Spinning fishing
02 February
Overview of pike fishing with spinning rods in spring (March, April, May)
Pike is a predator, catching which with a spinning rod requires skill and considerable effort. The fish actively resists when fished, making the fisherman feel extraordinary excitement. This feeling captivates and turns people into real fans of pike hunting. They look forward to spring, when the predator wakes up from hibernation and begins to look for prey. In April-May, pike greedily grab the bait, and fishing can be very successful. But subject to the right location and suitable equipment. How and where is it better to catch pike in the spring?
Features of pike fishing in spring
You can go hunting for pike with a spinning rod immediately after the ice melts on the reservoirs. At this time, the fish are very hungry, and fishing promises to be successful. But we must remember that:
1. Zhor lasts several days before spawning. Pike only bite on small baits.
2. Spawning takes several weeks. The predator moves to distant areas and does not bite at all.
3. After spawning, it’s time for the next meal. The fish actively attacks whatever it considers suitable for food. With the arrival of summer, its activity decreases.
Before and after spawning, pike prefers small fish due to the fact that it does not yet have the strength to chase large prey. Therefore, it makes no sense to use large baits during this period.
There are folk signs
, signaling
a good pike bite after spawning
. This:
- blossoming of bird cherry;
— blooming dandelions, swimsuit;
- the beginning of the sound of quail mating songs.
This is a natural clock that is worth listening to. They are much more reliable than biting calendars.
Spring pike fishing with spinning rod video
What is the best way for pike to bite in spring?
Spring pike fishing with a spinning rod video in the thickets. Jig on micro rivers.
There is still a meter of ice on the reservoirs, but in the daytime the temperature is from –3 to +3 and higher, which means you can take a spinning rod and relax on the river in your free time. You don’t have to travel far to feel the bite and resistance of spring pike right within the city limits. Spinning rod Troutino TT-862MH 5-25g, reel EXCIA MX 3000, wobbler Tiny MAGALLON RT AYU.
Catching pike with a wobbler
Spinning fishing in early spring >>
Selection of gear and fishing techniques
Retrieving pike in spring should be done slowly, so that weak fish can keep up with the movement of the baits. Lures
can be:
— light small wobblers;
— spinners ranging in size from 4 to 7 centimeters;
- poppers;
- silicone jig heads.
In April-May, pike stay near the bottom, so you need to select recessed equipment that is suitable for great depths and can be used in shallow water. Spinning and oscillating spoons have shown themselves to be excellent in spring fishing. They provide a low tracking speed and attract predators with the movements of their petals. When fishing for pike after spawning, you can switch to heavier spoons. Poppers ranging in size from 8 to 10 centimeters are used at the very beginning of the season and at the end of it, when the fish move into shallow water and into the upper layers of the water. Such baits are carried out with periodic, not too sharp jerks.
Methods and places for pike fishing in spring
The principles for searching for pike sites in the spring vary depending on the type of reservoir and are as follows:
1. On the rivers
the predator usually hides under steep banks and can grab the hook at the end of the retrieve. Therefore, it must always be brought to the very end. If the river is small in width, it is better to throw bait on the opposite bank. Pike can grab them right away. In the spring there is no predator in a strong current, since it does not have the strength to fight the movement of water flows.
2. On deep lakes
At the beginning of spring, pike are found on shallows located along the shore, on shallow ones - under the shore, on underwater mounds. When the water warms up well, it will go further into the depths, into holes and ditches.
3. On the ponds
The predator stands near vegetation in any season, in snags, under flooded logs, in windows and corridors of aquatic vegetation.
4. On spacious reservoirs
In spring, pike prefers the coastal zone. At this time, carp species of fish spawn in the grass near the shore. The predator feeds on them. It goes to a shallow depth of only 30 centimeters to grab prey.
If fishing is done from a boat, it is necessary to fish shallow waters using light spinning rods with a flexible tip. When fishing from the shore in the spring, places up to 1.5 meters deep are selected, where there are shelters. For this purpose, blanks from 2.2 meters to 2.7 meters long, medium-fast and parabolic action with dough up to 20 grams are suitable. Equipment
you have to choose like this:
1. Inertia-free reel with sizes from 2300 to 3000. They must have a small additional bearing number. This will ensure faster catching of prey and increase the reliability of the reel.
