Catching burbot in the fall: gear and tactics

Many beginners and inexperienced fishermen are concerned about the topic of hunting fish at night using a spear and a lantern. Such fans of savage fishing should be warned that this method of fishing is condemned by the majority of fishermen. In addition, fishing in such a barbaric way is prohibited by current criminal legislation.

There is a lot of information in open sources, including on the Internet, about the prohibition of using spears while fishing. However, many fishermen continue to mistakenly believe that such fishing gear and fishing method are completely legal.

In this article we will dispel all doubts and myths. We will tell you what gear and methods are prohibited from fishing, what law regulates the prohibitions on the extraction of water resources, and what liability is provided for fishing “outside the law.”

Equipment for spear fishing

Since the fishing method is very ancient, very few things are needed for it, because primitive people could not go to the store and buy themselves various fishing equipment.
The main fishing tool is the spear itself, which resembles an ordinary kitchen fork, only significantly increased in size and, as a rule, with a large number of teeth. A spear can now be bought at any fishing store, but most fishermen continue to use a homemade tool. Moreover, to make it yourself is not at all difficult, using, for example, sharpened spokes from a motorcycle, which need to be welded to a piece of metal, then attaching a long wooden handle to it. Our ancient ancestors used an even more primitive fishing tool - a pointed stick. But today we are not talking about a spear, but about another accessory necessary for this type of fishing - a flashlight. It is clear that the lantern in the equipment of a fisherman with a spear appeared relatively recently, and in ancient times its role was played by a torch, but technological progress is inexorable and today only some extreme sports enthusiast can go fishing, even the most ancient type, with a torch. The vast majority of fishermen will still choose a much more convenient and reliable flashlight.

Yes, you may also need a boat, but this element is no longer absolutely necessary, since you can watch for fish in shallow water, moving a short distance from the shore. It is true that the efficiency of fishing without a boat will suffer quite seriously, since there are not so many large fish left in our reservoirs, and those that remain have learned to behave very carefully. By the way, it was not spear fishing that caused the catastrophic decline in the fish population, but completely different types of fishing plus ill-considered human activity. This means that today voices are often heard about the barbaric method of catching fish, as some people call spear fishing, which in their opinion should be completely prohibited.

There is no need to explain why a flashlight is needed, because only with its help can you see fish in the water at night when they are caught with a spear. In addition to darkness, there are two more necessary conditions for successful fishing - clean water and complete silence. As for dark nights and clear water, the most suitable time for spearfishing is mid-autumn to meet these two conditions. Why the autumn nights are dark is clear and without explanation, and the transparency of the water in late autumn is explained by the fact that the first frosts cause aquatic vegetation, including very small ones, to settle to the bottom, which is the cause of the so-called water bloom, and this significantly improves visibility. In such conditions, it is more difficult for fish to camouflage, and many predatory species experience a seasonal glutton just at this time and large pike, for example, do not sit out in the depths, but actively search for food, often rising to the very surface of the water or entering shallow water. This is where a not-so-pleasant surprise awaits the unwary predator, in the form of a fisherman with a spear at the ready in one hand and a lantern in the other.

Choosing a flashlight for fishing

If you can make a prison yourself, then this option will not work with a lantern and you will have to buy it, treating this issue with the utmost responsibility. After all, it is the lantern that plays, if not the first, then certainly the second most important role in fishing with a spear. More recently, many fans of such fishing used an ordinary motorcycle flashlight, which was powered from a car battery (motorcycle batteries discharge quickly). But today, finding a headlight from an old motorcycle is much more difficult than a normal flashlight, and there is no need for it. This was in Soviet times, when literally everything was in short supply, people came up with different ways to get out of this or that situation, and this applied not only to fishing. Now the situation has changed radically and buying a high-quality flashlight for fishing with a spear will not be difficult, the main thing is that it meets the following characteristics:

