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For many anglers, summer is the most productive time in terms of trophies. And this is no coincidence, since summer is the best period for catching most peaceful fish. At this time, the fisherman gets the opportunity to check almost all his gear. Summer fishing attracts novice anglers, as it does not require additional equipment.
Features of fishing in summer
Summer fishing
Interesting fishing occurs during the transition from spring to summer, and the summer itself, divided into three subseasons, begins with the flowering of rose hips. The first summer subseason - the beginning of summer - is also marked by other accompanying phenomena - the flowering of viburnum and jasmine in the gardens, the flowering of rye, cornflower and toadflax in the field, and the white water lily on the water. It's getting warmer and the days are the longest of the year.
By this time, the water in large bodies of water - lakes and reservoirs - is warming up. There, after the end of the spring bans, the season begins for catching large predatory fish with circles and spinning rods, and for bream in baited areas with float and bottom fishing rods. Sometimes white and red (golden) crucian carp bite well, and often in the most inappropriate, cold and stormy weather.
This is, perhaps, the only period of the year when crucian carp takes it downright greedily. After lasting two or three weeks, the intense bite (primarily of predatory fish) in many reservoirs gradually begins to weaken. Only heat-loving species are caught well, and sometimes when fishing overhead with insects and artificial baits it is possible to catch enviable prey.
This indicates that full summer, the main summer subseason, is approaching. Its beginning is marked by the flowering of small-leaved linden (in Central Russia usually between July 5 and 15, but in large cities this happens earlier, which should definitely be taken into account). Associated indicators can be the ripening of red and black currants, garden strawberries (forest strawberries are ahead of them, starting to turn red soon after the rose hips bloom), and in the forest - blueberries.
The nightingales are becoming quiet, the cuckoos are falling silent (according to popular tradition, they can be heard until Peter’s Day, July 12), the chicory is turning blue on the pastures and city lawns, and in some places the tansy is already turning yellow. Grasshoppers are showing up in abundance and are becoming some of the best summer bait in many places. In general, at this time, many fish are picky and take very briefly at the earliest dawn or late evening twilight, or even at night.
But a little more time passes, and ripe lingonberries begin to appear in the forest, which happens about a month and a half after the first red strawberries appear. This is a signal of the decline of summer, the last summer subseason. The nights have already noticeably lengthened, and cold dews are falling at dawn. The water gradually begins to cool, which often contributes to the pre-autumn revival of the bite of various fish, especially predatory ones.
At the same time, when the so-called aftergrowth (grass cut during haymaking) has time to grow, the second most intense bite of crucian carp begins in some reservoirs. Crucian carp now catches better not very early in the morning (with sunrise) and closer to evening.
Fishing in August
In the middle zone, August is a turning point season. It's not summer anymore, but it's not autumn yet. The behavior of the fish depends on how quickly the water cools. In general, fairly well-fed fish, after a rich summer season, often become capricious.
If the water cools down sharply, the “real” predator begins to eat - pike, pike perch and perch. Asp, ide and chub readily switch to feeding on fry and bite on baits that resemble them.
The bite of heat-loving carp fish gradually weakens towards the end of the month and is confined to established warm days. In warmed-up reservoirs, carp and crucian carp still bite well, and there are large tench outcrops. Roach and rudd, with the decline of the plant growing season, are increasingly tempted by animal baits.
Bream
In August, bream begins to gather in large schools and finally moves away from the shores. At this time, the well-fed fish stays at depth, occasionally coming out for relatively shallow watering.
Considering the behavior of the fish, good specimens should be expected at decent depths, far from the shore.
The first place goes to the side fishing rods from the boat and feeder gear, which allow you to reach the fattening flocks. Active feeding of fishing points remains relevant.
Although bream occasionally responds well to plant baits, maggots and worms bring the best results.
Perch
By August, schools of perch increasingly gravitate towards places where growing fry gather. These can be shallow bays, smooth currents, where juvenile bleak, roach or silver bream are concentrated. Large individuals rarely form large flocks, preferring to stay in groups of 5-10 individuals. They more often go to the rifts than to the banks, where they pick up the rolling fry.
Fattening perch in a pond can be seen from the so-called boilers, where a school of striped fish “beats” the fry. In such places, streaks and circles are visible, gurgling and slurping can be heard. If it was not possible to find a real cauldron, you can fish the border between vegetation and open water, flooded snags, channel edges, places after riffles and exits from holes.
Perch is still caught with float gear using animal baits - worms, leeches, bloodworms. But, still, first of all, preference should be given to spinning equipment.
