Catching carp on a float rod

Fishing with a bait is valued not for the opportunity to get a large trophy, but for accessibility, visibility and excitement. Fishing for crucian on a float rod is very accessible, the bites of this fish are spectacular, varied. Fishing of this type can bring more pleasant moments than any other. To be always with a catch, you need to do everything right and use the experience of other fishermen.

Choosing a fishing rod

For fishing, you first need the rod itself. A float rod, the most important tackle for crucian carp, can be of three types – fly, Bologna and match.

Here you should talk about the conditions in which fishing usually takes place. From a boat, crucian carp are rarely caught on a fishing rod with a float. Usually everything is done from the shore, since crucian carp rarely live in large, wide bodies of water and can be reached without getting into a boat. The second point is that fishing usually takes place either in stagnant or slow-flowing water.

The most convenient float tackle for crucian carp is a fly rod. This is an ordinary rod without a reel and rings, to which a fishing line with a float is attached to the tip. Sometimes you have to look for fish further from the shore. Match gear can help here. Rarely, when you have to catch on the current, then a lapdog will come in handy, which will help you catch with the release of the nozzle.

However, among domestic anglers, the Bolognese fishing rod is still more popular. Everything seems to be clear here – it is more universal. Some use it for long-range casting and catch like a match. Here is a comparison of flywheel and Bologna gear when fishing for crucian carp:

You can go on listing all the advantages of the fly rod over the Bolognese, but all this can take a long time. In the fast current, crucian carp is not found, so you can forget about the last advantage of the lapdog. Most anglers lean towards the lapdog for one reason – it can be used to cast farther. Is it really necessary for fishing?

Long distance fishing

At first glance, it might seem that tackle with a reel is a better fit. Indeed, sometimes this leads to success, but how far should you cast? In fact, casting more than 20 meters is already a problem with an unadapted lap dog, but there are other obstacles. The fact is that a float of the usual type, which is used both on the flywheel and on the Bologna gear, becomes difficult to distinguish even at fifteen meters under bad conditions.

Difficult conditions are:

1. Catching against the sun
2. Light waves and glare on the water
3. Capricious bites of fish
4. The sun in the eyes and a flat surface on which there are many reflections from the other side
5. Not the very good eyesight that most anglers have.

Of course, with “lead” water and a cloudy autumn sky, in the absence of wind, the float can be clearly seen, especially with a light yellow antenna. However, this happens very rarely, an ordinary float can be seen from a maximum of 10 meters. This distance can be easily “finished off” with a fly rod without a reel. It turns out that for the extra five meters of casting, you will have to pay with massive inconvenience, when the hand is constantly tired, and the eyes are in constant tension.

Fly rod fishing

Such a fishing rod for crucian makes it easy to catch the coastal zone, throw it easily very accurately into the windows among the vegetation, and catch among the grass. You can very freely play along with the bait under the float – sometimes it brings a stunning result. The length of the fly rod for crucian carp is at least 4, but not more than 6 meters, it all depends on the reservoir and specific conditions. The rod test is not too important, but it is advisable to choose a rod that is not too hard.

The fishing line is used from 0.1 to 0.15 mm, it makes sense to put a thicker one when the hook often clings to sedge, reeds, cattail. The leash is not always placed. Firstly, the thickness of the fishing line itself is already quite small, and secondly, when hooked, it is almost always possible to release the hook, and if it is deaf, then only the hook itself almost always comes off when it breaks. Fans of using such a component of tackle usually choose the minimum thickness, about 0.08 mm. The mass of crucian carp is usually no more than a kilogram, with proper dexterity, you can pull out such a fish. Again, for large carp it is better not to use a leash at all.

The float is selected according to the conditions of fishing: the lightest possible. The most universal for crucian carp will be a reverse drop. Usually they choose one that is fastened tightly at two points, which will make it possible to play along with the nozzle. A product that is attached at one point is caught only among very strong grass.

