Fishing in troubled waters. Fishing in troubled waters Fishing in troubled waters meaning

Sooner or later, the spring time comes, when melted “snow”, but relatively clean and cold water rushes quickly and violently along the rivers, and after this comes the time of muddy floods, which is caused by the warming and thawing of the earth with the discharge of groundwater saturated with various suspensions .

Of course, this is not the groundwater that constantly circulates in underground rivers and streams, breaking through to the surface in the form of springs and springs and feeding our reservoirs, but the moisture that accumulated in the ground in the pre-winter period as a result of prolonged autumn rains and did not have time to drain. natural reservoirs of various types and frozen.

When dirty water rushes into reservoirs for a short time, turning them into “muddy rivers - jelly banks”, then fishing seems to many to be very problematic, if not completely useless. At the same time, it seems impossible to fish in water the color of thick coffee, not only on rivers, but even on reservoirs with little or no flow, some of which may still be partially under ice.

In fact, the fish population of many reservoirs, as well as all small food animals, annually and safely survive the invasion of muddy water. At the same time, it seems that the fish are even more actively moving around the water area than during the period of the first icy water, and it clearly does not miss the opportunity to feed and replenish wasted strength. In addition, all this happens on the eve of spawning, so the fish must inevitably move to certain areas of the upcoming spawn, where, already at the time of turbid water, its increased concentration occurs, which allows us to hope for successful fishing in such places. You just need to learn to calculate the concentration zones of a particular fish, choose the right tackle, technique and fishing distance, and also quickly determine the most effective bait or attachment. Each of these moments of the upcoming fishing is largely determined by the object of fishing, the type of reservoir, the nature of the current weather, as well as the strength and phase of the flood, its early or late onset.

The most difficult seems to be fishing in very high and muddy water on large rivers that overflow widely, overlooking a vast floodplain. But it is precisely during the short period of spring water that reaches the floodplain lowlands that it is possible to successfully fish if it is possible to find places where various fish are naturally concentrated. As a rule, at the stage of rising water, the fish is forced to leave the turbulent stream, where its gills are clogged with mud and where it has practically no opportunity to obtain any food. But on the floodplain, where the depth is shallow and the flow is very weak or there is no flow at all, the water settles and even warms up a little. As for food, there is plenty of it here. These include worms emerging from the flooded soil, and all kinds of insects and larvae that remained to overwinter in last year’s dense vegetation, and plant seeds. Therefore, more often in such places, the fish greedily grabs any worm thrown on a hook and does not react at all, for example, to a bloodworm, which will be appropriate when the river enters the banks.

However, not everywhere on the floodplain it makes sense to sit with a fishing rod at the peak of the flood, and here the fish have obvious “paths” along which it goes out into the flood, and then quickly slides down as the spring level begins to fall. Typically, zones of spring attraction for fish are coastal ravines, the mouths of small rivers and streams, and very low areas of the coast, where the water that floods them forms temporary bays and backwaters with a slightly greater depth than in the rest of the flooded area. But these low-lying areas of the river floodplain are more saturated with moisture even in the summer, and therefore they are overgrown much more abundantly than the surrounding areas, and besides, they are, as a rule, not plowed, so there is more food left here.

As for fishing itself among flooded vegetation, there are different approaches. Often, many fishermen who know the area well and the usual flood regime, in the fall, clear out “spots” for themselves in different places of the floodplain, where they will fish as the water rises or recedes. Others do it simpler: they put on a wading suit, arm themselves with a rake, and immediately before fishing, they tear out the vegetation in the right place. The fish even seem to be attracted to this, and after a while they appear in the fishing zone.

