Jigs
The most effective winter lures for perch are all kinds of jig variations. This is the simplest and most versatile bait option, suitable for use in almost any body of water with all kinds of fishing techniques.
A jig is a metal bait equipped with a single, double or triple hook.
It can be used to catch any peaceful fish as well as many varieties of predatory fish. Let's look at the best winter jig lures, which are the most popular.
Subtleties of fishing in winter
For many years, fishermen have been using summer lures and some of its varieties for winter fishing. Depending on the period, fishing may differ in its characteristics.
- If we are talking about catching pike on the first ice, then it is advisable to use light spoons. This type of spoon is especially effective when fishing at shallow depths. If you sharply lift the spoon to the surface, it will glide slowly. Acoustic models also perform well and are capable of creating a characteristic sound. In shallow water, the lure is cast at different horizons.
- In the dead of winter you have to use heavy spoons, including balancers and rattlins. Triangular models also perform well, including the popular spinnerbait with a length of 90 millimeters and a width of 30 millimeters. Sometimes a model with a shifted center of gravity works effectively, allowing the bait to perform interesting maneuvers and a beautiful game.
Pellet
The simplest version of the jig. You can easily make such winter baits with your own hands. The pellet is a small lead ball equipped with a single hook.
The optimal solution for catching crucian carp, roach and other peaceful fish. But, for perch it is not the best choice, although the predator also goes for it.
Fishing for pike in February
By the end of winter, mid-February, early March, the activity of the predator noticeably begins to gain momentum. And you can catch it almost anywhere in the reservoir, both at depth and in the shallows.
It has been noticed that towards the end of winter it is better to take smaller spoons and baits, since the pike does not take larger pieces of food and therefore will not swallow them. Due to the rapid development of eggs and milt, the digestive tract has become narrower and therefore preference is given to small fish.
Ant
It has a somewhat complicated configuration. Made in the shape of an ant. The design has a clear division into the head and belly.
Equipped with plumage or complemented with beads to more effectively attract fish. Well suited for catching roach and perch.
Uralka
The jig has an unconventional shape, made in the form of a long curved droplet.
The shape almost perfectly replicates jigsaw, which is one of the best natural foods for many species of fish. A good option for catching roach and perch.
Lentils
It has the shape of a round grain. The protruding side is directed downwards.
When fixed on the equipment, as a rule, it is located at an angle, due to which it oscillates attractively in the water, luring fish. This bait for winter fishing works well on bream.
Devil
One of the best types of jigs for equipment without the use of bloodworms. It has an attractive game that effectively attracts roach and perch.
Bream usually also go well with this bait. The shape is an inverted droplet, the sharp end of which is equipped with a double or triple hook.
Spinning or fly fishing?
Among the fishing community, there are individuals who do not recognize any method of fishing other than fly fishing. On cold winter days they tie flies in preparation for the coming season. And instead of enjoying fishing, they watch films about other people’s fishing and dream, dream, dream that someday in the summer they will find themselves on the bank of a completely wild river and will catch unafraid fish on every cast. Others also tie flies in winter, but don’t forget about spinning rods. My choice - spinning or fly fishing - depends primarily on the weather. If suddenly there is a thaw in the middle of winter, then I will not miss the opportunity to fly fish, but if it’s 20 degrees below zero outside, it’s better to give it up. But even in the most severe frosts, when my clothes are instantly covered with frost and an icicle hangs from the tip of my nose, I will still fish with a spinning rod.
Perch balancers
They are distinguished by relatively compact sizes - length no more than 5 cm. They attract attention with rich, bright colors. Special plates - wings - are installed on the sides of the balancers.
This ensures an imitation of a fish tail. Thanks to this configuration, the balancer seems to “float” in the water, attracting a predator.
Pike fishing in January
In January, you can’t expect much activity as the oxygen level decreases, the water level drops, and reserves begin to deplete. Therefore, the predator descends deeper and deeper and there is no one in the places where you caught it at the beginning of winter. But this does not mean that activity has fallen below the plinth. Toothy is still active, but the activity is too sluggish. At this time of year, experienced pike fishermen remove metal leashes from their gear and replace them with braided ones. Yes, there will be more gatherings, but there will also be more bites. Therefore, by February, activity will increase significantly.