If, when pulling out, grass or a branch gets between the antenna and the fishing line, the tackle often gets stuck, losing both the fish and the float in this case is very easy. A float fixed at one point fixed at one point will not behave this way. The sliding option for crucian with such a fishing rod is used in the only case – when they throw it into a tiny window among the reeds, water lilies, where they fed the fish. So, if it is closer to the sinker, everything will fall right on target.

It is necessary to ship the float, taking into account that fishing will be carried out in a weak current or in stagnant water, as much as possible – without a reserve of buoyancy, under the very antenna. Most often, crucian take on the rise, so you can use a bream float with a “bulb” on the antenna, but this is not a very versatile option. Fishing in “strong” places forces you to make a concentrated load at one point, which will be less confused and push the tackle through the blades of grass.

The shepherd is not always used, as it can simply get stuck in the mud or get stuck in the bottom vegetation, creating additional resistance when biting and hooking.

Usually they use the simplest installation of a float-sinker-hook, it is easy to equip, quickly, without swivels and leashes. Equipment option – a sinker lying on the bottom and a drain leash above it is used for an overgrown bottom. But this is no longer float, but rather bottom fishing, in which a float signaling device is used.

The hook for catching use “carp” type with a small “claw” at the tip of the sting. Its size should be at least 5 mm wide from the point to the forearm, the mouth of the crucian carp is quite fleshy and a small hook will not hook it. The type of hook usually corresponds to the type of attachment – for a worm with a long forearm, for bread, dough, grains, semolina, bloodworms – with a short one.

Sometimes, instead of a hook, they put a small mormyshka. In this case, the load of the float will also change, the type of bite will also change. This is usually done when they play along with the tackle a little, slightly pulling the rod and knocking the mormyshka on the bottom.

Here again, the fly rod appears in all its glory – it can be cast very accurately, measuring the depth, finding a small hole or other characteristic point on the bottom with a jig.

For fishing, it is better to have two fly rods with you, which are slightly different in length, and for each – a set of rigs with at least two or three floats already loaded on the reels.

It is not known what the nature of the bite will be, whether there will be wind, whether thicker or thinner line will have to be used. You can also get both rods at once and catch two at once, using different nozzles and placing them on stands. It makes no sense to use more than three fishing rods.

Match tackle

Here it is worth using Light class match tackle, a float that is tightly attached to the line – the so-called wagler, a line of about 0.2 mm. Usually fishing takes place at a depth of no more than 2 meters with an overgrown bottom, on which it is normal not to put a sinker, therefore fishing with a shed is rarely used. The float is selected well visible. In general, the tackle is not very popular with our anglers, it is quite specific, and in the same places where crucian is caught with a match, you can catch it with a fly rod no less, but it is easier to assemble and equip it, to master it too. Therefore, it is better to leave this topic for another article.

Feeding and bait

Groundbait and bait are of decisive importance for fishing and float fishing. The crucian carp tries to make small movements around the reservoir during the day, the bait makes it stay all day in the same place. Sometimes it bites, but it stands far from the shore and is afraid to come close. The bait will allow him to make him bolder, come closer and more actively respond to the proposed sweets on the hook. This already completely eliminates the advantages of “long casting”. It often happens that a pike, which stands close to the shore, prevents crucian carp from approaching. When the bite weakens, you just need to change the place and wait until it swims away.

For bait in reservoirs where there is at least a top, it is undesirable to use dusty compositions. She will attract this fish to the bottom, which will constantly pull on the hooks and unnerve the angler with false bites. If there is only one crucian carp, then it is best to use dusty “roach” purchased compositions that are capable of attracting fish from afar with a column of dust in the water. It is best to feed in small portions and constantly.

The feeder, even if fished from a boat, is usually not used. The fact is that when delivered by a feeder, it will inevitably plunge into silt. And in places without silt, there is no point in even feeding crucian carp. Even at a short distance, it makes sense to use a slingshot, it will allow you to feed in bulk without squeezing the balls at all. Thus, bait and bait will be evenly distributed along the bottom, on top of the carpet of algae, they will be visible to the fish.