• Light . In order to effectively penetrate the water column, which is what is required from a spear fishing flashlight, an LED device with a yellow (warm) tint of light is best suited. It is this shade that scares the fish the least and is least reflected from small organic particles floating in the water column. Many fishermen additionally use light filters of different colors, choosing the optimal shade for themselves directly at the fishing site, but do not forget that comfortable light for a fisherman is not necessarily the same for fish and, for example, cold white light can scare away potential prey.
• Focus . The light beam must be narrow enough (up to 10 degrees) and concentrated, with minimal side illumination, in order to penetrate a thick layer of water as deeply as possible without scattering. For the same purpose, the flashlight must be powerful and bright enough. As practice shows, you should choose devices that can produce at least 800-900 lumens, otherwise you will only be able to see the surface (up to 0.5 m) layer of water, which significantly reduces the chances of successfully catching fish.
• Construction . At first glance, it may seem that a headlamp would be the best option since it allows you to free up both hands, but this is not the case. When fishing with a spear, you often have to shine light from different angles in order to better see objects found under water, which do not always turn out to be fish. Therefore, it is better to opt for a hand-held flashlight with a handle, and the spear can be successfully operated with one hand, because it weighs little.
• Tightness . There is probably no need to explain why a flashlight for spear fishing should be waterproof, this is already absolutely obvious. It is also desirable that the body of the flashlight be impact-resistant and non-slippery. It wouldn't hurt to have a safety strap or cord to protect the flashlight from a possible fall.
• Nutrition . Since fishing with a spear often lasts until the morning, you should think in advance about additional power sources for a powerful and energy-intensive flashlight. And although LEDs are much more energy efficient than the incandescent lamps used in the past, spare batteries or rechargeable batteries (depending on the type of flashlight) are never a bad idea. There are still fishermen of the old school, as they say Old School, who, out of habit, drag a car battery with them into the boat, but it can easily be replaced with a modern lithium battery, more powerful and less heavy.

Lanterns "Luch"

Having decided on the characteristics of the future purchase, it’s time to move on to choosing a manufacturer, and here the potential buyer can expect a wide range, as it may seem at first glance. But after a more detailed analysis, it becomes obvious that high-quality and reliable flashlights that meet all the parameters for spear fishing from well-known world brands are very expensive, and buying cheap Chinese fakes means deceiving yourself, since their reliability does not stand up no criticism. Therefore, the optimal choice in terms of price and quality are the Luch flashlights from the Russian manufacturer, which meet all the requirements necessary for spear fishing and are quite inexpensive in comparison with foreign analogues. Let's take a closer look at three models from the wide range of Luch flashlights, ideal for this type of fishing:

1. Beam 6003 . It is an inexpensive hand-held spotlight with a halogen lamp and a six-volt lead-acid battery capable of providing continuous operation for 5 hours. It has a plastic body and weighs less than 700 grams.
2. Beam 1100 . In addition to the 25 W halogen lamp, this powerful flashlight also has 28 LEDs on the other side of the body. The lead-acid battery provides 12-hour battery life of the device.
3. Beam 1500 . An ideal choice for spear fishing. This powerful spotlight with a comfortable handle and multi-adjustable stand is capable of delivering a bright and concentrated beam of light. The light source is a bright and powerful 25 W halogen lamp. In addition, the lantern also has additional LED lighting around the edges. The case is made of high-quality plastic and has a convenient safety strap. In addition to the regular charger, the kit also includes a car charger.

Factors influencing pike biting

At different times of the year, there are times when the activity of the toothy predator noticeably drops. Autumn is no exception. What could negatively affect her bite?

First of all, this is atmospheric pressure and the state of the moon. A sharp jump of some 5-7 mmHg. Art. weakens the reaction of peaceful and predatory fish, makes the inhabitants of reservoirs sedentary, and sometimes even puts them into a stupor. The “population” of small rivers and lakes is sicker than others. For pike, like most other fish, high activity is typical during the waning and waxing moon, but during the full and new moons it almost completely stops feeding.

Fishing is more productive in the early morning and evening hours, as well as on cloudy days. The fact is that predators do not like excessive lighting, which does not allow them to hide well in an ambush or sneak up on a school of fry unnoticed. When the sun shines too brightly, pike may postpone hunting until more favorable conditions occur. For example, wait for a light rain.

At the end of autumn, the toothy robber becomes less picky. The closer the real cold, the better her appetite. It enthusiastically attacks small fish both at great depths and in shallow coastal waters. Experienced pike fishermen say that in November the chances of catching a trophy specimen are higher than ever.

Raying sharp fish. Poaching or.

About twenty years ago, while visiting a friend in the fall in one of the remote villages of the Arkhangelsk region, I had the opportunity to attend this ceremony. Yes, that’s right, I can’t call this action in other words. During the day we spent several hours preparing smollier. This is the name given to logs cut from a trunk with a high resin content. The resinous log is lit with one match. The occupation is not easy, requiring skill and physical preparation. For several hours we searched for such pines, cut them down, and carried the sawn logs to the river, sometimes 300-500 meters away (near the river itself, all the tar was usually cut down in previous years). They were chopping and putting logs into the boat when it was already getting dark. As my friend said, we have prepared 15 goats, enough for the night. “Goat” is a metal, simple device for lighting a fire, mounted in the bow of the boat about 2 meters above the water.

