Lucky "mouse"

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

Fishing tales

I happened to visit a small town in the North-West of our region - Svetogorsk on business. The representative of the local enterprise where I was sent, Sergey, having learned that I was an avid fisherman, offered to go fishing on the next weekend at Lesogorskoye Lake.

- There is a real pike Eldorado on this lake now, - he explained and added: - I have a spine living there nearby, we will take a boat from him. Besides, if something happens, he will help.

I did not begin to find out the meaning of the words: "if anything" and "he will help", hoping to find out everything on the spot.

The root turned out to be a sturdy middle-aged man with a drooping Cossack mustache.

- Mikhail, - he introduced himself to me and without further ado handed the oars and keys to the boat to my companion. And after a pause, he advised: - Start, perhaps, with the Hare's lip: there is definitely a pike there.

The hare lip turned out to be a small bay, protected from wind and waves on three sides. We moored about ten meters from the shore and, without hesitation, began to fish. I started fishing with wobblers, Sergey with baits. We did cast after cast, but the notorious "pike Eldorado" for some reason did not work: the pikes did not bite.

Only after numerous attempts, Sergey pulled out a half-kilogram pike. Soon I caught the grass as well. And then again the dreary beardlessness. Why? And the time seems to be the most suitable: the pike spawning has just ended, after which there is always zhor. The weather is good: cloudy, a slight south breeze. And the bite is so-so …

Finally, Sergei broke down and called Mikhail on his mobile. Soon he appeared, but not alone, but together with a dry, gray-bearded old man. And when we moored to the shore and complained about the bad bite, Mikhail smiled knowingly and, turning to the old man, said:

- Stepanychev, help the guys.

First of all, the old man examined our tackle and attachments (albeit very briefly), after which, without expressing any emotions, he took a small package from his jacket pocket. And when, without haste, he unfolded it, we saw two small gray lumps. To our questioning looks, he said:

- These are foam mice. The spring flood gradually floods the coastal lowlands, and the mice swim to the shore to escape. It was then that the pikes grab them. So you try to treat them to rag mice. Just throw them as close to last year's grass as possible: it's shallow there, and therefore the water is warmer. In such places, small change accumulates, and the pikes follow it. Remove the sinker.

It is clear that Sergei and I immediately started fishing with "mice". As soon as I made the cast and the "mouse" flopped down near the withered grass, a strong splash was immediately heard, and the hand felt a sharp jerk. A sweep - and a kilogram toothy robber fluttered at the bottom of the boat. Sergey immediately caught a pike. But after I caught another small pike, the biting stopped again.

- At this place, it looks like you caught all the pikes, move to another.

We did just that. By the end of the fishing trip, we had seven pikes from half a kilo to two. This is how Stepanich's useful advice worked so well.

1. Workpiece made of solid foam. 2. Material with a pile in color resembling the color of a forest or field mouse. 3. Metal rod.

4. Double or tee. 5. Ring for fishing line

In conclusion, I will describe the mouse (they are both the same), which we used to catch pikes so successfully (see figure). Foam body of the bait: length five centimeters, diameter eight millimeters. A hole is made in the center of the bait, into which a piece of steel wire with a double at the end is threaded. At the other end, a ring is twisted to secure the fishing line. Styrofoam is sheathed with a piece of gray fabric with a pile, and the seam is inside. To prevent the bait from getting wet, and therefore not sinking, it is impregnated with a water-repellent composition.

Alexander Nosov