The success of fishing winter lure largely depends on the accumulated experience, knowledge of the behavior of predators and winter lure game techniques. Methods of searching for fish, fishing tackle, the way it is controlled - all this is very individual and experience is acquired gradually. An inquisitive angler constantly refines and uses those techniques that affect the result of fishing on lure. Catchability spinners depends not only on its correct manufacture and conditions of use, but also on the skill of the angler. Control technology lure includes a moderately sharp wave of the fishing rod with the hand to a height of 30-40 cm, its instantaneous lowering and a pause of two to five seconds, after which the entire game cycle is repeated. The rise and fall of the spinner attracts the predator, and the pause allows the fish to come up and check the object resembling a stern. During the perch period, the pace of the “rise-fall” game can be accelerated by shortening the pause and increasing the rate of rise. An aggressive predator recklessly beats a rapidly vacillating lure. When catching a sluggish perch, the lure is served delicately, with a smoother rise of the bait and a long pause. The passive "striped" grabs the lure when its vibrations stop and it stops.

In the old days, a pole was an integral part of the fisherman's equipment for winter fishing. It was used to stir up water and caught "on the dregs". A cloud of turbidity acts as bait. To attract perch to the point of fishing, many anglers start wiring with a few hits of the lure on the bottom. Then the bait is jerked sharply, making a jerk and lowering without a pause. After eight to ten such strokes (of course, if “knocks” were not observed before), they switch to the normal rate of flashing. Having smoothly raised the fishing rod, it is instantly lowered, stopping the tip 5-10 cm from the ice, then a pause follows. The lifting-lowering cycles are repeated 20-30 times. If there are no bites or a slight flinch of the nod, they change the level of luster, raising the rod 10-15 cm higher. Climb spinners to a higher level often provokes a snap of a perch. After a pause, five to seven game cycles are produced. If no bite followed, repeat this technique another 15 cm higher, then even higher, up to about 1 m above the bottom. During the rise of the spinner to a new level, it is smoothly stirred, and during a pause, it is slightly swaying. Oftentimes, this is exactly what works. At the stage of searching for a perch and with a weak bite, it is advisable to use several different options for lure wiring, shortening or lengthening the pauses, increasing or decreasing the speed of wiring. The secret of a successful winter lure game is a frequent change of pace. Lead the bait slowly, on the second stroke, increase the speed, then make a sharp jerk. Such jerks cause a grasping reflex in predatory fish. Sometimes it is useful to raise the rod not straight up, but in short jerks alternately to the right and left. In the period of deaf winter, when the perch is passive, such a technique is good: the lure is lowered to the bottom and stirred, slightly raising it, five to seven times; then it is smoothly raised to a height of 30-40 cm, while shaking the rod, and instantly lowered, stopping at the very bottom for five seconds. The cycles are repeated seven to ten times. The technique is especially effective when using a side leash with a hook baited with bloodworms. When the activity of predators is noticeably reduced, the movements of the spinner should be slowed down. A similar game of bait can be achieved with a winter fishing rod of short length. If its length is large, a wave of the hand of the same height causes intense movement and a frisky game of the spinner, which reduces the number of bites of a passive perch.

At such a time, when catching "striped" it is better to use the least active spinners that produce less linear vibrations and fall almost vertically - these are "Carnation", "Perch", heavy "Malek" and "Senezhskaya". With them, you can try wiring with a touch of the ground with small (3-5 cm) smooth strokes at the bottom. Perch on irrigation usually concentrates right at the bottom or slightly higher. The lure is lowered to the bottom, then slightly raised so that only the tee touches the bottom, and small twitches are made with the rod, forcing the hook to “dance” at the bottom. Often, the bite of a capricious perch is brought by the rise and fall of the spinner with very short jerks or a combination of various techniques that continuously follow one after another. The spinner in this case is in constant motion: it either bounces up, then falls down and glares, then goes to the side, then vibrates, then hits the bottom. When zhora, when the perch grabs any moving lure, apply smooth movements of the bait up and down almost without interruption. If, having found perches, you caught several of them on a lure, for example, the Malek type, perches already know this bait and attack not so zealously.In this situation, you need to change the lure and catch, for example, on the “Boat”. After capturing a few "striped" is to make a short pause. In the dead of winter, additional equipment of the fishing line above the spinner is especially effective with a short side leash with a hook, on which multi-colored silicone tubes or natural baits such as maggot, strips of skin or pieces of “white” fish, lard, worm, bloodworm, perch eye are planted. The bait on the hook of the side leash allows you to unload the lure and save its game. Roach, silver bream, white bream, ide and chub are caught on an additional hook with bait. The wiring of the spinner with an additional hook is the same as without it. Sometimes, instead of a side leash, they put a golden or bronzed tee, disguised with red hair, or a flat mormyshka, which move freely between two limiter knots.

