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Pike is a dangerous underwater predator capable of exterminating several dozen fry in a day. Therefore, catching pike on live bait in winter is fully justified. The very name “live bait” suggests that live bait is used to catch fish.
What live bait does pike prefer in winter?
In winter, the pike behaves differently, in contrast to the days when it is warm outside. A spotted predator may not immediately swallow the bait, but keep it in its mouth for a while. As a bait for pike hunting, the fish that is found in the largest quantity in a particular reservoir and which the predator is used to eating is best suited. On the vents, for example, you can put any small fish. But the following fish are considered the best live bait for pike:
- silver bream;
- crucian carp;
- roach;
- rudd.
Having studied the contents of the stomach of an already caught fish, you can find out with almost 100% accuracy what the pike prefers at the moment, and based on this information, make the right choice of live bait.
It is impossible to say unequivocally which live bait will appeal to the pike at one time or another, since it is different for each reservoir and each has advantages and disadvantages, which are discussed below.
Rotan
Live bait for pike: rotan
Rotan is a picky fish and bites almost at any time of the year. Rotan itself is a predatory fish. In whatever reservoir it appears, this predator displaces its inhabitants and quickly becomes the “owner” of the water territory. Many fishermen have a negative attitude towards rotan precisely for this quality of it, as it scares away other fish. But at the same time, its survivability and rapid adaptation to the conditions of detention are noted.
Many anglers are interested in whether fishing for pike on live bait in winter will be successful if rotan is used as live bait. Yes, but with some reservations. Rotan as live bait is quite suitable, but it is not recommended to use it in a reservoir where it did not live, as predators are used to eating the fish that is found in their reservoir. If the pike, where winter fishing will take place, are familiar with this fish, then the catch for this live bait can be excellent. However, care must be taken to ensure that the baited rotan cannot hide under stones or in thickets, since the first thing it tries to do is just that.
Perch
Perch is considered a durable and tenacious fish, if you follow the rules when using it as bait. In order for the bait to last longer, you should not thread the line through the gills or lip of the perch. If the gills are damaged, then very soon catching pike on live bait in winter will turn into hunting for dead bait.
The striped robber has a large mouth, so the hook, threaded through the gills, falls too deep. Pike are often not detected in this state of affairs, the perch must be planted under the dorsal fin or behind the lip. Before using the “striped”, the upper spiny fin is cut off, which serves as a protection for the fish from predators. As a rule, perch is used only in the absence of white fish as bait. Its prickly body scares off the pike, so not every spotted beauty will be tempted by such a live bait.
It should be noted that the caught perches are difficult to store at home, as they quickly die out. It is better to catch perches directly on fishing before angling pike.
Gudgeon
Minnow is a small, but quite catchy bait for pike and is suitable for almost all types of predatory fish. This fish is found mainly in rivers and shallow waters. They can be caught in any weather with a net and small worms. The minnow has the ability to dive to the very bottom, which will undoubtedly attract a predator.
Minnow
This fish mainly lives in fast rivers and streams, the main condition for its habitat is clean and cool water. The minnow sits well and tightly on the hook due to its thick and sinewy skin, therefore it is considered an excellent bait for pike fishing. In winter, this fish is almost impossible to meet, as it digs into the silt or goes to the bottom. At other times, a small minnow can be found almost at the surface of the water, and a large minnow is found in the middle layers. It is difficult to keep such fish for a long time at home, as it is demanding on the purity and temperature of the water.
In winter, you can get minnow in small open streams. By the way, this fish is rarely used, only when absolutely necessary, when it is impossible to catch the live bait, and there are small flowing reservoirs nearby. The minnow is caught with a fly rod or net using special suits.
Crucian
Carp is considered the best live bait for pike and other fish for many fishermen. This fish is quite tenacious and can endure various trials before the final meeting with a predator. Especially a lot of such live bait can be caught in the autumn and stocked up for the future for the winter. Since November, large crucians are less common, but small fish are good bait for bait fishing. One of the disadvantages of such fish is that the pike refuses to peck at it if crucian carp is not the main fish in this reservoir.
They store crucian carp in winter in large barrels with a working aerator. On ice, a fish can be kept in cannes, and if the air temperature is not very low, it lives there perfectly for several days. The main thing is to occasionally change the water, adding fresh from the water area. Carp are planted both under the gills and behind the back. Due to its high mobility in the water, it perfectly attracts a predator from afar. Often, a large perch attacks crucian carp, which can be a nice bonus for ice fishing.
Roach
Roach is a rather nimble and active bait. However, its disadvantage is its extreme softness, so it can not hold well on the hook. This fish is quite demanding on habitat conditions and is sensitive to lack of oxygen.
