serious cooling of the water, firebrands begin to gather in large flocks and migrate to deeper parts of the reservoir, occupying relief shelters at the bottom, underwater snags and submerged objects of other origins. The fish still stays in the bottom water horizon and continues to actively feed. You can catch rotan in the fall not only with tackle with a nod, but also use ultralight spinning fishing. Catching rotan with a spinning rod is successful at the edges of deep drifts and between snags.
Important! On the eve of the winter season, fish fatten throughout the daylight hours, showing the greatest aggressiveness closer to the lunch period during the most intense period of the day in terms of light flux.
Winter
Winter makes the predator more passive, keeping the flocks in deep holes.
Important! Knowing well the topography of the bottom of the fished pond, you must definitely fish in its deepest place, where the firebrand pecks at the bait placed right under your nose.
Methods of active animation of jigs with touching the bottom and raising them step by step will undoubtedly bring results even in severe frosts. Winter spinning fishing is possible using vertical, narrow spinners and balancers of the smallest sizes, regardless of their color design.
Tackle for rotan
For each fishing method, appropriate gear for rotan is prepared: • Float rod. Excellent for shore and boat fishing. The 2.7 m long Bolognese fishing rod is highly practical. The inertia-free reel ensures casting to the required distance. You can equip a float rod for any fishing conditions: for wiring, for fishing with live bait, etc.; • Spinning. This is a universal tackle for catching all predatory fish. The main thing is to choose the right rod for spinning and install the appropriate equipment. Fishing for rotan is fraught with frequent snags on bottom obstacles and algae, so it is important to choose the right cord for the spinning rod; • Tackle elastic band. This catchy tackle is excellent for catching rotan in reservoirs with standing water or slight current; • Summer girders. With the help of summer girders you can diversify fishing for trophy rotan in the coastal zone. Steep banks turning into landfalls are excellent signs for casting live bait gear; • Tackle for vertical trolling. A winter fishing rod with a nod is used when fishing for rotan from a boat.
Catching large rotan
Rotan is able to survive in any conditions and this makes it a truly unique fish. There have been cases when a fish simply froze into the ice, and after it melted, it “came to life” and calmly swam further. If we take into account the fact that rotan has quite densely populated most water bodies, then targeted fishing for it has long been an activity for many fishermen. Another great thing is that even in small rivers within the city limits you can find this fish. Catching large rotan is especially interesting.
An interesting fact is that catching large rotan does not require an expensive high-quality rod and reel. The same goes for baits; they can be either classic silicone baits or easily accessible dung worms. If you choose the right place and select the gear, then it is quite possible to catch a bucket (and sometimes more) of large rotans, weighing well over 500 grams.
It’s easy to guess that due to its small size, rotan is an easy prey for a predator; this forces it to hide in snags and grass, and that’s where you need to look for it. It is best to catch rotan with a jig, and a very light one. Rotan is classified as a predatory fish, and sometimes as a peaceful fish, for some reason I classified it as a peaceful fish, but that’s not the point, in short, it gives preference to moving baits. Catching large rotan brings good results when using a heavy jig, on a 0.15 mm fishing line and with a rod five meters long. Don’t forget about the guard; it is mounted in the classic way - at an angle of 90 degrees to the tip of the rod.
You can use a fairly thick fishing line, since rotan is voracious and not very capricious with gear, and the thicker it is, the more reliable it is. Give preference to large hooks with a long shank. Even small fish can swallow a large hook, since its mouth is of impressive size. You can also use small hooks, but this leads to the fish swallowing them very deeply and removing them becomes problematic.
There are also no special requirements for the fishing technique and it is quite easy, just lower the jig to the bottom, and then slowly lift it by slightly shaking the rod. As soon as you see a sharp movement of the guard (believe me, it’s hard not to see this) you immediately need to hook. When fishing with a float rod, it is also recommended to lightly play along with the bait. Dung worms are often used as bait.