Rotating spoons No. 0-3 and lead jig rigs (retractable, drop-shot, Carolina rig) bring good results. In float fishing, you can use fry as bait; in some places this is much more effective than other fishing methods.
Pike
If in mid-late August there is a sharp cold snap for several days, then the water quickly cools down and no longer has time to warm up during the reduced daylight hours.
This is a kind of trigger for the pike to start biting. During this period, truly trophy, deep-dwelling specimens are rarely caught, but medium-sized “grass” weighing up to 1-2 kg begins to bite steadily.
Active pike stand in overgrown bays, near the borders and windows of aquatic vegetation, near bushes and snags. In general, in those places that provide shelter for the classic ambusher.
At the beginning of the pike season, the fish do not travel as actively in search of prey as later in September-October. Therefore, when fishing interesting places, you can immediately find out if there is an active pike there. After two or three postings, if there are no bites, you can safely continue searching for it in another place.
Since promising points are replete with shelters (and therefore hooks), it is convenient to fish with live bait using hooks and girders in windows. Spinning rods use spinners, wobblers, poppers, Croatian eggs, unloaded rubber, and non-snacking light spinners.
It is convenient to fish in windows of vegetation with a float rod using live bait. For this, fairly powerful fishing rods, 5-6m long, with a large float and a leash, preferably fluorocarbon, are used.
Zander
Although pike perch feed periodically throughout the summer, the stable bite begins in August. During this period, its regular appearances occur not only at dawn and at night, but also during the day, in cloudy, mild weather.
Large individuals stick to channel edges, especially if there are shelters there in the form of snags, stones or hummocks. Smaller fish stand at the entrance to pits with a clay bottom, or less often a sandy bottom.
In promising places, pike perch can be caught with bottom gear using live bait, dead fish or “cutting”. But, of course, the first thing of interest is spinning.
At great depths, pike perch is caught using jig baits; in the riffles and shallows, fattening fish respond well to minnow wobblers, narrow, driven spoons and spinners No. 2-4. If you are specifically fishing for pike perch, it is better not to use leashes.
Summer calendar
Fishing in June
In June, the best fishing will be on shallow lakes, where the water is already sufficiently warmed by the sun. At this time you can catch carp and grass carp. And crucian carp will definitely be caught, it is a fairly unpretentious fish, it can be caught in any weather. In June on the river, a good catch can be expected on the shallows; on steep banks where there are fallen trees; in places where reeds grow.
In June you can fish with maggots. If you expect to catch a larger fish, it is recommended to put 5-6 pieces on the hook. And of course, universal worm bait is still relevant. From the beginning of June, catfish begin to be caught. You need to catch it in the evening, from about seven o'clock. In June, the main river predator, pike, is also excellent for fishing. You can catch it all day long in any weather: when it’s sunny and when it’s cloudy.
- More information about fishing in June
Fishing in July
July is the height of summer, the sun is hot with all its might. This month is not the best for fishing. As a result, almost all the fish go to depths where the water has not yet warmed up, as well as to places where bottom springs are located.
During the day, when the sun is blazing, fishing is unlikely to be productive. It’s another matter if the day in July turns out to be rainy and cloudy. It also makes sense to go fishing in the morning, at dawn, when the water has not yet warmed up and the fish rise to the surface of the reservoir. Sometimes you can fish at night. At this time you can catch bream, pike, pike perch and perch.
In bodies of water such as lakes and ponds, where there is stagnant water, the situation is even worse in July. In July, the water in such reservoirs begins to bloom, a mass of algae appears, the water becomes cloudy, and the fish in such water have a lot of food. Naturally, well-fed fish are more difficult to catch. Such waters are inhabited by crucian carp, carp, silver carp and other fish species. In such reservoirs, due to decomposing plants, oxygen saturation drops, and fish rush closer to the bottom.
- More information about fishing in July
Fishing in August
Gradually the days become shorter, August arrives - the crown of summer. The heat subsides, the nights become cool, the water cools and becomes clearer, and life in it enters a new phase. The fish again migrate to deeper places, and the bite becomes noticeably more active, especially in the second half of the month.
Catching predators with a spinning rod is incomparable. Pike, pike perch, large perch and even ide begin to greedily take a spoon, a dead fish on a rig, or a wobbler.
On the donk and girder, the frog becomes tempting for pike and chub, and pearl barley meat becomes tempting for ide.
