Yesterday, February 13th, my husband went fishing. I would have gone with him too, but I was sick. He promised to take lots of interesting photos so I wouldn't get bored. He bragged about his catch. So, I decided to share his outing with you. The fishing was really active and exciting yesterday!
He set off in the dark. When he arrived (a 20-minute drive), it was just beginning to dawn on the ice. It was about 7:00 Samara time. The location was the Kopylovo Peninsula, not far from the Tikhaya Gavan tourist center. The ice was in questionable condition—somewhere a meter thick, and in others it would break through with a single blow of an ice pick. There's a hydroelectric power station nearby, and the currents are constant and the water level fluctuates, so some of the ice near the shore is thick, while the rest is constantly breaking away, freezing new ice. And as luck would have it, the best bites are at the thinnest point.
First I tried it on 5 cm ice.
The first bites began right after the hole was drilled:
A total of 20 holes were drilled (over the course of the day). We had to constantly search for perch. They'd bite in one spot and then stop. We had to move around a lot. The most active perch runs were in the rear from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM.
The first perch started biting around 8 am:
And here's thin ice. No need for a drill; I could break through it with an ice pick. My husband won't admit how many centimeters, stubbornly insisting it's 7 cm and "old holes." Yeah, I believe it...
Oh, yes, I forgot to mention the weather. It's warmed up again, and by lunchtime the temperature outside was above zero (+3).
Here's one of the perch I caught. It took the bait on a Lucky John jig:
Another thing that really helped was the fish finder my husband often takes with him. It's a special kind of winter one, called a Praktik. It's simple, pocket-sized, and has no bells and whistles. It's just for checking if there are fish down there or just empty.
My husband deliberately lowers a jig to the bottom, then lowers the fish finder. He starts playing the jig to distinguish it from a fish. Then he watches the fish's activity. Usually, a perch gets interested, swims up, and the fish finder immediately shows it. If only one jig is playing on the fish finder for 5-7 minutes, it means there are no fish nearby—it's time to move on.
My husband walks around with a whole set:
- Fishing box-seat.
- Sled.
- Ice drill.
- Bag with a thermos.
He carries all this with him, even if he has to walk several kilometers across the ice to get to the fishing spot! A true athlete.
Here's the box and part of the catch. Nice perch! I caught a bunch from one hole:
I'll show you the place where he fished closer, he doesn't go far from the holes, the whole catch was in one spot - within 500 m.
This is just below the "Harbor" tourist center:
And in the distance are the beautiful Zhiguli Mountains:
All these trees are flooded by the Volga in summer:
The fishing was long and active. There were some trophy perch, too. Look at this big one in the sled:
And all this still needs to be carried to the car:
We ended up freezing some of the fish, selling some to neighbors, and giving the rest to family. The perch fish soup is so fishy, mmmm! It reminds me of shrimp broth. The only thing I hate is that perch is spiny and it's a pain to clean. So I don't clean it, I just rip open the belly and boil it in the fish soup. Even when frying, I just roll it in flour (scales included) and fry it. Then I peel off the golden-brown skin—it comes off very easily. And I eat the fillet.
What a fantastic fishing trip it was! Although, sometimes there are no fish, but that's rare! Lately, even in the dead of winter, the perch have been active.