Fishing with a half-bottom: Hunting and fishing

What is a half-bottom? How is it different from donka

The half-bottom is something between a picker and a simple fishing rod. It is excellent for river coastal fishing. Its peculiarity is that the main equipment remains at the very bottom. This is where the fish descend in search of prey. And if you consider that the half-bottom can be cast quite far (up to 40 m), then it allows you to reach the most inaccessible places and catch large fish.

The difference between a half-bottom and a donkey is that its float is located above the surface of the water. But their lower part is identical - the line and sinker are constantly at the bottom of the reservoir. That's why it's called half-bottom.

Remaining in place at the bottom, the bait “plays” under the influence of the current and tempts the fish. And when fishing with a float rod is used, the fish may not notice the bait floating past in muddy water.

A half-bottom allows you to fish on a bank overgrown with reeds or bushes and in places with an uneven or littered bottom.

The half-bottom allows you to fish on the shore overgrown with reeds or bushes and in places with an uneven or littered bottom

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Half-bottom for bream with a sliding sinker

You can see a drawing for catching bream in the spring with a half-bottom fishing rod with a sliding bottom sinker in the picture. I use the gear for fishing from the shore in a strong river current. The end of the rig will clearly show the bite of bream from a hard bottom, but is not suitable for river soil with loose silt.

Depending on the frequency of bites, I fish in the spring for one or a couple of half-bottoms in the channel of one small river, studied over decades, until the end of the second ten days of May at a fishing depth of 2 to 4 meters.

True, there are not so many breams and breams. More often on the hooks of fishing rods are silver breams and roaches, and at the end of spring - sopas, roaches and good ides.

What is the reason for using a half-bottom fishing rod with a sliding bottom sinker in the end rig for spring fishing?

In the rapid flow of the river during the spring flood, even a heavy lead jig on a vertical rig is not only carried far from the rod, but it is unknown how far it rises above the bottom. It is also not always convenient to control the bite of fish, including bream, using a side nod while hooking a fishing rod located under the clouds.

Therefore, when fishing in the spring in sections of the river with a strong current, it is more convenient to catch bream using a half-bottom fishing rod, lowering the lower edge of the float almost to the surface of the water.

If fish bites are infrequent, which is generally unusual for spring fishing in the right place, I recommend using the services of a feeder with bait that is difficult to wash away in the rapid current.

In the process of catching fish (not just bream) in a constantly changing direction and strength of the current in the spring stream of silted water at the bottom, for example, in a river pool with a rod of too rigid action, it would not hurt to install a side nod when hooking the half-bottom. Then the most careful bites of bream will be better visible.

Under the title of the article, the drawing shows a method of equipping a half-bottom fishing rod, intended for catching bream in the spring on the flow of a small river with a sandy or pebble surface, where the sliding sinker of the half-bottom is placed on the bottom without silt.

But usually at the bottom of lowland rivers there are loose soils with rotted algae, which are the basis for the formation of silt, where for promising spring fishing you will need a slightly different arrangement of the bottom of the half-bottom rod equipment.

Briefly about the advantages of universal gear

A half-bottom with a float is a symbiosis of two types of fishing rods. The lower part is equipped with a heavy sinker that allows you to hold the hook in one place. The float is a bite alarm; it is placed near the whip.

Some fishermen can do without it, but this is not for everyone. The tackle ends with a fishing rod, mainly from a float rod.

Spring and early summer are a period of productive fishing with half-bottoms. You can fish with gear in the fall, but cautious fish are afraid of thick line, although fearless crucian carp can attack your bait without paying attention to the “roughness” of the equipment.