You can fish among the vegetation without doing any preliminary work: just find a small window or narrow passage in the thickets and keep the equipment in place there in order to save yourself the hassle with hooks. In addition, if the fishing spot is not prepared in advance, then it is not at all necessary to lower the hook with bait on the float tackle to the very bottom, where hooks are inevitable, and the bait often remains invisible to the fish, having fallen into dense, fallen vegetation. It is quite acceptable to hold the bait directly above the thickets, and the descent can be quite small: the fish here walks higher, without burrowing into the jungle, and will certainly notice an attractive treat. But you still won’t be able to completely get rid of the hooks, at least when playing for the next trophy. And this very annoying problem can be largely solved by using float equipment. Firstly, it must be made much shorter in length than the rod - this makes the tackle easier to control, preventing it from uncontrolled shifting into “bad” zones under the influence of the wind or as a result of drifting with the current. Secondly, a very thick, strong fishing line is installed without a leash, and the hook, on the contrary, is thin, unbends under significant loads, but reliably holds even large fish when it is “pulled out” from the thickets. Such a crude equipment, further simplified by a fairly heavy-duty float and a single sinker on the line, will not in any way affect the results of fishing in muddy water, where the line is lost among many stems, but it will allow you to confidently resist a worthy trophy, because both the mighty ide and the broad-bodied one can bite bream and fast chub, not to mention roach and crucian carp weighing under a kilogram.

By the way, under dams on medium and small rivers, where the foamy and noisy spring flow seems to reject even the thought of the possibility of any fishing, it is possible to quite successfully catch the so-called rheophilic fish: chub, large dace, ide, asp. Here, a float rod is unlikely to be of any use due to the frantic current, but it is very effective and productive to use the bottom fishing technique, called “rolling” fishing. Its essence is to equip a fishing line with a thickness of 0.2-0.3 mm with an end spherical sinker of such an optimal weight that after throwing the equipment into the stream, the current can only slowly drag it along the bottom, sometimes stopping it on uneven surfaces. One leash up to a meter long with a fairly large hook is tied directly to the sinker, the tackle is cast with a special feeder or picker rod with a flexible signal tip of the necessary elasticity, by which the sharp grip of the fish is very well noted. Naturally, the equipment uses a high-quality spinning or multiplier reel of medium power.

Of course, it is necessary to note the role of bait for fishing with a float rod in muddy spring water, because bait in any case is intended to concentrate and activate the fish in the fishing zone. However, many years of fishing experience in early spring in open, but still very cold water gives ambiguous results on the effect of bait in different situations. For example, on wide river floods, when the water enters the meadows, the fish clearly scatter from the places where baits made from standard compositions based on plant components were introduced, even if animal food in the form of bloodworms, worms or maggots was added there. But a finely chopped worm and mixed with shore soil may well, after some time, albeit not a short one, attract large spring fish to the fishing site, both predatory and peaceful. But such actions of the fisherman are more akin to affection, when it is possible to expect the result for a day, or two, or even a week - the main thing is that this work coincides with the timing and routes of the spring movement of the fish we are interested in, since only in this case the offered “treat” will not be wasted in vain.

However, at the same time and even at the same water temperature, a moderate amount of bait of a standard summer composition, of course, improved with a portion of small bloodworms, turns out to be quite effective if, for example, it is used in the process of fishing in areas of flowing ponds or reservoirs into which water already flows. muddy spring waters, and other parts of the reservoir are covered with ice that has not yet completely disintegrated. Under these conditions, it is possible to quickly attract roach, bleak, bream, silver bream, and ide to a certain place. The main thing here is to maintain a clear feeding regime, because bait supplied out of step with the activity of the fish or its excessive accumulation at the bite point can completely ruin all the preliminary work, and to such an extent that you will have to change the fishing location. Such a negative effect of “overfeeding” is especially pronounced in the spring (note that in autumn water with the same temperature the fish are not so “impressive”). In the spring, in order to achieve the desired result with bait, it is better and more reliable to use the tactic of gradually “feeding” the fish, starting with small portions and gradually increasing them as the number of “consumers” of the feed increases and the bite noticeably improves. However, you will need to immediately go the opposite way if, after serving the next portion of bait, there is suddenly a clear delay in biting. But many fishermen make the same mistake: when the bite deteriorates, they increase the frequency of bait supply and the volume of its next portions, which almost always leads to a disastrous result in the form of a complete lack of biting, or, for example, large roach or bream completely leave the fishing zone, and In their place is an annoying bleak.

I am sure that there will definitely be “fishermen” who, having barely read the title, will wrinkle their nose: “Muddy water? What kind of fishing? Useless! Only nets!

