Catching a ruff in the winter on a mormyshka, playing with a mormyshka, tackle

Ruff belongs to the perch family and is a common species of the ruff genus. It can be found in fresh water bodies of Europe and North Asia. Prefers to be near the bottom, in dams, near river banks, where the bottom is sandy or strewn with gravel. An adult individual reaches a length of about 10 cm. At the same time, the ruff is able to live for about 11 years. Unfortunately, not many live to this age, due to the presence of natural enemies in the ruff. The basis of the population are individuals who lived from 1 to 3 years. The basis of the ruff’s diet is made up of benthic invertebrates, small fish or underwater plants. In turn, the ruff is a food base for larger predatory fish, such as catfish, pike perch, pike and others.

Ruff leads a flock of life. The fish are hardy and can live in a wide range of environmental conditions. It is found in both fresh and brackish waters, with and without current, at depths from 0,25 meters to 85 meters. Withstands temperatures from 0°C to 34,5°C.

Mormyshka game when catching ruff

In order to catch a ruff in the conditions of a large number of people who want to get on the hook, you should choose the right game of bait. This is not even a game, but a certain style of play that can scare away one fish, but attract a ruff. The main condition is the absence of sudden movements. The task is to give the mormyshka smooth movement with a rather sweeping game. It is necessary to adjust the nod so that it appears underloaded. Some anglers generally turn it down so that it does not arch. At the same time, the mormyshka, as it were, bounces up. Other species of fish, including perch, are indifferent to such a game, although sometimes roach comes across. This is just the case when, with the help of the mormyshka game, you can focus on catching a certain type of fish, in particular ruff.

Mormyshka rises above the bottom to a certain height (from 20 to 40 cm) and this, despite the fact that the ruff prefers to be at the very bottom. But in winter this statement does not work, and some anglers caught it at a distance of 120 cm from the bottom. In this case, the ruff was caught almost at noon. Below it, a perch was already pecking, and even lower, a roach. There is such a pattern that the greater the depth in the place of fishing, the closer to the bottom the ruff takes the bait.

Specificity of bait for ruff

Ruff is an amazing fish in terms of bait. Ruff practically does not take bait, which consists of pure bloodworm or maggot. And to be precise, he practically does not take bloodworms and completely refuses maggot. The use of maggot is generally a topic for a separate discussion, but the use of bloodworm is absolutely normal, especially if you use a sandwich from it and burdock. Quite often, you can get by with one burdock. Oddly enough, but ruff loves him more than perch. Therefore, it is possible to drive the perch away from the hole. If ruff is purposefully caught.

If any fish, except for ruff, bites on burdock, then you can switch to bloodworms. And you need to plant not one bloodworm, but several. Ideally, a bream should peck at such a bait, but the specifics of the game of the bait attract more ruff.

At the end of winter it is better to use one bloodworm. If the bite is active, then a lot of bloodworms are consumed. In this regard, you should specifically stock up on bait. The ruff has very powerful jaws and it easily crushes the larva of the burdock fly, not to mention the bloodworm.

Mormyshkas used when catching ruff

It has been established that the shape of the mormyshka is of great importance for the ruff, but not the color or its size. Ruff is able to peck at such mormyshki, which are able to scare any other fish. But this does not mean at all that you should invent something out of the ordinary. You can take the usual “shotgun”, 4-5 mm in size, black or dark lead in color with a bloodworm nozzle, in the first case, and a burdock nozzle in the second case. This is how you can simply start catching ruff. If the approach does not work, then it makes sense to move on to other types of baits.

Line thickness

The thickness of the fishing line, as well as the size of the mormyshka, does not have a special effect on the fishing process. According to experienced anglers, he will be caught with equal success both on a fishing line with a thickness of 0,06 mm and on a fishing line with a diameter of 0,08 mm. But this does not mean at all that there is no difference at all. The fact is that the thickness of the fishing line affects the game of the bait. The thinner the line, the more natural the action of the bait becomes. It is not advisable to use a thicker fishing line in winter, as this leads to certain inconveniences associated with the presence of sub-zero temperatures.

