What, how to catch perch in winter: fishing technique, winter lures

Perch is a predatory fish that practically does not lose its activity even in winter. Most ice fishing enthusiasts go for perch, since it is considered the most common fish that most often gets hooked. As a rule, any angler is satisfied if he returns home with a catch. Moreover, they rejoice even at small perch, from which sometimes there is no end. After all, the main condition for successful fishing is a regular bite, which cheers you up.

To catch even a small perch in winter, certain knowledge and skills are required, since you need to choose the right place for fishing, decide on a catchy bait, and also have sensitive gear.

Winter lures and the subtleties of catching mormyshka

It is permissible to catch perch in winter with various baits. These include:

• Mormyshka, which represents an artificial bait of a small size. The material for the manufacture of such a bait can be lead, tungsten or tin. Mormyshka can have any shape, with a hook soldered into it. To date, several of the most common models of mormyshkas are known.
• baubles for vertical glare. This is an artificial bait made of copper, brass or other metal. It is distinguished by a body of a narrow purlin shape, equipped with a single, double or triple hook.
• It balances. This is also an artificial bait, cast from lead or tin, shaped like a small fish of the appropriate coloring. The balancer is equipped with a triple hook attached to the bottom of the lure and one single hook each located in front and behind the balancer.
• “Baldu”. This is an artificial bait of a special shape in the form of a cone, in the upper part of which there is a hole through which the bait is attached to the main line. In the same place, 2 hooks are fixed, which look in different directions. For greater attractiveness, multi-colored cambric or beads are placed on the hooks.
• Silicone bait. Twisters and vibrotails 3-5 centimeters in size with jig heads, weighing from 4 to 8 grams are usually used.

Mormyshka is considered one of the most common, as perch is caught on it all winter. The technique of fishing for mormyshka is not particularly difficult, but has its own characteristics. As a rule, everyone, even a novice angler, knows the technique of catching perch with a mormyshka.

Unfortunately, without basic skills in using mormyshka, one should not count on a significant catch. Therefore, before counting on the catch, you will have to master the technique of wiring the mormyshka.

The game of mormyshka is connected with the correct and measured actions of the angler. For example:

• First, you need to find a place and drill a hole or several holes, and only after that they start fishing. Start with the hole that was drilled first. After that, they take out the fishing rod and unwind it, and then lower the mormyshka into the hole and wait until it lies on the bottom.
• Before the start of the game, the bait is raised from the bottom by 5-7 centimeters and lowered so that it seems to hit the bottom. They do this several times. As a result of such actions, a cloud of turbidity will appear at the bottom, which will surely attract perch.
• After “knocking” on the bottom, they begin to start wiring the bait. To do this, it is raised from the bottom in steps of 20-25 centimeters, each time making a pause. Raise the mormyshka to a height of 1 to 1,5 meters. In the process of lifting, the mormyshka is revived by various movements of the fishing rod. These can be either short high-frequency twitches or low-frequency sweeping movements.
• Having raised the jig with steps to the desired height, it can be lowered by any means: it can itself, under its own weight, sink to the bottom, making certain movements, or it can be slowly lowered to the bottom, with some degree of animation.

Searching for perch in winter

As a rule, small perch prefer to stay in packs, with the exception of large individuals, which prefer a solitary lifestyle. At the same time, flocks of perches actively migrate across the reservoir in search of food. Therefore, their location in winter depends on many factors, such as the presence of a current, weather conditions, etc. Concerning:

• With the appearance of the first ice, the perch is still in its “habitable” places, located within the sandy beaches not far from the coast. It feeds at depths of no more than 2 meters in areas where aquatic vegetation is still preserved. Larger perch prefer deeper areas where trees are flooded, which provide excellent hiding places.
• In the dead of winter it is difficult to find perch close to the shore. Unless during periods of prolonged warming, it rises from the depths to visit shallow water. And so, here, basically, there is a grass perch, which does not need special wintering conditions. The medium-sized perch and the large one go to the depth, where they will be there until the very spring.
• With the advent of spring, when melted streams begin to bring food and oxygen to the reservoirs, the perch comes to life and begins to feed actively. He leaves his former winter shelters and goes to the places where streams and streams flow in order to find food for himself.

