Smelt Will Help

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

Fishing tales

I and my namesake, a relative of Alexander Rykov, once again came for a fishing trip to a small village in Karelia, not far from the town of Lakhdenpohja. Our host, with whom we always stay - the local inveterate fisherman and hunter Sazonych, after the usual feast and talking about fishing, unexpectedly issued: “Tomorrow morning we’ll go for smelt, there will be good live bait for donoks. Let's put donks for the night: burbots are too eager for smelt. " Rykov and I looked at each other: after all, the smelt is an unimaginable small fry. I immediately remembered a remark I heard once from an experienced fisherman: "Is it a fish that smelt, there is a bit of fish in it."

Meanwhile Sazonych, after a pause, mysteriously added: - "And, maybe, besides smelts, we will catch something else." Since he had no intention of explaining anything, Rykov and I had no choice but to go to our usual place to spend the night - to the hayloft.

Sazonych raised us at half past five. “It's time,” he said. "Smelt is waiting for us."

Have a quick breakfast - and go. Surprisingly, apart from two light float rods, Sazonych grabbed a spinning rod for some reason. "Sazonych, how are you going to catch smelt - with a spoon or a wobbler?" - I joked. "To the twister," was the answer.

The weather was disgusting. A dank gray fog enmeshed everything around with a cold, sticky drizzle. To the pier, where the boat, walk no more than ten minutes. While they were walking, they pushed the boat, scooped water out of it, laid the gear, the fog noticeably dissipated. Sazonych undertook to row, Rykov settled in the bow, I got the feed.

Forty minutes of vigorous rowing - and we found ourselves in a spacious bay. We dropped anchor near the shore. The depth is about a meter. Here Rykov and I were to catch live fish with float rods. “There is often smelt here, catch only it, let the rest of the fish go,” Sazonych instructed us.

It pecked well, but at first there were few smelt, mostly ruffs and okushka were taken. Such fishing lasted for about half an hour, only then the general biting of smelt began. Apparently, a school of this fish came up. We were fishing until Sazonych said, "Stop." And when they raised the anchor, he turned to me: "Row to that cape," and pointed to a narrow part of the coast, which cut into the bay like a wedge. It was two hundred meters to the cape. While I was rowing, he explained: “Now is the time to feed the smelt, and where the smelt is, there are always those who want to profit from it. Here we will try to catch them."

Now it became clear why he took the spinning rod. We stopped at a tall cattail wall. Having prepared the spinning rod, Sazonych examined the water area and, addressing me, said in an undertone: "At my command, quietly row along the grass." For about twenty minutes it was calm and quiet. But then there were light slaps around the curve of the green wall. “This asp beats the smelt,” said Sazonych, showing with a glance where to row.

As soon as we got out of the thickets, we immediately saw ripples and splashes on the water surface. Looking closely, Sazonych threw a small twister to the left of the place where the splash had just occurred. Once, twice, three - no bites. Only the tenth or eleventh cast was effective: a kilogram asp was caught.

Then a series of empty casts followed again. Only forty minutes later the fisherman's trophy again became a little larger than the first. And there and then a rather weighty perch pecked. Alas, soon there were no ripples on the water, and the biting stopped. Apparently, the flock of smelts moved to another place, and the predators followed it. This is how this amazing fishing ended.

Rykov and I tried several times to fish in this way, but each time we failed. The main problem is how to find a school of smelt or other small fish. The water surface is rarely smooth, almost always wavy. And among even small waves it is absolutely impossible to see the ripples from the floating fish. This requires experience and skill, and maybe also luck, which, alas, we did not have. Hence the natural result …

Alexander Nosov