There probably is no more common fish than perch. Any pond or forest lake, small river and even more so a large reservoir are abundantly populated by this red-feathered predator.
Fishing
At the beginning of the winter season, this fish is active, moves a lot. At the same time, perches are most often hunted in cold weather in coastal shallow waters near islands of grass or reeds, in a word, where they were recently caught in open water.
Here, bites of this striped inhabitant of the underwater world can occur at the highest levels, often at the very surface of the ice. In these places, those who plan the lightweight nozzles work best. However, on the edge of the pits, the angler will need a heavier bait, for example, a balancer, spinners with a length of about five or seven centimeters, and heavy bottom species designed specifically for this prey.
Perch is a flock of predators. During its active feeding, the fry serves for this fish. Apparently, therefore, fishing perch in the winter on the balancer is considered the most effective. After all, this bait imitates fry better than anyone else. Moreover, it is relevant only when there are no snags or thickets of underwater vegetation in the reservoir. Otherwise, hooks are inevitable.
Balance
On a perch in the winter this equipment is especially effective. The reason is that it is considered "noisy", and all thanks to its ability to create quite powerful vibrations. It is this circumstance that attracts the predator, for which such a difficult time in terms of food comes as winter.
Catching perch on the balancer among spinners is becoming more and more popular every year. Nevertheless, some, and especially this applies to novice anglers, believe that this is a rather complicated and skill-demanding method. In addition, it has long been believed that the balance on the perch in winter is less catchy than the mormyshka with a bloodworm, and that tackle with a nozzle “works” more efficiently than a naked bait. But this approach is more than erroneous, especially when fishing takes place during the season of activity of this predatory inhabitant of water bodies.
Fishing gear
In winter, you need to fish perch on a balancer for a fishing rod, the general requirements for which are very simple. This is reliability, compactness and, of course, lightness. For this, a fishing rod with a neoprene or cork handle is best suited. The total length of the gear along with the whip should be about thirty or forty centimeters maximum - the optimal size for such a season as winter. Catching perch on the balancer also involves the presence of a coil equipped with a button brake. The stroke of this component of the equipment should be smooth and easy. The last characteristic is needed so that it is possible to give fishing line under the weight of the balancer.
The fishing rod, in turn, should allow you to easily and quickly catch all water horizons, as well as perform reliable hooking and, of course, provide an effective game with bait. If the first two requirements mainly relate to the coil - to the diameter, smoothness of its travel, as well as the reliability of the brake, then the latter - only to the whip, which should not only be strong, but also moderately hard, not giving residual fluctuations after the toss. Otherwise, it can adversely affect the bite.
Nod
Opinions on whether the balancer on a perch in winter require nodding differ. You can, of course, do without it, but this can lead to unnoticed bites, the number of which, according to experienced fishermen, will be quite large. Therefore, this component of the equipment is still necessary.
A nod can be made from a wide variety of materials - from a coil spring or a thick dacron film, from a nipple or tube made of brightly colored silicone. It is matched to the weight of the bait used. The balance on the perch in winter works great with a nod that accurately shows the bite and clearly fixes the moment when the bait reaches the bottom, standing on the hook. In addition, this equipment in the mount must have a minimum number of protruding elements. This is necessary in order to avoid overlapping fishing lines when throwing the balancer.
In this regard, silicone nods with a length of five to six centimeters are well established. Their additional advantage, in comparison with metal options, is the fact that they not only do not rust, but also do not give their own vibrations during the game.
How to choose a balancer
Experienced anglers use options with a length of up to five cm on a perch in winter. Moreover, for fishing in shallow water, three- and five-centimeter-long ones are suitable for deep sections (up to nine meters). Interestingly, with a different body length or excellent shape, the game of the balancer is almost always the same.
When tossing, the bait must deviate simultaneously up and to the side, and then, turning around, return to its original position. However, wide-body options are planning a little longer, in addition, they have a smoother game. Therefore, they, according to many - the most catchy balancers. On perch in winter, many consider this feature of the bait relevant.
Color
With regard to this characteristic, most experienced fishermen most often use baits with calm natural colors. Some believe that the most catchy balancers on a perch are colored, like the prey itself. However, it was found that when fishing at a depth of five to nine meters, this predator better takes the bait of "acidic" - poisonous yellow, green and other no less bright colors.
Therefore, the angler must have in his stock options for a variety of sizes and shades in order to determine on the spot which of those at hand are the most catchy balancers for perch for a particular reservoir.
Fishing line
According to many anglers, it is worth using only monophilic. Various cords, even those marked with “Ice”, are not suitable for this type of fishing. Some “winter roads” consider frosting at minus temperatures to be the main drawback of the braid, which is very uncomfortable during fishing. When perching on a balancer, it is the perch that needs to select the diameter of the fishing line depending on the mass of the intended prey.
For catching kilogram predators, you can, of course, use equipment with a diameter of 0.20 mm. However, for most Russian reservoirs it will be quite enough to reel up to fifty meters of fishing line 0.14-0.16 mm in size on a reel.
At the same time, in order to fix the balancer, it is better not to tie it, but to use a small fastener without a swivel for this. This eliminates the rubbing of the loop of the balancer line. Although with a relatively thick “monophile” you can tie the bait directly to the cord, and any non-rigid knot, for example, Rapalovskiy. This is necessary in order not to disrupt the balance of the game.
Fishing tactics
You need to understand that even the best balancers for perch in winter will not bring the proper result if the angler does not know the technique. The game of this bait consists in alternating successive strokes of the fishing rod and pauses observed between them. Depending on what the activity of mining is and what conditions in a given reservoir, the technique can be very diverse.
The basic tactics for the winter game with the balancer is as follows: we touch the bottom, then we raise the bait over the ground of centimeters by ten to fifteen and hold motionless. Then we make a smooth, with increasing acceleration, wrist stroke. In this case, the top of the fishing rod should rise to three hundred millimeters.
The balancer makes a jump to the side, and then up. Then the angler makes a reset, and the tip of the rod quickly returns to its original position - the one that was before the rise. This maneuver is necessary in order to create favorable conditions for the reversal of the bait. Then the balancer turns around, returning to its original position. After that, a new swing / climb is done again. The pause between maneuvers during winter fishing for perch is from two to five seconds.
Features of fishing
If the bite of the striped predator weakens, then it can be somewhat activated, if instead of the usual tri-balancer, hang the option with the “eye” made of bright plastic. Even more effective, according to experienced anglers, will be using a fly. At the same time, it can be any, even in the form of a winding of the forearm of the hook, with red or even black threads fixed with a drop of glue.
Whatever fishing technique the balancer adheres to, he needs to remember that the perch should be sought not only in the layers of water that are familiar to all near-bottom fish, but also in the middle depths, and sometimes even at the very edge of the ice. Therefore, you must first catch all the horizons and only then move on to the next hole.
In general, when fishing for perch, the key to success is an active search for prey. A "man with a fishing rod" must, constantly moving, catch new places, making many holes.