On winter fishing, everyone has their own preferences. One loves to fish perches near the coast, the second "sharpens" the tackle for roach, the third cannot get enough of the open flags of the girders ... I am most familiar with bream. There are several reasons for this attachment. The first is size. Size Matters in Fishing! And the one who denies this, in my opinion, is disingenuous. But it is not always possible to catch trophy fish in winter, and the majority of fishermen's catches are striped "sailors" and palm-sized roach.
Someone may notice to me that a very good silver bream and blue bream can be caught with a "garland". Yes, you can, but I really don't want to run on the ice in a dense group of fishermen catching up with a flock and use up to a dozen lures at the same time, often just a scarlet part of the catch. I don't want this at all ... because when you participate in such "races", the quiet, calm charm of winter completely leaves fishing. And we don’t run, in the end we go out on the ice!
The special beauty of catching bream is that it strongly resembles hunting. Here you have to apply your knowledge, observation, and patience. Especially in winter, bream can be caught with rolling gear (in places with the current), with a winter float rod and with a jig. But we will not talk about rolling or floating rods, although fishing with these tackles is also very spectacular and interesting, we are only talking about catching bream with a jig.
Tackle
The winter "bream" fishing rod can be distinguished from others even by its external features. Usually it is a rather large fishing rod with a stand, with an open reel and a long, up to 25cm, nod - it certainly cannot be confused with a perch "balalaika". Line - from 0.10 to 0.14, and in some cases, 0.17mm. The jig is large, dim and, as a rule, round. Such characteristics of the tackle are due to the specifics of catching bream in winter. Briefly about this specificity.
1) A large fishing rod is mainly for convenience. When fishing for bream, it is often placed on the ice; It is inconvenient to put a small fishing rod and, most importantly, take it from the ice.
2) The external reel allows you to use a large supply of sufficiently thick line, which is necessary for fishing at significant depths.
3) A long nod is needed to ensure a calm and smooth play with the jig, which bream likes so much.
4) A line with a breaking load of more than a kilogram is also a mandatory requirement. When playing, the bream offers serious resistance, and at the same time it often simply "cuts" the thin line on the lower edge of the hole.
5) A large jig is placed for two reasons. The first - often fishing for bream takes place at depths of 8, 10 or more meters, in places with a current, albeit small, and with a shallow jig in such conditions, it will be very difficult for the tackle to even just lower it to the bottom. The second reason is the volumetric bait. When fishing for bream in winter, jigs with large hooks are used, because a fairly voluminous bait must be planted on the hook - a bunch of bloodworms, several maggots, a caddis larva, a dragonfly larva or a couple of worms ...
Fishing places
To catch a bream, it is necessary, first of all, to find its resting place - this is an axiom, both in summer and in winter. If you fish where there is none, you will not catch anything. Although there are a number of places where bream can be caught, as anglers say, "along the aisle" almost always, bream is still caught in pits in winter. Usually these are deep (7-12 meters) bays of large rivers. On the reservoirs, perhaps the most promising areas are the edges along the old channel and deep sections along these edges. At depths of less than five meters, a bite of bream can occur only by accident, and in such places one cannot count on systemic fishing.There is only one exception to this rule: bream can be successfully caught if in a large water area with small, 1-2 meters, depths, you can find a hole, even not very large in area. And even if its depth is only 3-4 meters - in such places many different fish accumulate, including bream, so they are always interesting. You can also look for bream on the spills of reservoirs - in places where ditches pass, especially at the entrances and exits. But all the same, the most effective fishing is on the channel pits. The current should be weak or absent altogether, since the activity of fish in winter is low, and the bream does not want to fight the current.
Search technique
It is not easy to find bream without a thorough knowledge of the reservoir. But some search patterns still exist. The easiest way is to ask local fishermen or just observe who, where and how is fishing in the pond. But here two problems arise at once. First: anglers are not always in a hurry to share such information. Second: it is very difficult to catch bream in a crowd, so if there are many fishermen where it bites, then you can be sure that the biting will soon stop. Well, the bream does not like fuss and noise! So it's best to look for bream yourself. The experience of fishing in this reservoir can be of great help in this search. After all, bream is a sedentary fish, and where it manifested itself in summer, it will most likely keep on in winter. You just need to find it.
