Fish, as you know, can feed in different water layers. Most often, you can count on the catch near the bottom, less often - in the thickness. However, there are also frequent cases when a fish pecks from the surface. In such cases, completely different lures are used, designed specifically for such fishing. They practically do not go deep.
Surface lures
Today, the market is literally teeming with rigs of this kind. Varieties of such lures abound. This is a catchy wolf walker, and a voluminous popper, and Jerky, with the help of which they fish mainly for pike, as well as a crawler, mouse, etc. It is difficult to say where and who started to catch these baits first, but they got popularity among fishermen North American continent. Both in the USA and in Canada, they catch bass. Soon, surface lures came to Europe, where almost all varieties of freshwater and marine predators began to fish with them.
Surface Fishing Technique
These nozzles are used in difficult places where there are a lot of snags and aquatic vegetation. In such areas, conventional baits are not suitable, since most of the deep-sea varieties of baits remain there. But it is precisely such places that attract a pike - a predator, which many anglers hunt. They are the main habitat for her, here she hides in an ambush in search of food. Therefore, for such inaccessible places, experienced fishermen also use surface lures - walkers, poppers, crawlers, propellers, etc. They freely pass over aquatic vegetation without clinging to it and lure predatory prey from ambush.
Many novice anglers fishing with such baits have a mistake such as premature hooking. Predatory inhabitants of reservoirs, in particular pike, like to create splashes and whirlpools around a walker, but this does not mean that she has already swallowed the hook. Therefore, you need to hook up only when a load is felt at the end of the rod. At the same time, it is worth preparing in advance: for this you need to slightly tip the spinning tip to the water.
Walker
The play of this shallow bait resembles zigzags. Currently, a huge number of such nozzles are presented on the market, however, the walker is always very popular among anglers. This voluminous floating bait glides over the surface when jerking. She goes one way, then the other. The wiring that is carried out with it, the fishermen jokingly call "walking the dog." Perch, asp are willingly pecking at it, but pike fishing on the wolf is most common. In this case, the fisherman, as evidenced by the reviews, needs to have a good skill in fishing twitching. Although the walker models sold today look almost the same, each one has its own game.
The catchy game of this bait is possible due to the structure of its body. Walker has a narrow tail and nose. Because of this, he doesn’t wag his tail, like ordinary wobblers, but performs side “jumps” during jerking of the rod. In addition, the fore part of the walker is slightly tapered below. As a result, the game produces an “antelope” pushing the bait out of the water.
Varieties
Two types of this surface bait are generally common. Dot-pointers - walkers of precise application, catch small areas of water bodies. Another variety - locals - can comb through quite large water areas of water bodies. A point wolf is much smaller than its counterpart. And although quick wiring with it does not work, but this bait has an excellent game on the surface. Another thing is locals, with which it is very inconvenient to catch small areas due to their too large scope and poor controllability at short distances. The element of this surface bait is large lakes and sea open spaces. It is here that professionals use such walkers when fishing for predatory fish .
Rating
Top sellers are Deps Radscale and ZipBaits Irony. These very best pike walkers have excellent potential in skillful hands. They are easy to handle and accessible even to beginners. The prey that comes across them is most often medium to large.
No less popular, according to experienced anglers, is considered such a surface bait as Yo-Zuri (Banana Boat). It is no longer produced, however, those who have it in a snap catch it with almost any predatory fish. This bait was produced in three sizes - 7.5, 10 and 11 centimeters.
Ten-centimeter walkers of the brand Pontoon Loco Perro 21 work well even with a small wave. The main trophy on them is pike, although some successfully catch perch and asp on this bait.
The top five leaders include one of Owner C'ultiva's catchy walkers. This bait is a kind of legend. It is easily included in the work, equipped with sharp hooks and has a high quality workmanship.
June pike fishing in the walker
This type of fishing has recently become more and more popular among domestic lovers of quiet hunting. And the pike is caught especially well in this way. In June, a fisherman needs to work hard to spinning with a walker or with another nozzle in order to get an excellent catch or pull out a trophy specimen. This bait, when posting in the style of twitching the tip of the rod or intermittent winding on the surface of the reservoir, wags from side to side, so to speak, walking.
For pike, such movements of a walker are associated with throwing a wounded or sick fish, which cannot go to depth, and therefore is easy prey. For any predator, such movements are a certain signal that it can be picked up. Pike is no exception. In June, spinning fishing with this bait is effective primarily due to the fact that the movements of the walker “start” the prey so that it is not able to miss it. And even if the nozzle goes further, the predator, reaching out, attacks.
Features of pike fishing
The rate of posting when catching pike on a walker should be small. Yet this toothy prey loves slow fighting. But pauses between the winders need to be done more authentically.
During the posting, the walker, sliding sideways, jumps out of the water with his nose, then a dive occurs, and the bait sways again on a pause. For many walkers, at this moment, the tail goes down, continuing to hang in an upright position and playing with the rear tee, equipped with feathers or a synthetic edge. This adds to the attractiveness of the bait on pauses. Pike bite, as a rule, does not keep itself waiting, covering the expanse of a reservoir with splashes from agitated water.
Seasonality
A pike on a walker is caught on rifts and wide reaches. Some people use this bait on narrow streams, leading it along the edges of the grass. Fishing in June is especially effective. Pike with this equipment should be hunted in shallow bays, where the amount of clean water is minimal. Such fishing is more typical for the summer. In autumn, the pike reacts much worse to a walker, because this nozzle is more used to lure prey from grass thickets.
If the predator has a poor appetite, then the coloring of this bait should be as close as possible to the color of its feed fish - perch, roach, crucian carp or gudgeon.
Fishing in June for pike is somewhat difficult. During this period, production is quite moody. Therefore, in order to succeed, even an experienced fisherman should stock up with remarkable patience. In addition, he has to periodically experiment, changing nozzles - spinner, lure or live bait.
Sometimes it is necessary to investigate for a long time the places where the pike is supposed to be. According to the opinion of many experienced anglers, a walker at this time should be caught in quiet whirlpools or pits, at the bottom of which there are several underwater springs. Do not ignore gullies with shallow depth, as well as piles or bridge supports.
In summer, pike reacts to a walker with the most active bite. This is especially noticeable in warm and windy weather. At the same time, moving along the pond in a boat or other watercraft, one thing must be taken into account: getting up to the drift from the windward side, you need to drop the bait in such a way that, after flying, it’s more likely to be in the right place.
Tackle
Catching pike on surface walkers involves some snap features. Particular attention should be paid to spinning and reel. The rod should have an ultrafast action. This is explained by the fact that fishing on a walker implies a large number of jerks, and such manipulations can only be performed with quick spinning. The coil should be selected with a small gear ratio, for example 4: 7: 1.
The spool size must be in accordance with 2000-2500. It is better to take a braided line with a cross section of 0.15-0.2 mm. This option transmits movements to the walker in a better quality, in addition, this thickness is more reliable during a difficult survival process.
Experts do not recommend tying a bait to a leash from a fishing line. To do this, it is best to use steel or tungsten analogues, which will certainly not be too tough for even such a predator as a pike.