Therefore, this bait is also preferable to catch during fishing, and not the day before. Experienced anglers prefer soft roach because of its taste and texture, which is very popular with predatory pikes. However, poor survival and rapid loss of activity are considered significant disadvantages of the bait. After each attack of a predator, the roach should be changed. If the fish remains active, but with scales knocked off, it can be sent back to the hole for the next trophy.
Rudd
Photo: tfisher.ru
This is a fairly mobile fish and it retains this mobility for quite a long time. But it is precisely this mobility that makes its prey difficult, and sometimes causes injuries to the rudd, after which it cannot serve as live bait.
However, rudd is considered a popular bait for pike anglers for the following reasons:
- Its use always brings good results due to the fact that it retains mobility on the hook for a long time.
- It is slightly harder than roach, so it holds well on the hook.
Getting rudd during the freezing period is not as easy as in summer. In the cold season, you can find a flock of a red-finned inhabitant of a reservoir in shallow bays, in thickets of reeds or channels that enter large rivers. Rudd also keeps well all winter in a barrel, so you can stock up on it in advance.
The fish remains active on the hook for a long time, so it is often used for night fishing on vents.
Bastard
Photo: morefishing.ru
Anglers rarely use this bait in the absence of other fish. The reason for this is the passivity of the live bait when hooked. These fish do not show much activity when lowered into the water, but lie on the bottom. Accordingly, this behavior in no way attracts the pike. In addition, they have a large shape and rigidity, which is inconvenient for predators to swallow. Such bait can attract extremely hungry predators in the absence of other fish.
For planting, only small scavengers are used, whose body has not yet had time to become high. Although the pike has a wide mouth, the bream is one of the most unwanted prey for it.
Guster
Photo: fishmanual.ru
Perhaps one of the best nozzles for catching spotted beauty. Despite the wide body shape, the white bream is still already a scavenger and much more active. Under water, the fish behaves cheerfully, attracting the predator with its movements. When a pike approaches, the bream becomes even more active, which provokes the “spotted” one to attack.
The live bait is planted through the gills. It is not difficult to get a bream in winter, it keeps on the current and great depth. If you feed a dozen holes, you can count on the catch of live bait. Also, small individuals enter the bays, can stand at half water or in coastal zones, where they need to be looked for. Gustera can also be stored all winter.
Bleak
Bleak is considered a universal bait for any predator. This active and nimble fish can even confuse the line with its movements. However, she is not very durable either. In addition, bleak is extremely rare in winter. It can be activated if melt water gets under the ice, and when hooked, it can not swim to the depth and stay closer to the surface of the water. Such a fish is very to the taste of pike due to its softness and nutritional value.
You can catch any kind of live bait either on your own, or you can buy the right amount of it just before fishing. Where the sale is open and how much a live bait for pike costs in your city, you can visit the fishing forum with reference to your region, or learn from experienced anglers. If you want to get the bleak yourself, then you can do it right on the fishing trip. Tiny fish stray into large flocks and stand right under the ice. It is enough to kneel down and look into the hole. If there is fish there, then a light fishing rod with a small mormyshka will help to get it onto the ice.
Ruff
Photo: forelmius.rf
Sometimes you have to use everything that comes on the hook as a bait. Not only roach and bream are found at depth, but large flocks of ruff, which has a very prickly body, also live in pits and on channel edges. With a ruff they do the same as with a perch, cutting off the sharp dorsal fin. They plant a fish by the lip or back.
It is easy to catch a ruff, but the main thing is to find it. A small fish pecks at bloodworms from the bottom or into the wiring. The bites are weak, so many unrealized nod lifts indicate the possible presence of fish near the bottom.
Amur chebachok
Photo: rybalka.online
Few anglers can recognize this fish, confusing it with roach or gudgeon. Amur chebachok is a small pest that has migrated to many ponds and lakes from abroad. A feature of the fish is the rapid resumption of the population, therefore, in the reservoirs where it is found, it can be easily caught.
As a live bait, the chebachok behaves perfectly. It is noticeable because it has a natural overflow of scales, its dimensions are ideal for hooking. You can catch a fish in shallow areas of ponds, it is perfectly stored in barrels all winter.
Artificial live bait for pike
Fishermen often argue about which method of catching pike is more effective: using live bait or artificial bait? If you do not take spinning into account, but take ice fishing on girders as a basis, then the first method is certainly the most effective.
However, the unusual appearance and behavior of artificial live bait also quite often attracts predators. This is successfully used by modern manufacturers, releasing various types of artificial bait fish that imitate live fish. And the top of engineering is robotic fish. They imitate the natural movements of living inhabitants under water, and this is what attracts a predator.
Electronic live bait Eminnow
Video review of Eminnow – an unusual self-propelled bait for predatory fish. A story about the device and the possibilities of its application.
Dead pike fishing in winter
Experienced anglers note that in many waters, large pikes often prefer dead bait, which lies motionless on the bottom, and do not chase live bait. If the water in the lake is cloudy, then the fish are mainly guided by their sense of smell, and not by sight. Pike hunting with dead bait has become the preferred choice for many anglers in recent times.
