Every time you find information on the Internet about how a non-edible bait is used in feeder fishing, you are very surprised. After all, a foam ball is put on a hook in such a way that the sting of the hook is exposed, and this contradicts many years of observation of the behavior of fish during feeding.
Styrofoam and carp
If you take a crucian, then he is very careful and will not swallow anything. The crucian pecks until the hook is exposed. In this case, you need to plant a new worm or correct it in such a way that the body of the hook is hidden and the bite resumes. When a crucian feeds, it sucks everything into its mouth at once and dilutes it with water in order to divide the mud into edible and inedible components. It swallows edible particles, and inedible particles are very gently washed with water. If he feels something suspicious in his mouth, or even more so if he injects something into it, then he will immediately spit it out. In this case, self-cutting is unlikely. It can be real in the event that the fish behaves very aggressively and does not pay much attention to what it has sucked in with the next portion of food. The task of the float rod is to show the moment when the food is in the mouth of the fish, after which it is necessary to cut and only then you can hope to catch the fish.
Having received all the necessary information on the Internet about feeder fishing and having experience in fishing with a float rod, I immediately built a bottom rod using a spinning rod, especially since sometimes I used a “donka” when nothing pecked at the float rod. At the same time, the main task was to unravel the mystery of fishing for inedible baits and, in particular, for foam balls.
Having gone out on crucian carp and using a feeder in the form of a spring, the fishing turned out to be very successful, as we managed to catch large crucian carp with rather blunt hooks. In this case, rather short leashes were used.
Why do we bite fish on foam plastic?
The solution came unexpectedly when I got into a hole in which there was a lot of chebak and which my lump did not refuse. At first it was interesting to watch how half-palm chebaki were caught by the skin of the forehead, and palm-sized ones were caught by the edge of the lower lip. At first it was not clear, because in order to catch the skin of the forehead, the chebak had to make a strong blow on the hook, and the bigger chebak just took the sting of the hook in his mouth. It was very strange, since the styrofoam hook simply did not fit in their mouths. Based on this, a conclusion suggested itself, which indicated that the fish did not perceive the foam ball as food.
And then the thought came to mind that our ancestors used a similar method when they protected bee colonies from the invasion of bears, and stocked up on the campaign with bear meat. The hives were placed at a height, in the crown of dense trees, and a log was hung on a section of a straight trunk that did not have branches. When the bear climbed a tree, a log appeared in its path, which interfered with it, and it tried to push it away. In doing so, he immediately received a blow in response. The harder he pushed the log, the harder he got hit. The bear was so angry that after another strong repulsion he received the same strong blow and fell off the tree, falling on sharp stakes hammered under the tree.
That’s the whole answer, it would seem, it would not be an easy question: the fish perceives the hook with foam as an object that interferes with eating. Therefore, the fish tries to remove it by any means, but it very simply does not work out for it, and it gets hung up on the problem of removing garbage. This is especially true of larger fish, which are said to vomit and toss until they are caught on the hook. The advantage of foam plastic is that it holds the hook at a certain height, which is located just in the way of the fish to the feeder. From this we can state that in this case it is better to use short leashes and not one, then the fish will become furious from such an obstacle.
After analyzing all the information, we can come to one more conclusion: there is no point in impregnating the foam balls with “chemistry”, since the smell of the foam plastic does not scare away the fish and this is quite enough. As for the color of the foam, it can be assumed that white will be the most suitable, since a ball of this color looks like a balloon in water, although you can experiment here. But in any case, whatever color the garbage has, it will remain garbage for the fish that needs to be cleaned, and the fish will do everything possible to get rid of it.
Leave
As for the leash, it must meet certain requirements: it must break before the main line, and therefore have a smaller diameter. If we talk about color, then the leash in shape and color should resemble a blade of grass, therefore, it is better to use leashes of darker shades: black, merging from the ground or green, merging with underwater plants.
Super-sharp hooks are not required, especially since you have to pay for it. When the fish is busy cleaning the territory, it does it with special zeal and clings even to blunt hooks.
As mentioned above, the steeper the leashes, the more they will prevent the fish from reaching the food and the more violently it will attack the foam hooks. Leads up to 5 cm were used, and this gave a very good effect, allowing the fish to be spotted very quickly and at the same time not to frighten the rest of the fish.
The tackle is mounted in such a way that the fish is hooked on its own, due to the weight of the feeder. At the same time, the fish does not swallow garbage in the form of foam balls strongly into the mouth, therefore long leashes are not required, and the feeder is attached to the equipment tightly. These nuances greatly simplify the design of gear.
For these purposes, the well-known “nipple” is most suitable. Using this type of feeder, you can literally fish with bare hooks, but the foam allows you to hold the hooks exactly where you need them.
Fishing on Styrofoam — Video
Catching fish on planes. How it works.