The half-bottom has a number of advantages:

the tackle remains in place even in strong currents. To do this, just add the weight of the sinker and pick up the line;
The method is effective when fishing in muddy water where meltwater flows from the fields. Schools of peaceful fish always graze here, gaining weight after winter and preparing for spawning;
the gear allows you to fish areas of the coast overgrown with bushes, trees and other places where fishing with wire is impossible;
the probability of snagging on debris or other obstacles is reduced to 0. The sinker is lowered to the intended place, and does not drag along the bottom, clinging to snags, plants or stones;
allows you to fish from the shore and from a boat;
The scaffolding is always taut and stands almost vertically. This quality makes the equipment sensitive to careful bites;
universal type of equipment. You can successfully catch roach or ram, and by installing a jig, you can catch perch or other predators.

What is a half-bottom?

Content

When asked what a half-bottom is, it is best to answer that it is a symbiosis of an ordinary float fishing rod and a donka. It is equipped with a rather heavy sinker, lying on the bottom and thereby making it possible to keep the hook in one place. The float does not keep the sinker afloat and is on the surface under the influence of the force of the current and the tension of the fishing line. It plays the role of a bite alarm when a fish grabs the bait.

If fishing occurs in a very strong current, it is recommended to move it towards the tip of the rod. In this case, it will not touch the water, but will act as a guard on a regular donk.

Half-bottoms are used very widely, as they have a number of advantages:

Half-bottoms work well in strong currents if you choose the right load weight and fishing line thickness;
they can be used for fishing in muddy water;
due to the fact that the sinker does not stretch along the bottom and does not cling to snags or vegetation, but immediately gets to the right place, the likelihood of snags is very low;
the equipment has increased sensitivity even to very careful bites, since the fishing line is always stretched and positioned almost vertically;
can be used in fishing from shores overgrown with bushes, where other gear, for example, English donka, is difficult to use.

When a fish grabs the bait, the float acts as a bite alarm

Varieties of half-bottoms

A half-bottom with a float is a simple tackle, but has two types of rigs used:

half-bottom with a sinker - a basic, one might say, classic version of the half-bottom;
half-bottom with a feeder - sometimes, in order to increase the catchability of the gear, a small feeder is placed on it, usually in the form of a spring. A lightweight compact cage feeder is also suitable. Considering the short distance of using the half-bottom, the task of the feeder is not to attract fish into the fishing zone, but to help the fish find the bait among the bait thrown manually.

Night bream fishing tactics

When fishing at night, you need to be very quiet, since any noise will scare away the fish very quickly. After the first fish is caught, continue fishing in the same place. If there are no bites within 15-20 minutes, you should move to a reserve place. It’s better to move 20-25 meters away from the shore, carefully illuminating the road with a flashlight. It is more convenient to carry only one fishing rod to a spare place at night.

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If there are no bites at the reserve position, it makes sense to return to the main fishing spot. We must also keep in mind that at night, bream most often bite in periods. The first period is from sunset to midnight, the second is from 3 am to dawn.

Operating principle and scope

The half-bottom was invented by fishermen for fishing on rivers. The tackle works as follows.

The rig is thrown into a promising place, after which the current pulls the line into a straight (or almost straight) line. The sinker holds the hook with bait on the channel edge or at the exit of the hole. Previously, to detect a bite, a float was attached to a stretched fishing line near the tip of the rod. He served as a guard. When the float lowered or rose, a hook was made. Today, thanks to the flexible tip of the fishing rod, the bite is visible by the degree of its bend.

Autumn half-bottom: catching it correctly

Photo: Alexey Murashko.
Despite the fact that modern carbon fiber rods and spinning reels currently rule the roost, the principle of fishing with a half-bottom has remained unchanged for many decades.

The fishing principle is based on a blind float rig with a fairly heavy sinker, cast by the fisherman in the coastal zone of the reservoir.

There are two main fishing tactics; the choice between them depends on how well the angler knows the river and fish habits.

If fishing is your first time, the best option may be a classic active search for fish.

The fisherman moves downstream, fishing for promising points.

These include all kinds of coastal pools and “returns”, bays and backwaters, deep straight sections of the river and coastal runs, the coastal zone of which is abundantly overgrown with reeds and other aquatic vegetation.

