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Minnow fishing
A small fish familiar to many anglers since childhood. The fish is widely distributed throughout Russia. Gudgeon sizes can reach 200 g and a length of 20 cm. Fish is a natural food for many predators, and therefore is an excellent live bait when fishing with appropriate gear. In addition, the fish is very lively and tasty, therefore it is a great pleasure when fishing. It has several subspecies, three live in Russia. Minnows were caught in the zone of river mouths, in lightly salted water.
Methods for catching minnow
Minnows are caught all year round. For fishing, traditional fishing methods are used for medium-sized fish living in rivers and lakes. For children’s fishing, it can be a simple jar filled with breadcrumbs and tied with gauze with a hole, or just a piece of gauze. For more “serious” anglers, it is used by various bottom and float gear.
Catching minnows with float tackle
Gudgeon, fish exclusively bottom. Some anglers consider it, even capricious, due to the fact that fish rarely follow a floating bait, and therefore confident bites happen when the bait is right next to the fish. When fishing on float gear, it is imperative to take into account such a moment that the nozzle should be dragged along the bottom. Most often, in rivers, minnows are caught at shallow depths, so you can fish “wandering”, stirring up the water with your feet, attracting a flock of minnows. Complex and expensive gear is not needed. A light rod, a simple float, a piece of fishing line and a set of sinkers and hooks are quite enough. In case of frequent hooks, it is possible to use a thinner leash.
Bottom line fishing
The gudgeon, along with the ruff, are the first to delight anglers with their catches after the spring ice drift. For fishing, they use ordinary hooks, donks made from “long-cast” rods, as well as “half-donks”. “Poludonka”, in fact, is an ordinary float tackle, in which the float is shifted almost to the tip of the rod, sometimes slightly increasing the weight of the sinkers. Due to the small weight of the sinker, the bait can be carried away by the current of the river, but this does not prevent the gudgeon from pecking, sometimes, near the shore.
Baits
Fish prefer animal baits. In summer, in some regions, they are caught for grain of wheat. The main bait for minnows are various earthworms. When fishing in ponds or lakes, bloodworms are used. Minnow does not react well to maggot, mugwort or ant eggs. In this case, a Shitik (caddisfly) or a butterfly with clipped wings can serve as an excellent bait.
Places of fishing and habitat
Distributed throughout most of Europe. Beyond the Urals, the distribution area is limited to the Yenisei and Amur basins. East of the Yenisei, fish is found only in the southern regions of Siberia and Transbaikalia. Bottom representative of small and large rivers. Leads a sedentary lifestyle, prone to rivers with clean and spring water. In rivers, it adheres to shallow depths, often in the coastal zone. Can live in flowing ponds and lakes. Where it also adheres to the coastal zone, in search of invertebrate larvae.
Spawning
It becomes sexually mature, reaching a size of 8 cm. Females are larger than males. Spawns in April – June. Nests are made in rocky-sandy bottom. Spawns in batches.