Well, we drank some tea, sitting by the fire on the shore. It got dark. It's time to shine. The fire in the “goat” flared up instantly, illuminating both the banks and the river around. Let's get moving. When sitting in an “osinovka” (boat made from an aspen tree trunk), you need to keep your balance. And standing with a sharp edge peering into the clear water, I’ll tell you, is not an activity for “floaters.” A friend gave me a spear, and he stood at the other end, steering the boat with the help of a wooden pole, for which he almost silently pushed off from the rocky shore. Underwater, life went on as usual. Indescribable beauty! The most beautiful multi-colored stones and algae, small fish scurrying around... It was as if I had ended up there myself, until I was “awakened” by the cry of a friend. It turned out that he saw no worse than me and, thanks to experience, noticed something. About five meters ahead, I also noticed a burbot barely moving its tail. I looked at him and forgot about what we were going for in the boat. It was again the cry of my comrade that brought me out of my stupor. Slowly he lowered the spear into the water, and... This is fisherman's happiness - the burbot wriggled on the spear, pressed to the bottom. Only when I pulled it out of the water into the boat did I realize that there would be 3 kilograms of burbot. Meanwhile, the fire in the goat began to burn out, and we moored to the shore to add more logs. I don’t know how to convey the feeling I felt when I was shifting the burbot in the boat. Hunter, breadwinner, man. A feeling of pride mixed with the joy of success. A friend praised me and said that not every beginner can even hit a burbot with a spear.

On the second goat we switched places. I was already pushing the boat with a pole, and the “master,” as my friend liked to call himself, stood by the goat. A moment later I was watching the ducks swimming next to the boat, like seagulls behind a ship, I still thought. He looked with a smile at the grayling, hiding its head in the grass. He probably thinks he's hiding from us. And during this time, the master had already caught two pikes of 3-4 kg each, and half a meter of grayling. Once again it's time to shift the goat. Let's swim further. Ahead there is a rustling sound and the reflection of stones. Out of harm’s way, I sat down while the master guided the rapidly flying downward boat between the stones. Sitting in a boat, about 10 meters from me I saw a moose on the shore. He stood calmly and looked at us, as if he had seen this not for the first time. The rapids gradually ended, the current became calmer, and I straightened up. Pleso. The river calmed down and there was silence. And then there was a loud splash near the shore. I involuntarily shuddered. A few seconds later, I was already looking stunned at a decent animal, which, working very diligently with its paws, swam under water, parallel to the boat, literally 2-3 meters from it. Beaver, the friend shouted. He didn't seem to be looking in that direction. Yes, I’ve probably seen enough, living in such a wilderness. My knees were shaking slightly from everything that was happening. While lighting a cigarette, I noticed a slight trembling in my hands. Either from slight fear, when they rushed along the threshold, as many as firebrands from the goat fell into the river, or from the moose standing like an idol, meeting his gaze, or from the measured actions of the beaver-swimmer, but my friend noticed my state and “calmed me down.” He said that if I happen to see salmon, then my current state can be compared to the trembling of a leaf with an earthquake.

A seagull was immediately warmed on the goat, or rather on what was left of it after the threshold. Due to the weak light from the fire, you can no longer see anything three meters away. Impenetrable darkness begins. There is no moon, the sky in the evening is covered with solid autumn gray. Huge silhouettes of fir trees are visible against the background of a barely visible sky. They, like Gulliver soldiers in soldier's greatcoats, seemed to have closed around us. The feeling that you are a man, the ruler of nature, has completely disappeared. An attempt to escape from the darkness - I made a movement to add logs to the fire - ended unsuccessfully. The master muttered something, either to me or to these giants, that there was no need to burn tar to no avail - and that was good. And he actually felt good. Lying on a sweatshirt thrown on the coastal stones, slowly sipping hot tea from an enamel mug, he took a pleasure inhaling cigarette smoke and slowly blew rings, looking somewhere into the darkness. The cigarette burned out and flew into the river like a crossbow. The friend stretched and jumped to his feet. That's it, thank God, the end of the darkness, let there be light!

