Features of bream fishing in February

Bream is a peaceful fish. He is a benthophage, his body is adapted to eating food, which is at the bottom of the reservoir. This fish does not have a pronounced stomach, therefore, when it is active, it is forced to feed almost constantly. Bream is quite difficult to saturate for this very reason. It has a laterally flattened body, while eating food takes a vertical position.

When searching for food, it is guided mainly by smell, vision, and lateral line organs. The mass of bream, which becomes the prey of the angler, is about one kilogram, the maximum weight of this fish is about five kilograms. In winter, large breams stand on wintering pits in a state of low activity, while small ones, which have not yet reached puberty, continue to actively feed. There is a limit on the size of bream caught at 25 cm.

In February, this fish often wakes up from its winter dormancy. This is due to the fact that caviar and milk begin to ripen in the body, and the hormonal background makes you wake up from a semi-conscious state of winter. Basically, these are bream weighing up to a kilogram. Large ones, including trophy ones, do not often wake up before March and the breakup of ice.

His behavior can be very strange, peculiar. For example, in February I repeatedly caught kilogram bream on a balancer while fishing for perch. Apparently, something happens in their brain that makes them give up habits. Definitely active bream in February is more aggressive than in other months, gathering in flocks of several.

In many ways, its behavior is also associated with an increase in daylight hours, an increase in the amount of oxygen in the water due to photosynthesis processes. In sunlight, it is easier for him to find food. More often than in the middle of winter, it can be found in shallow areas. Most active breams make diurnal migrations, leaving at night to their deep wintering pits, and during the day they feed in shallow waters.

Choosing a place for catching bream in February

When fishing for bream, the choice of location is of great importance. It usually bites in areas where there is vegetation and food can be easily found. This is most often a silted bottom with algae, areas with a weak current or without it. The depth at which in February you should look for this fish during the day is up to three meters.

In a number of reservoirs, he prefers to stay at great depths. In most cases, wintering pits of bream are areas with a depth of 6 to 15 meters. There, this fish can be found in large numbers. However, he does not show serious activity there in winter, practically does not feed and does not peck. Still, active individuals of bream are more common at shallow depths.

If the daily migrations of the bream are known, in what places it goes to the night stop in the evening and how it goes to the place of the zhora during the day, you can choose this site at the right time. Usually on such “paths” the bream goes in a dense stream. It can be delayed for a while by bait and wait for a bite on the nozzle.

Baits and baits for catching bream in February

The bream can peck at both animal and plant baits. February is no exception. Here, his bites are possible on a worm, and on a bloodworm, and on a sandwich with maggot, on pasta, porridge, bread, peas and other nozzles.

From a utilitarian point of view, it is easier, of course, to handle plant attachments in winter. However, they should only be used on a familiar body of water. Plant nozzles are “capricious”. For example, fish will not take on slightly cooked pasta, but in another place they will. Animal baits are almost equally effective anywhere.

When catching bream, most anglers try to avoid biting small, weedy fish. For example, they try to cut off the bites of roach, ruff. When catching roach in February, bream, by the way, often also comes across. Therefore, the nozzle must be large enough so that the little thing cannot swallow it or pull it off the hook.

Earthworms meet this requirement best of all. They sit well on the hook, and a small roach practically does not take a whole worm. In order to prevent it from being pulled off the hook, they use a sandwich – corn, pasta is planted after the worm so that it secures it securely. However, this does not always save you from a ruff, and often this large-mouthed tomboy hangs on a hook, swallowing both a worm and corn.

Bloodworm and maggot are also used. However, a true bream catches only bream and no one else, and with such a bait this is not always possible. However, if a large flock of bream comes up, then this is almost always a guarantee that there are no more fish nearby. You can try to switch to a bloodworm or maggot. The bream still takes them a little more actively than the worm.

From vegetable nozzles, you can pay attention to pasta, mastyrka, bread, corn, oatmeal flakes. Sometimes semolina porridge is used, but only if the bream has already approached and is standing in a large flock, otherwise all of it will go to other fish. All herbal baits can be used both in current and still water.

The bream goes well enough for bait. In February, the problem is that odors don’t spread as well in cold water. Therefore, you should feed only those places where the fish has already been found in order to keep it longer. There must be a living component in the bait, because in the semi-darkness, when the smell does not spread well in the water, the bloodworm moving at the bottom will give a distinguishable bait spot, but dry daphnia, although they are also a protein supplement, are not.

Groundbait has also proven effective when fishing in wintering pits. With a large abundance of food, even half-asleep breams wake up with an appetite. They begin to approach, actively feed, and, perhaps, this is what will bring the fisherman a trophy catch.

Tackle selection

For fishing, you should choose the tackle that the angler knows best. Usually, in order to increase the likelihood of a bite, they fish from two or three holes with several fishing rods. At the same time, various nozzles, various tackles, various tactics of the game are used. The bream quite rarely takes half the water, so different types of gear are rarely used – mostly they are caught only from the bottom.

Floating rod

The most traditional tackle for bream fishing. A fishing rod is used in the form of a filly, which can be put on the ice. When fishing for bream, a tent is often used. The search for fish at this time is not always effective, but in the tent it is still warmer and more comfortable. Usually two or four fishing rods are installed through holes in the ice, not far from each other.