2. Monofilament fishing line with a diameter of 0.2 to 0.24 millimeters. A braided cord with a thickness of 0.07 to 0.12 millimeters is also suitable.
3. Leashes. For pike fishing in the spring they are required. The best solution would be do-it-yourself twist leashes made from guitar strings. Their connection to the fishing line does not require additional elements, which often scare away the fish. The length of such leashes ranges from 15 to 20 centimeters.
In spring, a lot of pike can be found in the water meadows. Fish come to them with floods in search of a place to spawn. When the water subsides, the pike finds itself isolated from the main part of the reservoir, experiences a shortage of food and greedily rushes to any bait.
Fishing Features
The influence of weather and time of day on the bite
In spring, in contrast to the warmer summer, the following pattern of influence of weather conditions on the activity of this predator is observed:
- The predator is most active on sunny days with light wind;
- It is almost pointless to go fishing on cloudy, cold days with precipitation and strong winds;
- The sharply changing weather, accompanied by strong winds and a drop in atmospheric pressure, does not contribute to the bite.
In early and mid-spring, the predator does not actively feed in the morning. Hatches at approximately 9-10 o'clock. The water has already warmed up a little. Small fish come out to feed in shallow waters and areas covered with last year's reeds.
At the end of spring (second half to end of May), pike becomes more passive. During the day, its bite is weak or completely absent. At this time, she prefers to feed in the early morning and at dawn.
Choosing a fishing spot
In water bodies that are just starting to become free of ice, at this time you can catch pike in long gullies and polynyas stretching along the coastline.
Also in March, toothfish are well caught at the mouths of small rivers and streams. The choice of place for catching toothfish depends on the specific month and the prevailing weather:
- In March, when the water is still cold, in large reservoirs the pike stays away from the shore in deep snag holes and pools, dumps, various bottom anomalies (hillocks, “navels,” local holes), channel and coastal ditches. On small rivers and streams you can find toothy fish in creeks and backwaters. The water here warms up faster than on the main stream.
- With the arrival of April, after spawning, it is better to catch the predator in places with a depth of 0.5 to 1.5 meters. At this time, the pike stays in shallows and watering areas with thickets of last year’s reeds and grass. Shallow channels, small ditches, micro rivers and streams, and “toad gardens” will be promising in April.
- In May, the pike, which has spawned and gained strength, gradually migrates to summer sites - backwaters, oxbow lakes, sections of rivers with weak currents - where it stays on the border of clean water and thickets of reeds and aquatic vegetation.
We recommend reading: Winter fishing for bream with a combine.
Large specimens in the spring prefer to stay in deep holes and pools. Such places are bordered by shallows and irrigation. From time to time pike come here to hunt for fry.
Fishing for pike from the shore in spring
One of the most effective ways to catch pike in the spring from the shore is a jig with a stepped retrieve. The bait should be near the bottom and touch it periodically. Slow-playing lures are used for this purpose.
. It can be:
— vibrotails from 13 to 24 centimeters long;
— silicone twisters.
It is advisable to load them with heads that roll from side to side. The baits will become more playful. The wiring is done slowly, smoothly, with decent pauses. Locations are changed regularly. They move to a new point after 10-12 unsuccessful casts.
A good catch can also be achieved by twitching in water bodies overgrown with vegetation. Oscillating spoons and surface wobblers are used for it. It is advisable to make casts so that the bait ends up a few meters from the place where the predator is supposedly hiding. Wiring is done with regular gentle jerks.
For shore fishing, it is advisable to have waders or a wading suit. The equipment will help you get closer to the predator’s site. If you fish from the shore itself, you need to make casts at an angle of 45º relative to its line. In shallow bays, baits can be cast at any angle.
Catching pike in spring from a boat
Having a boat allows you to fish a significant part of the reservoir. For small rivers and ponds it is not needed, but in spacious water areas it will be a good help for the fisherman. The boat makes it possible
:
— choose the most convenient place for casting;
— protect baits from snags;
— explore areas remote from the shore.
You can use the boat before and after fish spawning. It is enough to simply swim to the border with aquatic vegetation, to the shallows, and begin exploration from the side where the open water begins. Then gradually move to other places where the predator can live in the spring. There is a good bite in April during the day, and by the end of May - in the early morning and evening. The first hour and a half of fishing makes it clear how active the pike is. The release of a predator can happen at any moment. Then you need to immediately use more aggressive baits.