The goat flared up as never before. We drove slowly - the hole was 3 meters deep below us. The light barely made it to the very bottom. My pole didn’t reach the bottom, I rowed it like an oar. The thickness of the water was no longer as cheerful and eye-catching. The feeling of the abyss below us, diluted with the steely tint of the river, gave off a whiff of something eerie. The brightly burning fire only intensified the feeling of the unknown. And silence. Good tar does not crack when it burns, unlike ordinary firewood. The friend pointed with the end of the spear somewhere towards the depths of the pit. I don’t see anything, but I’m rowing in that direction. The T-shirt began to stick to my back, I remembered the master’s words about salmon, I remembered Astakhov’s story about the king fish. For some reason this made me shake a little. There was also sweat on my forehead, oh my God, I wish I could. But then the friend waved his hand and noisily began to row the spear himself. About ten minutes later the pit ended, the river became friendly and cheerful again. Small fish, rejoicing in the light, jumped out of the water, ran away to the side, returned back to the boat and ran away again. There is half a meter of water under the boat. Again the noise of the threshold was heard ahead. Now we’ll move the “goat”, and then we’ll go down the threshold. Only I thought so. No one else thought so. The master turned the front bow of the boat even further away from the nearest shore. What an eccentric. Now in low light, for sure. I don’t really remember anything else. Automatically crouching on all fours in the stern, grabbing the sides of the boat with my hands, forgetting that I was the captain, I only heard the beating of my heart, louder than the noise of the rapids passing beneath us. In complete darkness we moored to the shore. And again, everything turned out to be simple for him, as always. There is no point in changing the goat before the threshold, since the likelihood that you will lose new logs in it is too high. Like this. I feel sorry for Polenyev, but what about myself? The friend, slightly laughing at my clever reasoning, replied that he knows all the thresholds no worse than I do my two-room apartment, through which I go to the toilet at night without turning on the light.

I caught burbot in the spring

A small river flows not far from my house. Despite its modest size, it has holes and there are quite a lot of fish in the river, but they are careful here. Burbot is also found, and of quite acceptable size. In the spring I caught burbot on the sandy shore, which had already become my own. There are almost no fishermen here, much less random people. Meanwhile, bream and large roach are sometimes caught well on the feeder. In the spring I spent the night on the shore and listened to the ringing of bells. It was the burbot who took it for snacks. And the bank was small, but the density of fish was not bad. Then he came again and simply left the baited snacks for the night. True, having learned from bitter experience, he did not plant worms in this case, since they were sucked up by greedy bottom and bottom small things. On the hooks were chopped roach and sprat. Moreover, oddly enough, for some reason burbot preferred sprat to roach . How did he learn here, on the small river, the taste of this sea, and now Volga, fish? But apparently I liked the fatty fish. In the morning he came and filmed the fish. This kind of fishing, of course, is not sportive, but spring burbot is extremely tasty, and you don’t always have time for night fishing.

Fishing on a spear.

