Each avid angler should have at his disposal a wide arsenal of all kinds of lures. For several decades of its existence, foam fish have become an indispensable element of gear. And although some spinning players try not to use this type of bait, nevertheless, they managed to perfectly prove themselves when catching predatory fish, and in some cases they outperform usual silicone bait in their performance.
The value of foam fish
Foam rubber is quite soft in its properties, which gives bait from this material special mobility, providing maximum resemblance to a natural bait. In addition, air is trapped in the pores of this material, due to which the fish in the water takes a vertical position.
Most importantly, the fact that foam rubber fish are non-hooking lures and do not slide off the hook, so in some cases they are more effective than silicone ones. They can be fixed both on offset and double hook, which is another advantage.
Impregnation with attractants - an important point or a trifle?
The material in question remarkably absorbs odors, which, of course, plays into the hands of anglers, since it is possible to impregnate foam rubber fish with natural attractants. For example, you can use blood, fish oil or specially designed substances for these purposes. The smell of the bait should not be underestimated, since the foam-treated fish treated by impregnation creates a smell zone at the bottom of the reservoir, which makes the predator passing nearby activate.
Fishing technology
Foam rubber is a passive type of bait, and there is little point in changing the degree of its activity, since at times such a bait gives the best result.
Most often, fishing for foam rubber fish is carried out by the method of long casting or stepped wiring. Uniform wiring should be used in shallow water. At the same time, it is more efficient to work with oud pulls, rather than a coil. With the help of the rod you need to suddenly pull the bait from the bottom at the very beginning of the wiring.
Such bait is good in that the zander, perch, and ruff swallows them equally well, regardless of the level layer of water. When fishing for a foam rubber fish, it is better to give preference to a rigid rod equipped with a monolesk diameter from 0.3 mm to 0.4 mm. A thinner fishing line should be used if there is a current - this will significantly enliven the game of bait.
Do-it-yourself foam rubber fish
The materials and tools necessary to create an effective bait can be easily found on sale. The following will be required:
- foam rubber;
- Super glue;
- scissors (the sharper the better);
- razor blade;
- brush (ordinary school);
- pliers or nippers;
- stain alcohol.
Creating a blank for future bait
It should be noted that the foam rubber fish, the manufacture of which is described below, are in no way inferior to the factory ones and are equally well suited for catching pike, perch, and pike perch.
The piece of foam from which the fish is cut should be 7-10 mm thick. Using an ordinary thin marker or pen, we draw a contour of the future bait on the material, it should be 8 to 10 cm long. After that, the workpiece is cut with very sharp scissors. To simplify cutting, foam should be pressed with his fingers along the contour of the picture. Then, using a razor blade, you need to cut off all the sharp corners from the fish to give it a rounded shape. It is very important to maintain the proportions of the bait: the body should be 3-5 mm thicker than the tail.
With the frequent creation of foam rubber fish at home, you can prepare cardboard or metal templates - with their help it will be easier and faster to draw a contour. You can also cut the bait out of a common piece of foam rubber using a regular clerical knife.
Equipping workpieces with hooks
After the workpiece is cut, homemade foam fish are equipped with hooks. There are two ways to do this. The easiest way is to take an ordinary jig head, choosing the appropriate weight. Using a blade, cut the layout, starting from the mouth of the fish along the back. A jig head is inserted into the resulting incision, after which the cut parts must be secured with superglue. You need to work very carefully, in no case can you squeeze the foam strongly, otherwise the bait will be hopelessly damaged.
How to make foam fish the second, more complex way? To do this, you need to calcine the awl. Make a through hole in the workpiece. In the resulting slot, it is necessary to insert the piano wire and twist its ends with pliers in such a way as to make rings. Hooks, double or triple, will subsequently be attached to them. In both cases, they need to be fixed so that the sting is located approximately in the middle of the body of the fish.
A few tips for snap hook bait
The weight of the weight used depends on the hook, which is located in the bait, so it is important to choose its size correctly. It should be slightly larger than the diameter of the attached weight. The advantage of foam rubber fish is the fact that they can be equipped with fairly large offset hooks, while not paying special attention to the load.
When fishing for foam bait, various types of weights can be used, including eared ones, but the best result is achieved when using lentil type cargo. It fits perfectly in the mouth of the predator due to its compactness, so the hooking becomes much more efficient.