There is another curious, albeit short-lived, phenomenon that has such a noticeable effect on the life of peaceful fish that no bait can tempt it. In many areas of the country, summer “blizzards”—massive emergence of mayflies—occur at the end of July and beginning of August. It lasts only a few days, in fine and calm weather. The bite stops completely if you do not offer one or more mayflies to the fish on the hook. Catching them is not difficult; it is much more difficult to put a delicate butterfly on a hook.
- More information about fishing in August
Bait on the lake
Oddly enough, in the summer on lakes a finely ground mixture without large fractions, which are usually added to complementary food for attracting large leucorrhoea, works great. At one time I used Polish bait, but last season I switched to cheaper domestic bait, and my catches did not decrease. I don’t add anything extra to the mixture, although I don’t rule out that some additives (chopped worms, cottage cheese, crackers, etc.) can keep the fish in the window longer. I feed moderately - I throw two fist-sized balls out the window before dawn - one ball for each float. I try to cast carefully, trying not to miss, because if the ball passes the window, plopping somewhere in the thick water lilies, then the fish will be there - fishing on the lake will not go according to the same scenario. Taking into account the siltiness of the bottom, I moisten the bait so that the ball disintegrates in the water column, laying on the bottom in small grains without falling through, otherwise it will become inaccessible to the fish. During the fishing process I do not feed additionally, that is, feed consumption is minimal.
Summer fishing gear
For summer fishing, there are many types of gear used to catch one or another type of fish. This is due to the different types of reservoirs, the fish found in them, the time of day, and finally, the temperament of the fisherman. After all, it’s hard to imagine a restless, active person sitting in the same place all day with a bottom fishing rod, or a melancholic person briskly running around with a fly rod or spinning rod in search of a school of perch.
Summer fishing gear
But most gear has common elements - hook, line, float and sinker.
Hook
An integral part of any tackle is the hook, and its choice should be given a lot of attention, because the success of fishing depends on it. The hook consists of a point, a barb, a barb point, a bend, a shank and a head. The head of the hook is made in the form of a blade or a ring, which allows you to tie it securely.
Also, hooks are divided by numbers; in domestic fishing practice, its number corresponds to the width of the hook, that is, the distance from the forearm to the sting, and abroad, the larger the size of the hook, the smaller its number.
Depending on the type of fish, type of reservoir and bait used, hooks are selected according to thickness, width, shank length, and color.
For example, for fishing with wheat or pearl barley, it is better to use short and light-colored hooks, and for worms, long and dark ones with additional barbs on the fore-end.
For predatory fish, as a rule, hooks with three or two hooks are used, which are called doubles and tees, respectively.
- More about hooks
fishing line
The choice of fishing line determines the success of hooking, casting distance, and the minimum risk of fish “disappearing.” Therefore, you need to choose it carefully and painstakingly.
The main parameters of the fishing line are its thickness, breaking load, color and elasticity. When choosing a fishing line, remember exactly what kind of fish and in what body of water you will catch. For fishing rods, one of the most important qualities is the minimum thickness, for spinning rods - softness, for donkeys - the rigidity of the fishing line.
If you plan to fish in a stream or river with a sandy bottom, choose a transparent line, for forest lakes and peat quarries - dark, for night fishing - fluorescent yellow.
It should also be taken into account that the thinner the fishing line, the more effective the fishing will be, because many types of fish are able to notice fishing line with a diameter of a fraction of a millimeter. And remember that knots on the fishing line reduce its strength by a quarter.
- More about the fishing line
Float
It is needed in order to keep the bait at the required depth and warn the fisherman about a bite.
The float, first of all, must be durable, not absorb water, not create resistance during light bites and hooks, be conveniently attached to the fishing line, not scare off fish with its color and be visible to the fisherman from a long distance.
The most common forms for floats are drop-shaped and spindle-shaped, less often - in the form of disks, used mainly when fishing in fast currents.
Of particular interest to fishermen who practice long casting are sliding floats that can move freely along the line, as well as self-submerging floats, in the lower part of which there is a load.
- More about floats
Sinker
Sinkers are used to cast light bait, hold the bait at the desired depth, and also allow, in many cases, to adjust the length of the leash with a hook.
Sinkers come in a wide variety of shapes, from balls, stripes and teardrop-shaped ones, to disks, cones and eccentric sinkers that prevent the line from twisting.
Also, sinkers can be placed either directly on the fishing line, with a rigid and sliding fastening, or on a separate leash.
- More details about sinkers
Fishing in June
In June, for some species, spawning is far behind and they begin to actively feed, others are spawning, and others are just preparing for this process. If spring is late and cold, then the water in early June warms up slightly, which leaves a certain positive imprint on feeding activity.
