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Many argue that catching carp in winter is a hopeless business, the same as catching carp or carp in winter. In fact, it is not. It all depends on the nature of the reservoir and other conditions. It is not always that crucian carp burrow into the silt to survive the winter cold.
As a rule, crucian carp cannot relax on those reservoirs where there is a predator that constantly pursues it. In this case, crucian carp is in constant tension.
Catching time
Best of all, crucian carp is caught on the first ice. As the real cold weather approaches, the activity of crucian carp also decreases. Moreover, it retains such activity until the onset of spring. Although in some reservoirs crucian shows optimal activity throughout the winter. The peak of activity during the day can be different for different water bodies. As a rule, fishermen determine this experimentally.
Usually, the crucian begins to peck from 7 o’clock in the morning until lunchtime. Then the fish goes to dinner and does not show any activity, somewhere until 4-5 pm. Biting activity may depend on weather conditions. In cloudy weather or during periods of thaw, crucian peck much more actively.
Ice fishing requires special security measures, and lovers of winter fishing for crucian carp and other fish should always remember this. You should go out on the ice when it gets stronger and reaches a certain thickness.
Bait
The most catchy bait for catching carp in winter is a bloodworm, but this does not mean that it will not peck at other baits. In winter, crucian carp will certainly peck at such baits:
- on a bloodworm;
- on a worm;
- on maggot;
- of dough.
Usually crucian is caught on a mormyshka, with a bloodworm impaled on its hook. There are times when crucian refuses to peck at all. At such moments, anglers begin to puzzle over this problem. Why this happens, no one knows, so anglers begin to change mormyshki, baits, as well as posting methods.
Mormyshka on a crucian carp
Equally important is the choice of mormyshka. This can be done after a few casts. Moreover, the color and shape of the mormyshka may be different, depending on the nature of the reservoir. If in one pond a crucian pecks at a black mormyshka, then on another it may be a completely different color, or the crucian refuses to peck at all.
Winter fishing for crucian carp is a lottery, because it is very rare to find the key to this fish. The same can be said about other types of fish.
Crucian is caught on a playing mormyshka and a standing mormyshka. If the crucian activity is high, then you can try to catch it on a standing jig, without spending much strength and energy. With a long absence of bites, you can occasionally twitch the rod to briefly animate the mormyshka.
If the crucian is lethargic, which may be due to weather conditions, then you can try to stir it up by playing with a jigsaw. As a rule, use light twitches with a rod, with an amplitude of about 5 cm. If such a technique could not stir up the crucian, then you can resort to the following method. He imitates worms swarming in the mud. To do this, you need to lower the bait to the bottom and knock on it with a mormyshka. This contributes to the raising of a cloud of turbidity, which will certainly interest the crucian.
At the same time, one should not forget that crucian carp can be at any height from the bottom. This means that we should not forget about this and fish for other horizons. To do this, you need to raise the mormyshka to a height of up to 100 cm above the bottom, in steps of 20 cm. It is easier to see the mormyshka against the background of ice than against the background of the bottom.
Catching a crucian is not as easy as it seems. Only the ubiquitous perch is easily caught, which is the main object of fishing for many lovers of winter fishing.
Choosing the shape of a mormyshka for crucian carp
Depending on the conditions of fishing, various forms of mormyshka can be used. As a rule, among the huge variety of forms, there are the most catchy ones. They are used by most anglers for many seasons. Unfortunately, even the most famous manufacturers could not come up with more catchy forms during this time. The only thing they do is change the names of the same catchy baits. Most experienced anglers will be able to determine, regardless of the name, what kind of mormyshka it is and what it was called in the past. Sellers of outlets also have similar knowledge. They are able to tell which of the jig is more catchy, no matter what its manufacturer. It makes sense to note 6 main types of jig that actively catch carp:
- a particle;
- ant;
- disk;
- klopik;
- drop;
- howler
But this does not mean at all that crucian carp will not be caught on other types of jig. In this case, there is a huge field for experiments. Especially, it is actual in conditions when fish becomes less and less. Not only that, the fish are becoming more and more careful. It is possible that in the near future it will be possible to see new, more catchy forms of jig.
Mormyshka color
Most anglers pay attention to the fact that the color of the mormyshka affects the bite of crucian carp: the color of the mormyshka can worsen or improve the bite of the fish. If the color of the mormyshka corresponds to the conditions of fishing, then this can stir up any crucian. Naturally, there is no universal color and the color of the mormyshka will have to be selected through trial and error. Most anglers claim that crucian carp still have their favorite colors. Moreover, a similar approach of crucian carp is relevant for most reservoirs.
As a rule, they start fishing with a silver-colored mormyshka. In case of a negative result, they switch to other colors, for example, copper or brass. If the crucian refuses bright colors, they move on to dark-colored mormyshkas, such as black, brown, gray, etc.
Moreover, they always start the fishing process with light-colored jigs, since crucian carp react to them much more often than to dark-colored jigs. Here, weather conditions have a huge influence, which can change at any time, which will make the crucian change his mind. He can just as quickly abandon bright mormyshkas in favor of dark ones.
Brightly colored, having several colors, mormyshkas will also not leave indifferent crucian carp. Although this principle does not apply to all water bodies. There are only a few, where crucian carp ignores monochromatic baits, preferring multi-colored mormyshkas. Although it is not uncommon for cases when crucian carp refused silver or copper mormyshkas in favor of brightly colored ones.
It follows from this that when going on winter fishing with the hope of catching crucian carp, you must have a complete set of both traditional and exotic mormyshkas. No one ever knows what shape of mormyshka and what color crucian is going to catch. Moreover, it is not so easy to catch crucian carp in winter and it is not caught everywhere.
Where to catch carp in winter
Not every body of water has conditions conducive to the winter activity of crucian carp. As a rule, in most of the reservoirs crucian hibernates and does not show any signs until spring. Such reservoirs include not large stakes or ponds, with a muddy bottom and not great depth.
As for the large stakes formed by the dam and having a significant depth, here crucian carp can be active throughout the winter. And if there is a solid bottom in the reservoir, then the conditions for hibernation of the crucian simply do not exist, and he is forced to eat all year round.
If pike is also found in the reservoir, then this is another factor that seriously affects the activity of the fish. The crucian must constantly be in suspense, waiting for the attack of a predator. In addition, he needs to constantly eat in order to have the strength and energy to avoid constant attacks.
If most fish prefer to go to the depth, then the crucian remains on the shallows, where it can find food and hide from a predator in snags or thickets of old grass, reeds or reeds. But this applies to small individuals, but large individuals leave, with the advent of cold weather to a depth where they burrow into the silt and are in a state of suspended animation until the arrival of spring. Therefore, in winter, it is unlikely that you will be able to catch a large painting.
To catch crucian carp in winter, you need to work hard. To do this, you will have to drill a lot of holes and spend at least 20 minutes fishing each hole. If, when catching a perch, 5 minutes is enough to determine whether there is a perch nearby, then the crucian does not immediately rush to the bait. Therefore, you will have to show maximum patience and perseverance. Here you have to choose what is more important, perch or crucian.
To catch a crucian, you will have to demonstrate all your knowledge and apply all your experience. You need to be prepared for the fact that you will often have to change mormyshkas and experiment with wiring.
You need to be prepared for the fact that you will have to spend a lot of effort and energy before you can catch crucian carp in the winter, especially since all baits are attractive not only for crucian carp. There will be no problems if crucian prevails in the reservoir. In this case, you can be sure to count on the catch of crucian carp.
Video “Catching carp from the ice”
Rybak Rybak 534 “Catching carp from the ice.”