First ice: search for catchy places

Fishing in winter is an active search for fish and perch is no exception. Therefore, fishing comes down to drilling as many holes as possible in a promising place. With the advent of the first ice, the striped predator is still on the shallows, therefore:

• The distance between the holes should be about 3 meters, when fishing with a jig.
• It is advisable, after the next hole is drilled, to measure the depth in order to determine the bottom topography.
• It is advisable to find a dump in a hole or just a drop in depths. After that, they begin to hit the holes further, parallel to the first row, heading in the opposite direction. If the first holes were drilled in the direction from the coast and to the depth, then the second row is drilled in the opposite direction, etc.
• They begin to fish from the first drilled hole, located in shallow water. If the weather is sunny, then the crumbs from the hole should not be removed, you just need to make a small hole so that the mormyshka can pass into it.
• You should not stop for a long time on one hole, it is enough to make 5-7 lifts of the mormyshka.
• If during this time there were no bites, then you can safely move on to the next hole.
• If a perch pecked in any hole, then this place is fished from all sides and, if necessary, additional holes are drilled around this hole.
• The holes where active biting was noted are remembered. There is a high probability that a flock of perch will come here again.

Bait for catching perch in winter

When fishing for perch, they rarely use bait. If this is very important for roach fishing, then it is not important for perch fishing. Still, there are times when the use of groundbait gives good results, especially in conditions when the perch, for a number of reasons, refuses to attack the bait. According to experienced fishermen, today even perch cannot be caught without bait.

Cooking bait for perch is a responsible and painstaking task. The main thing is to choose the right proportions of all ingredients, although their quantity is always limited. For the preparation of bait for perch, use:

• An ordinary earthworm, which will have to be prepared in the fall. To keep the worms, they are kept in a cool place in a container with moist soil. Before use, the worms are finely chopped and mixed with breadcrumbs.
• Small bloodworms, which are not used when fishing, are also mixed with breadcrumbs. Before mixing, it is rubbed with fingers so that its aroma can be felt.

• Fresh pig blood is also used. It is combined with the crumb of bread and kneaded to a thick pasty state. For ease of use, the mixture is wrapped in cellophane, forming small sausages from it. Bait in the cold hardens quickly, and pieces are easily broken off from the sausages, which are thrown into the holes.

Winter lures for perch

For catching perch in winter, anglers use a wide range of artificial lures. The most commonly used baits are:

• Mormyshkas, both nozzled and non-attached. The advantage of mormyshkas is that they can be used all winter. More versatile products include small and medium-sized non-bait baits that require an appropriate game to interest the predator.
• Ice fishing lures work well for catching both medium and large perch throughout the winter.
• Balancers, which should be attributed to a certain type of artificial bait. All balancers in shape and appearance resemble a small fish. The bait is quite catchy, thanks to the features of the game. The coloring of the balancer can be very diverse.
• Artificial bait “balda” is distinguished by its simplicity. Despite this, it also has an enviable catchiness. Due to the specifics of fishing on the bulldozer, this lure attracts the striped robber as well as other, more “perfect” models.

• Silicone baits, especially recently, have begun to actively replace traditional ones, such as mormyshkas, spinners, etc. These lures serve as an excellent alternative to the lures already known and used by anglers for a long time. Both twisters and vibrotails can replace both balancers and spinners. In addition, they are not expensive and affordable for any category of anglers. In addition, they play more naturally in the water column.

What and how to catch perch in winter?

As mentioned above, perch fishing in winter is carried out on mormyshkas, spinners, balancers, on the “bastard” and on silicones. For example:

• Mormyshkas are baits that require their active play. Therefore, the angler must try to make the lure move accordingly, climbing step by step. There should be a pause after each step.
• Spinners and balancers are distinguished by a different, very peculiar game, carried out by short lifts of them with the tip of the rod. Being in free fall, they are able to interest the perch with their play.
• “Balda” is a simple but effective bait that resembles a cone in shape, in the upper part of which the bait is attached to the fishing line. The principle of fishing is constant tapping on the bottom, followed by raising the turbidity.

Winter baits for perch fishing

Perch, as you know, is a predatory fish, so you should use baits of animal origin to catch it. For perch fishing in winter, you can use:

• Bloodworm, which is at this time one of the most versatile perch lures. It can be used at any time.
• Burdock fly larva. Perch will also be actively caught on this bait.
• Dung worm. The only problem is that this type of bait is difficult to get in winter, otherwise you can count on frequent and effective bites. Many fishermen harvest dung worm from the fall, providing suitable conditions for its storage.
• Live bait, but first you need to catch a small fish. A fairly large perch can bite on a live bait.

Mormyshka perch

When choosing jigs for perch fishing, you should be guided by some factors. For example:

• The presence of the current and the depth of fishing. If the fishing depth is not large, then it is better to take lures no larger than 2 mm, and in areas with depths up to 4 meters, as well as in the presence of a strong current, heavier and larger mormyshkas, up to 4 in size mm.

• Illumination level. If the ice is thin and it is clear outside, then the level of illumination allows the use of small dark-colored mormyshkas, which are clearly visible to perch in such conditions. When the ice is thick and it is cloudy outside, it is better to give preference to baits that have bright colors.
• Under the conditions of the first and last ice, the perch actively bites both on small and larger mormyshkas. In the dead of winter, small, non-attached mormyshkas are better suited.

