Catching rotan in winter, choosing the best tackle, bait review

Winter fishing – This is one of the most exciting and dynamic types of recreation. She is fond of both experienced fishermen and beginners who have just begun to comprehend the technique of catching fish from the ice. Many types of fish can be caught from the ice, including rattan. Rotanov brought from the Far East aquarists. Several pieces of rotan accidentally fell into one of the reservoirs of the Moscow region, and since then this fish began to spread throughout the European part of Russia. Rotan is a predatory fish, small in size. The largest weight of individual specimens is 300g, although there is evidence that they caught rotan weighing 1kg 300g. Most likely this is an exception. They catch it in winter from the ice on a mormyshka with the addition of live bait, for example, maggot or bloodworm.

Rotan behavior in winter

During the entire winter period, the behavior of this fish changes greatly.

After the appearance of the first ice, its parking places remain the same as in the summer period. Its habitats in water bodies are coastal zones with depths up to 1 meter.

Somewhere in the middle of winter, it moves away from the coast to a depth, since in shallow water the aquatic vegetation dies off completely. During this period, he prefers depths of 1,5 meters or more. At the same time, it can be found both in areas with a flat bottom, and on rifts.

In the dead of winter, he becomes inert and cautious, like any other fish. Rotan loves to populate reservoirs with stormy aquatic vegetation, which dies off in winter and the oxygen balance is disturbed in reservoirs. Therefore, rotan endures wintering hard, like all fish.

What gear and equipment to choose for catching rotan in winter

Rotana can be caught on any tackle using any fishing rod. At this time, the bait is attacked by small specimens of it, which can be fished out with the thinnest tackle. Unlike other types of fish, which are alarmed by a thickened fishing line, rotan is not afraid of a thick fishing line and can be safely caught on a fishing line with a diameter of 0,2 mm.

Every angler knows how hard it is to work in the cold, with a very thin fishing line, and therefore the use of such a fishing line will somewhat facilitate the task of the angler. As a fishing rod, you can use a winter fishing rod of the “telephone” or “balalaika” type. The optimal diameter of the fishing line is 0,08-0,16mm. A thinner line is chosen for catching rotan in the dead of winter, and a thicker one is used for catching it on the first and last ice.

Fake lures for fishing on rotan in winter

To catch rotan in winter from ice, you can use small mormyshkas. These may be:

• Ovsinki.
• Droplets.
• Crumbs
• Devils

As practice shows, rotan prefers baits that have light colors – these are white, silver and golden. When using thin tackle, it is better to use tin or lead mormyshki, and when using thicker fishing line, it is advisable to use heavier, tungsten lures.

The size of the hook is not of fundamental importance, since the mouth of the rotan is very large, and it is able to swallow a fairly large hook. In this case, it is not advisable to put small hooks, because the rotan swallows them very deeply and it will be very difficult to pull out the hook later without a special device. Best of all, if you plan to fish for rattan, take an extractor with you to extract the hooks. Trust me it helps a lot.

Bait and bait for rotan in winter

Since rotan is a predatory fish, in order to attract it to the fishing area, it is advisable to throw a piece of meat with blood into the hole. As an additional bait, mormyshka should be planted on the hook:

• Motyl.
• Worm.
• Malka
• Maggot.
• Larvae of other insects.

As a rule, any bait of animal origin is suitable for this predator. With its help, you can feed the rotan very effectively in the winter. In winter, rotan bites very well on:

• On cubes of meat or fish.
• Trebuhu
• Chicken skin.
• For salted fat.
• Sausage.

When using such baits, they should be changed very often so that there is always a fresh smell that actively attracts the predator. If the bait stays in the water for a long time, it will get wet and become unattractive for the rotan.

How to catch rotan in winter

In order for fishing to be effective, up to 15 holes are usually drilled at once. They are located in a checkerboard pattern, at a distance of 2-3 meters from one another. As a rule, the direction of the location of the holes from the shore to the depth. They begin to catch holes that are closer to the shore, with a gradual transition to depth, while near each hole you should not linger for more than 5 minutes. If there are no bites in this area, then you need to go to the next one and drill the same number of holes. And so on until the bites begin. Rotan is a greedy, predatory fish, and if its parking lot is found, then the bite will not take long. He pecks even when the rest of the fish is silent and only very rarely, it is not known for what reasons, he does not show any activity.

The fishing technique is that the mormyshka is sharply thrown up and falls freely down. The frequency of such movements is selected experimentally. After each throw up and descent, a pause of 2-3 seconds is made, during which the rotan attacks the bait.

Rotan does this sharply and confidently, completely swallowing the bait. In this case, no cutting is required. It keeps closer to the bottom, so you should throw the bait no more than 50cm. At the same time, you should know that rotan bites very well in any weather, so you can plan fishing for rotan in any weather – fishing will take place.

In addition to fishing for mormyshka, it can also be caught with other types of tackle. This predator can be caught on small spinners, using the sheer lure technique, as well as balancers. In addition to these types of gear, it can also be caught on a float rod for winter fishing. Rotan is not too picky and any technique that is applicable to catching other types of fish can be used to catch it.

We present to your attention a video of winter fishing for rotan: