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Perhaps one of the biggest trophies of an ice fishing lover is bream. This species belongs to the carp family and can reach impressive sizes. Adult individuals gain weight over 3 kg during their life, however, fishermen more often find specimens from 150 to 500 g on the hook of fishermen. Over the decades of fishing practice on bream, many lures and methods of fishing from ice have been created, which continue to improve every year.
Features of the behavior of bream in cold water
With a cold snap, the fish stray into large groups and roll into wintering pits. This happens in October-November, when the water temperature drops to +10 °C. In winter, bream can be found at depths with little current. It is curious, but not every hole attracts an inhabitant of fresh water.
A promising location is determined by several factors:
- depth of the water column from 6 m;
- the presence of drops and uneven bottom;
- probable forage base;
- small current;
- featured ice fishing.
The working depth for angling a scavenger is 6-15 m. At the same time, the fish is not always at the deepest point, it can go from 15 to 9 m to feed. Feeding and rest areas are different. In winter, the bream does not stand still if it has high activity. This may explain the onset of biting after feeding, which eventually collects fish.
Any unevenness of the bottom relief and a change in the depth in the hole is noticed by the angler. Many lovers of winter recreation on the pond mark promising holes with small flags made from a match and a piece of cloth.
You can track the change in depth, the structure of the bottom or the presence of fish with the help of modern equipment – a winter echo sounder. The device works in conjunction with a phone or its own display. The sensor of the device is placed in the hole, and information about what is happening under water is displayed on the screen. High-quality echo sounders are able to capture the movement of fish, signaling them with sound and picture. With the help of a locator, you can determine not only the presence of a bream, but also the depth of its location.
Photo: dvapodvoha.ru
When the fish is at half water, it touches the line with its fins. Fishermen gave their own name to such a phenomenon: “Shake”. In fact, these are not bites, but just an accidental grazing of nylon. The echo sounder allows you to accurately determine where the fish are.
You can lower the bream into the bottom layer with the help of a feeder, open slightly above the horizon, where the flock is located.
The peak of bream activity is in the morning. Going out on the ice, you can see a lot of tents that are set up before dark. Some anglers come to the reservoir overnight, believing that trophy specimens are recalled at night. At night, roach and perch practically do not bite, so each approach to the bait is considered the prospect of meeting with bream.
The feed base of the scavenger includes:
- benthic invertebrates, including bloodworms;
- shellfish, which can be found on snags;
- insects and their larvae, cyclops, daphnia, etc.
- small crustaceans living at depth.
It is possible to check the availability of a forage base by chance. Sometimes it comes out to scoop up silt with a feeder, in which bloodworms are found. Bream in most cases raises food from the bottom, as evidenced by the structure of its mouth, so fishing methods should be focused on the feeding characteristics of a representative of the carp family.
The main methods of fishing in winter
Two fishing methods are popular among winter fishermen: stationary with a float and search with the help of a mormyshka. Sometimes bream hunters combine two types of fishing, because it is not known what the bream pecks at today.
Rod with mormyshka
The classic search tackle consists of a rod, a nod and equipment. In the role of a fishing rod, comfortable winter models with a long whip of medium hardness are selected. The whip should not tear the bait through the lip of the prey when hooking, so when choosing a rod, you need to check the flexibility of the whip.
Long tackle allows you to catch without bending over the hole. This is especially important for experienced older anglers. A constant load on the lower back can lead to poor health, and winter fishing for bream will not be a joy.
For bream fishing, a soft winter fishing line made of nylon is used. Good material stretches and has no memory. This means that the fishing line can be straightened with your own hands, stretching a little. Even the most expensive and strong fishing line shrinks over time and no longer holds knots. The characteristics of nylon change for the worse: extensibility disappears, breaking load decreases.
Photo: activefisher.net
The extensibility of nylon is especially important when catching scavengers. As you know, the fish shakes its head when playing, and nylon dampens these jerks, working as a kind of shock absorber.
As an installation, one jig or tandem is used. In the second case, the angler gets an advantage, because two baits allow you to quickly catch the water horizon. Many scavenger hunters use baits without attachments. Their essence lies in the rejection of bloodworms, which is especially important when fishing in severe frost.
Popular forms of jig for bream:
- a drop with an ear;
- faceted or rounded grain;
- large ant;
- peephole as top bait;
- maggot and banana.
The revolver can be recognized by its position in the water. As a rule, the bait is located vertically, which gives it a high amplitude of the game. It should be remembered that the revolver has no additional attracting factors, so its animation remains its most important weapon.
