I will not make a big discovery if I say that trout is a very capricious and fastidious fish. That is why such fishing is always interesting and unpredictable. Depending on the season, trout behavior changes. The best time for aria fishing is in the fall. The water cools down, the trout becomes active and begins to catch on many types of baits. What to catch trout on is the personal preference of each angler. Great popularity is enjoyed by micro-jigglers, rubber and wobblers. But this applies to the fall season, when the fish is active and quickly moves around the reservoir in search of a potentially edible object. But in winter the situation changes dramatically. You have to break your head a lot to seduce the spiny on a nibble. About what are the peculiarities of winter fishing, you will now learn.
Water temperature as a determinant of fish activity
The first thing to pay attention to is the temperature of the water and the environment. Trout though and cold-loving fish, but here in icy water its behavior changes greatly. It becomes more amorphous and indifferent to baits, moves less. Even the launching fish is active for about an hour, and after the expiration of this time it needs to be “coaxed”. The fact is that in the natural environment where trout live, the water is not as icy as in winter. Therefore, it is quite understandable that with the decrease in water temperature, the activity of fish decreases. “Konopataya” feels comfortable in water with a temperature of 13-15 °C, but in winter the temperature drops to 6-8 °C. Each movement entails a great loss of precious energy, so the trout looks at the object of hunting for a long time to make sure it is edible, and only then attacks.
Starting trout can be caught in the upper layers of water on almost all types of baits. Often in winter there are such cases when fish in the first minutes of launching are caught on surface baits. The fact is that now the water body is not familiar to her, she quickly moves and explores every corner. To everything else, the fish is released hungry, which is why it is so active and catches on all types of baits. However, when “konopataya” gets used to a new place, and it happens quite quickly, it becomes more selective, its activity falls, the fish sinks in the horizon. And then begins a painstaking and long selection and the type of bait, and the correct presentation. The main thing here is to choose the right color and the right feed.
The most relevant type of baits for fishing in cold water
Most often, if we are talking about launching active fish, I start fishing at a fast pace with micro jerkbaits weighing 3 grams.
I choose the most active micro jerkbaits from my arsenal. Here the logic of my actions is very simple: the more active the fish, the faster the wiring should be. Active fish reacts to a fast-moving object. Plus, dynamics is very important when catching active fish. The more throws, the higher the probability of catching fish, the more we cover the water area. But what should we do when the “spiny” will lose activity, sink in the horizon and begin to feed at the bottom?
In this case, there is only one correct solution. It is necessary to use a bait that has the most passive game. And if we used to catch fish in the upper layers of water, then now all our attention should be focused on the lower horizon. Wiring should be performed in the slowest and dying variant. When catching active fish can still afford to perform sharp jerks and quickly wind up the handle of the reel. However, now this way of feeding the bait simply will not bring results: trout will not react to the object, which with lightning speed passing in front of the nose. That is why wobblers krenki, minnow and other lures that have an active game, always lose to micro-coilers and rubber.
In icy water trout most often responds to rubber. At the moment on the fishing market is a lot of all kinds of variants of specialized trout rubber: nymphs, worms and other imitations. I, for example, prefer worms, as they have a passive game, which is so necessary for catching sluggish fish. To achieve at least some sane throwing, I use only tungsten heads. The main weights are 0.2-0.4 grams. If we are talking about fishing in the near zone, then 0.2 grams, and when the plan is to catch a distant point, or need to break the wind, I use a heavier head. And here, too, there is its own specificity. Control of the bait is carried out by the dangle of the fishing line and the tip of the rod. If the fishing line stretched or went slowly to the side, it signals that the trout began to chew the bait. There is no need to hurry. All trout rubber is equipped with attractant, therefore, such a bait fish keeps in the mouth much longer, which increases the chance of a good hook-up.
Most often I use rubber length of 6-7 centimeters. Animating these baits as follows: throw, give the worm to fall to the bottom, and then start to slowly rotate the handle of the coil, while making short jerks with the tip of the rod, having made two or three jerks, give a pause of 3-4 seconds. It is on the pause and happen all the nibbles.
Color also plays an important role. Of course, bright provoking shades like acid, orange, red in priority.
Tactics
The tactics of winter trout fishing is to find a promising place and constant movements. Standing in one place, you are unlikely to get a cherished nibble, of course, if it is not such a fundamental point as an aerator, where there is constantly a decent concentration of trout. Trout is the kind of fish that insanely loves running water and all kinds of turbulence. Such a place on payniks are areas where water enters the pond, or aerators. Here there is always a stream, which only remotely resembles the real habitat of the “rutting”, but it is enough to attract the attention of trout.
Aerators and areas with water flow should be fished first of all. As a rule, nibbles do not make you wait long if you have done everything correctly. And it should be noted that in such a place fish can be not only at the bottom, but also in the layer, so no one has canceled the search for the right horizon.
Another less effective, but also a promising place, are pond turns and underwater anomalies. If the pond is natural, you can try to look for trout on the relief in the holes, if the pond is artificial, then spend more time in the corners.
At each new spot, make as many casts as possible. Dynamics in the search for fish is very important.
Conclusione
At the end of the article, instead of concluding, I would like to give a few tips that will help the beginner in the aria trout fishing in winter:
- perform the wiring at the slowest pace;
- constantly change the color of the bait;
- move around a lot. Now the fish are inactive and tied to a specific point.
Thank you for your attention!
Autore: Bob Nudd è un esperto pescatore con oltre 20 anni di esperienza e vincitore di numerose competizioni.