Well... They know better if their hands grow from the wrong place. Yes, the little soul of a poacher.

Instead of a preface

Please forgive me for such an emotional start, but it was precisely this misconception that exists among some catchers - both beginners and quite seasoned ones - that became the reason for writing this article.

I categorically disagree with the above persons. Because I know from my own experience: fishing in the spring - in high water, in muddy water with amateur gear - is a promising activity, and no less successful than ordinary fishing in clear water.

I don’t argue: due to partially dissolved soil—those solid suspensions that form turbidity—much changes under water, including the behavior of ichthyofauna. But the fish does not stop feeding. And this is the main thing for us.

How do high waters and floods affect fish?

Photo 2. The height of the flood.

In almost any river area, a sharp rise in water level is accompanied by a very noticeable turbidity. This is due to the fact that the river bed, regardless of the rocks composing its bed, is usually “designed” for the average spillway value, and with an increase in water mass, it begins to erode. Dirt is also added to the water by temporary flows that always occur during rains and massive melting of snow - they wash away soil from the surface of nearby lands.

Photo 3. Temporary watercourse - melt stream. It carries its muddy waters into the big river.

This is not the most favorable moment for fish, because three factors begin to act against it at once:

Solid particles suspended in water settle on the gill rakers, which significantly impairs breathing.
In muddy water, visibility is greatly reduced - down to several centimeters.
As the level rises, the river flow accelerates. This is especially felt on the main jet. The fish have to spend a lot of energy to overcome the flow.

But the underwater inhabitants “fight” these negative manifestations of the flood in their own way. And, as a rule, they emerge victorious.

The fish simply leaves from the suspended matter that clogs the gills. Where the water is cleaner, or where the turbidity settles faster. In rivers, the only way is to rise to the upper reaches, or go into tributaries. After all, the smaller the watercourse, the less water passes through it even at the very peak of the level, and accordingly, less soil will be washed out from the bottom and banks. And indeed, during high waters and floods, small rivers are always noticeably clearer than medium and large ones.

Pond fish act in a similar way, moving into the main and subsidiary tributaries, but can also concentrate away from the flooded channel - closer to the banks. The dirt settles there faster.

Photo 4. Visibility in completely muddy water. The picture was taken using a camera hermetically sealed in a plastic bag and submerged to a depth of about half a meter.

The same species that rely heavily on vision have to change their tactics for finding food. These are active fish, or ambush predators: pike perch, pike perch, . In clear water they usually “stand” in one place and wait for the food object to be in the visibility zone, but in muddy water this zone is very limited. Fish have to constantly move, “comb” their hunting grounds, “listening” and “sniffing” the situation.

The fish generally tries not to get involved with the third negative factor of the flood - a strong current, because it is energetically unprofitable to spend energy on it. It rarely goes out onto the main stream and mostly huddles closer to the shores and quiet backwaters. And, again, it rises into smaller tributaries, where the current is weaker.

Gear used in troubled waters

In ancient times, when there were an order of magnitude more fish in the rivers than now, the best gear for high water and floods was considered to be a net (as well as others based on it - muzzles, venter, tops, etc.). Actively walking fish in conditions of poor underwater visibility were perfectly caught in all this.

But over time, the most conscious people realized that it is blasphemous to use this method of fishing in the spring - during the spawning period, because it massively destroys caviar individuals, and therefore undermines the population of the entire fish stock.

There has never been such monstrous damage from amateur gear, and if we take into account the increased complexity of fishing conditions, then it generally tends to zero.

Theoretically, you can fish in muddy water with any gear, but those where the bait attracts fish purely visually will be very limited. And the cloudier the water, the more pronounced this will be. Therefore, during high waters and floods, those tackles and baits where fish are attracted by smell or vibrations come first.

Donka

This is probably the very first tackle for high water. On donki, or, fishermen's catches during floods are the most impressive.

Animals are usually used as bait: worms, bloodworms, bark beetle larva, caddis fly larva, live bait, fish meat. Plant-based ones are not so popular at this time; they are more suitable for summer. Nevertheless, anything can happen. There are known cases of catching fish in the bottom spring using canned corn, bread, dough, peas, etc.