If you catch pike on large live baits, then you should hook the hooks to different parts of it, otherwise the pike can eat the bait without reaching the hook.
It should be noted that whole small fish can be used as dead bait, and it is better to divide large ones in half. This method will allow you to attract a predator faster due to the distribution of the internal substances of the dead bait. At the same time, it is better to cut the fish diagonally before putting it on the hook.
Benefits of dead fish fishing:
- one nozzle can be cut into several parts;
- it is unnecessary to bother with the storage of live bait;
- bait is always at hand;
- the ability to stock up on a nozzle in advance, having prepared all at home.
Dead fish works great in reservoirs where the food base is scarce: swampy areas without access to the river, shallow lakes, urban reservoirs. At the same time, the bait can be placed not at the bottom, but above it, so that it is more noticeable for pike.
If a pike has been caught on a dead bait more than once, then it may become suspicious and not swim up to a motionless fish. To do this, some anglers use a trick, pre-inflating the head of the fish with a syringe or putting a piece of foam into it. This will keep the head of the lure higher than the body and attract the attention of the predator.
For frozen capelin
Often, frozen capelin for pike is used instead of live bait. This bait can be prepared ahead of time. One of the disadvantages of such a bait is its immobility, to which the pike rarely reacts. Movement of frozen live bait can only be achieved by the flow of the river, which is not always the case. However, the smell and unusual taste of capelin still attracts many predators, so many anglers use this bait in the absence of live fish.
You can hook several pieces or a bunch of fish at once. The bait should be set above the bottom in areas with a reverse flow or a weak flow of water. Catching capelin in stagnant waters is difficult, because there it loses mobility, and the pike may not pick up the bait.
What size should a pike bait be?
The size of the pike that the fisherman is going to catch depends on what bait is used. Accordingly, the larger the bait, the larger the fish you can catch. But don’t overdo it. The best for pike is the size of live bait 8-10 cm, but you can use less.
It is worth remembering that perch will also attack a small roach or crucian. The striped robber may not swallow the bait, but he will constantly raise the flag of the bait. A large pike has a huge mouth, a fish of 1 kg in size is able to swallow a measured roach more than a palm, so it is better to use a larger live bait than a trifle.
For big pike
Such fish, as a rule, is found in deeper water bodies and it is better to catch it on a large live bait. Bait for large pike should be at least 10 cm long. You can use a larger fish, for example, 20-25 cm. For a predator of large trophy sizes, you need a really large live bait, for example, crucian carp or roach weighing at least 200 g. It should also be noted that it is better to catch a large predator with live baits than with artificial ones. .
A large live bait is able to raise the flag on its own, so it must be bent in such a way that the signaling device rises only with a strong blow.
What is the best live bait for pike in winter?
Many anglers believe that the best live bait for pike in winter is silver bream and roach. This is due to the fact that pike rushes at these fish especially aggressively, and on a large river they are often the only live bait fish suitable for catching a predator.
Sometimes, attacking a perch and clinging to a hook, a pike may think that these are its thorns, and this is also convenient for the fisherman. In addition, the dense scales of the perch make the pike hold it longer in their teeth without feeling a catch. These live bait are also distinguished by a special survivability at home, so they can be caught a few days before pike hunting. In winter, perch can often be found closer to the shore, and roach in shallow water, where there is a lot of vegetation.
Ideally, the best live bait for pike in winter is the one on which it is caught in a given reservoir at the right time. And which one and which is better can only be determined empirically.
Video: catching a pike on a live bait in winter, how a pike attacks a live bait.
Many are interested in the moment of pike attack on live bait. Thanks to this video, you will be able to see with your own eyes how the striped predator pecks. How a pike grabs and swallows a fish, for example, when fishing on a vent in winter. At the moment when she takes the live bait and a bite occurs.
Why do pike sometimes drop live bait in winter?
In winter, anglers may notice that pike often throw off the live bait without trying it and without getting hooked. This is due to the fact that in the cold season the amount of oxygen in water bodies decreases. Because of this, fish, including predators, become lethargic and are not very willing to take the bait, preferring a motionless or dead live bait. Therefore, having felt resistance, the pike throws the live bait, not wanting to take active actions. It can also stick on the hook and no longer approach the bait.
Another point that can repel a predator is a loud noise. It is not recommended to drill holes and walk near vents, because sound travels faster in water. If the pike is casting the bait, it is worth trying to place the hook closer to the head, since the predator swallows the fish from the head.
Conclusion
The main condition for pike hunting is a properly selected live bait and its size. Experienced anglers know that at different times of the year you can use different types of live bait for pike. Therefore, before going fishing to catch pike, it is necessary to study all the nuances and varieties of live bait in order for the catch to be worthy.