Points where a depth of 1.5-2 meters begins almost from the edge of the aquatic vegetation are considered good - this is where not only roach and silver bream will stand, but also ide, chub, and bream.

In such a situation, as a rule, they do not use bait, preferring to “capture” active fish that are determined to feed.

If the fisherman has to linger at any point, you can throw a handful or two of corn grains, steamed pearl barley or hard-boiled millet porridge to the float.

As a rule, such inexpensive complementary foods have a positive effect on fishing results.

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When moving from one promising area to another, the working descent of the half-bottom, which exceeds the depth at the fishing site by 1.5-2 times, decreases and is set to normal, and the fisherman alternates such fishing with regular Bolognese fishing, which significantly increases his chances of success.

If the fisherman is a “regular” of a particular place on the river, has managed to study the fish habits and knows when and at what time the fish come out to feed, there is no point in running along the river in search of fish. The optimal solution in such a situation would be a “wait-and-see” tactic using abundant feeding.

The mixture used for such fishing is of a traditional river nature - it is large fractions, heavy and dust-free bait, reaching the bottom practically without any trail and disintegrating directly at the fishing point.

Species diversity

Half-bottom fishing is mainly designed for catching peaceful representatives of the ichthyofauna. But this approach is also suitable for catching some predators. What fish can you most often expect to catch?

Much depends on each specific river and the species diversity in it. The most common river representative is the roach. Thanks to the half-bottom, you can enjoy fishing for fish weighing 300-500 g.
The silver bream lives in large flocks. If she starts baiting, then a good catch will be guaranteed. Sometimes the size of a silver bream does not exceed the size of a matchbox, but record specimens weighing up to 1 kg can also be encountered.
Dace causes the greatest delight in the angler when biting. The fish sharply grabs the bait that has fallen to the bottom, powerfully bending the tip of the fishing rod. It is important not to scare the school, otherwise there will be about a dozen silver fish in the cage.
When using animal baits, perch becomes a common catch. Its bite is greedy and confident; you should not hesitate to hook, otherwise you will have to remove the hook from the fish’s throat.
Near river oxbows and bays, rudd are often caught on the hook. Its bite is more aggressive compared to roach. Sometimes the fish grabs the bait while still deep in the water.
One of the coveted trophies of midlings is bream. When a small bream bites on a small bait, you should use a voluminous bait to interest the large fish.
In grassy coastal waters you can purposefully catch ide. This fish quickly becomes bait, which is actively used by local fishermen.
You can successfully catch chub using a half-bottom. The bite of small individuals is sharp. But a large trophy can only slightly bend the tip of the fishing rod, which is the moment for hooking.
On slow-flowing rivers, crucian carp bite well. The fish reacts to bait, so for a good catch you need to attract as many crucian carp as possible.
A nice bonus when fishing with a half-bottom can be a carp bite. Often these large fish will sweep the fishing rod off the stand without prior warning.

Recommendation! If you need to leave the fishing rod, it is better to remove the equipment from the water. Otherwise, the tackle may end up far from the shore.

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Fishing with a half-bottom, tricks of equipping a simple fishing rod, tactical nuances

The same fish can be caught in different ways.
Sometimes anglers make hybrid rods that combine the best features of several classic rods. One of the original ways of catching peaceful fish species is half-bottom fishing. Often adherents of this tackle catch fans of the feeder or Bolognese fishing rod. What is the secret of the catchability of this gear, how to properly fish with a half-bottom? The half-bottom was invented by fishermen for fishing on rivers. The tackle works as follows.

Photo 1. Classic half-bottom construction.

Using a half-bottom you can fish from spring to autumn. The gear allows you to fish both day and night in the coastal zone. If you equip the fishing rod with a heavy load, you can cast the bait at a distance of up to 20-30 m from the shore. But most often, feeding fish look for food near the shore, where fishing is carried out. The effectiveness of the tackle increases many times if you use the bait near the border with algae or next to a pool.

Photo 2. Both the float and the heavy weight.