Pike is so unpredictable that sometimes even on an ideal day for it you won’t take anything, and in bad weather conditions you can fish to your heart’s content.
At this time of year, if you get a good thaw, you can catch a decent amount of trophies. On warm days, a good bite is explained by the fact that melt water brings oxygen with it. And the pike rises to the surface to satiate its hungry body.
Balancers for pike and zander
They have an increased size. Also considered a good choice for catching large specimens of perch. They are produced in different colors, including those that imitate the natural colors of fish.
There are pointed hooks at the front and back of the bait. In the lower part, as a rule, a rather massive tee is installed.
Note!
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Bait models for deep-sea fishing (more than 10 m) often additionally have a fluorescent color, due to which they glow in the water, attracting fish more effectively.
Balancers from well-known brands (Rapala, Lucky John and the like) are marked according to the permissible fishing depth parameter. It is recommended to follow these manufacturer's recommendations, since baits work most effectively at these depths.
You should first check the depth in a specific place using an echo sounder or other device. Based on a certain depth, it is worth choosing the optimal balancer model.
First ice or pike fishing in December
At the beginning of winter and late autumn there is a chance to get to the end of the autumn zhora. After the formation of the first ice, activity will decrease for some time and then rise again, but not as well as in open water. This is due to the fact that after the ice crust forms, the predator needs some time to adapt to new living conditions.
Fishing for pike on the first ice can be quite successful, since the predator will try to make as many reserves as possible for the winter. But you need to remember that it is during this period that she is very timid and almost anything can scare her, from the noise of footsteps to the flickering of a flashlight. Try to make less noise and move quietly. It’s better, of course, if the first ice is sprinkled with snow so as not to frighten the fish with its presence.
Photos of winter baits
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtGnfUMaeqo
Read here Nozzle jigs: tips for choosing and video description of how to use for winter fishing (115 photos and videos)
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Pike in the golden days of leaf fall, fishing for pike during leaf fall on the selcon. catching pike in leaf fall on selcon
There is probably no more anticipated time for a spinning fisher than autumn, when there are quiet days filled with the smell of withering, golden light and light cobwebs flying in the wind. And the predator at this time is passionate and greedy for the decoys gliding in the cold water. Winter is coming, and the fish are eager to replenish their vitality before a long period of silence and darkness under the ice.
That is why everyone who has a sharp tooth and fang fattens.
During this period, any bait should be larger and faster in the water, since predatory fish also need larger prey, and the predator itself is active and is no longer lazy to catch up with the fish running away. But on quiet sunny days, summer baits also work quite effectively: spinners, minnow wobblers, cranks, especially in sun-warmed shallow waters near the grass and in the so-called toad beds. Catching pike with crazy worms
In addition to traditional methods of catching pike, fishermen have recently begun to use “crazy worms”... Wackies are already familiar to many spinning fishermen.
This rig - wacky - really imitates some kind of inadequate worm, dangling from side to side, no worse than who has been playing tricks
... Wacky sounds exactly like that in translation from English - a crazy worm, a stupid, stupid worm. And this non-standard active game is very satisfying and attracts the same active autumn predator.
At least in some places, it is the weki that catches the largest portion of the predator, and this can be throughout the entire open water season.
The basis of the equipment is various silicone baits, mostly worms and hastily cut vibrotails, which is not uncommon when fishing if there are no worms. Branded worms include Shimano Glam Stick, YUM Dinger, Gary Yamamoto Senko, and Berkley Wacky Crawler. It seems there is nothing new here - well, worms, well, silicone, but why are they so reckless and twitchy? It's all about a completely different way of attaching these silicone baits - across the bait and in the middle of its silicone body. This is how ordinary earthworms are sometimes baited when fishing on donkeys.
