Vladislav Salnikov | October 1, 2021
My friends and I have a tradition: having caught plenty of various salmon in the shallow rivers of the Kola Peninsula, spend the remaining few days before leaving home on the shores of Motovsky Bay. Here you can completely relax: no need to pull on your waders and trudge along the river, fighting the flow, in search of treasured places. Settle down comfortably on a coastal boulder, and throw yourself a spinner into the Barents Sea, admiring the beauty of the Far North.
You can catch a wide variety of fish here, and what’s really pleasing is that they are not as picky as river fish, and therefore for successful fishing one spinning rod with a small set of pilkers will be more than enough. However, such monotonous fishing can quickly get boring, so experiments are encouraged, especially if you have a few days left.
Flounder
When we went to Motovsky Bay for the first time, we took with us snacks and a good supply of worms. We had information that flounder bites best on this simple tackle.
While we were looking for a place to camp on the shore, we met two travelers from Moscow who were hunting for flounder with just such donks. However, we weren’t able to catch this fish with a worm: the first cast of Kastmaster into the sea by our comrade brought him pollock - and everyone had no time for tricks, because who wants to sit on a chair waiting for a bite if a spinning rod is caught on every cast, even if it’s not a flounder ?
However, the bite “like on the Black Rocks” is enjoyable only up to a certain point. Then the level of excitement inevitably decreases - and you want new experiences. We began to experiment with spaced rigs, but apart from scorpionfish, our experiments brought nothing. Only a couple of years later, finding ourselves in the same area, we picked up the key to flounder.
It is better to catch it with a spinning rod in the area of flowing rivers. Even when you clean fish in such places, flounder the size of a nickel come to the feast. If there are no rivers nearby, you need to study the bottom by tapping it with a weight.
As we noticed, flounder bites best not on rocks, but on sand, i.e. where the sinker does not play back “with a ringing sound” when falling to the bottom. It is better to fish with lead rigs, the bait is a small bright twister or slug, which must be moved very slowly. I don’t know, maybe we were always out of season, but fishing for flounder was always difficult for us, but it was worth it. But if you don’t want to waste time on flounder, it’s better to start catching other fish.
What gear to choose
For sea fishing, you should prepare strong and reliable cod fishing gear. Most anglers choose metal spinning rods or fiberglass rods. The length of the spinning rod can be from 1.8 to 2.4 m. Monofilament with a diameter of 0.6-0.7 mm is used for fishing line. Braided fishing lines 0.25-0.4 mm are becoming increasingly popular among anglers, as they make the fishing line more sensitive to bites and hooks.
When deciding which tackle to choose for cod, the angler should pay special attention to the reel. It is advisable that it be a baitcasting reel for sea fishing that does not rust from salt water. The reel plays the role of a winch; it will be used to catch cod. Therefore, it must be strong and reliable, capable of holding 150 m of braid.
To take the caught cod onto the ship, you will need a sharp hook. It is easy for them to hook a cod and then remove it from the prey. It is advisable that the hook has a long handle, this will make it more convenient to pick up the fish further from the edge of the boat. A landing net will not work, as its mesh gets caught on the hooks from the bait garters, and then it takes a lot of time to remove them.
Various cod
This goodness is truly visible and invisible in the bay. Pollock, cod, haddock and other sea fish bite here regularly. Of course, not the same size as from a boat at depths of 100–200 m, but you shouldn’t be upset - they fish from boats with “stakes”, the fishing of which is more work than pleasure (this kind of fishing is not unusual for me, I know what I’m talking about). But here the fish fights on a spinning rod with a dough of up to a maximum of 25 g, and this is a completely different experience. At some points it takes on every cast.
You can save time on finding a catchable place in the following way: you need to stand on a coastal boulder and carefully examine the water area. And catch where there are a lot of seagulls on the shore (they are waiting for the fry to jump ashore and escape from predators) or where the most circles appear on the surface.
It’s better to fish with Castmasters, three-edges and other compact spinners weighing from 10 to 20 g. A long, narrow-bodied spinner from the Celestial Empire, white in color, bought on the eve of the trip, consistently brought me about a kilogram of side. A friend bought exactly the same spoon, and he also caught the largest fish with it. It’s a pity that none of us remembered the names; we would have taken more of these spinners for our next trips. “Spinners” also worked, but in casting range they are seriously inferior to pilkers, so for the most part they remained out of work.
If the bite weakens, it makes sense to put a piece of bright silicone (red, orange, crimson) or even a whole twister on the tee of the pilker. The fish also liked the small green crustacean.
Yes, and you can diversify the wiring - you can fish with pauses, with sharp jerks, with accelerations and decelerations. It is unlikely that you will be left without a catch here. Unless, of course, something happens to the weather, storms at sea still happen. I remember how one day the waves violently beat against the coastal rocks, and such a roar echoed throughout the area, it became eerie. But soon the weather improved, and our affairs began to improve.