The tactics of catching perch in the winter on a mormyshka

Effective fishing, at any time of the year, including in winter, depends on several factors, such as:

• Searching for a promising place, which boils down to drilling a large number of holes, with the determination of depths, which will give a complete picture of the bottom topography.
• If the reservoir is known, then the task can be greatly simplified, and if it is unfamiliar, then it can take a lot of precious time to find the fish site.
• After that, the fishing of the drilled holes begins with various baits and various posting techniques.
• Fishing can be more productive if each hole is baited. Moreover, you do not need to use a lot of food. It is enough to fill each hole with a pinch of bait. After the bite begins, the amount of bait can be increased.

Spinners for perch

There are a lot of such artificial lures, like spinners, for catching perch, but among them there are quite catchy ones. However, they differ in both shape and size.

• The size. For catching perch in winter, spinners with a length of 2 to 7 cm are mainly used. As a rule, smaller baits are used to catch small perch, and larger lures are used to catch larger specimens. Naturally, larger lures are suitable for fishing in the current or at depth.
• Color. Lighter baits perform well in conditions where there is no sun or in muddy water conditions. And darker baits should be used on clear sunny days, in clear water conditions.
• Form. Spinners with a wide petal are more catchy in conditions when the perch is active, especially on the first and last ice. Spinners with a narrow petal are designed to activate the passive perch in the dead of winter.

Among the huge variety of winter spinners for perch fishing, the following models should be noted:

• “Carnation”.
• “Trehgranka”.
• “Tetrahedral”.
• “Dovetail”.

Balancers for perch

When and how to use the weight and size of balancers:

• For catching perch of a small size, narrow balancers will fit, weighing from 3 to 5 grams and up to 4 centimeters long.
• For catching large perch, models are used, weighing up to 7 grams and up to 6 centimeters long.
• When fishing on the current, baits are used, weighing at least 10 grams and up to 9 centimeters long.

Coloring

Balancers for perch are distinguished by two main colors:

• Natural, which match the colors of small fish such as bleak, perch, roach or perch. Such colorings are considered very catchy throughout the winter.
• Unnatural, bright colors that also actively catch perch at depths of up to 10 meters, or even more.

The periods of the most productive perch fishing in winter

Perch fishing in winter is characterized by the inconsistency of its biting throughout the winter period. For example:

• first ice. It is characterized by strong activity of biting perch. This period lasts for two weeks after the reservoirs are covered with a stable layer of ice, 8 to 10 centimeters thick. If the winter is not cold, then this period can last all 3 weeks, and if it is too cold, then this period naturally shortens.
• Wilderness. During this period, the ice is quite thick, and algae begin to rot in the water column, which leads to a lack of oxygen. During this period, the perch does not behave as actively as on the first ice. In the dead of winter, non-attached small mormyshkas work well. It should be remembered that the perch is mainly at depth.
• Last ice. This period is characterized by the fact that oxygen begins to enter the water through gullies, which are formed in areas with great depth, where the ice thickness was less. During this period, a hungry perch begins to peck at any bait.

Features of fishing during these periods

For each period, it is important to choose equipment and decide on the tactics of fishing. For example:

• In the conditions of first ice, when the perch has not yet left the coastal zone, spinners and balancers are used to catch it.
• In the dead of winter, the perch has already moved to the depths and from there it can be reached with mormyshkas without attachments, as well as spinners for vertical lure.
• In the conditions of the last ice, the perch begins to return to the coastline, and is also found in the mouths of rivers and small streams. During this period, it is caught on any kind of bait, including jig.

Perch fishing in the first ice

During this period, the following baits will be the most successful:

• Balancer.
• Sheer baubles.
• Balda.
• Mormyshka.

As a rule, small perch are caught on mormyshkas, and larger individuals come across other types of baits. The same rule can be applied to perch fishing on the last ice.

Perch fishing in the wilderness

Catching perch in the dead of winter, when there are severe frosts, piercing winds and heavy snowfalls, this is the lot of the most real avid fans of winter fishing. Not only is it cold outside, the fish still needs to be found, but in order to find it, you need to drill more than a dozen holes. Well, if there is an echo sounder and with its help you can quickly find a deep place. The task is also simplified if fishing is carried out on a familiar reservoir, where all depths are known. Since the fish during this period is not active, the movements of the bait should be smooth.

If the bite is sluggish, not active, then you can resort to feeding the holes, and several bloodworms are mounted on the mormyshka hook.

In conclusion

Winter fishing for perch is a very exciting activity. Since perch is the most common fish in our reservoirs, catching it always leaves behind a lot of positive emotions. As a rule, all trips for perch are not idle, although in most cases small perch predominate, which is not so easy to clean. Despite this, housewives easily cope with this task.