What A Catchy Jig Should Be. Mormyshka - Similar To Mormysh

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Fishing Academy

Surely any fisherman, even only occasionally fishing, has an idea of what a jig is. However, not everyone knows that this catchy bait is a purely Russian invention, which was mentioned in the 19th century by L. P. Sabaneev.

A jig is a type of artificial bait, which is a small (from 5 to 15 millimeters) streamlined weight made of lead, tin, copper, brass with a hook welded into it and a through hole for fixing the fishing line in it. The principle of fishing with a jig is that it continuously moves itself and gives movement to the nozzle.

It is believed that the mormyshka got its name because of the resemblance to the mormyshka. This small nondescript amphipod crustacean is widespread in the water bodies of northern and central Russia. In the warm season, he lives under floating plants, in the reeds and gets out from there exclusively in the dark. Probably, in imitation of him (since he moves in spasmodic throws), jigs are also jerked in the water. And the fish, mistaking it for a tasty insect, grabs the bait.

But this is only a partial explanation, because even in water bodies where mormysh is not found at all, and, therefore, the fish cannot know it, it still actively pecks at the mormysh. In addition, fish often grab a jig, which is a shapeless piece of metal that in no way looks like a jig.

In winter, mormys climb out of the grass and cover the lower surface of the ice in a huge mass. Then they become the desired prey of many fish active in cold weather. And here another mystery arises. If the mormysh gathers mainly on the lower edge of the ice, then why is the fish caught on the mormysh not here, but in the overwhelming majority of cases at the very bottom, where there is no mormysh at this time, or very little.

Probably, there are several reasons for such a successful catching of the jig. Apparently, in some cases the fish is attracted by the bait, in others - by the bait and the jig itself. The fish perceives the movement of the jig as the movement of something alive - some kind of insect. Because, like any living organism, the jig, when moving, becomes a source of the smallest vibrations of water, which the fish perceives with its lateral line even at a considerable distance from itself. If the fish could not perceive these vibrations, then it would take only the nozzle that is located no more than a meter from it - most of the fish practically cannot see anything further.

Fishermen are constantly trying to experimentally determine which jig is the most running, capable of ensuring success in any body of water and in any weather. Such an opinion is quite widespread: if, for example, the rudd predominates in a given reservoir, then the most prey will be the jig, the fluctuations of which most likely imitate the fluctuations of organisms that are the main food of the rudd. The rudd can also peck at other jigs, but much less often, since their fluctuations will be different, different from the usual food of this fish.

The same thing happens with jigs. Let's say the vibrations emanating from the "ant" are not like the vibrations of the "barrel". Therefore, the same jig in different water bodies can be attractive to fish in different ways. The jig is a jig, but the skill of the fisherman is very important. It is well known that even the most well-chosen bait does not bring success to an angler if he is not able to give it the necessary rhythm of the game, and, on the contrary, a skilled angler can fish quite successfully and with a jig that is not at all peculiar to a particular reservoir. For example, having chosen the "coffin" jig, you need to learn how to use it correctly - masterly. And then the fishing will be lucky.

It should be borne in mind that the main guarantee of success is the frequency of oscillations. Here is what the famous scientist GVNikolsky says about this: “If a large number of oscillatory movements are given to the jig, then the predatory instinct, for example, of a perch, has a stronger effect. In addition, he cannot really see what is spinning, spinning and jumping in front of his eyes, and even seeks to run up. It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that the jig would make such vibrations that would attract fish. If, say, a jig is given the natural movements inherent in a bloodworm, then there will be more bites."

The smell of the jig is also important. Experienced fishermen must clean and wash a new, just made jig before fishing, as the smell of burning lead can easily scare the fish away. More recently, jigs were given different colors. However, in most cases, such anglers were disappointed. The color of the jig was effective only in some cases. Let's say a green jig is sometimes more catchy than others. It has been noticed that this usually occurs in the spring, before the onset of rapid growth of aquatic plants, or in the fall, when they begin to die off. The reason for this phenomenon, presumably, is that in the first case, the fish is waiting for the appearance of vegetation, which is included in its diet. In the second case, the fish still cannot get rid of this food.

But still the vast majority of jigs are now made in two colors: dark - from lead and light - from tin. After all, many fishermen adhere to the rules established by practice: in cloudy weather and at dusk, they fish with a light jig, on a clear day - with a dark one.

Much more important than color is weight, and, consequently, the size of the jig. In deep places, a light little jig will not give the desired result, since it will not be able to stretch the long fishing line with its weight in one straight line, and therefore the bites will be invisible. But at shallow depths (up to two meters), the fish are much more willing to take a small jig. Its main disadvantage is that it sinks rather slowly to the bottom due to its low weight.

Mormyshki, although rather tentatively, are usually divided by size and weight into small, medium and large. Small ones include those that do not exceed the size of a match head (1.5-2 mm in diameter). Jigs are larger than a match head, but smaller than a pea (2.5-3 mm in diameter) are medium - these are the most commonly used baits. Jigs larger than a pea (over 4 mm in diameter) are considered large.

According to their shape, jigs are divided into round, drop-shaped, oval, conical, faceted. The most common of them are shown in Figure 1. Jigs are attached to the fishing line with different nodes, one of which is shown in Figure 2.

What kind of fish is caught with a jig? Most often it is perch, rudd, roach, pike, pike perch, silver bream, ruff, bream, dace, podust. There are also asp, burbot, crucian carp, eel and other fish.