The same thing happens when hot days came back in May, and the water reached “normal” summer temperatures at the beginning of the month. First of all, the rate of water heating affects the development of aquatic vegetation, which many peaceful fish feed on. At this time, they change their preferences from animal baits (worms, maggots) to plant baits - porridge, dough, bread, steamed grain.
Also at the beginning of June, a mass emergence of insects begins, which feed on riding and pelagic species - saberfish, bleak, asp, chub, ide. They often do not bite at all on baits other than live insects or their artificial imitations. The most interesting is the first half of the month, when some knowledge and luck allow you to catch almost any fish.
By the middle of the second decade, with an increase in average daily temperatures, the fish bite can be capricious. The best results begin to come from fishing early in the morning, late in the evening or even at night. Until the water has completely reached the summer level, fish, even large ones, willingly stay close to the shore, then move away from it and it is more convenient to switch to bottom gear.
Bream
After spawning, the bream begins to actively feed. At the beginning of the month, he can travel in flocks for almost a day around the feeding areas, where he picks up bloodworms and small mollusks. In not very warm water, it can bite well even at noon, especially if it has not yet cleared up after the spring flood.
In bright light, large bream stay in holes, emerging into shallow reaches at dawn and at night.
At the beginning of summer, both float fishing and bottom tackle, side fishing rods or “rings” bring good results. On large bodies of water (on the Volga reservoirs, for example), when fishing at depth, fairly thick leashes - 0.2-0.3 mm - are successfully used. In pressed areas, it is advisable to use a fishing line of 0.1-0.15 mm, this significantly improves the bite.
If the bite is cautious, you can try lengthening the leash. The bites will be much bolder.
The main baits for catching bream in June are maggots, worms, and a bunch of bloodworms. With the full coming of summer, the emphasis shifts to steamed barley, dough, pasta, peas or various cereals. The fish must be fed, and in “shock” doses. The flock that has eaten the treat immediately leaves the fishing area.
If you know that there is a large bream in the place where you are fishing, but small fish are very annoying, you can increase the volume of the bait - the size of the worms, the amount of maggots, the volume of dough.
Carp (carp)
After the spring flood, the underwater “pigs” go to summer camps. In rivers these are deep holes and snags; in stagnant bodies of water - the deepest places, areas overgrown with reeds. Feeding carp in large bodies of water often stands on extensive shell beds, eating bivalves.
In sunny weather, large fish rise to “warm up” to the surface, slowly cruising just under the surface or hovering. At the slightest danger, the cautious fish immediately goes into the depths.
In large rivers or reservoirs, it is better to fish on channel edges with shells. In overgrown reservoirs, good luck will be brought by the boundary between thickets (for example, reeds) and open water, especially if it is deep enough.
When fishing in thickets, you can also use float tackle with a powerful rod and a good reel, which will allow you to speed up the fishing, preventing the fish from leaving for strong places. The best option, if conditions permit, is to use special carp feeder gear.
Large carp and carp respond well to cake, crayfish meat, boilies, corn, and shell (barley). The only condition is that the nozzle must be large enough to cut off small things.
Som
The active catfishing season begins in June. In most reservoirs in central Russia, it has already spawned and is diligently restoring its lost strength.
Having spent the entire winter in a few wintering holes, by summer the catfish occupy all the convenient holes, pits and pits in the river, where they can find shelter for daytime rest. From these places at dawn and at night they get out into shallow waters and rifts, where they actively hunt.
The best fishing spots are places before and after deep holes, the holes themselves, rifts, strong deep snags, and long deep reaches.
The main gear for catching catfish is bottom and quok. Naturally, the highest demands are placed on the quality of not only cords, hooks, but also other accessories. This is exactly the case when it is better to take everything “with reserve”, because the catfish is quite tolerant of some roughness of the tackle.
A wide variety of baits can be offered to catfish; the trick is that in different bodies of water, catfish prefer different baits. The most common of them are a bunch of crawlers, dead or live fish, pearl barley, frog, and mole cricket.
Up
Baits and groundbait
Groundbait
A great variety of plant and animal raw materials are used as bait. For catching white fish, we can recommend not only traditional worms, bloodworms and maggots, but also cereals - steamed wheat, pearl barley, peas, corn, semolina, as well as dough with and without flavorings.