In essence, a half-bottom is a symbiosis of float tackle and donkey. Although recently, to visualize the bite, a quivertip feeder rod has been used instead of a float.

Much depends on each specific river and the species diversity in it. The most common river representative is the roach. Thanks to the half-bottom, you can enjoy fishing for fish weighing 300-500 g.
The silver bream lives in large flocks. If she starts baiting, then a good catch will be guaranteed. Sometimes the size of a silver bream does not exceed the size of a matchbox, but record specimens weighing up to 1 kg can also be encountered.
Dace causes the greatest delight in the angler when biting. The fish sharply grabs the bait that has fallen to the bottom, powerfully bending the tip of the fishing rod. It is important not to scare the school, otherwise there will be about a dozen silver fish in the cage.
When using animal baits, perch becomes a common catch. Its bite is greedy and confident; you should not hesitate to hook, otherwise you will have to remove the hook from the fish’s throat.
Near river oxbows and bays, rudd are often caught on the hook. Its bite is more aggressive compared to roach. Sometimes the fish grabs the bait while still deep in the water.
One of the coveted trophies of midlings is bream. When a small bream bites on a small bait, you should use a voluminous bait to interest the large fish.
In grassy coastal waters you can purposefully catch ide. This fish quickly becomes bait, which is actively used by local fishermen.
You can successfully catch chub using a half-bottom. The bite of small individuals is sharp. But a large trophy can only slightly bend the tip of the fishing rod, which is the moment for hooking.
On slow-flowing rivers, crucian carp bite well. The fish reacts to bait, so for a good catch you need to attract as many crucian carp as possible.
A nice bonus when fishing with a half-bottom can be a carp bite. Often these large fish will sweep the fishing rod off the stand without prior warning.

Recommendation!

If you need to leave the fishing rod, it is better to remove the equipment from the water. Otherwise, the tackle may end up far from the shore.

Equipment

An important advantage of the half-bottom is the availability of gear and ease of configuration. There are small nuances in the equipment that are not of fundamental importance. The main thing is that the angler likes this or that design.

The main modern half-bottom is the fishing rod. Since many anglers began to observe the bite at the tip of the rod, it is important to choose a suitable “stick”. One of the working options would be to use a feeder with a length of 3.3-3.9 m. It is often necessary to select quivertypes from the picker in order to ensure high sensitivity of equipment with a small sinker. It is very convenient to fish with Bolognese rods, which are 5-7 m long, have a rigid blank and a flexible tip.
There are no special requirements for a half-bottom reel. Since the casting range is small, you can use not only “meat grinders”, but also inertial models. Of the spinning reels, it’s worth focusing on models with a 2000-3000 spool.
Mono lines with a diameter of 0.2-0.3 mm are used as the main fishing line. It is enough to wind 50 m on a reel to fish in the coastal zone.
A sliding sinker is mounted on the main line. For fishing near the shore, an olive weighing 6-10 g is enough, but if fish need to be caught from long distances, then a flat weight weighing up to 20 g is installed.

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Practical advice!

To prevent the sinker from breaking the knot on the loop of the main line, you should install a rubber damper.

One of the defining moments in half-bottom fishing is the correct choice of place. At the fishing point, fish can be held or attracted with bait. Experts recommend adhering to the following tactical scheme.

Photo 3. A half-bottom is good for fishing from a steep bank.

Despite some primitiveness in fishing with a half-bottom, not every angler manages to master this tackle. Beginner fishermen mistakenly think that they need to cast the bait further from the shore in the hope of getting a bite from a large fish. But how exactly to feed a distant point?

The angler needs to adapt to any fishing rod. Some people like leisurely fishing with traditional donks, others like to watch the float, and for others the sweetest thing is the half-donk. With it you can explore a large coastal area in one fishing trip. And compensation for physical fatigue will be a good catch in the cage.