Fishing on a spear, a story about fishing on a spear at night after war times. Previously, in every fishing village there was a forge where not only household utensils were forged and horses were shoed, but also fishing forts were made; at that time they were quite expensive and the loss of one of them was an irreversible disaster for the fisherman. Fishing with a spear in the fall, when the first frosts passed, began with sharpening forged tips with a file, making a goat for tar from iron, and preparing tar from the stumps of cut down trees. Each fisherman had a pile of tar prepared for the fall for fishing with a spear. Even before dark, boatmen ascended the Kerzhenets River to the village of Pugai and, with the onset of darkness, descended downstream, illuminating the water with burning tar. Numerous driftwood (sunken trees stuck into the bottom of the river) left over from the rafting of untied timber was a convenient shelter for the fish, which did not expect a catch and felt completely safe. Forest raftsmen spent their free time fishing, including spear fishing, rafting down the river, and at night they speared unwary fish. This time, on Krasny Yar, they came across a small pike, and when they came out onto the sandbank, sastrugu, and placed another osmol in the goat, the fishermen looked attentively into the watery night distance. The botnik, cutting through the water surface, slowly swam in the light of twinkling stars and a half-full moon, illuminating the small surface of the river in front of him. Smolya mercilessly smoked their faces, the fishermen's hands were black with soot, their eyes were stung, and only their teeth remained white, sparkling in the silence of the night. Taking a closer look, we caught a barely noticeable shadow gradually increasing in size. In Anatoly’s hands flashed a forged spear with a fork blade at the other end of the wooden handle. A huge catfish imposingly surfaced for another prey, apparently this time in the form of unlucky fishermen. Obeying the hunting instinct, the spear pierced the wide back of the catfish and, breaking through the thick skin, firmly settled into the fish. Not yet realizing and not measuring his strength and the giant fish trying to stay in the boat with great efforts, suddenly a bad thought flashed through to be in cold water alone with a monster. The hands trembled and the spear slipped out of the fingers in the place with the catfish and went into the water. “Well, did you catch the Mermaid?” a malicious exclamation from his partner was heard. Anatoly was not in the mood for jokes, and it is not known what upset him more than the loss of a spear dear to his heart or the disappearance of a huge fish. Having lost the gear, the fishing ended as if by itself and the return to the working village did not take much time. In the morning, going to work on the “Watch”, extracting stumps from resin trees, putting them in stacks and loading them onto dump trucks, sending them to the village of Rustai and then by train to the city of Bor, all day long I thought about the lost prison and the big fish. The entire village of Pugai was already gossiping about the night’s adventure with a fair amount of ridicule, and after waiting for the end of the shift, he got into the boat and returned to Krasny Yar, looking through all the creeks, oxbow lakes and sastrugi. Finally, in one of them, no longer believing in luck, the blade of his spear suddenly appeared and immediately disappeared under a small wave that came from a sudden gust of wind. Swimming closer, he saw it and, reaching out his hand, tried to grab it, but at the last moment, the catfish, suddenly feeling something was wrong, sharply turned to the side and went under the water. The place was not deep and in autumn Kerzhenets with a depth of about two meters one could hope for a successful outcome. During the day the fish was quite tired, its movements were no longer so fast and only body weight was a significant argument in the expected fight. I tried again and failed again; I couldn’t pick up the spear shaft with the spatula at the end. Now emerging, then again plunging into the water like a float after a bite, it loomed before my eyes, bringing to mind bad thoughts. Finally, he contrivedly grabbed the handle and immediately almost regretted it, a sharp jerk almost turned the boat over, and only with enormous effort did he manage to hold on and not let go of his prey. This time the forces turned out to be approximately equal, preventing the catfish from going deeper and forcing it to take a breath of air. Finally, it was possible to pacify the desperate temper of the fish, tired from the fight and from the wound received by the spear. By pressing the catfish to the side of the boat and slightly tilting the side in a place with a flow of water, we managed to transfer it into the boat. The huge mouth, opening its mouth wide, greedily swallowed air, and only small eyes exhausted the pity and tenderness of the owner of the river. The way back to Pugai did not take much time; approaching the village and seeing the wary glances of his fellow villagers, he did not think about his talkative partner and the dangers that awaited him when fighting with fish. Having moored to the shore, having slung a catfish whose tail ended up on the ground on his shoulder, he walked past with a proud gait, catching surprised glances on himself, thanking fate for the returned tackle “a forged spear with a shovel.”

Pike spawning

First, let's touch on the main points regarding pike reproduction. This important period for fish should be well studied by a successful fisherman in order to clearly track periods of its activity. The pre-spawning pike zhor is quite short-lived, lasting only two to three weeks before spawning.

Pike reaches sexual maturity at 3-4 years of age. Females are usually on the fourth, males on the third. Spawning begins at water temperatures from 4 to 7 degrees. The caviar matures within 14-20 days. It depends on the weather and temperature conditions. Pike begins to spawn first of all the fish kingdom. This adjustment allows pike fry to hatch earlier than others, grow a little, and begin to hunt newly emerged fry of other fish. This has a beneficial effect on the rapid growth and development of pike juveniles.

You should know that spawning begins with small individuals, and at the end the largest “mothers” come to spawn. 3-5 smaller males gather around the females, who fertilize the eggs, thereby increasing the chances of conceiving offspring. Females are much larger than males, and most often they become the big trophies. Therefore, before I tell you how to look for and catch them correctly, I advise you to always release large specimens, especially before spawning , when they are full of eggs and should give birth.

I also note that the most reproductive ones are pike weighing from 4 to 7 kilograms. They carry eggs with a high survival rate - high quality and viable. Remember this, release the fish - don’t be greedy, then your grandchildren will enjoy the exciting moments of fighting with trophies.

Real “grandmothers”, weighing more than 10-12 kg, lose their reproductive function more and more every year, and, in the end, generally become infertile. But they always delight with their struggle and powerful resistance. It is also a good idea to let them go so that you have a chance to meet the huge trophy again. It is better to take a pair of 1.5-2 kilogram pike and eat them fresh than to ruin a 7 kg female in her prime, providing a pond with a large number of offspring. Think about it.

The bottom line: Monitor temperatures and water levels ahead of time, estimating when peak activity should occur before spawning.