So, we go out onto the ice and look for a hole, or, according to the landmarks, we go out to the one we looked after from the summer. You need to start from the deepest part. This will be the main fishing point, so here we drill two or three holes at once. In addition, we make holes in three or four more points, so that later, without noise, it would be possible to examine the entire perimeter of the discovered hole. This is usually enough.
Now we check the place. Bream is not a perch. And the perch, sometimes, is capricious, but the bream in terms of whims simply has no equal. The difficulty of fishing lies in the fact that one day he prefers a smooth inactive game, and after a day or two, or even by the evening of the same day, for some reason, he begins to take an exception.
especially on a stationary bait. It is difficult to say with certainty what is the cause of this behavior, but the fact remains. Another choice to be made is the volume of the baits. Sometimes the bream prefers a bunch of several bloodworms at once, and sometimes it shows interest in the bait only if there is only one larva on the hook of the jig. You need to be prepared for all this.
The place is determined, the holes are ready, we start fishing. At the main point, we lower the first tackle into one of the holes. I usually equip this tackle with a large lead pellet and bait with three bloodworms. The jig of this tackle should lie at the bottom. In the drilled hole next to the first hole, we lower the second tackle, baited with two bloodworms (the jig can be any here), and we start the game with the bait. Oscillations should be as smooth as possible and of small amplitude. This is the second, working tackle, which is rarely let out of hand. Using two rods to test a point at the same time often gives a positive result. But you need to be careful, because in this case, it is usually not the tackle with which you play with the jig, but the other, the jig which lies motionless on the bottom, is triggered.
It takes 20-30 minutes to check the point. If during this time there are no bites, then, after throwing in a little bait (then it does not hurt to check this place again), go to the next group of holes. We went through all the holes and did not catch anything - we cut the next ones. And all this until the whip begins to work out the elastic resistance of the large fish. This usually happens if the bream intends to peck.
Fishing features
Jigs. I think the most correct jig for bream fishing is an ordinary lead pellet.At considerable depths, it is, of course, better to replace it with tungsten. Such a replacement will allow you to work more confidently with the tackle and save you from the tedious waiting for the moment when the jig touches the bottom. But on the pellet the light did not converge like a wedge ... When hunting for bream, various, dim "drops", "dreisena", "ural-ki" and "ants" work well. In this case, "drops" and "draysenu" are better used for tackle, the jig of which lies motionless on the bottom, since the centering of these jigs is such that the hook with the bloodworm will be slightly raised above the bottom. But it is better to equip the fishing rod with which the game is carried out with “uralkas” and “ants”. If such a jig is lowered to the bottom, then, as a rule, the bait will be submerged in silt or bottom sediment.
Bait.It is well known that bream is a big fan of bloodworms, and therefore it is bloodworms that are most often used by anglers as bait. But it should be remembered that with an inactive bite, the bream is capricious to the extreme. It often happens that if you catch a bunch of three bloodworms
- no bites, but if you try to use one
- immediately earn a bite. Therefore, in the process of checking the selected point, you need to start fishing with one bloodworm, gradually putting another one on the hook, and then, if there are still no bites, then two. There are, however, quite rare cases when the bream prefers some other bait or, more often, "sandwiches" to the bloodworm. For example, two bloodworms plus two burdock moth larvae. Moreover, as a rule, at the same time neither just bloodworms nor burdock moths work. Therefore, it is advisable to have several types of bait with you every time you go fishing and, in the absence or attenuation of the bite, try to combine them.
The game. The game when fishing for bream is smooth, not sharp, and the amplitude of the nod is small. In fact, you should get smooth swinging of the bait. Usually, the jig is first put on the bottom, then you need to make a few very light vibrations so that the bait slightly moves at the bottom, and after that, if there is no bite, smoothly, without jerking, slowly swing it above the bottom. If this standard technique does not work, the game needs to be changed. There are only two correct changes that have been verified by practice. This can be either a pause in the game, that is, a complete stop of the jig for some time (20-40 seconds), and then the resumption of the game, or a change in the frequency of the game. Moreover, if, when the jig stops, the bite occurs after some time, measured in a few seconds, then when the vibration frequency changes, it can follow instantly.