How to equip a half-bottom

An ordinary spinning rod is suitable as a fishing rod. It should be 5-6 meters long and equipped with guide rings and an inertial reel with a supply of fishing line for long casts. The free line is laid on the shore. When casting, part of the fishing line should be held by hand, and the other should be freely moved behind the sinker. With your free hand, you lift the fishing rod from the stand and, after swinging the equipment, throw it into the water. But they catch the fish they catch by the fishing line, without the help of a rod. Therefore, it can be relatively small in size (5-6 meters).

The choice of line diameter and hook size is influenced by several factors: fishing conditions, type and size of fish, as well as the bait used. But the best option:

monofilament with a cross-section of 0.16-0.2 mm;
hook No. 8-16.

When using a half-bottom, you can do without leashes, but a couple of points influence their importance. They ensure the safety of the equipment when hooked, and the thin leash plays temptingly in the current. Their sizes vary from 15 to 50 centimeters. For a leash, take a line slightly thinner than the main one (0.12-0.15 mm), but if you expect a large catch, you can take a line 0.17-0.20 mm thick.

Most often a half-bottom with a float is used, but there may be exceptions. The float is selected so that its weight gives a certain bend to the fishing line and signals the slightest contact of the fish with the bait. A weighty float with a traditional elongated shape is selected, which is attached to the fishing line. You can use bells or production alarms, but the fishing line should always have an obtuse angle.

But there are cases when you can do without a float. When it interferes with comfortable fishing, you can safely exclude it from the gear. As with the feeder, a bite is signaled by the tip of the rod. In strong currents, it is not necessary to take a sensitive rod. The bite will be noticeable even on an oak tip.

One of the components of successful fishing is the sinker. It is selected depending on the strength of the current, casting distance and line diameter. As mentioned earlier, the load should be selected so that it is at the bottom. Sinkers are selected in various shapes. By distributing the weight, they avoid snagging. To prevent the sinkers from snagging when removing the tackle from the water, you can use several sinkers of different shapes - this will distribute the weight. Use several sinkers (3-4 pieces), which are located at a distance of 2-3 cm from each other. When the current intensifies, only a few sinkers will rise above the bottom, and when the current decreases, they will fall into place.

This equipment will not leave even the most careful bite unnoticed. But if it is not weighted enough, it can be nailed to the shore or raised strongly above the bottom. For even greater weight, lead plates are used. The best option is considered to be one in which the sinker slides along the fishing line to the leash. But sometimes the sinker is attached to the base of the fishing line, and the leash is slightly higher. Moreover, such tackle does not get tangled.

How to install a half-bottom

Choosing equipment for a half-bottom

One of the main advantages of the half-bottom is its simplicity of design. The tackle is built on the basis of a fly rod and a Bolognese rod up to 6 meters long. In rare cases, you may need a longer rod, but such gear will become a little clumsy and then it is better to use other fishing methods.

The absence or presence of passage rings on the form determines the need for a reel, the requirements for which are minimal - sufficient capacity to store 50-100 m of fishing line and the ability to easily return it when fishing for a large specimen. Thus, almost any inertial or non-inertial coils are suitable. When using a spinning reel, it is desirable that it has a high-quality friction brake.

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A half-bottom, the equipment of which is built on the basis of a fly rod, can be equipped with a rubber shock absorber; it will allow the use of thinner fishing lines, which, in turn, will have a positive effect on the catchability and sensitivity of the tackle.

Inertia or inertia-free reels are suitable for half-bottoms

Main line

In half-bottom fishing, ordinary monofilament fishing lines are used. The diameter of the fishing line depends on the fishing conditions and, to a lesser extent, on the average size of the fish in the catch. If there are no hooks and a strong current, a fishing line of 0.12-0.14 mm will be enough. However, such “greenhouse” conditions do not always occur, so more often a fishing line with a diameter of 0.16-0.18 mm is placed on the half-bottom. Thicker lines are used, as a rule, by beginners and older fishermen due to inertia. Their only justification is the presence in the reservoir of a large number of large carp, grass carp, etc.

