Catching burbot on the Oka in autumn: fishing on the bottom, feeder, bait and bait

Although burbot inhabits freshwater reservoirs, it still belongs to the cod family. This is a cold-loving representative of this family, which is not easy to catch, especially in summer, when burbot does not show much activity due to high water temperatures. This fish is best caught in early spring or late autumn. No less effective and ice fishing for burbot. It is believed that autumn is the most favorable conditions for catching this amazing fish.

Burbot fish: description

Burbot is distinguished by a spindle-shaped body, which is covered with small scales. The body tapers towards the tail, and the head is not large and flattened. The eyes of the burbot are large and protruding. The upper jaw is larger than the lower. On the lower jaw is a long mustache, which is a distinctive feature of this predator. Burbot can grow in length more than a meter, with a weight of more than 24 kilograms.

The nature of the behavior. Burbot can be found in clean reservoirs with a rocky bottom and a moderate current. It can hide in deep pits, among scatterings of stones at the bottom, in snags, as well as in the roots of trees growing near a reservoir. The fish begins to lead an active lifestyle at a water temperature not higher than +12 degrees. Already when the temperature rises to +15 degrees, burbot is looking for shelter to wait out the heat.

Burbot spawns at the peak of real cold weather (December, January). During this period, it is useless to catch him. If any individual falls on the hook, then it is rather a small, not mature specimen.

With the advent of autumn, burbot is distinguished by the appearance of an excellent appetite, therefore it behaves extremely actively. When hunting for its potential prey, the burbot does not use its eyesight. He is helped in this by an excellent sense of smell and information coming from the lateral line.

The best baits and bait

Since burbot belongs to the categories of predators, the bait and bait should consist of animal components. Therefore, to catch burbot you should use:

• Maggot.
• Motyl.
• Dung worm or creep.
• Pieces of fish.
• Live bait or frog.
• Chicken giblets.

Tackle for catching burbot in autumn

When choosing gear, it is necessary to take into account the conditions of fishing, since it is not always possible to limit yourself to a spinner or a bait. Many factors affect the outcome of fishing, so you need to take into account the nature of the bottom of the reservoir, the depth, as well as the presence of a current.

The most catchy and effective are:

• Bottom tackle.
• Lure fishing.
• Zerlica.

Bottom tackle is very popular with anglers when catching many types of fish. Each region has its own options for bottom gear. Fishing on such tackle is distinguished by a number of positive factors. For example:

• There is no need to constantly hold a fishing rod or spinning rod in your hands.
• There is no critical dependence on the wind.
• The presence of a bite indicator (bell) allows you to respond to a bite in a timely manner.
• There are no difficulties in the design of gear.

Donkey fishing

The simplest bottom tackle is a snack and it is not difficult to make it yourself. To make such tackle, you need to have a piece of fishing line, a sinker and a hook, as well as a reel for winding tackle.

The weight of the sinker depends on the strength of the current: the greater it is, the greater should be the weight of the sinker. The hook should correspond in size to the size of the caught specimens, so a medium-sized hook with a long forearm is taken. As a rule, burbot swallows the bait deeply, although its biting is not very active. It’s good if you have a tool in your arsenal that allows you to remove hooks. For high fishing efficiency, it is better to cast several donks at once, in different places.

As mentioned above, the bite of a burbot is inactive, so it is not easy to determine bites using such gear.

Catching a feeder

Feeder fishing is becoming more and more popular. This is the same bottom tackle that uses a fairly flexible and strong rod with a flexible tip, which determines bites. Such rods allow you to cast the bait along with the feeder for considerable distances.

The length and test of the rod is chosen depending on how far you want to cast. If the fishing point is located near the shore, then it is enough to have a rod up to 3 meters long. In the presence of a strong current, when the fishing point is at a considerable distance from the shore, it is necessary to choose a rod with a length of at least 3,5 meters.

Catching burbot on a spinning rod

Since it is better to catch burbot at night, it will be extremely inconvenient to work with spinning, although some anglers practice such fishing. Oscillating and rotating baubles, as well as foam rubber fish, edible silicone are used as bait.

Some anglers prefer foam fish because they can be soaked in the liquid from minced fish. They are used for catching burbot and live bait, but when fishing on a spinning rod, the fish quickly dies. It is worth looking for burbot not at depth, but in shallow water, where he sails in search of food.

Many anglers are convinced that the most effective and productive fishing for burbot occurs on a moonless but windy night with little drizzle. On other days, this predator does not show much activity.

Mugs and supplies

To use these types of gear, you need to know which routes the predator moves along. It may take more than one day, but the efforts will be rewarded with a good catch.

The tackle uses sliding sinkers, weighing from 15 grams, depending on the strength of the current. Leashes can have a length of 0,5 meters or more. A lot of fishing line for the reserve should not be wound, since the predator, having taken the prey, does not try to go far. As live bait, both live and dead fish, as well as pieces of fish, will go. Tackles are installed in the evening, with the help of a boat. It is better to check tackle in the morning, although with active biting, you can do several checks at night.

For catching burbot in winter, vents are used, which are divided into 2 categories:

• Over-ice, designed for catching predatory fish from the ice.
• Under-ice, which are used at sufficiently low temperatures when the hole quickly freezes.

Zherlitsy are also installed in the evening, and checked in the morning. As bait, you can use a bunch of worms harvested since autumn, as well as pieces of fish or meat.

The disadvantage of such fishing is that it is equated with poaching if the number of installed gear is greater than the amount specified in the legislation.

Catching burbot in spring

You need to catch burbot immediately after the ice melts, before the start of a big flood. When the flood starts, it is unlikely that you will be able to get to the traditional fishing spots. During this period, the majority of anglers sit at home and wait for the end of the flood.

Burbot lives in a certain territory and rarely changes it, therefore, in the same place, for many years, you can count on catching burbot.

Burbot is an amazing fish that spawns in the dead of winter, at low temperature water conditions. It is also surprising because it belongs to the cod family, which mainly live in the seas and oceans, in salt water. Burbot prefers fresh water bodies, with clean water and current. Burbot allows anglers not to relax in winter, as there is a chance to catch not only perch, which is the main prey of anglers in winter. It is not so easy to catch a burbot if you do not know where its parking places are and where it feeds. But in the summer it is useless to catch this predator, especially if the weather is hot. In cases of cold weather, you can expect that this fish will also fall on the hook.