And this method of attaching an artificial worm creates the complete illusion of its naturalness, as if a live gape worm that fell into the water from a river cliff settled to the bottom, spinning. It is this naturalness that very much attracts predators, especially in comparison with rigidly and primitively planted silicone baits on jig heads. Although these baits are distributed mostly on the American continent, and in our reservoirs, local modest predators are not at all averse to snacking on a “crazy” worm...
Wackies and silicone worms from Lucky John are often used for fishing. Only usually in this case the long tails of the baits are torn off. Offset hooks are not required for fishing; large and rounded carp-type hooks are more often used.
Similar hooks have already appeared in fishing stores, as weck fishing is becoming more and more popular. And now even hooks designed for fishing with hooks in snags have begun to be equipped with protection similar to that found in non-snappy spinners. In addition, there are hooks that have their own loading, something like a microjig. The weight of such hooks can be 1.5 g. As for the wiring used for fishing with weki, this is mostly twitching, when the bait, moving in jerks, makes rather chaotic movements, which connects it with living creatures caught in an alien environment. At the same time, the veki sinks and floats up, which also resembles a worm trying to escape.
Behind the predator - with wobblers
The effectiveness of wobblers is associated with natural movements, very reminiscent of the movements of a live, hectic fish, scared or frolicking in streams of water. The predator is also influenced by the bright colors of the baits and the sound background emitted by acoustic wobblers. All these factors make wobblers the best bait in certain conditions. Wobblers are also distinguished from other baits by their ability to stay afloat, although they float differently. Some, with positive buoyancy, stay on the surface, others go into depth, which depends on the angle of the blade, and large sinking wobblers are capable of diving to a depth of up to 3 m. Such baits are more often used in the fall for deep bottom fishing, and floating wobblers are mostly intended for fishing in shallow waters near the grass. The variety of these lures makes them universal for any fishing conditions. But unlike simpler baits, which include rotating and oscillating spoons, the success of wobblers almost directly depends on skillful wiring, which the angler must choose for himself experimentally. The main wiring of wobblers can be considered twitching, when the bait moves in jerks.
This is achieved by short twitches of the rod tip. Another advantage of wobblers is their ability to retrieve very slowly. The bait can simply lie on the water and move slightly, stopping and starting a leisurely movement again. Such techniques can bring success on sleepy autumn days somewhere in shallow water near thickets of grass, where both small fish and large predators come out to bask in the sun before winter.
And sometimes you can hear a real fight of predatory fish in the grass, like at the beginning of summer. Despite the fact that larger baits are used in the fall, suspended minnow and crank wobblers will work quite well here, for example, the Raiden Dancer Minnow 60 wobbler and the Raiden Kranky S 43 crank. The latter work very well in snags, beating off all obstacles encountered with an almost vertical blade.
Also, on fine autumn days, rattlins work well. Here it is better to place baits measuring 8 cm. A special feature of rattlins is their suspension from the back. And at the same time they have a very stable and attractive move for a predator. In addition, they are very “vocal”, which is facilitated by the shot rattling inside the body. Rattlins are usually sinking baits. I cast it out, let the bait sink a little and lead it next to the grass, or better yet, in the corridor among the hornwort or reeds.
It is unlikely that a pike or a small zander will resist such an impudent and loud strange fish. A successful bait can be called the Raiden Rattlin Long 80. In the later period and in stable cold weather, large sinking wobblers and jerkbaits work better. Unlike the summer period, when wobblers can move slowly and with stops, at this time fast wiring is required. Heavier rattlins are also used, often weighing up to 20 g. At such times, bait floundering on top is unlikely to attract the attention of a predator, and wobbler wiring is often used in steps, as in jig fishing. Often, the greatest number of grabs of a predator occur at the moment of a pause and the bait falling to the bottom.
Fishing with wobblers is limited in depth. If bottom fishing is intended, a depth of more than 3 m is not available for wobblers, at least if this is casting fishing and not trolling. True, special deepeners are also used for casting fishing, which are unfastened under load, but this is quite difficult and troublesome for the Russian fisherman. Often the success of wobblers is also associated with the coloring of the bait, since in some reservoirs that are not rich in species composition, a certain fish can be the main prey of a predator. It is best if the bait resembles this same fish, which serves as the main food supply. The nature of the game of wobblers also affects the success and choice of the predator that will attack the bait. Higher-frequency play is preferred by prickly predators - pike perches and perches. Pike respond better to somewhat leisurely and calm play, often sluggish. In this case, pike bites on a floating or slowly sinking bait quite often occur.