We feed the holes

Ruff does not ignore feeding holes with bloodworms. Moreover, he prefers a small bloodworm, in contrast to the perch, which give a large, fat bloodworm. It is desirable that it be a black little bloodworm – “spinner”, as it is also called. The same bloodworm is also suitable as bait. Moreover, bloodworms should be thrown into the hole without sparing, otherwise the effectiveness of fishing may be in jeopardy.

How to find a ruff

As a rule, most small ruffs are found at a depth of 4,5 meters or more. They can share their territory with breams or scavengers, and if there are none, they can be in splendid isolation. This applies to water bodies, where a depth of 5-6 meters is rare. In places where there is serious depth and which is preferred by other types of fish, as a rule, ruffs can also be found. Although many fish avoid the accumulation of ruffs due to the mucus they secrete. This is more true for large reservoirs, where there are serious depths.

Ruff, this is a fish that does not care what is happening on the surface of the ice. In conditions of constant blizzards and snowfalls, when other fish tries to hide at the bottom in order to wait out the bad weather, the ruff is more active than ever. Not every angler knows about this, therefore, in case of bad weather, they try to stay at home.

Biting time ruff

Closer to dusk, it makes sense to retrain for catching ruffs. Toward evening, other fish become more active, but the ruff behaves more actively. Some anglers who stay overnight to fish for bream suffer greatly from the intensity of bites from this prickly representative of the underwater world. Moreover, he takes a mormyshka in any position: he can take a mormyshka hanging in the water column or just fallen to the bottom, as well as slowly sinking to the bottom. Quite often, perch also shows such activity, but it is not detected so often, but the ruff swallows the bait so that it is very difficult to get it out of its mouth later. Ruff bites have their own characteristics. The first feature relates to bites of medium and large ruff, and the second feature refers to bites of “little things”. Despite the fact that the fish are the same, but the nature of bites is completely different. A large ruff takes the bait without hesitation, and small individuals peck as if trying the bait.

Since the mouth of the ruff is quite strong, the hook must be especially sharp.

Useful properties of ruffs

Ruff meat is not unique, and the chemical composition indicates the presence of proteins, fats, ash, minerals and water. Protein is made up of amino acids, including the essential fatty acids. The composition of ruff meat is distinguished by the presence of chlorine, a significant content of zinc, fluorine, nickel, molybdenum, B vitamins. Its calorie content is 88 kcal per 100 g of meat.

And yet, ruffs are of particular value, due to the presence of a large amount of gluten. This suggests that ruff is considered the best product for making fish soup, fish soups, jelly and aspic. Fish soup and soup are made from small, freshly caught individuals. To preserve the taste and aroma of the broth, they are dipped in cold water, while the fish is cooked for a long time so that the fish is well boiled.

Ruff is a fish that is practically waste-free, since all its parts can be used. The head and bones enhance the flavor of the fish broth, and the meat can be fried or added to aspic.

Ruffs are also suitable for dried fish. In addition, they can be pickled or canned.

It should also be noted that even with heat treatment, the fish does not lose its beneficial properties. Fish soup cooked with ruff is recommended for people who have lost a lot of vitality after a serious illness. If you regularly eat them, you can optimize carbohydrate metabolism in the body. The presence of minerals and vitamins helps to improve the activity of the cardiovascular system, the nervous system and the digestive tract, and also helps to improve the condition of bone tissue.

Ruff fishing in winter – video

Reproduction

Upon reaching 2-3 years of life, the ruff is able to reproduce. In some reservoirs, the ruff begins to lay eggs upon reaching 1 year, which is explained by warmer water and high mortality of newly born individuals. As a rule, this applies to individual reservoirs. From mid-April to June, the ruff is busy spawning. At the same time, the water temperature begins to be in the range of + 6 ° С – + 18 ° С. Caviar protects, and he lays it at depths of up to three meters.

Usually, the ruff lays 2-3 clutches of eggs, numbering from 10 to 200 thousand pieces. The size of the eggs depends on the size of the female and can be in the range of 0,34-1,3 mm. As a rule, the first clutch contains the largest caviar, and the last clutch contains the smallest. Caviar develops within 5-12 days at water temperature from +10°С to +15°С.