The predator is readily caught on various insects and their larvae, live bait, pieces of fish and crayfish meat, pearl barley meat and toothless lures, artificial baits, of which the human mind has invented a huge variety. To attract and hold fish in the fishing area, it is recommended to use various baits. These can be the same cereals, for example millet porridge, dry rolled oats and bran, soaked before fishing, cake, breadcrumbs. But the best option is ready-made industrial baits made in our country and abroad. To prepare them, you just need to add a small amount of water, preferably directly from the reservoir in which you plan to fish. Do not bring the consistency of the bait to the state of soft clay. An ideally prepared bait mixture should have a loose consistency, but mold well into balls when pressed. Don’t forget to add a small amount after absorbing some of the moisture.
Night fishing
Fishing at night has its advantages: few fishermen, cool nights, many shy fish species only rise closer to the water surface at night. For night fishing, a float rod, a spinning rod and a donka rod are used. Finding a fishing spot is not easy; large fish move along the shore on small stones with an active current. For night fishing, the rod needs additional equipment. The float must be equipped with a chemical firefly inserted into a silicone tube. The best fish to catch is pike perch at night. The best place for fishing is considered to be the beach. People who swim during the day kick up mud with shellfish, a delicacy for fish. Fish that hunt during the day swim to the beach at night to feed. For night fishing, an electronic signaling device is used, which is attached to the rod. It has a slot with a roller into which the fishing line is inserted. At the slightest movement of the roller, the backlit electronics and sound signal turn on.
Signs in summer
There are signs and you need to know about them.
- If the wind blows from the north, it is better not to go fishing; most often it is just a waste of time. The northeast wind also noticeably worsens the bite.
But, let’s say, when you went summer fishing, the weather was good, then it began to change. How to determine in advance what it will be like in the near future? These signs will tell you this.
- If cirrus clouds are moving quite quickly from the western side, then a cyclone is approaching - the weather is likely to deteriorate.
- After the appearance of cirrus clouds, the sky gradually seems to be covered with a gray veil - expect cloudiness and rain.
- You should not expect good weather even if the cumulus clouds do not disappear in the evening.
- If the stars begin to twinkle noticeably in the evening, it will usually rain during the day.
- A sure sign of deteriorating weather is smoke from chimneys and fires spreading low above the ground.
Storing caught fish
You take it off the hook and put it in a fish tank, which can be hung on a peg right in the lake. Or use a bucket for these purposes. Everything is very simple here, but you need to keep in mind some subtleties:
- You need to remove the fish from the hook very quickly, without injuring it or squeezing it too hard. Otherwise, sick fish will end up in the fish tank and will not live long;
- if the day is hot, then you need to put your catch in the shade, it’s a good idea to dig a hole for a bucket and place it there, sprinkled with earth on the sides, so the fish will stay cool longer;
- You can’t keep fish in a bucket for a long time, it will fall asleep;
- if the fish floats up with its belly up, then it must be killed and gutted. And store it in this form. You can’t keep it in a bucket cage, because it will make the rest of the fish fall asleep;
- Injured fish should not be kept in a cage. It must be stored gutted.
Carp and crucian carp can be kept alive in damp grass. You need to place the fish in very wet grass that you just picked. Additionally, you need to water the planting several times a day.
Fishing with live bait using a spinning rod
The combination of spinning tackle and live fish is a powerful weapon against the main predator of our latitudes. If neither expensive fancy wobblers, nor edible rubber, nor spinnerbaits of the most incredible designs seduce the pike, one small crucian carp or perch can change the situation. Therefore, in the summer, catching pike with a spinning rod using live bait is very important.
There is no need to alter or adjust the gear for this type of fishing. It is only worth mentioning that in currents it is better to use braided line as the main line, and in still water it is better to use monofilament. A special leash is used that is not afraid of pike teeth (titanium, Kevlar, braided cable, guitar string). It is advisable to choose a hook with a short shank or install a tee.
In this type of fishing, the smoothness of the retrieve plays an important role. The slower the fish goes, the greater the chances of a bite. Unfortunately, catching pike with live bait on a spinning rod has one significant drawback: small pike fish are constantly interested in the bait.
I used a small hook because a large pike will definitely swallow live bait and at the same time any hook will get caught in its throat. Small pike will have fewer obstacles when swallowing.
All this happened a couple of weeks ago, when I asked to go fishing with the caretaker of our summer cottage, Valery. He said that he knew a pike pond where pike, carp, crucian carp, rudd and perch of various sizes were caught. In a word, the assortment is quite extensive, but in this cold spring time you have the best chance of catching pike.
[THERE IS AN ANSWER] How to catch pike with mugs in the summer?