Leashes

The leashes in the half-bottom are selected similarly to the leashes of a float rod. That is, their diameter is usually 0.02-0.04 mm smaller than the main line. For example, with a fishing line of 0.14 mm, leashes of 0.10-0.12 mm are used.

The length of the leash can vary from 15 to 50 cm. As a rule, if there are a lot of unrealized bites, the length of the leash is increased, and when the fish often swallows the hook deeply, it is reduced. Also, the length of the leash is sometimes increased when the bite is bad.

Hooks

The size of the hook, as in other gear, depends on the size of the bait, but it must be combined with the rest of the equipment. Hooks can be used both designed for float fishing and feeder ones.

The size of the hook depends on the size of the bait

Sinkers

Proper weight is one of the key factors for successful fishing. The half-bottom rig in the current includes several sinkers distributed in a chain along the main line at a short distance or one sliding sinker. The latter option is more effective, since the concentration of the load at one point allows you to quickly lower the nozzle to the bottom, and the line, freely passing through the load, increases the sensitivity of the gear.

The weight of the sinkers is selected in such a way that the equipment is held at the bottom, while being on the verge of being carried away by the current. Excess weight of the sinker is harmful, as it worsens sensitivity, but at the same time its weight still remains insufficient to ensure self-hooking.

Float selection

There are two approaches to choosing a float, related to the different uses of the half-bottom. In the first, traditional case, the line is in a semi-tensioned state and the mass of the float should be enough to pull the line down and form an angle on it. A particularly large float with its own weight of 5 g or more is required, and the bite is detected by its movement. It is desirable that the shape of the float be spherical, as well as drop-shaped - this way you can reduce the influence of wind on the tackle.

Catching perch on a retractable leash

There are two approaches to choosing a float

The advantage of this type of gear is the ability to use rods with any characteristics - you can even use bamboo or hazel.

In a more modern approach, the fishing line should be taut, slightly bending the tip of the rod, and the bite is detected based on its movements. The float must be of minimal weight. Its task is to make thin fishing line more visible to the angler. This type of fishing is best suited to slightly stiff rods with a soft tip, and the concept of their use is close to the feeder rod.

Other options for combining a float with a feeder

We need to talk about this main element of gear separately. Andy Findlay himself makes them himself from standard mesh round feeders. Briefly, the process of making his products can be described as follows.

We remove the lead weight from the feeder.
We fill the top of the mesh with construction foam.
After the foam has hardened, we trim it with a knife and cover it with a layer of water-repellent varnish or glue.
In the center of the feeder, using a knitting wire, we mount a float keel rod with a ring for attaching to a carabiner.

There are many other ways to make such a float. For example, from the popular feeding semi-finished products - women's hair curlers. It is enough to glue a cork or polystyrene foam into one end, and attach a fastener to the fishing line on the other.

Live bait fishing rod

An interesting option is in which a plastic mesh with fine-grained food, for example, breadcrumbs, is attached to a fishing line below a regular float. The tackle itself is a live bait fishing rod with a top melting rod or bleak on a hook.

Choosing the right place to catch bream

Breams know in which places the most organisms suitable for feeding live, so as soon as dusk or even night falls, they gather in a flock and go for food. In rare cases, this happens in the early morning. During the day, bream rarely moves; it usually spends this time in holes where the current is calm. Most aquatic organisms: crustaceans, worms and all kinds of nymphs most often accumulate on the stem and roots of algae, as well as on the eroded roots of bushes or trees. Therefore, you need to catch bream with a fishing rod and half-bottom at night near a steep, washed-out bank overgrown with bushes and grass. Before fishing, this place must be prepared.

But, nevertheless, bream in search of food can also go to shallow rocky ridges, which are located near the depths of the riverbed. In such cases, bottom tackle is used for fishing for bream. After all, it can be thrown to a greater distance from the shore.

At night, when the bream walks underwater and looks for food, it travels quite a long distance. If he knows exactly where a large amount of food is located, he can swim almost 1000 meters to this place.