The most promising fishing is if the boat is anchored at a distance of 15 to 30 meters from the shore and casts to the water's edge. In the spring, pike often begin to hunt for frogs and turn their nose to the shore, so this method of fishing gives good results.
Fishing spots
As already mentioned, the best places for fishing are near spawning grounds and not far from summer habitats; in the spring you should fish the place where you successfully caught it in the summer. Often, before the start of the flood, the pike remains closed in oxbow lakes, backwaters, where it entered in the fall, during the winter the water dropped and there is no way for it to get out. Fishing in such reservoirs in the spring is especially successful; the pike there has already eaten all the fish and will willingly grab a spoon or other bait.
Typically, the toothy resident stays near water thickets where the water warms up well to the bottom. These are places with not very strong currents or without it, shallows where there is aquatic vegetation. The bite is also influenced by the fact that such places are rich in oxygen; with the arrival of sunny days, aquatic vegetation actively releases it into the water from the end of winter, when the ice becomes more transparent and there is no snow on it.
Ultraviolet light passes through ice and water relatively easily, but snow cover can weaken the sun's rays needed for photosynthesis. Therefore, when there is no snow on the ice, there is more oxygen in the water. Even when it’s frosty outside, you often have to clear a jig or spoon of duckweed, which is abundant in the wormwood, or pull out long green stems from the bottom.
You should fish at a shallow depth, up to two meters; sometimes you can catch a predator even right under the shore, at a depth of half a meter. It is very good if there are flooded piles, snags, large objects at the bottom. Such places are always attractive, because it is convenient to spawn near them. If the flood has already begun, you should pay attention to the flooded bushes, and in general, places with bushes along the shore are more attractive, but they are the most difficult to get to.
For boat owners, shallows and banks that are located at a great distance from the shore are suitable; here the predator feels completely safe. However, if there are reeds, water lilies and other vegetation coming to the surface, the ice here will melt more slowly.
The best lures for pike fishing in spring
One of the best lures for pike fishing in the spring are light oscillating spoons made of thin metal sheet. Such baits can be used over algae or in windows among aquatic vegetation without fear of snagging. They must meet the following requirements:
- length from 5 to 6 centimeters;
- small form, corresponding to the taste preferences of the fish;
— bright colors for muddy water;
- natural color for clear water.
Fishing in the spring is often effective with silicone baits. Small jig heads perform well in shallow water. Nozzles made of edible rubber with flavored additives and a length of up to 12 centimeters work well. If the weather is cloudy, you should give preference to colors such as:
- yellow;
- white;
- orange.
On sunny days, the predator pecks at dark-colored rubber. The type of silicone imitation does not matter much.
When the pike becomes active, spinners with silver and brass petals are used. They vibrate strongly when retrieved, so pike notice such bait even in dirty water. Sometimes the most effective are spinners with silicone attached to the tee.
For the shallowest water areas, surface wobblers with a depth of up to 1 meter and a length of 5 to 10 centimeters are suitable. For spring fishing, it is better to choose a minnow with a bright design.
What baits to use to catch pike in spring
In spring, the behavior of pike, even during feeding, is very different from summer or autumn. This is primarily due to its weakening after winter and spawning. Accordingly, baits and their use will vary.
Fishing with live bait
A spring feature of live bait fishing is that before spawning and for some time after it, pike prefers small fish. Firstly, before spawning, its belly is filled with caviar and it simply will not swallow a large fish, and secondly, it needs to spend less energy on small fish, which the predator does not have much of at this time. The spinning rod with bait must be carried out slowly so that the weakened fish can keep up with it.
Familiarize yourself with the technique of catching pike with live bait using different gear.
Fishing with wobblers
At the initial stages of spring fishing, you need to take smaller wobblers until the spring hunger of the predator comes into full force. Minou class baits will perform well here. In addition, a feature of spring fishing with wobblers is that the pike, even when entering shallow water, continues to stay near the bottom, so surface baits should be saved until the beginning of summer. The advantage of a wobbler in the spring is that during wiring, it is able to freeze in one place, allowing the sluggish fish to attack itself more easily.
