Most fishers don’t even know that they are catching on the river and how to fish carp in the river: сhoosing a place, luring, tackle, technique? But, this unusual activity is different from fishing in a closed pond. After all, sometimes you need to look for a long time for the place where the fish could live, but also to set the gear especially, to make changes in the feeding, to choose other attachments etc.
Catching on the river is harder because the fish moves more around the water area. Sometimes a home fish crosses several kilometres a day in search of food or a place to stop. The competition among fish is more laborious, it especially more demanding on large rivers. The fauna is more complicated and baiting the fish becomes harder. It turns out that even an experienced fisher does not always can pick up a working nozzle or bait a fish.
Another problem – is current, that prevents the accurate throwing of the rod, and moves the lure. Also, sazan is often much different from its lake “brother”, scared by sharp and strange flavours; he prefers natural baits such as bloodworms, worms, insects, etc. Because of that, the taste preferences of fish becomes even more unstable. However, despite some difficulties with catching on the river, it is always possible to have a good catch. The main thing is to listen to some recommendations, which we will discuss.
How to make luring for sazan
Lure the place of the angling as much as possible.
Mix your lure with salmon pellets, and soon you will notice, that you can use the bait in more significant portions, the cost of which is less then boilies. You can add some boilies in the water, only to show the carp what you are planning to use as a bait on the hook.
I like using big, 8mm pellets on the lake, this sink like that quicker. All lake inhabitants eat corn and bullets, so the chosen and lured place will have a lot of different fish, but fish will scare off the small fish away.
The lure for the sazan is very simple. The fixed sinker is weighing from 60g to 80g, braided leash and hook number 4 made of thick wire with a nozzle from boilies or grains. I get additional luring effect due to some amount of dough which I knead around the sinker.
I prepare the dough from components that we partially use in the production of boilies. You can use flavours for boilies
additional odours. I prefer using curry, cinnamon or seasoning for chicken. The proper dosage varies depending on the
seasoning, but I believe that 30 to 40 g per kilogram of dry mix is enough. If you squeezed the prepared dough then during the cast, it flies from it, so it’s better to put a sinker in the form of a Christmas tree, which some firms produce.
The dough keeps very well in them. You can throw the bait by hand at the point of catching on small rivers. Here you don’t need a mighty throw, using which on large watercourses people try to reach some sand cans. Small distances allow you to feed and fish with high accuracy. Since bites on a short distance are very vigorous, you need either a firm Rod-Pod stand or rod racks stuck deep into the ground. Otherwise, there is a danger that the fish will drag the rod into the water.
Sazans weighing more than 12.5 kg are the exception rather than the rule here. Sazan, as a rule, is more bogus, stronger and more enduring than their relatives in the lakes and they give you an exciting playing. In my opinion, the best time for biting is the morning hours, then around noon the biting noticeably weaken and only in the twilight the activity of fish again increases. But these circumstances may vary depending on the site of the river and the time of feeding. Small streams, however, are attractive in the cold season when in the lakes the fish don’t eat for a long time.
Thanks to the flow and, in the perfect case, the influx of warm water, the fish remain active. At this time, the fishermen can feel what the star fishing hours are.
How to choose tackle for river fishery
It can be similar to lake options and based on the flow speed, numbers of bites and made it with the goal of using some seeds of corn, or if you have them, boilies. I like using not too long hair because in the current it can easily get lost.
Let’s say while fishery in deep, slow part of the river, where depth is 8 feet, surrounded with 6 ft depths; my starting option will be the flattened hanging weight 2 to 4 ounce, half-fixed on the “Korda” leash. In my tackle, I use a 10-12 inch leash from the braids, neuron or “Snakeskin”.
Of course, catching on the current has some difficulties that concern the choice of rods. You can catch domesticated fish on the river with float rod, and any variety of bottom rods. The place of fish determines much. If there is no flow, float rod can become quite useful. However, catching in the wiring on the float might not work out. Still, it’s not the roach. So, with the slightest flow, it is recommended to use the bottom rod. It can be “nipple”; feeder; meadow plant; «elastic»; first bottom rod etc.
- The most common tackle for sazan is a float rod with a cork float.
The float rod should be stiff, about 5 m long. The diameter of the line is 0,5 mm, and the length is not less than 50 m. The sinker does not dress heavily and away from the hook. The hook is used rounded No. 2-6, with a short sting. For angling, the float should be small and barely noticeable.
Carp, in general, is cautious fish and if you fewer move on the bands and shadows on the water are better. When you are biting the fish, usually strike itself. But when you are fighting without fighting, it does not give up. It does not get tired for a long time, jumps, twists, turns on the bottom and, already being in the striking, can run away. At the first throw, a giant fish is capable of cutting off tackles and even dragging a float rod into the water. Therefore, immediately after the padding, get up on your feet, so that it’s easier to control the subsequent actions.