They diversify the game techniques with additional elements: after a pause before the next rise, the lure is lowered by 3-5 cm and immediately raised. Increase the lift to 60-70 cm and pause at the top for 2-3 seconds, then lower the bait, as usual, quickly or on a tight line. To search in the water column for the level at which the perch is located, the flashing begins immediately from the ice edge. Every eight to ten game cycles increase the depth by 0.5 m until the bottom is reached. This technique is very effective on the last ice.

Observations have established that not only the nature of the movement and play of the spinner affects the success of fishing, but also its color is sometimes a decisive factor. The color preferences of fish vary greatly depending on the light. So, for example, in the morning before sunrise, fish are best caught on light baubles, after sunrise - on golden ones, in the middle of the day - on dark ones, and in the evening - again on light ones. Of course, this is only an approximate diagram. Experiments with the color of spinners should start with the basic colors - silver and gold. At a depth of more than 3-4 m, fish are caught better on bright, light baubles. I think the silver baubles are the best. A good addition is the red tassel on the hook. Many years of practice has shown that in many cases this addition encourages the fish to grasp. Many fish prefer not the lure as such, but the red plumage on it. In addition, the bulk of the plumage of the hook has a positive effect on the game of the lure. When the spinner sinks to a depth, the hairs show some resistance to movement, as a result of which it sinks more slowly, in a position close to horizontal. Since pike can often be near the perch, it is necessary to include a steel leash in the equipment. It should be in one thread with a thickness of 0.1-0.15 mm and a length of 5-7 cm. The ends of the leash must be carefully closed into loops so that it does not interfere with the movement of the spinner. Pike perch will shine in a plumb line both in summer and in winter. In open water, they are caught from a floating boat, less often from a dam, moorings and bridges. The size and shape of the spinner is selected according to the conditions of fishing. It is important to adapt to different depths and strength of the current. A set of spinners weighing 3; 5; 7; 15; 20; thirty; 40 and 50 g allows you to catch zander in almost any situation. Heavy spinners have always been and remain the most popular: the trihedral "Vyatskaya", the square-shaped Astrakhan "Volzhanka", as well as the medium and small spinners of I. M. Vlasov - "Nurse" and "Sudachya". They work effectively in a variety of situations.

Success is ensured by the spinner's wiring at the bottom and a nozzle on a hook from a piece of a "white" fish or a small whole one. The bait is played so that it periodically hits the ground andcreated a cloud of turbidity. When catching pike perch, the movements of the spinner when lifting up should be slow and smooth. In open water, pauses are made for 3-5 seconds. In this case, a pause follows both after releasing and when lifting, but at the top they are shorter (1-2 seconds).

Pike-perch spinners should play without sudden movements and large deviations to the side. Fast-moving bait "fanged" does not have time to grab.

In addition, the spinners for the “fanged one” differ from others in that the tee hook is suspended on a winding ring, which adds movement to the hook and allows it to “dance”. Hooks soldered into the body of the spinner are fraught with frequent gatherings of fish. If the spinner is used without bait, the tee is equipped with red wool. Pike perch always sticks to the bottom, but while hunting for small fish, it sometimes rises higher. Therefore, you need to play with a lure at different depths. After a normal game at the bottom, 0.7-1 m of fishing line is reeled up for several minutes. If there is no bite, repeat this technique, but the bait should not be higher than 1 m from the bottom.