Mackerel
This fish gives the most vivid impressions. A real fighter that no pollock, much less flounder, can compare with, and even large specimens under 2 kg are encountered periodically. However, even a killer fish easily starts the clutch in the fight for its life. It’s just a pity that not every trip you can catch mackerel. In 2013, our neighbors in the camp got a full bucket - they were driving along the shore and noticed fish hunting in the sea, but that time, no matter how hard we tried, we didn’t catch a single one. And I wanted it so much!
But over time, luck smiled on us. Our company somehow settled down on a huge boulder. We sat and admired the scenery. And suddenly in the distance we noticed a school of fish moving towards the shore. The picture was exciting. In much the same way, a pike hunts for fry, only there are thousands of these “pike”. We couldn't stand it - we grabbed our spinning rods and went down to the water. And when the school approached within casting distance, a real extravaganza began. Such memories last a lifetime!
Mackerel hunted in the waters not far from our camp for a couple more days, periodically changing their location, but the hunting pattern remained the same - the flock moved towards the shore, driving the fry, and therefore it was not difficult to detect it. In addition to pilkers, twisters on a retractable leash were used, only the wiring was not bottom - the bait was often eaten immediately after splashdown.
It was difficult to leave such a cool place; part of our team stayed for another day, but as it turned out, it was in vain. Dolphins swam after the mackerel and scattered all the fish, but these two days of crazy biting were still more than enough for us.
Tackle
A spinning rod 2.4 m long with a test weight of up to 25 g of medium action was quite enough for me. You can take it a little longer, but in my opinion, it’s not necessary to be more powerful - the effect when fishing for lively sea fish will not be the same. It’s better to put the reel in size 3000 and wrap it with at least 150 m of braided fishing line, 15–20 liters per break - it’s more reliable. And it is less damaged by rocks, and it is easier to untangle if something happens, and a thick “braid” will last longer, besides, the tundra is not the place where you can freely buy fishing line.
Having “salted” two branded reels at sea, I was faced with a choice: buy a special one for salt water for decent money, or buy something simpler that I wouldn’t mind throwing away. I chose the last option, and, oddly enough, the coil with two bearings is still alive, it just spins a little tighter, but not critical, so next time I’ll take it with me. It’s not worth buying a completely cheap one: the “braid” can saw through the line roller with all that it entails, and you definitely can’t avoid “beards” with cheap reels.
Be sure to take fluorocarbon with a diameter of about 0.3 mm - leashes made from it are resistant to friction on stones, and a bait tied to a transparent fishing line looks more natural to the fish than one dragged on a thick cord.
You can attach an additional bait to the swivel of the leash - a bright streamer or twister - the number of bites can increase by an order of magnitude. If you catch flounder with a retractable leader (preferably with Texas or Carolina rigs), you will need “bullets” weighing 15–20 g. At sea, it is not uncommon to catch scorpionfish, and large ones, unlike the Black Sea, so be sure to take a forceps and an extractor with you .
Fishing on the Kola rivers is unthinkable without fly fishing; it can also be used at sea. When the fish come close to the shore, fishing can be very effective. Bright streamers, usually fancy ones, work well as baits. By fly fishing at the mouths of rivers flowing into the sea, you can catch small trout - just for variety.
By the way, it’s best to set up a camp right next to a river or stream, then you won’t have to carry cans of fresh water with you. It’s better to grab an extra can of gasoline and go on an excursion along the coast: such fabulous landscapes open up that words cannot describe...
Spinning rod for sea fishing
Spinning for sea fishing does not have to be expensive, the main thing is that it is tough. And an almost mandatory condition is an end roller for the cord, because a tulip with a ring fails very quickly and fishing, as a rule, ends.
Roller at the end of a sea spinning rod
It is worth noting that the main problem for visiting fishermen is transportation of the spinning rod (when purchasing it). Therefore, a two-part stick is often purchased. Try to take a two-part spinning rod with a joint in the handle, since the joint on the blank is a weak point.
Two-part spinning rod with a joint in the handle
Our spinning rods are cheap and reliable Chinese Black Wolf rods.
Chinese spinning rod Black Wolf
If the vehicle allows, then you can use a spinning rod with a length of 165-180 cm. It has not only end rollers instead of a tulip, but also rollers along the entire length of the stick. As a result, the effort is less and the cord is more durable.
Rollers along the entire length of the spinning rod
Advice! Initially, after purchase, you can do the following: carefully disassemble the roller, lightly lubricate the bushing and apply thread locker to the screw or to the center of the bushing. But be very careful so that the retainer does not get on the outside of the bushing. Very often, rollers unwind and are lost due to vibration during transportation. I have these poles that have been actively used since 2012. I think this is an indicator of reliability.
Choose a parameter such as “test” in the range of 500-600 g and a rod length of 165-180 cm, otherwise when landing a fish it will bend almost in half. Although, some people like the sportive method of fishing and then the maximum length is 2.4 meters. The choice is yours!
For those who do not know the characteristics of the word “test”, let us explain. There are different spinning rods for casting heavy and ultra-light bait. And here is a characteristic called “test” that describes the weight of the spinner for which this spinning rod is intended. Thus, be sure to take this into account when purchasing, otherwise you risk breaking the spinning rod. But there are no universal spinning rods, don’t listen to cunning sellers.