When sazan is hitting on the hook, it quickly moves either to the vegetation or the middle of the river, trying to strain and tear up the angling line. Then it rapidly makes a turn and sails to the shore, pulling down the track. If the bite on the lip is large, the hook can quickly fall out from the fleshy part of the fish. Therefore, when playing out, you need to carry on the pirn and stay tuned. - The hooks for fishery should have the following qualities:
- They must be sharp. Most snap-angling equipment for this type of fish has the effect of self-dressing, which directly depends on the severity of the nose. There is the use of different methods of rake, one of the most popular variants is the chemical method, which also lends itself to criticism.
- The hook must be low-key at the river bottom. Sazan is a very cautious opponent, and the glitter of metal can easily scare him. Prevent this from happening; you should lay over the hooks with a variety of substances – from ordinary paint to Teflon. Such a coating significantly reduces the visibility and facilitates the hooking (however, many anglers do not like such a covering, since in some cases it quickly becomes unusable).
- This element of tackle should be peak solid because there is always a chance that even a small nozzle will catch a huge catch. Competency primarily depends on the characteristics of the metal used and the features of its processing.
- If it possible, the hook should also, as few as possible, screw up the fish, because of many fishers to committed to the sporting principle of “catch – let go.”
The classification of hooks
Varieties of this element of equipment are many on the shelves of fishery stores. All hooks for angling you can divide according to the following criteria:
- according to the characteristics of the nozzle which they are used
- to form
- to size
In the case of size, everything is relatively simple – you should orient yourself on the size of the nose, and the sazan itself in the pond. It understands that a suitable hook for a specific boiler must correspond to the following relationship: the length of the segment connecting the edge of the point and the forearm should be equal to one-third, or half the diameter of the nozzle. In this case, self-intersection works as efficiently as possible. The most popular among anglers are the No. 2, 4, 6 and 8.
The hook is also chosen to take into account the buoyancy of the nozzle. Based on this criterion, we can distinguish three main variants – floatage (the so-called boilies “pop-up”), sinking and a nose with neutral buoyancy. For boilies with negative buoyancy, hooks with a long fore-end are considered to be the most suitable ones, and for the floaters, the forearm is relatively short, and the distance from the tip to the tail is considerable. For boilies with neutral buoyancy, the most suitable option is considered hooks with a closed string.
The shape of the hook determines the features of its use. Due to the variants of the form of the individual parts of the product, it is possible to distinguish such distinctive features:
- The length of the shank is short or long.
- The form of the shank is straight or curved.
The nose – can be placed parallel to the thread (this option is called open), and can be directed towards the forehead (the so-called “closed stinger”). More hooks are considered to be models with a straight sting but catch on with a curved inward bite better hold after the punch.
The little ear – straight, bent towards the sting or curved in the direction of the forearm. This parameter influences the features of the shoe material used. Presence, or absence of a beard (non-beard models have spread in European countries, as they less screw up fish).
Top 12 tips and technique for catching in the river
Throw the rod in two places. First one – 3 to 4 feet higher the upper lip of the pit, and second two-thirds lower. The reason for placing the hooks with bait is that the top hook must lay, so the main current goes up, this way the particles of food transferred by the flow will fall into the dead zone in the pit.
This argument is often incorrect and depends on many variables, such as the speed of the flow, the changes in heights, the angle of the pit etc. But I like that option, and more importantly – it works for me!
The lower hook is located for two-thirds of the length of the pit, as I believe that this place is where the fish that enters the hole stops at the beginning.
- Catching with the feeder
Feeder tackle is an excellent alternative to expensive floating rods. Angling with the feeder is convenient and
universal. It allows ordinary fishers who do not take part in angling to fish.
- Fishing with a spring
To fish with a spring is perhaps the most democratic way of fishing, which replaced the legendary traditional way.
Fishery esthetics, “real fideists” perceive that this method is not always adequate. But people used it even when almost no one knows the word “feeder” in our country. Mastering it is effortless, and it does not require significant financial investments.
- Fishing with boilies
In the early eighties, a company of enterprising local fishermen at home prepared the world’s first boilie, which consisted of a mixture of corn and soy flour, semolina and raw eggs. It was then when the word “boilies” came to us from Europe. The ball, which turned out to be the result of fishermen’s cooking, proved to be an ideal bait for sazan and an equally good way to avoid smaller fish biting such as crucian and roach. It was because the balls, the diameter of which reached two and a half centimetres, did not allow small fish to swallow the bait it was just perfect.