If fishing with a jig with a nozzle is carried out with slow movements, then the flyless, in turn, plays at a high pace.
Lure color plays an important role. For fishing bream, both metallic shades (gold, silver, copper) and models with paint are used: red, green, blue.
In recent years, a special series of non-rewinders has gained high popularity: a ball nail or a cube nail. This lure consists of two parts: a body and a metal bead. The body of the mormyshka is made of tungsten, the cube or bead is made of brass or copper. The lure during the game attracts the bream not only with animation, but also with vibration and sound. You can catch not only bream, but also any other fish on a revolver.
Especially large fish are caught on the line. Structurally, the bait consists of a body and a tee in the lower part. The devil is painted in a dark color, or it has a metallic tint.
Fishing on a float
When the fish is found with the help of a mormyshka, you should drill out the place by placing several float rods. Before fishing from ice to a float, it is imperative to lure the zone. For this, dump trucks are used at depth.
The feeder can be opened in the bottom layer or right at the bottom. It should be lowered slowly so that the device does not pour out the feed ahead of time. Having reached the bottom, the feeder should be centered, then lowered and knocked on the silt. Thus, a recess comes out where the hook with the nozzle will lie. It is useful to flatten the bottom, because this way the silt rises, attracting fish from afar, and small hooks are also eliminated: shells, snags, etc.
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For float equipment you will need:
- stationary rod with legs;
- hazel 0,12-0,14 mm;
- foam or plastic float;
- weights in the form of pellets;
- hook with a long shank.
You need to rebuild tackle at home, since doing it in the cold is problematic. The load must be selected in such a way that the signaling device sinks slowly, and does not go like a stone to the bottom. On the pits, there is often a current, the course of which can be determined by the location of the float at the edge of the hole. Some anglers also use additional nods if they have to move away from the fishing area. On the current, the bream is more active, since the constant flow of water saturates the water area with oxygen.
Usually, several gears are used, since fishing is stationary. Instead of a hook, a small pellet is also used, which allows you to transmit a bite immediately when the fish touches the mormyshka.
As a nozzle used:
- stern and nozzle bloodworm;
- small maggot pinku;
- dough, semolina talker;
- burdock larva.
When fishing outdoors, you can use clothespin hooks that perfectly hold the bloodworm without piercing it. In the tent, the air temperature is higher, so you can plant the red larva manually.
Harvester for bream
Another type of stationary fishing, which is used at great depths and currents. Combine fishing is popular on large rivers and reservoirs, where the depth can reach up to 30 m.
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The essence of fishing consists of several parts:
- Combines are located a few meters from each other.
- With the help of a powerful sinker, they allow you to catch almost anywhere.
- The principle of fishing is similar to fishing on a zherlitsa, the bite is determined by the signaling device raised up.
- Tackles are often left overnight and checked at dawn.
A harvester is an alternative to a vent with an offset to white fish. A powerful construction with a rolling signaling device consists of a rod, a spring nod, a bell and equipment. Installation, in turn, consists of a sinker and a leash with hooks. Several baits are tied to one harvester, so the tackle is considered highly effective.
Its essence is simple. The harvester is installed on the course, sticking the rod into the snow perpendicular to the ice. The bites are so strong that you have to make additional spacers for the gear so that they do not go under the ice. When fishing for bream in winter, several large fish can be caught on one tackle.
Instead of lead, they often use a large feeder feeder stuffed with bloodworms. When biting, the bream self-cuts due to the heavy sinker.
Fishing on the yoke
Another popular equipment is the rocker arm. It has been used not so long ago, however, many hunters for representatives of the carp family give it first place in the ranking of the best equipment.
Photo: rybalka2.ru
On the rocker in winter you can catch any white fish. Its effectiveness is associated with the use of two baits separated by a metal arc. Anglers noted especially high activity at this installation in winter at night. As with any stationary fishing equipment, you can use clothespin hooks.
The rocker allows you to use several types of bait at once, so you can see how the fish relates to a particular nozzle, what bites better.
For installation you will need:
- metal rocker;
- leashes with hooks 2-3 cm;
- nipple;
- float.
A sinker is located at the top of the rig. It can be changed depending on the depth and strength of the current in the fishing area. The rocker, like the harvester, allows you to catch on the current.
When fishing in strong currents, it is recommended to use a separate hole for feeding. It is placed 3-4 m above the fishing zone. The water stream carries the food downstream, creating a plume or an edible path. The bream climbs up it and stumbles upon the bait.