The best wobblers
The best wobblers for pike during this period are:
- Zip Baits Khamsin 70 is a wobbler from the “shad” class, with an excellent casting range, very responsive and nimble, works on an inactive predator. Deepens up to 1.5 meters, well suited for shallow water. It has an excellent game both during jerking and even driving.
- Jackall Squad Minnow 80 SP - the wobbler goes deep to 1.5 meters and perfectly maintains the selected depth. It behaves well in twitching and will be a good choice for beginners.
- Tsuribito Hard Minnow 95F is an excellent bait for fishing at medium depths. It has a good flight range and unusual animation when flying. Suitable for a large predator.
- Evergreen Sledge Escarda is a suspender with a depth of up to 1.5 meters. Allows you to make long casts. Excellent in twitching, but also good with uniform wiring.
- Lucky John Eco Gutsy Minnow SP is a classic bait for catching large predators, with a good casting range. Works great in small bodies of water.
Lure fishing
Spinner is a classic bait for pike, and its use in spring has its own characteristics. The size of the spinners should be small, from 4 to 8 cm. The retrieve is slow, with pauses and stops. It is better to choose a classic color, white for cloudy weather and yellow for sunny weather.
Turntables
It is in the spring that the use of rotating spoons when hunting for pike becomes most appropriate. Due to the sluggish activity of the fish, the speed of the spinner is very low, and the slow rotation of the petal creates exactly those vibrations that most attract the predator.
During this period, medium-sized turntables are used. It is advisable to do wiring with pauses and small jerks.
Oscillators
Spoon baits have always been the most catchy lures for this predator, it’s not for nothing that they are called pike killers. In the spring, you need to give preference to small and light spoons, gradually increasing their size towards the end of spring. The wiring is done slowly and smoothly. Conventional uniform wiring works well. When moving, in the second half of this season, from shallow waters to greater depths, you need to use heavier baits.
The best spinners
- Mepps Syclops – one of the most popular vibrators with stable, natural play. With a good casting range, it performs well in different conditions and at different fishing speeds.
- Mepps Aglia Long - one of the leaders among pike spinners. In spring, it is better to take a silver-colored lure. Almost universal during this period. Allows you to carry out even the slowest wiring.
- Kuusamo Professor – a Finnish spinner designed for slow, intermittent retrieves with long pauses when hunting a sluggish predator. Excellent for calm water.
- Blue Fox Vibrax Super Bou – a rotating spoon for large pike, thanks to its two lobes and large tail edge, attracts fish from afar and performs well at different fishing speeds and different currents. Allows you to make long casts.
- Rublex Eira – the spoon was created specifically for pike, for fishing in reservoirs with low currents. With a leisurely retrieve and pauses, it creates sweeping vibrations of wide amplitude, attracting a predator at a great distance.
Popper fishing
Popper is a surface bait, but it also attracts predators due to the sounds it creates. In addition, it allows very slow, yaw wiring. It will find its application at the beginning of spring, in wide shallow waters, where the predator goes in search of warm water after small things. A popper will also be good in late spring - early summer, when pike begin to hunt in the upper layers of reservoirs.
The wiring of the popper should be done slowly, starting with a short pause of about 15 seconds, it is driven then with small jerks so that it makes characteristic sounds. The size of the bait should be 8 - 12 cm.
Fishing with a frog
The frog is a fairly common bait for pike, as it is its natural prey, but in the spring it can only be used at the end of the season. For these purposes, it is better to take not live bait, but artificial bait, made of plastic or rubber; it is simpler and more reliable.
The bait is moved along the surface, moving in short jerks and pausing for a few seconds. At the moment of the bite, they wait for some time, allowing the predator to swallow the prey, and only then they hook.
General rules for pike fishing in winter
To make pike fishing successful in the spring, you must adhere to these rules
:
1. Go fishing in the morning after full dawn and in the evening before dark.
2. Fish in areas whose depth does not exceed two meters.
3. Do not stand in one place, fish the main part of the reservoir. A sluggish pike moves poorly.
4. First use small baits, then increase their size, guided by the degree of water heating.
5. If there is no bite when fishing with baits of natural colors, change them to brighter ones.
6. Do any wiring slowly and carry it to the very end. The pike can stand right at your feet or near the boat.
7. Use surface baits only at the end of May, when the predator is preparing for summer mode.
8. Fish the water areas using the fine-comb method. In spring, pike do not react to prey located at considerable distances from it.
