Tips For The Winter Fishing Angler

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

"Sandwich" on a hook and "graters" on the legs

Everyone who fished in the winter knows how much time is spent on a seemingly very simple operation - replacing a hook or jig. And most often not to tie them to the line, but to search. Therefore, the first advice: store hooks and jigs like this: cut out several pieces of flat material from the corks and stick jigs and hooks into them on one side, then place them in a plastic or wooden box. To store lures, you need to make something similar to a hunting bandolier from a piece of dense material (such as oilcloth), with compartments-pockets for each bait. Having placed them in such a bandolier, roll it up into a roll, intercept it with a rubber ring.

In winter, fish often bite more actively on a small jig than on a large one. But here's the bad luck: in a hole at great depth or with a strong current, it is blown away by a stream. To prevent this from happening, a leash about a meter long with a small weight at the end must be tied to the line about 150-200 mm higher than the jig (see Fig. 1). Now the line will sink into the water faster and when the weight reaches the bottom (the nod-gate will signal about this), you can start fishing. Now the flow is not an obstacle: the weight lying on the ground will hold the line.

Winter fishing from three holes simultaneously with two float rods and a jig has its own characteristics. The jig should be in the hole on the far right, otherwise the angler will not be able to follow the float rods, his right hand will interfere. Moreover, even if he notices the bite in time, he will still be late with the hook, since he will have to shift the fishing rod of the jig from his right hand to his left.

Combined baits, in common parlance called "sandwich" by anglers, are the combined use of two different (in origin, shape, color, and so on …) baits on one hook. They are becoming more and more common for winter fishing anglers and, sometimes, with a bad bite, they ensure success. Here are some options for a "sandwich": bloodworm - maggot or burdock moth; bloodworm - caddis flies (shitik); maggot is a worm. Other variants of combined attachments are also possible (see fig. 2). They should be used in accordance with the conditions of fishing in a particular reservoir.

In order to prevent the hole from freezing, you can do the following. Cut a circle out of the hard foam (although you can cut a square) with a diameter of 50-60 mm - slightly larger than the diameter of the ice screw. Make a slot in it (see Fig. 3) a third of the cut out circle and pass the foam float on the line through it. Float length - 90-100, thickness 7-8 mm above the surface of the circle. When biting, the float is drawn into the slot of the circle, after the hook and in the process of playing, the circle falls onto the ice. A well protected by such a circle does not freeze at a temperature of -20 ° C for one and a half to two hours.

If the ice has not yet matured, it is better to go fishing not with an ice screw (brace), but with an ice pick. The simplest ice pick for thin ice is not at all difficult to make yourself. A piece of metal pipe must be welded to the cup of a wide chisel, after which the chisel is placed on a wooden handle. Such an ice pick will help to "probe" insufficiently strong ice (so as not to fall through) and cut a hole.

In the market and in some shops you can buy bloodworms and caddis flies for winter fishing. What about other baits? You can try to do this. In the pre-winter, when there is still no ice or it is thin, it is necessary to make a mesh (made of wire) bucket with a long handle and with its help start a kind of fishing: scoop everything that gets from the bottom of the reservoirs. Then wash the "catch". The earth, sand, silt will go away, and the grass with all the living creatures - mormysh, bloodworms, caddis flies, tubifex and all sorts of crustaceans - will remain in the ladle. Thus, the bait is obtained, now it must be saved. In an enamel bucket, place a bush of dry grass taken from the shore of the pond, and put everything that remains in the bucket after rinsing around it. Do not add water. Keep the bucket in a cool place (cellar, basement). With this storage, the bait remains alive throughout the winter. Going on a fishing trip, the required amount of bait is poured into a box, a damp cloth or moss is placed on the bottom.

Sometimes, under a thick cover of snow, unfrozen water remains on reservoirs. In such places, fishing is uncomfortable. To overcome this difficulty, around the hole it is necessary to crush the snow with your feet until a dense, moist crust forms. It will freeze quickly, and it will be much more convenient for the angler to fish.

In winter, when anglers gather in a "catch" place, they very often interfere with each other - they cut off the fishing line with their feet. But if you put an ice pick or an ice drill from the most "vulnerable" side, no one will break the line.

In winter, when crossing the pond, the angler's box strap usually slips off the shoulder every now and then, which is especially inconvenient when walking long distances. This can be eliminated by applying a strip of soft rubber to the part of the belt that touches the shoulder.

A well-designed hole and the silence around it very often contribute to the success of winter fishing. It is necessary to sprinkle the hole with snow (you can cover it with a transparent film), and in the middle of it make a hole with a stick, into which a spoon, a float, a jig can pass. Indeed, quite often it happens like this: there is no bite in the open hole, but as soon as you close it, the fish starts to take. Do not throw ice pieces around. They freeze and crunch underfoot, and the noise scares the fish away. She can move away from the hole if she hears a knock when the angler knocks frozen ice off the ice screw. Fish are especially alarmed by noises in small places.

When moving on slippery ice, the angler will be rescued by "graters" - two wide strips of tin. Having pierced several holes with a nail in the middle part of the tape, the ends of it should be bent along the felt boot (boot) from the sole to the rise and tie them with wire or twine.