Float rod

It is slightly inferior in effectiveness to the previous gear, mainly due to the fact that fishing takes place close to the shore, and on rivers you have to look for areas with no current. However, it is no less popular, especially when catching those fish that stay close to the shore and whose bite you don’t have to wait long for (bleak, roach, dace, perch, ruff, grayling).

On a float in high water, the same baits are used as when fishing with a donk.

Summer jig (rod with a side nod)

If in fishing with the two previous tackles the fish are attracted mainly by smell, then the nodding tackle provokes it to bite due to the vibrations that the jig makes. Regardless of whether it is a true baitless bait, or whether there is something attached to the hook. Vibrations in water travel faster and farther than smell.

But the range of action of a nodding fishing rod is even more limited than that of a float fishing rod. Therefore, it can only fish the coastal zone. However, on small rivers, it can prove to be many times more effective than the two previous gears.

You can catch any fish with nod tackle, except perhaps outright predators. The summer jig performs very well at .

Spinning

In muddy water, this tackle does not lose its catchability, although the radius of attracting fish is noticeably reduced. Those baits that actively produce vibrations and noise begin to work best: spinners, spinners, twisters and vibrating tails. Especially with all sorts of “rattles”.

In spring, the brightness of the color of the bait plays an important role, especially if visibility in the water is at least half a meter. Spoons and wobblers of the most acidic colors will work right now.

Fishing in high water with a spinning rod is quite a risky business, because due to the turbidity it is completely impossible to see what is under the water. Planting valuable bait at this time is a matter of one minute.

Surface tackle (boat, drag, balda, fly fishing)

In troubled waters, fishing with this gear often turns out to be a very, very dubious adventure. But when the turbidity settles a little, the level begins to drop and visibility under water will be about half a meter (this happens towards the end of the spill) - fishing with surface gear begins to make some sense.

I know fishermen who successfully catch chub with ide at this time (end of May - beginning of June) using a boat and dragging. A dragonfly larva is used as a nozzle.

You can also use artificial baits like flies. At the same time, the largest of them and the most “poisonously” colored are beyond competition.

During summer rainy floods, the situation is the same with surface gear - the success of fishing directly depends on how cloudy the water is and on how visible the bait is in it.

The best bait for fishing in spring

It all depends on what kind of fish we catch. For example: grayling responds well to raspberry, roach to caddisfly, burbot to gudgeon meat. However, about some baits we can safely say that in the spring they are the best and most versatile. Not only in terms of fishing, but also in terms of preparation - getting this attachment is quite simple.

Maggot. Ideal for catching small fish, be it bleak, roach, etc. It not only smells seductively, but also has a light color that is far visible in the water, and, among other things, it wriggles, spreading vibrations in the water. You can also put a whole bunch of maggots on a medium-sized hook - there is a chance that larger fish will be tempted by this bait.
Muckworm. A universal spring bait that attracts fish with its smell and vibrations. It works on most fish and is capable of tempting even such an exceptional predator as an asp to bite.
Bark beetle(carpenter beetle larva). Another bait option that fish are very willing to use in the spring.

Tactics for fishing in troubled waters

In spring fishing, the result directly depends on whether the place was chosen correctly. Simply put, you usually have to look for fish. This should be considered first. But on rivers and reservoirs, the “fishing” places differ somewhat, mainly due to the presence or absence of a current.

On the rivers

Photo 5. A backwater on a flooded river is a very good place for fishing in the spring.

On large and medium river The ideal option is a quiet, but for all that, a fairly deep place. You can find one after turning from the inside of the bend, after various protrusions of the coastline, after large objects located in the riverbed. Also, flooded areas, for example small water meadows, can be very tempting.

Fig 1. Fishing spots on the river during high water (shown by floats): 1 - mouth of the tributary; 2 - coastal section after the merger of two jets; 3 - quiet place after the turn; 4 - flooded area; 5 - calm after the protrusion of the coastal relief. The hatched arrows show the main jet.