Feeding. The use of bait in most cases significantly improves the catch. Bream, as already mentioned, is a big fan of bloodworms, and this should be used. But there are also reservoirs where fishermen successfully use boiled cereals, oilcakes, rolled oats, ready-made dry mixes and even semolina as bait. In any case, I have seen this both here in Ukraine and in Russia. Additional scent elements such as rye bread crumbs, ground roasted seeds, dill powder, or a minimal amount of industrial flavoring are added to such a base, and achieve good results. But I want to emphasize: such baits do not work on all bodies of water ... and bloodworms are everywhere. So if somewhere in winter bream is suitable for porridge, then adding bloodworms to this porridge will not hurt at all.
A few words about the feeding technique. To be honest, I try to use feeders as little as possible in winter. The fact is that feeding with a dump feeder in places where there is no current, in my opinion, always worsens the bite, and in some cases even scares the fish away. Of course, I am not urging to completely abandon this tool for accurately delivering groundbait to the bottom. The feeder can and should be used.It helps out especially strongly in situations where, in the presence of a small current, it is necessary to perform spot feeding of a pit 10-12 meters deep. And for those lucky ones who have the opportunity to catch bream in one place for several days in a row in winter, a feeder is simply necessary. With its help, you can carry out a very accurate and therefore effective evening feeding of the holes, so that the next day, at dawn, without frightening the fish, you can start fishing at the fed place. But this is, one might say, an ideal situation, I don't even know where you can fish like that today. You won't even have time to lift a couple of bream, but they have already chopped you off, and in order to come and sit in the same place the next morning ...
So, if the conditions allow me, that is, when fishing on lakes or bays without a current, I just pour a slightly moistened mixture into the hole. She gradually drowns, forming the so-called "feed pillar". This, in my opinion, is the ideal feeding option.
And finally, the basic rule of winter feeding bream: you need to try to collect and keep the fish with a minimum amount of bait. Overfed wells usually stop working, and for a long time. Usually, after overfeeding, it will take several days for the bite to recover even in a good, proven place for years.
When there are many anglers on the ice
Usually fish are overfed by beginners. Naturally, over time, they learn, track down their mistake and start doing everything right. But there are situations when the amount of feed at the bottom does not depend on your personal experience. This problem is well known to urban fishermen - we are talking about those cases when several hundred people gather in a "fishing" place. You can be sure that each of them brought a certain amount of groundbait with them, and in this mass of those eager to catch trophy bream there are quite a lot of beginners who will throw it all into the hole within the first hour. As a result, the fish will be overfed. But even if it is not overfed, it will scatter over the entire fed space. At first glance, this situation may seem hopeless. But even if everything turns out in such an unpleasant way, you can still be with the catch! When fishing in such conditions, special attention should be paid to bait. Pay attention to what anglers fishing near you usually throw into the holes - almost always it is porridge or crackers, at best with the addition of a small amount of bloodworms. So if you add 10-15 bloodworms to the volume of your groundbait, then offer the fish something that others do not offer. I assure you: adding live bait allows you to attract and be with the catch, even with very strong competition for fish.
The second way to catch fish in a difficult situation is used when there are simply no bloodworms in sufficient quantity or an increase in the quality of bait does not give the desired results. In this case, you need to get out of the crowd and look for luck away from the crowd of anglers. If you assume that you will have to fish in cramped conditions, it is generally advisable to prepare such holes in advance. But don't feed these holes with the mixture - just add some bloodworms to each. And you will have a chance to catch "your" fish.
And in conclusion, a few tips. If a place, as they say, responded, and you caught a bream, remember it - it means that it is visited by this fish. It often happens that without any feeding, just walking through the places of old captures, you immediately earn a bite of a golden-sided handsome man. And at the very beginning of fishing you get both the catch and your well-deserved portion of adrenaline.
The bulk of those drills that anglers use today have a diameter of 110mm, and trophy fish simply will not pass into the hole they drilled. So if you are going to fish for bream, take a drill of maximum diameter with you.But even in a fairly large hole, large bream passes with difficulty, therefore it is very desirable to have a hook in the fishing box.
Do not use lines that are too thin. The diameter of the fishing line does not particularly affect the number of bites, because the jigs are used large and heavy, and their play is not fast, so the quality of the game when using a slightly coarser fishing line will not suffer.