The float is used as a bite indicator. You can fish both in current and still water. The bream still prefers to avoid places with a strong current at this time. For the current, a rig with a sinker lying on the bottom and a side leash is used, for standing water – a classic hanging rig with a sinker above the hook. Sometimes they use a rig with a main sinker or a shed lying on the bottom.

The bite of a bream in the summer is noticed by the rise of the float and movement to the side. In winter, the float during the bite can rise if the shepherd lying on the bottom is used, then it also goes to the side. This is very clearly visible, even if the tackle is not too clearly built. Still, it is recommended to use a high-quality float setting, because in this case even a cautious bite will be noticeable.

The float rod itself is not used so often. Most often it is combined with mormyshka fishing.

Mormuscular tackle

Fishing for bream on a mormyshka is an exciting activity. Due to the fact that it is often necessary to catch in wintering pits, a large size jig is used for bream – from 5-6 grams in weight. It also requires a long reach of the hook to hook a large bait that is inaccessible for swallowing small things. The bream is much more willing to take a large mormyshka than other types of fish.

Under-ice feeder

The ice feeder is a pure perversion. It can be successfully replaced by an ordinary feeder, which delivers food to the bottom, and a float rod or jig, which is caught directly from the bait spot. Due to the sheer nature of fishing, tackle will be delivered very accurately. However, such a thing may seem interesting to fans of feeder fishing, or in some cases, when there is a high frequency of bites and a very high density of fish, they can deliver bait without losing the pace of fishing, and already get the fish back. In winter, this situation rarely happens in the bream.

Fishing for bream in February with a float rod

It will require patience, endurance, luck.

Required gear

A rod for float fishing in winter should be easy to put on the ice. The higher the depth, the higher should be its length in order to ensure a high-quality hooking. In addition to the rod, you will need a drill with a diameter of at least 130 mm and a hook. The bream, despite its wide shape, almost always crawls into such a hole. The fact is that if you pick it up with a hook and drag it through the ice, then its stomach is drawn in and it can pass. However, when trophy active bream are seen somewhere, a 150 mm drill should be used.

Of the necessary things, you should also stock up on a tent. It should be spacious so that several fishing rods can be placed under it. There is also a stove in the tent. This will save the holes from freezing, save the fisherman from colds on the ice, save bloodworms, worms and maggots from freezing.

Technique for catching bream on a winter float rod

Much depends on the luck of the angler. Having chosen a place, it is impossible to be sure that the bream will peck here if it pecked here yesterday. Of course, if this is not his wintering pit, but there he behaves capriciously, and it will be difficult to cause him to bite. Attachment is of great importance.

Despite the inefficiency of bait, which does not attract bream in winter, the bait works well for it. The bream will come day after day to the place where a plentiful table was laid for him. At the same time, in order to accustom him to the place, it may take several days of sitting and feeding the fish. Often at the same time, the food will be eaten by other fish, but you should not despair – if the place is suitable, the bream will do. Anglers usually fish in a “watch” in a tent, replacing each other so that no one takes a good place and to constantly feed the bream.

Fishing for bream in February with a mormyshka

Fishing with a mormyshka is slightly more active than with a float. However, it also depends heavily on luck.

Tackle for catching bream on mormyshka

For fishing, a large mormyshka and a fishing line of 0.12-0.15 mm are used. Such a fishing line is quite capable of withstanding even a large bream, in winter it does not resist too stubbornly. Usually they fish with one rod, which has a comfortable handle, reel and stand, about 60 cm long.

Technique for catching bream on a mormyshka

When catching, they throw up the mormyshka and pause for lowering, then they wait for a bite. The bite is immediately visible by the raised nod, it should be hooked after 2-3 seconds. When fishing here, they often use an active search for fish. However, given the not too high density of active bream, this is not very effective and, as before, success largely depends on luck.

Usually, bream fishing with a jig is not used independently, but when fishing with a float rod. Drilled in a row two to four holes. In the nearest one they catch on a mormyshka, and in the rest – on a float. Mormyshka sometimes shows simply phenomenal results on wintering bream pits. It allows you to provoke standing bream and cause bites one after another. At the same time, too active, fractional play will only scare away the fish.

Catching bream in February on a yoke

In fact, fishing with a rocker is not much different from fishing with a float rod or mormyshka.

Tackle for catching bream on a yoke

A yoke is a piece of equipment, which is a wire arch with a fishing line mount in the middle, at the ends of which there are two leashes with hooks and a nozzle. Such tackle allows you to catch on two hooks with one rod, while they are less confused than if they were simply tied to a fishing line.

Technique for catching bream on a yoke

For fishing, a fishing rod with a float or a nod of the usual type is used. It is better with a float, because the rocker itself, even when the bream touches the nozzle, does not give instant notification of a nod, like a mormyshka, but the float will show it well. For the nozzle, everything is used the same as for ordinary bream fishing.

By itself, the rocker does not provide significant advantages over fishing with a float.

Some argue that in the water it sways from side to side, attracting fish if you play it a little like a mormyshka. However, it is not. Already at a three-meter depth, the rocker will simply hang vertically on the fishing line, no matter what game the rod is given to it.