To avoid being disappointed, you should not make the following mistakes:
:
— forget the tongs and yawner, which will be indispensable assistants during active biting;
— choose rough equipment, because autumn spinning equipment is not suitable for spring;
— make casts at decent distances when fishing from the shore, since in the spring the pike gathers near it;
- be unprepared for the active resistance of a predator, counting on its lethargy.
In order not to find yourself in an unpleasant situation, you must always remember about your own safety. You can easily fall into cold water from a slippery icy shore. Therefore, you need to move carefully and take into account the fact that the most catchy periods in spring are from 9 to 11 am and from 6 to 8 pm. When it gets cold, there is snow, or freezing rain, the pike does not bite.
Lures for pike fishing
Popper
First, about catching pike with a popper, which I literally forced myself to master. Imagine such a picturesque picture: April, sunshine, a mouse is swimming about its business, and then a breaker appears next to it, a splash and silence... And this is at shallow backwater depths of up to 1 m! Having seen enough of such things, I started catching pike with poppers, and began making them myself. Now I catch pike in the spring where I used to pass by and didn’t even think about throwing away the spinning rod. What is a pike doing here, basking in the sun, or what? After all, it can go out onto the river into deeper areas, but for some reason it doesn’t go away. Be that as it may, the popper in the spring is often different, you just need to choose the right wiring. This option worked best: after each “gurgle,” I don’t pause, but slowly reel in the braid so that the wobbler moves along the surface of the water, creating “whiskers” that attract pike. It would seem that in such shallows a shallow-water wobbler, a light spinner, and an elastic band on a light head can excel - after all, these decoys can be driven almost along the surface of the water. But the fact of the matter is that “practically”, because on river backwaters, as soon as the bait goes a little deeper, it immediately attaches grass to itself, alerting or even scaring off the predator. But the popper goes along the very surface, and you can throw it relatively far, so it becomes a clear favorite. However, a popper in the spring is a fake, so to speak, of a “medium fight”, and it is enough to throw it at 20-30 meters.
DIY popper
There are plenty of these baits in fishing stores, but there is no problem making a popper yourself literally “on your knees.” Using a sharp knife, I cut out a bait blank from a suitable birch or pine block. Using a metal file, I make a cut in the bow and a longitudinal cut under the frame. Using a graver or some other cutter, I select a deep recess in the nose of the blende - the main working part of the popper. Then I thoroughly clean everything with sandpaper, and collect the small sawdust that forms in a separate glass. I bend a wire frame with loops for the caudal and ventral trigemina, as well as the nasal loop. Then I mix PVA glue with the remaining sawdust (you can take epoxy resin and do without sawdust). Using the resulting putty, I fill the cut in the body of the future popper to the middle, then I press the frame there and finally seal the seam. After drying, I sand again until the surface is smooth and paint. It is advisable to dry the bait thoroughly before painting. True, after this you will need to apply several layers of paint, but the first layers will penetrate deeper into the wood itself. (DIY popper)
Popper colors
For myself, I chose several proven colors (plain colors, with a minimum of scales, eyes and stripes) - white, yellow, orange and “red head”. I equip the homemade product with tees and lower it into a container of water. Naturally, the popper should lie on the surface of the water, but it is advisable for the tail to be lowered lower - it will gurgle better. I don’t add additional weight to the bait - the tree itself is quite heavy.
Rippers
In general, in early spring I catch quite a lot of pike using rippers. I won’t say that the same spoon will catch less. On the contrary, there have been fishing trips when spinners (usually No. 2-4) brought greater success than silicone. Just catching pike with rubber is a personal passion. Another thing is if for some reason the pike does not react and goes on strike, then I experiment with baits, colors, and wiring. But, fortunately, this happens quite rarely in the spring, and often the stock of baits with which I planned to fish in the summer quickly becomes unusable in April-May, and the pike is torn to shreds. Although you can extend the life of the same wobblers by applying a special transparent construction varnish to the body of the bait (for example, PF - 21), such “armor” resists pike teeth quite successfully, and the varnish coating itself does not affect the performance of the bait. (How to fish with a ripper)
