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Among all the variety of winter gear, it is easy for a beginner to get lost. There are so many different ways to fish. Which one to choose for those who have never fished in the winter? What to take first and what not to buy right away?
The essence of winter fishing
Speaking about it, it is worth, first of all, to emphasize its difference from the summer one. It lies in the fact that winter is produced on a reservoir, the surface of which is covered with ice. Of course, not everywhere in the winter they catch it from the ice. For example, in the conditions of the last warm winters, it was often necessary to fish with a feeder in January, for spinning in December, since there was no ice.
Of course, these fishing methods are summer, although they are held in winter. It is also true that not always, even with winter gear, they catch it from the ice. For example, almost all of them are suitable for plumb fishing from a boat, embankment. However, for such fishing, you can find more specialized gear that will be better than winter ones.
For winter fishing, an ice drill is needed – this is what holes are drilled in the ice, from which fish are caught. In the old days, it was replaced by a pick, sometimes it is still used today. Therefore, an ice screw is the first thing that a beginner should purchase. However, even this is not always necessary. If you fish in a place where there are many other fishermen, you can fish from old holes. True, if the owner of the hole appears, you will have to move. Well, you can clean the old hole with a hatchet, a short pick can be quite easy.
A beginner should purchase a medium-sized ice drill; 100 and 130 mm drills are considered universal. Smaller “sports” will be a headache in the cold, because the hole will instantly freeze to the middle from the edges. A larger one weighs a lot and requires more effort when drilling holes.
The second necessary accessory is a scoop. Even if you do without an ice drill, it is necessary, because you constantly have to remove ice chips, clean the hole from freezing ice, falling snow. A scoop is used much more than an ice screw, so its choice should be treated carefully. On sale you can find two types of scoops: metal and plastic. It is easier to work with a metal scoop in severe frost, it allows you to scrape the edges of the hole from ice. The disadvantage is that it freezes the most, you have to constantly beat it off. A plastic scoop is relatively easy to clear of ice, but it is impossible to scrape ice with it.
Fishing with winter gear is done with a short rod, as the angler stands directly next to the hole. Usually its length does not exceed one meter. The maximum length will be when the angler is fishing standing up.
In this case, it is necessary that the tip of the rod is as close to the surface of the ice as possible. Then the fishing line is not blown by the wind, it freezes less. There are alternative methods that require a longer rod, but they are rather the exception to the rule. It is worth remembering that one of the main tasks in the selection of winter gear is to reduce the distance from the tip of the rod to the surface of the water in the hole, to reduce the length of the fishing line that is in the air.
“Winter” fish
In winter, not all fish are caught, as in summer. For example, carp and carp will bite in rare cases and not everywhere. And the bite of other fish will be worse than in summer. This is due to the fact that fish try to move less under the ice in order to spend less energy in cold water, which is not so rich in food. Only burbot is more active in winter – even spawning takes place in December-January. But he is not the main prey of the fisherman.
The main trophy in winter is perch. It is common everywhere, caught on almost everything, and for a beginner it will be the best fish on which you can hone your skills. Roach and white bream are also well caught. If the perch is a predator, and usually its biting is an exit, then cyprinids must feed continuously to maintain metabolism, and their biting is almost constant. However, large cyprinids, such as bream, carp, chub, ide, asp, do not peck in winter and are in a half-asleep state. You can catch them more often just by chance.
More difficult fishing – for a large predator. Burbot is one of them. However, it is necessary to catch it at night, in the dark. Not everyone will like to be on the ice in a strong night frost, and even under the wind in a snowstorm. Two other types of fish are pike and zander. The pike bites on baubles, balancers, but it is most effective to catch it on vents. The bait is usually roach, which is caught right there, or purchased in a live bait store. Pike perch is a rare fishing trophy. Caught on spinners and balancers. Catching it is quite difficult and requires high-quality gear, the ability to use them.
Of the other types of fish that are well caught in winter, we can mention the ruff. In some places, the ruff stands so that you can’t pierce it with your finger, all over the bottom. And the ear from it is simply amazing! True, it is not recommended to eat the fish itself – there are too many scales and bones. Rotan also bites in winter – a fish that came to us from China at the beginning of the last century. Fishing for rotan can be prey, however, with the advent of long winter nights, it falls into hibernation, and from the beginning of January it is impossible to catch it.
Fishing methods for beginners
There are many opinions about which way of winter fishing is the best. According to the author, one should start with fishing for mormyshka. This fishing is quite simple and interesting, it allows you to master both the basic technique of playing with bait and the search for fish. At the same time, in fact, the game itself does not really matter – just its presence is more important. Almost all types of fish can be caught with a mormyshka, so it is easy to adapt to changing fishing conditions. The main thing for a novice angler is not to be left without fish, and the size of the catch will gradually increase with experience. Mormyshka will be out of competition here.