If a smaller tributary flows into the river, then the following will be very promising: its near-mouth section, the mouth itself, and a small coastal zone after the confluence. In the tributary, the current, of course, is not as stormy as in the main river, the water in it is cleaner. At the same time, its stream (especially if the tributary flows in at a large angle) somewhat repels the stream of the main river, forming a small area with “returns” along the shore.

At all of the above places, the fish always stops for a short time - to rest and feed, and continue their journey upward. Well, of course, some of these places are nothing more than potential spawning grounds.

But where the current is strong, there is no point in fishing. Even if the fish ends up next to the bait, it won’t care; it will simply pass by, trying to quickly get out of the stream.

On small rivers the same principle applies, although the current there is noticeably weaker. You can fish with them on the main stream, for example, using a free floating bait.

Also very good are places (plums) after dams, ponds, pipes, bridges and other natural and artificial drops, where the water first runs down in a sharp stream, forming a storm, and then calms down and then flows calmly.

Photo 6. Draining a village pond. Another very good place for fishing in the spring.

To the side of the main stream after a pool of boiling water, it can be quite quiet. In such places it is quite possible to fish even with a float rod.

By the way, fishing in this way is popular in villages and villages.

On ponds and other bodies of water

Photo 7. Spring pond. Fishing in it is quite feasible, despite the completely muddy water.

In ponds and lakes the water is stagnant, so finding a “quiet place” there is easier than a steamed turnip. But whether there will be fish in this place is another question. Also, do not forget that now underwater inhabitants are trying to go against the flow, therefore, the upper reaches of the reservoir and the mouths of its subsidiary tributaries may turn out to be more promising than other places.

Rice. 2. Approximate places for fishing in the spring on the pond (marked with floats): 1 - mouths and bays of tributaries; 2—thickets of aquatic vegetation.

Shallow waters with last year’s vegetation will also be no less interesting, because all invertebrate life is hiding here at this time (and the water warms up faster, which is also an attractive factor for fish). Despite the fact that in the spring the ichthyofauna prefers animal food to other food, some fish (for example, crucian carp, carp, tench and roach) are attracted to the tender young sprouts of cattails, sedges, egg capsules and other “edible” aquatic plants. By the way, nothing prevents the fisherman from using their pieces as bait, and the result can exceed all expectations.

Application of bait

Whether or not to use bait depends on the situation. If the fisherman is sitting in a place where more and more schools of rising fish are constantly arriving (for example, on a river), then bait is not needed. But it happens that the “fish path” is located away from the fishing spot, then bait will be very useful.

As with bait, with bait in the spring you should definitely focus on components of animal origin: bloodworms, chopped worms, jigs - frozen from the winter and boiled before fishing, etc. However, vegetable bait is also made from breadcrumbs and other, not animal additives - it often works “with a bang” on individual fish, for example, on roach or bleak.

What fish are best caught in the spring?

The following representatives of the ichthyofauna are the easiest to catch in muddy water: bleak, gudgeon, ruff (with the right bait). Simply put, all those ubiquitous little things, always pecking and numerous.

It will be somewhat more difficult to catch larger fish: ide, bream, crucian carp, dace.

Finally, fish such as tench, carp, pike, pike perch, asp require a certain skill from the fisherman - knowledge of their habits and skill in using gear.

- a separate topic. It is conducted in the dark, and the worse the weather, the better the bite will be. And until the water warms up above 12°C, burbot readily responds to live bait, fish meat or a bunch of earthworms.

Be careful: ticks!

But, be that as it may, spring fishing is fraught with a certain danger to the health of the fisherman.

High water always occurs at peak tick activity: Every fisherman should remember this. And protect yourself accordingly!

Bloodsuckers are furious at this time - not enough has been said. Unfortunately, not all the infections they spread have a vaccine, so the only sure way to protect yourself from them is to prevent ticks from getting on exposed areas of your body. There is only one way out - a special anti-encephalitis suit, which must be treated like “Gardex”, “Reftamid”, etc.

It’s better to fish not alone, but with a partner, and periodically glance at each other. It often happens that a friend is the first to discover a tick crawling on your clothes.