In order to understand where the bream will be at night, you need to take into account the depth of the river, as well as the topography and structure of the bottom. Quite often it happens that bream finds food below the place where the breaker stream washes the algae. You also need to pay attention to places with a large accumulation of large stones, since there may be food carried by the current stuck between the stones. Bream can also be found in places where the fast flow of water slows down sharply, because there remains food that was carried by the current. On rivers, such areas should be looked for behind capes, channels or dams. In these places there are almost always quiet water reaches. As a rule, in places where a wide channel flows into a narrow one, and vice versa, whirlpools or reverse currents appear. This is where bream most often comes to feed, since this is the border between fast and slow currents.

Fishing line, leash, half-bottom hooks

Now a little more about the equipment elements.

The choice of the diameter of the main line and the size of the hooks depends primarily on:

fishing conditions;
the size of the expected production;
the nozzle used.

Usually it is enough to have monofilament with a cross-section of 0.16-0.2 mm and hooks No. 8-16.

When fishing with a half-bottom, you can, of course, do without leashes by attaching the hook to a working fishing line, but their presence is due to some important points. Their installation allows you to keep the tackle safe and sound when hooked; in addition, a thin leash in the current creates a more attractive play of the bait.

During the fishing process, it is possible to select not only the size of the hooks, but also the length of the leashes (from 15 to 50 cm), this value usually depends on the intensity of the current. For a leash, a fishing line is used that is slightly thinner than the main one (0.12-0.15 m); for solid prey, it is better to have leashes with a thickness of 0.17-0.20 mm.

What to catch?

Many anglers view half-bottom fishing as a way to catch a large number of different species of fish, as opposed to using a feeder. For many, this is an excellent option to get a few successful bites of trophy specimens.

The selection of bait is carried out accordingly, and those components that will be used as complementary food are also selected.

The fisherman must have:

Canned corn. An excellent bait for hunting many types of fish.
Split peas, pre-steamed.
Steamed barley grains, which all white fish adore.
Traditional worms and maggots, which will always come to the rescue in the absence of a bite. Often, only a dung worm wriggling appetizingly on a hook can provoke a cautious fish to bite.

Plant components are good for bait. You can throw them little by little towards the float, then the fish will definitely respond.

Now do you understand why anglers using half-bottom fishing usually come to the water with whole pots of various foods? They use them both for bait and for feeding. After catching another trophy with such a simple tackle, even seasoned Friderists begin to take it seriously.

If you are interested in real trophy fishing, then we invite you to the Sazanya Bay Fishing Base, which is located in the lower reaches of the Volga! Having once gone fishing in our fish-rich regions, you will understand that “Sazanya Bay” is a “drug” for fishermen, because you will be drawn here again and again!

Optimal types of bait

Since fishing with this gear is carried out on the surface, the bait should attract fish to this layer of water, and therefore be, if possible, floating or slowly sinking. Basically, such baits are made independently; we list the most popular components of bait mixtures for carp fishing:

bread crusts or crackers;
bran;
coconut flakes;
dry oatmeal;
semolina or milk powder for dregs;
floating pellet;
granulated fish or bird food;
crushed floating boilies;
cereal breakfast cereals.

When composing the bait mixture, combine large fractions with dusty ones. The presence of coarse-grained components will allow you to cut off small things and lure large carp.

You can make bait yourself; you just need to collect all the ingredients the fish need and love. Purchased ones can also be effective, for example, relatively new types of bait are perfect for catching representatives of the carp family: crushed floating boilies and pellets.

Bream fishing time in May

Sometimes, during daylight hours, bream can go to very shallow places with calm water (depth 1-2 meters) in sparsely overgrown bays or “pockets” of rivers. In this case, the fish gives preference to places adjacent to aquatic vegetation.

