In the fall, a running rig will help you out, in the old way, but in a new way - a Bolognese fishing rod or Bolognese rig. The most successful methods of Bolognese fishing.
In the fall, it happens that the fish do not fatten along the coastal strip of kusha, as was the case in the summer, but often on the border of the core stream and calm water, at depth and far from the shore, where the blind equipment does not allow throwing a hook with bait. And here a running rig will help out, in the old way, but in a new way - a Bolognese fishing rod or Bolognese rig.
Bolognese equipment
This equipment is generally as simple as the usual float “ouda”, which has been used for fishing since the time of Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov. But here the version of the float rod is expanded by increasing the casting range, wiring and new fishing techniques. The Bolognese modernized fishing rod kit includes an additional spinning reel and floats with characteristics different from those of a conventional “float”, which will be discussed later. And the rest is all as usual: a rod, a large landing net, bait, a cage and, of course, spare hooks, lines, floats.
Installation of equipment for a Bolognese fishing rod
The ease of converting a rod and reel into a full Bolognese rig (and vice versa) allows you to do this within minutes. All you need is a suitable float, which must have two attachment points (for the keel and a ring under the base of the antenna), a set of weights and a micro-swivel.
The float is selected depending on the strength of the current and the depth (the depth multiplied by two will approximately correspond to the required carrying capacity of the float in grams). In strong currents, the depth should be multiplied by three. The float is installed on the main line and surrounded so that 5-10 mm of the float body protrudes from the water. Below the load, 30-50 cm, attach a micro-swivel, and a leash to it. A feeder is installed just above the swivel. The tackle is ready. For a careful bite, the main sinkers are moved to the swivel and an undergrowth 30-70 cm long is tied to it from a thinner fishing line than the main one, but thicker than the leader line. A leash 20-40 cm long is attached to the undergrowth using the “loop to loop” method (or through a micro-swivel). By installing weights on the undergrowth, we achieve such a load on the float so that the antenna and a couple of millimeters of the body peek out of the water. For careful biting and if you have light baits, you can load it under the base of the antenna.
Read! Catching silver bream with a float rod
The equipment can be prepared at home so as not to waste time fishing. Before fishing, suitable equipment is attached to the main line either using the “loop-to-loop” method or with a knot. This method makes it easy to select the optimal gear when the fishing location or conditions change (for example, when another fish approaches). For such cases, I store floats in a box or tube with a selected weight and a swivel, and tying a couple of knots and transferring a float and a few pellets to the fishing line is a matter of minutes. After fishing, I put the equipment in a box until next time.
Differences and advantages of the Bolognese fishing rod
The main difference and advantage of the Bolognese fishing rod is the ability to control the tackle when fishing for large fish, especially on thin fishing line. The reel allows you to drop the line and reel in during strong jerks of the fish. In addition, the casting and retrieving range increases. When using a spinning reel, you can move the baited hook downstream until the float antenna is visible. That is, with Bolognese equipment, the area of the fished section of the river increases significantly. Well, another very important quality of the “lapdog” is its versatility. This gear can be fished almost everywhere: on small and large rivers with different currents, on large reservoirs, lakes, and also on quiet crucian carp ponds.
Bolognese floats
For fishing in currents, floats are used that are slightly different from the floats of a conventional float or fly rod used on ponds and lakes, since fishing often takes place in strong currents. Therefore, the shape of Bolognese floats is more often in the form of a sphere or a drop. The line mount is also different. On the fly rod floats, the line is threaded through a wire loop. On the Bolognese rig, the mount is a durable tube mounted in the float. This is necessary so that the fastening can withstand hooking in a strong current, when the force of the stream further increases the load on the tackle. If you use fly rod floats, the fishing line will simply pull the fastening loop out of the body of the float. Imagine the float of a fly rod floating twenty meters from you, but on a long retrieve, like a lap dog. It swayed, tilted and sank obliquely under the water, leaving only the tip of the antenna on top. A strong pull-hook and... only the wire fastening ring dangles on the fishing line. The load on the tackle is too great at a great distance from the fisherman. I must admit, such incidents happened to me more than once when I used ordinary floats. Especially when the bite was sluggish, and every rare bite was worth its weight in gold. Well, and, of course, all the passion, excitement and evil power were invested in hooking. But even with careful hooking, the float tackle may not hold up.
There are also differences in the antenna of the float, since fishing can take place at a great distance from the angler, and he simply will not see the bite if the tip of the float is thin. And this is possible, since the distance can be about 25 meters. Therefore, the antenna of Bolognese floats is much thicker and covers two-thirds of the float. When the most successful method of Bolognese fishing, called "holding", is used, the antenna usually floats even higher to the surface, making it more visible and at a greater distance. Sometimes, when the current is too strong, the floats are slightly underloaded.
Floats in the form of a classic spindle or “needle” floats
Such floats are quite often used in Bologna rigs. They are relatively stable in the current, and with a thick antenna they are clearly visible from afar. But, nevertheless, more often in use, products are spherical in shape and weighing about 5 grams, having a long fiberglass or carbon fiber keel. Such light keels are sensitive to all touches of the hook to the bottom during retrieving. For the flow, the tackle is surrounded with light olives and an additional set of pellets on the underside. On slow-water ponds or on rivers with weak currents, the tackle is loaded using only pellets, selecting their number to suit the conditions and depth of a particular place.