Barley porridge is a very good bait. It has a low specific gravity and does not sink into silt for a long time. Of other cereals, millet can be recommended – it also lies on the surface for a long time. It has been noticed that crucian carp go crazy because of millet – apparently, he likes its smell. And it is also cheaper than pearl barley, however, it also needs to be cooked correctly, it is optimal to mix millet with ready-made bait and feed it like that.

Nozzles

Carp is a very capricious fish, especially in the summer. Usually during the day, he often changes his preferences. Going after him, you need to have at least two different nozzles in stock – one vegetable, another animal, and preferably three or four. Once you’ve found a good spot for him to be, it makes sense to try them all and find out what he can bite on, which bait or bait will work best.

The best herbal baits are mastyrka and semolina. The best animal baits are bloodworms and worms. It is also caught on a dragonfly larva – a large one often grabs it, especially in spring. Sometimes a small top fry can serve as an animal bait. In this case, the large weight of the nozzle will affect the setting, the shipment should be smaller. In general, crucian carp is not a predator, but it happens that a large one will not refuse a wounded fish that is near the bottom. The small one is unlikely to take such a nozzle.

In addition to mastyrka and semolina, they use pearl barley, pasta with an asterisk, whole peas, fried “pancakes” from semolina, oatmeal, doused with boiling water.

Of these nozzles, peas are the rarest, but pasta, pearl barley and “pancakes” are used quite often. The simplest and most affordable nozzle is a bread crumb. It must be put on a hook, slightly plucked from the loaf and only slightly flattened so that it hangs wide in the water and attracts fish with its appearance. On rye crumb, crucian usually takes worse. The crumb eats a trifle, and this is his main problem.

Fishing tactics

The best place is a stagnant pond. Arriving at an unfamiliar body of water, they determine its type, settle in the chosen place. Crucian usually adheres to certain places at different times. Unless, of course, this is a purely crucian pond, where it fills its entire volume evenly and very densely. They try to catch, try to play along with a bait, cast at different distances from the shore, experiment with baits.

There is a good video on Mikhalych’s channel, how to catch, playing along with a nozzle, online, this is a very old way of catching carp, bream and other fish with a float in still water. Such a scheme and a little trick more than once rescued the fishermen. Then, if there are no bites for half an hour, they change the place of fishing. If there were bites, they try to attract crucian with bait. Usually it succeeds in 90% of cases.

The nature of the bottom and the correct depth measurement are very important. For fishing with playing along, the nozzle should “knock” on the bottom. For measurement, a depth gauge is used – a weight that clings to the hook. If the bottom is covered with thickets of hornwort and elodea, this can be a problem. The stems of the hornwort are located vertically in the water, the fish “curls” among them, collecting food.

But Elodea can form a continuous “fur coat”. I am glad that the latter usually grows only 1-2 meters from the shore. In places where there is a lot of bottom grass, the weight is placed far from the hook, and the latter simply hangs somewhere deeper in the algae. They also catch if the grass has filled the reservoir almost to the very surface – they lift the load almost under the float, the hook from below hangs on a free piece of fishing line about half a meter somewhere among the plants.

It is very good to catch reeds and water lilies in the windows. The crucian feels good in such places, the bait looks safe for him. It is categorically not recommended to create artificial windows, even tearing out the reeds in advance and pushing the vegetation apart – crucian carp will never fit in such places. If the shore is overgrown with shrubs, cattail, you can often find large individuals right under the stems sticking out above the water or hanging over it. It makes sense to immediately catch such zones.

How to use a fishing rod to catch crucian carp in an unfamiliar pond? The basic rule is that the more inconvenient the place, the more difficult it is to get to it. The more grass there is and the more inconvenient it is to catch, the more prey you can count on there. Well, the bait, of course, decides the success of fishing.