- To catch with corn
The fish like the smell and taste of corn – a fact well tested by fishermen. The bait from corn practically guarantees the successful catch. But there are some features that you need to know when to fish. Choice of gear, lure, choice of location, all this strongly affects the final result of catching, so you need to consider each factor separately.
- Fishery with floating rod
To fish with a float rod is more effective in some places than catching with a feeder. It is because large carp often comes close to the shore. It is much more comfortable and more interesting to throw a light float snap, adding a small amount of bait.
- To fish with a worm
We use an animal nozzle for catching less often than plant nozzle, but it is certain that in such waters where there are many plant debris, you can readily take carp for live bait than for grain, bread and porridge, especially in spring and early summer. Worms (crawls, ordinary earthen and red dung), of course, are the most common attachment for angling. The bite on creeps the worst. It also reluctantly bites on dung worms. Much more fish are interested in well-cleaned earthworms. You can put worms on the hook in different ways. Some fishermen put a sizeable earthen worm with loops.
- Catching with the nipple
A feeder method is an advanced form of the nipple. The difference is that the hook hid in the bait has boilies or corn, and the food is not plasticine, but gradually swells and disintegrates at the bottom, creating a luncheon with bait on the top. The nipple is an unsportsmanlike tackle for catching and crucian carp. It is unsportsmanlike because of the effect of a random bite. You identify fish by hooks without eating the bait, a viscous bait, inside which there are several hooks with polystyrene. Polystyrene makes the hooks weightless and virtually invisible to touch. Sazan swallows up food, and with them, hooks then try to leave and are notched.
- Catching with the cattle cake
A bottom rod with the use of cattle cake is considered to be one of the oldest and traditional gears for catching large fish and a crucial one. It is a pressed cake, which is also called “Chinese”. The main advantage of this catch is the high efficiency of the fishery.
- Fishery with a potato
Potatoes are a simple, inexpensive and effective attachment for angling. In many ponds, bites exclusively on vegetables, and there is no possibility of using another nozzle. If you do not plan to fish abroad and do not do it professionally – then there is no need to spend money on expensive mixes. Domestic ponds, both paid and free, are inhabited by carp, which also take the classic bait with big pleasure. Boiled potatoes are a great option.
- Catching with bread
Bread that floats like cork remains on the hook after long casts; large fish eat it with excitement. Can it be true? The secret lies in fat. Despite the excellent biting of carp on boilies (in the topic: how to cook homemade boilies with their own hands), many experienced fishers trust only bread. And it is not worthless. This bread is a reasonably effective bait.
- To fish with peas
Many fishers use peas for angling. The freshly prepared bait has a pleasant smell, and if it were possible to achieve the softness and plasticity of each pea, the fish would swallow this dish decisively.
- To catch with a ledger rig with a feeder
Bottom rod with a feeder allows you to carry out two main tasks: to deliver the bait to a remote point of catching and to feed the fish in the chosen place. Leger rig with a feeder is considered to be a universal tackle, with which you can fish at different depths, in stable lake water or on the flow of a large river.
Choosing a place for fishery
The main and the most challenging moment for catching on the river is selecting the location. In closed waters, it is always much easier to find a place – less water, more fish points (snags, thickets, backwaters, etc.). You have to spend some hours trying to find a place that could become attractive to fish. But the experienced fisherman can find a right carp spot even in the river.
Mostly fisher tries to keep the following places. Backwaters or sea bays, on the river, are formed by flow, which runs around the sandbank. As a rule, there is no current, and there is a lot of vegetation, where sazan can find himself at home thickets of reeds, cattails, etc. Sazan, like their lake “brother”, loves this places. Here it is easier for fish to find food or hide from the threat. Angling on such spots is considered good.
- Bends of rivers
These are places with turns, on which the current slows down. It attracts sazan that likes still water. Also, the water always has a lot of algae; there are places with decent depth and shallows where the fish can find food or wait out the weather. Positions of colliding of streams and other rivers When two currents collide, a mix of “quiet” and “fast” water forms. The fish often find shelter here. In such places, there is a high level of oxygen in the water, which need for the fish activity.
- Fallen trees and floods
They create natural protection for the sazan and slow the flow. Also, there is more food, including not only crayfish but insects. Washed and steep banks A lot of river food is attracted here, which attracts carp. The difficulty is just in where to place yourself -the place can’t always be comfortable. You should pay your attention to the essential areas. However, not only such a visual “relief” is vital. It is necessary to learn about the bottom. In the waters with the current, it tries to be in holes, depth differences, outcrops, etc. It is again because the current is slowing down.