Note that pikeperch does not take chrome-plated lures, silver-plated, yellow or tin-plated are needed.

In the first ice and in winter, pike perch bite is irregular, but on a clear and frosty day you can count on success.
The technique of spinning at this time is common, but there are some peculiarities: the pause is increased to 10 seconds or more, every two rises of the spinner,
hit the bait on the ground to create a cloud of turbidity. Then the spinner is smoothly lifted by 20-40 cm, making a weak jerk at the end so that the bait takes a position parallel to the bottom. In this case, it will descend slowly, turning from side to side. During a long pause, the rod is slightly twitched. Sometimes it is useful after hitting the bottom to put the lure on the ground and move it, sometimes lifting it up a little. This is followed by a very slow rise to 810 cm, during which bites often occur. If, after catching one or two zanders, the biting has stopped or the fish only touches the bait, it is worth increasing the length of the bait's descent, standing up and, raising the fishing rod high, sharply lower it to the ice; then pause for up to 20 seconds, and then smoothly and quickly drag the lure that has gone far to the side along the bottom. Reception is repeated if necessary. In water bodies, especially frequented by lure fish, pauses of up to 20 seconds after the lure fall are often successful, its long stirring at the bottom with very slow and smooth movements of the lure with short pauses. If the pike perch becomes very capricious and does not want to grab large lures, it is useful to reduce the diameter of the fishing line and the size of the bait. In shallow water, transparent or fluorocarbon fishing lines with a diameter of 0.13-0.15 mm are used, small well-playing "Vlasov" or "perch" spinners weighing 3.5-5 g. The head of a fry or one maggot is planted on the hooks. The pike flashing technique differs little from the perch flashing. Pike, following forage fish, goes to deep water - into pits and whirlpools. Therefore, they use special heavy and well-playing spinners "Pike", asymmetric spinners "Crooked Knife" weighing 25-30 g and universal "Vlasov" lures weighing 15.5 g.

For ice fishing, you need to take a fishing line with a diameter of 0.25-0.3 mm. At the peak of the zhora, the predator often chooses a target that is higher than the place of her ambush. The bait is played without touching the ground, about 50-70 cm above the bottom. Flashing begins with continuous smooth rises and sharp lowering of the end of the fishing rod by 25-35 cm. After eight to ten such movements, they switch to a normal pace. When catching pike, they make short, up to two seconds, pauses. The spinner should move all the time, since pike bites during a pause are very rare. Pike, like perch, are seduced by a combination of different maneuvers, one after the other incessantly. The lure is sometimes lifted by several successive jerks of the fishing rod. At the same time, the lure moves less to the side, since it is pulled up all the time. After a short pause (1-2 seconds) at the top, the rod is quickly lowered down. The spinner, decorated with red hairs, deviates far to the side, taking an almost horizontal position, intensively rolls over from side to side and slowly (which is very important) sinks down. Such a game provokes a predator to a grip. To find the horizon on which the pike is located, the lure begins immediately under the ice. After every seventy cycles, increase the depth by 0.5 m until the bait reaches the bottom.

Decisive in winter pike fishing is the choice of bait. Pike, like perch, can be very lethargic in the cold, so they are not able to catch spinners quickly falling to the bottom. For sheer lure, wide and flat baits are used, which fall slowly, flat, without zigzags and turning from side to side.

While fishing for perch, pike bites, as a rule, are unexpected. But sometimes you can foresee the approach of this predator: the biting of the perch suddenly stops, and no "teasers" affect him - he moved away. Often at such a moment, with one of the twitches of the spinner, a pike grabs it. But it is rarely possible to pull out a predator without a steel leash - the pike almost always cuts the line. Pike flashing is most successful in the area of ​​​​the mouths of tributaries flowing into a reservoir, and in the open spaces of reservoirs it is difficult to search for it.

Evgeny Belov, magazine Fish with us