Tactics of searching for a scavenger with the help of a mormyshka
Looking for fish in an unfamiliar reservoir should be based on external factors. Sometimes it is possible to find the depth by the variability of the coastal relief. As a rule, at the entrance to the pit, the bank becomes steep.
Before catching bream in winter, you should prepare tackle. The search rod should lie well in the hand, not weigh down the brush. For fishing for bream, a tandem of mormyshkas is used: a small peephole is installed on top, placing it parallel to the bottom, a drop or pellet is mounted below.
The wiring should be smooth and slow, so lavsan nods are used as a signaling device. They have a length of up to 15 cm, which is enough to convey smooth swings of the rod to the mormyshka.
Start wiring should be from the bottom. By tapping a little on the ground, you can attract fish with rising clouds of turbidity. This is followed by slow wiggles with rise and stops every 5 seconds of the animation. At the highest point of the posting, it is worth making a long pause, after which return the jig to the bottom or continue the game to lower. On the “return” roach pecks more often, bream treats this method coldly.
Elements that are necessarily present in the bream wiring:
- slow rise and fall;
- pauses with a duration of 2-5 seconds;
- swaying with a nod;
- tapping on the bottom;
- short dribbling on the spot.
The more varied the wiring, the higher the chances of finding a key to a capricious fish. Every few ascents, you should change the animation, speed up or slow down the wiring of the jig. With increasing frequency, perch and ruff often come across, which indicates the absence of bream at the point.
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They also resort to fishing for mormyshka at night in a tent. During a calm period, it is useful to play along with a jig in the hope that the fish will notice it from afar.
Hole drilling methods:
- straight line;
- staggered;
- circle or crescent;
- arbitrarily, based on the bottom topography.
The search for bream is associated with the right tactics. Linear drilling is used if they want to reach the working depth. As a rule, anglers drill holes from the shore deep into the reservoir. In this way, you can track the length of the stall and the depth at each of the points. As soon as the working depth is found, they switch to searching in random order or by figures.
Wells arranged in a checkerboard pattern make it possible to calculate possible drops, snags and uneven bottom relief. This is what they do on the first ice, and in the dead of winter. In the first ice, you need to be careful, because the ice mirror freezes unevenly, especially at depth.
If the reservoir is familiar and the location of promising zones is known in advance, then it makes sense to get to one of these points and ream the ice in a circle or semicircle. This approach allows you to explore a large area (100-500 m²). Each of the holes is baited with a dump truck feeder. One portion is enough for a hole. Next, the wells are checked one by one using a mormyshka. At catchy points, marks are made with a flag or in any other way.
If there are no bites in the zone, then it makes sense to move, change tactics or use the same circular drilling in another part of the reservoir. The distance between the holes should not exceed 10 m. Thus, they are catching large bream, which must be searched for in a large area of uXNUMXbuXNUMXbthe water area.
Effective bait for bream
How to catch winter bream without bait? The answer is simple: no way. Carp species during the freeze-up period are attracted by several factors: shelters, the presence of dissolved oxygen in the water and food.
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Many anglers use homemade formulations, ignoring the development of manufacturers of fishing products. The fact is that home-made mixtures are time-tested and are in no way inferior to elite packaged formulations. High-quality factory bait is created on the basis of breadcrumbs or confectionery production waste. Experienced anglers use grits as a basis, breaking it up with breadcrumbs, cake or packaged mixtures, bringing the bait to the desired consistency.
As the basis of bream bait, use:
- steamed peas;
- corn chips;
- boiled millet;
- steamed wheat grains.
Break the porridge with a dry fraction until the mixture becomes crumbly. You can also add crushed sunflower or hemp seeds. They work as a dry attractant. Powdered milk is added to the bait for a dusting effect, as well as bloodworms or amphipods. The presence of the animal component increases the appetite of the bream.
If we take into account only store compositions, then the bait should be selected according to several principles:
- color spectrum;
- varied composition;
- fraction;
- recipe specifics.
Winter mixtures should not stand out strongly against the background of the bottom. Brown and black shades are considered the best solution for the right bait. In addition to crackers and confectionery waste, the composition includes dried microorganisms, attractants, corn or pea flour, etc.
For ice fishing, you can take bait marked “winter”, “bream” and “geyser”. The latter type has a dusting effect, this composition can be mixed with any other bait. Winter bait should not have a strong smell, it will scare off cautious, inactive bream.