Although the equipment is also called running, it is best to use floats with a blind fixed mount. Such equipment is more controllable and sensitive. It allows you to use a successful fishing method called “holding”, which is considered the most effective among fishing techniques with a Bolognese fishing rod.
Sliding floats are needed for fishing at great depths
There is an unspoken rule: a blind mount for a float is used in cases where the depth in the area of the reservoir chosen for fishing is less than the length of the rod. Naturally, at a depth exceeding the length of the rod, casting a tackle with a blind float mount is impossible. And here you can’t do without a sliding float.
Advantages of Bolognese tackle
As always, the question arises: why do you need Bolognese tackle, because it bites anyway. Yes, fish bite, and sometimes they are even caught, but it’s not just that bottom (feeder) gear is used for fishing from the bottom, and a fishing rod and reel are used for retrieving.
Fishing with a Bolognese fishing rod - what is its advantage? The most important thing is that float tackle is more sensitive than bottom tackle; the fish does not need to select a leash line and pull on a long main line for the angler to notice the bite. In the float rig of a Bolognese fishing rod, information is transmitted to the fisherman instantly thanks to a stretched thin fishing line and a sensitive element - the float.
Float tackle, unlike a half-bottom, covers a much larger fishing area: the wiring can sometimes be at a distance of several tens of meters, where a large fish may be standing, afraid to come closer.
Fishing with a Bolognese fishing rod is universal; you can fish with a Bolognese rod on rivers ranging from several meters to several kilometers wide, with currents ranging from the weakest to the very strong; and everywhere such fishing will be effective, the main thing is to choose the right equipment.
An indisputable advantage of the Bolognese tackle is the possibility of better use of bait: the fishing point is clearly visible from the location of the float, which means that both feeding and fishing will be much more accurate and efficient. In addition, even very experienced fishermen cannot always accurately guess the location of the bait table in a strong current, since often the balls of bait are not only carried away by the current, but also roll down the slope of the bottom. And the float allows you to accurately and efficiently catch all possible trajectories of food movement. Another point that is often forgotten is the transfer of already washed-out bait downstream. The food is gradually carried away, lingering in uneven bottoms or behind obstacles. Therefore, when fishing at one point, the factor of timely supplementary feeding is very important, in contrast to fishing with a long retrieve, when sometimes it is possible to catch fish on “old yeast” - the remnants of the previous feeding.
Read! Catching crucian carp in an overgrown pond
One of the important points in Bolognese fishing is that the bait and feeding methods used by amateur fishermen are quite suitable for it. If athletes often use very heavy food for fishing in the current so that it does not wash out of the fishing sector, then during regular fishing it is possible and even necessary to fish on the feed train. Almost any composition of bulk bait is suitable for feeding (except for the lightest):
- wheat,
- corn,
- peas,
- ground cake and others.
In strong currents, feed is mixed with coastal clay to reduce the rate of erosion.
fishing line
When choosing a fishing line, naturally, the size of the intended prey is taken into account, but most often the Bolognese fishing rod is equipped with a fishing line according to the scheme: the main one is 0.14 mm and the leash is 0.12 mm. When fishing in currents, a small but strong swivel is always used. Otherwise, overlaps are inevitable, since the main line will twist into a spring, and sooner or later the leash will certainly get caught up in it.
It is best to prepare the equipment for the fishing rod in advance. Usually they are assembled at home on a reel, and then, when fishing, all that remains is to connect the necessary equipment to the fishing rod.
Loading the float
There are several ways to load the float in this equipment:
- for fishing in the current, sinkers in the shape of olives are used;
- for fishing in still water, pellets are used (for more sensitive equipment, use small pellets);
- When fishing in small currents, you can use a combination of olives and pellets.
To see the most delicate bite, you need to load the float using the main weight and small pellets. To prevent the leash from overlapping, the main load must be placed at a distance from the leash that exceeds the length of the leash itself. When the float is loaded correctly, only the antenna peeks out of the water.
The most successful method of Bolognese fishing is “holding”
As already mentioned, in Bolognese fishing it is often the “holding” technique that gives the best result. It is simple and consists only of stopping the float in the right place, for example, above the shallows next to the pit or on a pre-calibrated edge, which is the border with the channel pit. When the float line stops, the hook with bait rises from the bottom and makes various oscillatory movements, as if it were a jig for ice fishing. This game often attracts even sluggish fish. This technique is common when catching fish that stay in the water column and near the bottom.
"Drawing"
Another technique is also used, which is also very successful, but it is used primarily for catching typically bottom-dwelling fish species. It can be called the dragging method, when a graze with a hook slowly crawls along the bottom or barely touches it, carried away by the current. We often used this method in late autumn when catching bream, when the fish rolled into the holes and the “holding” technique stopped working.
The most unsuccessful, albeit simple, method is considered to be the method of freely floating a hook with bait over the fishing area. It is mainly used for catching bleak and other small fish.