And here it can be difficult to notice the bite. For greater visibility, colored fishing lines are often used.
As in fishing with other baits, there are two types of wiring - uniform and uneven. During the period when the fish are most active, a uniform retrieve is sufficient, the advantage of which is the speed of fishing the reservoir, since it does not require pauses. Minnow wobblers work well on this type of wiring, although not all of them do. Fat class wobblers also move stably.
But still, the most characteristic and effective for wobblers is uneven twitching, which makes fishing with wobblers the most intelligent among other baits. Finding the right rhythm and choosing the movement of the bait that most closely resembles a live fish is aerobatics in the fishing hobby, and for some, in sports. But there is one more factor that cannot be predicted or taken into account in any way - this is Lady Luck. No matter how expensive the bait is, no matter how bright and perfect it appears, the fish can always have good reasons to refuse to take it. Sudden changes in weather can affect success: wind and waves coming from somewhere, even changing wind direction can change the course of successful fishing.
Many fishermen have probably experienced these metamorphoses more than once. But all the same, for us, the foggy autumn distances of reservoirs, lakes or rivers will always be more valuable than a weekend watching TV, even if we didn’t catch a lot of fish this time. We'll catch you next time...
- All
Jig head shapes
The head itself, by the way, should not be spherical (although some people successfully use it), but disk-shaped like a saucer with a loop on top for attaching the fishing line. This shape helps to increase the amplitude of the bait’s play in the horizontal plane, which attracts a predator. Ideally, the bait should create the appearance of a small fish moving near the bottom with additives on it.
Various slug baits on an offset hook work well, creating for predators the illusion of a small fish feeding at the bottom. A similar effect can be achieved by using small vibrating tails. Some anglers even use large jigs as a jig head, attaching a silicone “vermicelli” to the base of the hook.
Modern search tools
The first thing I recommend is to find a map before the reservoir was flooded and study it well. Old villages, forests, river mouths, steep ravines, and other foreign terrain are what you should pay attention to in order to successfully find pike perch in winter.
After you have marked ten other most interesting places on the map, you need to study the water area in more detail. It's good if you have a boat with an echo sounder/chart plotter that allows you to mark points on the map. And side scanning will allow you to perfectly navigate the underwater world and speed up your search.
Modern chartplotters have the ability to download detailed depth maps with isobaths. On such a map you can see all the navels, edges, slopes - promising places that you should study first.
Taking such a device for winter fishing with previously made marks (maybe even side-scanning records), you can easily navigate the endless white field and “see” much more than other anglers.
Conduct detailed reconnaissance ahead of time so that you don’t blindly run across the ice at random later. This is already half the way to success in winter fishing. Preparation for successful fishing begins in the summer.
Searching for pike perch on the river
It is easier to find predator sites on the river. Pike perch likes to stand in snags, protected from the current. If in summer these may be coastal snags from fallen trees, then in winter you should look for the deepest, oldest snags, even if they are local single stumps at the bottom. Wintering pits in which white fish accumulate are also excellent places for predators to stay.
Where to look for pike perch?
At the reservoir
In the vast expanses, finding a trophy predator is not an easy task. There is no point in focusing on the well-known “trampled” places and chasing the crowd. You can, of course, arm yourself with binoculars and look out for clusters of other fishermen. Sit next to them and tempt fate in the hope of a good bite. But if you are determined to catch a trophy, want to independently understand and unravel the habits of pike perch, find places where they accumulate, read on, I will tell you a fundamental and independent approach to success.
At the reservoir, first of all, you need to be well versed in the terrain. Fish most often lives in places where there are bottom anomalies: depth changes, snags, boulders, old flooded objects. This is both a natural ambush for a predator and protection from the river current.