It is quite possible to find bream at medium depths (2-2.5 meters) outside holes on the peripheral flow of medium and small rivers, on edges and depth differences behind islands, near streams and rivulets flowing into the main channel. Bream in such places is caught according to the classics - with a float rod or donka with a worm, a bunch of maggots or bloodworms.

The most interesting and productive fishing during this period is on the shallows and reaches, where bream comes out to feed at night.

Fishing rules

Fishing is best started after preliminary feeding. Since the fish must be lured almost to the shore, the bait is poured out “under your feet.” Gradually, the current will wash it away to the fishing point, and the fish will rush to the stern. You should fish like a fly rod (you can learn about it here). The line should be slightly longer than the rod. Gradually it will be possible to lengthen the fishing distance if there are no bites. This is how you “feel” for a cluster of peaceful fish. The fishing rod must be positioned at an angle of 60-70 degrees to the current, parallel to the water's edge. To do this, you will need stands for the fishing rod; some “aces” of the half-bottom hold the tackle in their hands. The optimal rod length will be when the fishing line on the installed fishing rod is parallel to the coastline. Now the slightest touch of the fish will not go unnoticed by the fisherman.

Mastery of a fisherman comes with experience, which accumulates from fishing to fishing. Accurate determination of where the fish is located, correct supply of bait and bait, determination of the moment of hooking - these are the main points of successful fishing with any tackle, including half-bottom.

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Fishing

Rules for successful fishing

How to choose the right fishing spot?

Determining a suitable fishing spot is important in any type of fishing, but for half-bottom it is critical, given the rather narrow scope of its application and the short fishing distance. The best places for half-bottom are the coastal shallows of small rivers with a folded bottom and the absence of algae, snags and large stones. Large fish come to the shore along the bottom grooves to feed, especially in the morning and evening hours. The second promising place is whirlpools near steep banks with a reverse current and a depth of 2-3 m.

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When choosing a fishing spot, you must also pay attention to the fact that there are no obstacles nearby for manipulating a long rod - bushes, trees, reeds. Considering that large fish, which the half-bottom is primarily aimed at, are usually careful, it is better to prepare the fishing spot in advance - this will help to avoid unnecessary noise during the fishing process.

Sinkers for half-bottoms

An important part of the half-bottom equipment is the sinker, the weight of which depends on:

casting distance,
current forces,
fishing line sections.

The best option for fishing with a half-bottom is when the load is completely on the bottom. When choosing gear from the water, sinkers can get caught, so their different shapes allow you to distribute the weight in such a way as to avoid this unwanted moment.

It is possible to use several weights (3-4 pieces), which are located close to each other (2-3 cm). If the current begins to intensify, then only a couple of sinkers will come off the bottom; as soon as the current decreases a little, they will return to the bottom again.

Such equipment is in constant readiness and any, even the most careful bite, will be noticed. If the equipment is not loaded enough, it will be washed ashore or lifted to the upper layers. For additional weight, you can use lead plates. Sometimes the sinker is installed at the end of the line, and the leash follows higher. The best option is to place a small sliding sinker on the working line up to the leash.

Half-bottom fishing strategy

We found out what kind of gear this is, and also decided on the fishing spots. Now it’s time to learn the fishing strategy. Anglers who prefer to fish with a half-bottom usually choose two main strategies:

"Don't sit still." The fisherman does not stop in one place, but constantly moves along the coastal zone of the river and stops in places of possible biting. Naturally, in this case there is no need to use any bait; at most, you can throw a handful of grains directly at the fishing point, immediately before fishing.

There is no reason for an angler to linger in one place for a long time; his task is to catch active fish that are in the fishing spot at a specific time. His entire catch will consist of active fish, so the greater the distance the angler travels, the richer his catch will be.

"Watching fishing" In this case, feeding with large fractional food occurs and subsequent stationary fishing awaits the “reward”. You can’t expect frequent bites here, but if they happen, you’ll come across large specimens. To quickly attract fish, they are fed with corn grains or steamed pearl barley, throwing them at the fishing spot every half hour.