When equipping the baits, two hooks can be used: one to fix on the front of the fish, and the second, a small size, is fixed on a long steel leash in the back of the bait. Foam fish are used, equipped with hooks-tees, only in clean deep ponds where there are no snags that such a bait can catch on. The tee should be positioned clearly in the center of the fish, especially when fishing for pike, as it grabs the bait across.
Painting
After the workpiece is completely ready, it must be painted. There is an opportunity to show your boundless imagination and artistic skills. Foam blanks can be painted in any color. Fish make luminous or pearlescent. You can not paint them at all - a good result is still guaranteed.
Correctly selected color of the bait should not be underestimated, therefore it is better to think over in advance where the fishing will take place. So, for example, in reservoirs with yellow sandstone it is better to use dark bait. If fishing is carried out in a pond with a muddy bottom, then foam rubber fish of bright colors will work better.
How to paint the product?
Foam fish lasts longer when using waterproof paints, but in the absence of such, an alcohol stain is suitable. It is better to apply the paint with a regular brush, painting the eyes, fins, gill covers, tail - this will be enough to attract a predator. The eyes of the fish can be made of colored shiny beads by attaching them with needles to the body. The easiest way to decorate a foam product is to use permanent markers of various colors.
Mormyshka sinker
So that the bait does not drift over, you need to use special weights. The most effective are mormyshka-sinkers, which have proven themselves better than tulk and similar nozzles.
Equipped with mormyshka, foam fish for pike perch show excellent results both in winter and in summer. Weighted mormyshka copes with the role of sinker-donkey. As a rule, it is made by casting, but if you have time and some skills you can make it yourself.
Mormyshka cargo, unlike a ball, slightly rolls from side to side during its slow fall, due to which it performs additional oscillations luring predators. A variety of movements are also made due to the hinged method of connecting bait with hook mormyshki. This gives the bait an even greater resemblance to a real fish.
During the wiring, the mormyshka sinker can be dragged along the sandy bottom, thereby creating a cloudy cloud that will attract the attention of predatory fish. In this case, the hook of the sinker does not catch on the bottom.
Medium weight float for foam fish for zander
An ordinary foam rubber fish with a head weight is not well suited for catching pike perch in the upper layers of the water, since such a bait loads pretty quickly to the bottom with slow wiring. Due to its severity, it is also unsuitable for posting on shallows.
Therefore, when fishing for a predator in areas with an average flow rate or in stagnant water, it is more advisable to use soft baits with a medium-float. Thanks to this, the fish becomes especially light and mobile, attracting not only zander, but also any other predatory fish.
DIY do-it-yourself float
You can make such a bait at home. For this, it is necessary to take a cylindrical foam float pointed at the ends with a diameter of 17 mm and a length of 125 mm. Cut it along. Then you need to put a tube in a specially made recess (you can take the winding from the electric wire). In the lower inner part of the float, in both its halves, a small recess should be cut into which a cylindrical load weighing about 25 g will be placed. The latter should have a hole for the tube.
The weight of the sinker is determined on the basis that it is necessary to flood almost the entire float in the water, leaving only a small tip of 3 cm above the surface. The weight must be put on the tube and placed inside the float (at a distance of 3 cm from the bottom).
Then both halves of the float are fastened with superglue and dried thoroughly. The part of the float that will be in the water is painted in greenish-brown color with oil paints. The remainder will be above the surface of the water and it will be treated with white oil paint.
Further, the fishing line of the rod is passed through a tube in the float, the most common foam fish equipped with a double hook is attached to the end of the fishing line. Since the pike perch likes to attack a similar bait from below, there is no particular need to additionally paint it. The predator will see only a dark silhouette against the background of the sun.
The foam rubber fish made by yourself will fully justify the efforts you have spent.
Advantages and disadvantages
Like any other bait, foam fish have their pros and cons. The advantages of this type of bait include the following:
- simplicity in the manufacture of their own hands;
- cheapness;
- a good game subject to a hard rod;
- the ability to absorb odors;
- mobility.
The disadvantages include the following:
- speed of wear;
- the hook should be very sharp and strong so that the predator snagged on the hooks and could not break;
- you must use a tough rod, otherwise the bait will not attract predators.
Modern manufacturers offer a wide variety of fishing gear. It is undeniable that foam rubber baits were able to find their place in the arsenal of every spinning player.