The second way that a beginner should master is fishing with a balancer and a lure. Here the trophy will be predatory fish, mainly perch. However, the capture of pike, zander, burbot and other predators is not excluded.
The balancer and spinners have a higher mass of bait, so this tackle is not so sensitive to freezing of the fishing line.
Catching on a jig in severe frost and wind turns into a nightmare due to the fact that you constantly have to clear the line from icing. In addition, fishing with lure and balancer is more active. You have to constantly look for fish, drill a lot of holes and constantly be on the move.
Tackle for mormyshka fishing: what to choose?
For a beginner, it is best to use a simple rod that can be put on the ice if necessary, which will have a completely closed line. A short-length balalaika rod is best suited. In the store, you should purchase five or six different pieces in order to determine which type will be most convenient for you personally. Fortunately, they are very inexpensive. For rods, it is advisable to purchase coasters such as flyers-plates, or cut them yourself from a piece of plastic, following the model of store-bought ones. There is no need to purchase long rods – a length of 20-30 cm is more than enough.
The fishing line for mormyshka is used quite thin, 0.07-0.12 mm. This is due to the fact that when fishing, it will have the least effect on the game of the jig, even with increasing depth. Usually they catch no deeper than 3-4 meters, then special heavy mormyshkas and equipment for such fishing are already needed. A novice angler should use a line of 0.1-0.12 mm, because too thin will constantly break off in inexperienced hands. A thinner one is usually used by athletes in competitions. The length of the fishing line on the reel should be about 6 meters, no longer needed. The reel on the balalaika rod is tuned by tightening the screw. The reel should spin when the line is pulled, but not reel off without effort.
What mormyshka to use? To begin with, you should get comfortable with catching a mormyshka with a bloodworm.
Motyl is the best nozzle in winter. It forms the basis of the fish diet in most water bodies. In some reservoirs, you can find other nozzles, but first you should stock up on a bloodworm and catch on it. Moth does not tolerate freezing. To save a bloodworm, two bloodworms are needed. One serves to store a small portion for fishing and is attached to the angler’s knee or on the arm, and the second is to store the main stock and is placed in the bosom, in warmth.
For this, a small tungsten mormyshka weighing about 3 grams, with a small thin hook, is suitable. The shape of the mormyshka is not too important. It is more important to tie it to the fishing line correctly so that the tip of the hook looks up, and the mormyshka hangs on the fishing line at a slight angle. Arriving at the store, it is worth buying a dozen mormyshki, the weight, size and color of which will be slightly different.
Lavsan nod has a body, an elastic band for attaching to the rod, several rings for the passage of fishing line. The elastic band should go onto the tip of the fishing rod with little effort and hold securely. It is not necessary to glue it, since the possibility of replacing the nod is lost. The line should go through the elastic and lie on top of the nod. To do this, there is a middle hole in the elastic, but sometimes the fishing line must pass from above, and the rod is inserted into the middle one. In this case, the nod will react as sensitively as possible to the bite.
The nod is adjusted according to the weight of the mormyshka, gradually pushing it out of the elastic band. As a result, it should look like an almost regular arc, and its tip should deviate under the weight of the jig at 45 degrees. Without load, the nod should take a straight position. For all fishing rods, one mormyshka is selected, and a nod is adjusted for it. As a result, when fishing, the fisherman does not need to do it on the pond with frozen hands. That is why you need to have more than one fishing rod in stock, so that when the mormyshka breaks, you can immediately get another, already tuned, and continue to catch.
Optional Accessories
When fishing with a mormyshka, an ice screw, a scoop and a box will be mandatory accessories. On the box, the angler sits over the hole. In severe frost, more than 15-20 degrees, fishing with mormyshka is possible only in a tent due to the fact that a thin fishing line will freeze in the air, as a result, the sensitivity of the tackle and nod is lost. That is why many do not go fishing in severe frost, and in vain! Catches are no worse than in the thaw.
Tackle for fishing on a lure and a balancer
This is where you need a good grinder. Its length will greatly depend on how they will catch: sitting or standing. For standing fishing, the rod is held in the hand near the hip and looks slightly forward and down. In length, it should reach the ice or almost to the ice. Therefore, a length of 60-90 cm is needed here, depending on the height of the angler and preferences. For seated fishing, you can get by with a shorter rod, 50-60 cm. It is undesirable to fish with a shorter one, because a number of lures require a fairly amplitude strong toss, which cannot be made short.
It is advisable to purchase a pair of telescopic type rods in the store. When folded, they should fit easily into the angler’s luggage. For them, you can purchase special tubes, into which a fishing rod with a reel fits. In the tube, the fishing rod will not be damaged, and most importantly, you do not need to remove the lure or balancer from it. In the tube, the rod also fits easily into the pocket along with the bait and does not cling to the suit. This is very handy when moving from hole to hole.