A small but very interesting pond. Photo: Gennady Shelyag.
Valery told me about his experience of catching a toothy robber in this pond, and described the method he usually uses.
The most common telescopic fishing rod, equipped with a simple spinning reel and a main line of 0.35 - 0.4 mm.
Next, a float under a 5-6 gram sinker with a tall, bright six, visible far on the surface.
Attached to the main line is a fairly strong pike leash 30 - 35 cm long, at the end of which there is a small tee with hook sizes No. 6 - 8.
Small crucian carp were used as bait, as the most active and tenacious baitfish.
They were baited on a tee with one hook on the top of the back in the area of the upper fin.
We had to catch crucian carp in a nearby pond where there were no predators - it was there that we managed to catch small fish of the required size.
The fishing tactics consisted of throwing a couple of fishing rods at different points in the pond and waiting for bites.
My partner complained that on recent fishing trips the pike constantly remained uncaught, despite a large number of bites. I decided for myself that it was a matter of rough gear and a very cautious pike. Therefore, heading to this pond, I prepared a similar tackle, but much more delicate.
Delicate tackle
In general, I am a supporter of using the most delicate gear and equipment. I believe that the safety margin should be minimal, giving the fish a chance to escape by breaking the fishing line or breaking the hook, for example. In addition, you need to treat the fish with respect when catching them with quality gear.
It’s also worth offering equipment that the most capricious fish can bite on. I don’t like arguments that “if a fish bites, then it bites” and in this case the thickness of the leader, the size of the hook, float, etc. doesn't matter.
If a fisherman respects fish, then he respects himself as a fisherman.
The tackle is abandoned and stands waiting for bites. Photo: Gennady Shelyag.
Following this principle, I took a five-meter Bolognese fishing rod equipped with a 2000-size spinning reel and 0.19 mm fishing line. A bright float for a 3 gram sinker, the thinnest I could get at that time, a titanium leader 0.15 mm 15 cm long and a single hook with a short shank No. 6.
Logic and calculation
I baited the crucian carp in the following way. First, I threaded the hook through the edge of the back under the dorsal fin, and then passed the hook tip through the gill cover into the mouth opening of the fish. At the same time, I tried not to damage the gills and ensure that the sting protruded from the baitfish’s mouth and was directed towards its tail.
The fact is that everyone knows that pike swallow fish in their heads.
Read the material “In the old place”
My calculation was that the pike would not be pricked in any way; the hook would easily enter the mouth and throat. When moving back, the hook will inevitably get caught either in the mouth or in the throat of the fish.
The first pike caught on live bait. Photo: Gennady Shelyag.
I used a small hook because a large pike will definitely swallow live bait and at the same time any hook will get caught in its throat. Small pike will have fewer obstacles when swallowing.
Floated up and unhooked
Some of our respected readers may smash my logic to smithereens by telling their own. He has every right to do this, because I am simply sharing my experience and will further tell you what came of it.
Having made the depth from the live bait to the float about one meter, I cast this one and only prepared tackle. Next, I decided to bait a place opposite me for fishing with a blind float tackle.
In less than a few minutes, my bright float dived under the water and did not reappear on the surface for several minutes. I held my breath and continued to wait for a pause.
Then he decided that enough was enough and began to carefully wind the line onto the reel. It was felt that the pike was not large at all. She floated to the surface and unhooked, abandoning the bait.
After each bite, the live bait becomes inoperative and needs to be replaced. Photo: Gennady Shelyag.
It felt like she was just holding it in her teeth the whole time.
Lots of careful bites
I changed the crucian carp on the rig, this time choosing the smallest one I had. The next bite came quickly, but this time I decided to wait until the bitter end.
I even snapped the reel bail, allowing the fish to unwind the line from the spool. After waiting 10-15 minutes, I finally decided to pull it out. I did not consider it advisable to hook with a small hook, a fairly thin main line and at such a distance.
The fish was sitting on the hook; it did not particularly resist, but showed its dissatisfaction with being pulled somewhere. I carefully led her to the bridge and lifted her onto it.
The half-kilogram pike was unable to swallow the bait, but the hook dug into the throat. This indicated that she was still trying to do it.
Too big a baitfish for a pike of this size. Photo: Gennady Shelyag.
That day I had three more bites. Two pikes of similar size fell off near the bridge itself, but I still managed to catch one. The large pike ignored my “delicious crucian carp” that day.
This is my experience and maybe it will be useful to someone, my dear readers.
You can catch pike both from a boat and from the shore.