If the rings have ceramic inserts, it is impossible to clear them of ice by tapping! Therefore, if there is no special winter cord, but just a fishing line, it is advisable to put simple rings without inserts.
The coil should have a simple design so that it is not afraid of falling into the water, followed by freezing in the air. The most reliable are small plastic wire reels, but some prefer winter spinners and multipliers. Too large and heavy reels should not be used in winter fishing, as this tires the angler and affects the sensitivity of the gear. The bite is usually felt in the hand, a heavy reel will greatly lubricate this sensation. It is not necessary to put a nod on a winter rod, it is easier to use the top tulip ring without a nod.
Fishing line for fishing on a lure or balancer is used 0.15-0.25 mm. When fishing for perch, a thin line is enough. When catching pike perch, a thicker one is used. It is better to use black feeder line. It is clearly visible on white snow, less likely to break it. For mormyshka, you can’t find a very thin black fishing line, but for a spinner you can choose something from thicker ones.
For pike, be sure to use a leash. You can put flurik, tungsten or wire. Fluoric and wire are durable, but affect the performance of the lure. Tungsten is flexible, but constantly twists into rings. A long leash is not needed – a length of 10 cm is enough to save the bait from breaking off with the teeth of a pike.
It is possible to attach the bait directly to the fishing line, but it is undesirable. This is done only for some types of spinners that do not have an eye, but only a hole in the body. In other cases, a small clasp is used. She is tied to a fishing line, and the bait is hooked to her. The angler has the opportunity to easily change the lure or balancer, depending on the bite.
Spinner or balancer? Lure size selection
For a beginner, it will be much easier to master a balancer than a spinner. The fact is that the spinner game is quite complicated. For many types of spinners, it is important to maintain a clear gap between tosses. Some are demanding on the amplitude – a little higher or a little lower, and the lure will already go astray. Some fish are good only in a certain range of depths. Sometimes it happens that for spinners it is very important to choose the thickness of the fishing line. The balancer is devoid of such shortcomings. He will show his game both at great depths and in shallow water, however, at depth it will be somewhat slower.
But spinners also have their advantages. It perfectly helps to provoke passive fish, to cause a bite of a perch standing under the hole, which does not want to take anything. In shallow water, almost all spinners play well – it is in such conditions that most fishermen catch. Therefore, it is advisable to catch on balancers, but also have a couple of spinners in your box just in case.
The size of the bait will depend on the type of fish that are going to be caught, on the depth at which they are caught. For any balancer or spinner, the manufacturer usually indicates the working depth. That’s where they should be used. Sometimes they also indicate the thickness of the fishing line. If perch are caught, preference should be given to the smallest spinners and balancers. At greater depths, large baits often work – sometimes the bait weighs heavier than the fish caught. However, the principle of minimalism is the most true here – the thinner the line and the smaller the bait, the more chances to catch fish.
Additional accessories for lure fishing
In addition to the ice drill and scoop, the angler will need a cutter. Quite often during the game, the bait clings to the grass, especially the balancers. They can be expensive, so it is advisable to extract them from there. Even the simplest fishing tackle is able to release the lure from the hook in 80% of cases, even if it is caught on a strong fishing net or stuck in the reinforcement of a reinforced concrete pile at the bottom.
In addition, it is advisable to have wire cutters in case the hook gets caught on the fabric of the suit. It is better to buy a new tee than to ruin an expensive fishing suit. You will also need a surgical clamp to release the hook from the fish’s mouth. And, finally, a box for spinners, balancers, spare tees, fasteners, etc. It should be comfortable, have many compartments. It is desirable that each bait lies in its cell, does not deteriorate and does not rub against others.
How to go fishing
It is best to go ice fishing near home for the first time. Then, if you freeze, there is an opportunity to easily return. Surely there are places near the house where you can often see anglers. You can always ask them for advice on how and what to bite here, to learn something. Then try to catch just like them and achieve results. It’s better than going alone somewhere far away, freezing and not catching anything.
It is better not to go fishing alone in winter. This is due to the danger of frostbite, and the danger of falling through the ice. The best thing is to listen to the advice of a more experienced comrade who has been fishing for a long time.
He will tell you the gear, and how to dress, and how best to get to the reservoir. Much better practical recommendations and experience of fishing in a particular place than theories and conjectures.
For fishing, you need to dress well, purchase special winter fishing boots and a suit. The cost of gear is usually not the most important item in the winter fishing budget – the fisherman’s equipment and clothing are his main part. You need to take food with you, a thermos with tea, a thermos with hot food and other things that will be needed.