You should also avoid places that are potentially dangerous for ticks: shady, damp, cluttered, overgrown with grass and bushes. It often happens that a huge number of bloodsuckers accumulate in a small but favorable area.

I remember my partner and I were fishing during a flood on the river. The road (dirt road) to the fishing spot went through a dense spruce forest. It’s clear that we didn’t go into the forest, and there were no ticks on the bare ground, so my friend and I didn’t even bother about them. In one place on the road, sparse young grass grew, no more than 10 centimeters high. This area was small - about 5 by 10 meters, and looked completely harmless. But having walked along it, we immediately found ticks on our pants - each of us took off ten. It turned out that there were countless bloodsuckers on that grass - on every blade of grass there was one or two ticks.

However, if the place where the fishing is carried out is open, clean, dry, well warmed by the sun, then most likely there will be no ticks on it.

conclusions

There is only one conclusion. Fishing in muddy water in the spring and using amateur gear is possible and necessary.

And it is better to refuse the temptation to install a network. You shouldn’t stoop to the level of that herd of ghoul poachers who annually and with impunity block our rivers with hundreds of kilometers of forest “China”. You shouldn’t be like those dishonest people who take advantage of the uselessness of fisheries inspection.

But, first of all, here’s why you should refuse: the network is “cheating” and absolutely unsporting. The net is the fate of the amateur who imagines himself to be a fisherman, but is not one in the least.

Perhaps my first struggles with muddy water began to occur in the spring during the spring flood. These are small rivers flowing into the Don. And this is all that is located below the Volzhskaya hydroelectric station after the opening of the stopper valves.

The first fishing trips where it dawned on me that fish can be caught in muddy water took place on the Don immediately after the ice drift. The fact is that the right bank of the Don consists of chalk mountains. In many ways, this provokes a lack of water transparency already during ice drift. At the same time, the flood on small rivers flowing into the Don and the Tsimlyansk Reservoir always occurs earlier. Thus, fresh melt water, although dirty, enters the Don - and, one might say, invites fish to spawn. I don’t know the reasons for the varying degrees of mass arrival for spawning, for example, pike perch. In some years it comes more, in others - very little. I think that this is due precisely to the combination of water temperature and local floods in the tributaries of the Don, and also depends on the water level in the Don itself. But let ecologists and ichthyologists work on these issues. We'll talk about how to fish in troubled waters.

So, I remember my first fishing trips and my first surprise. I probably wouldn’t even try to jig the pike perch in that muddy water if I didn’t know that the day before it was caught there very well. And indeed, it was necessary to find a catchable place - and the bites followed one after another. In this situation - when fishing with a jig in muddy water - I can only advise bringing the bait almost to your feet. Very often bites occur at a distance of an extended spinning rod. Having noticed this feature, I began to fish more often on the bank on which I stood. I made casts and retrieved along the shore. Sometimes this helped a lot. After all, if you fire at the opposite shore, the bait will cross the shore edge only once and very quickly. And when fishing along the edge, the chances of a bite increase significantly. Fishing itself does not differ in any special features, except for the use of thinner “braid” and a more sensitive spinning rod. I jig in small rivers in the spring with a Hearty Rise Evolution ES-792LGX spinning rod (5-21 g), and my friend fishes pike perch with the famous Graphiteleader Vivo 792ML. But let’s not delve into the intricacies of jigging, but return again to the “muddy business.”

A little later, the picture with the turbidity of the water becomes even more interesting. The water level in the Don tributaries is falling, the water is becoming lighter, but in the Don itself it is still muddy. At the mouths of the channels you can observe how the cold Don water mixes with the clean and warmer water of the tributary. Such places are favored by “white” fish, especially sabrefish. Well, of course, it is grazed by pike perch, which has already “shot” for spring duties. During this period, you cannot fish from boats, but you can from the shore. True, getting to such places in the spring, when the flood subsides, can be very problematic.

A few words about color and contrast

There is, however, also such a thing as bait contrast. I don’t have a clear solution here. On the one hand, I caught pike perch well even with gray foam rubber. On the other hand, purely intuitively, it seems to me that a bright bait should be more noticeable in muddy water. Bright orange, for example. And, at the same time, I understand that it is in muddy water that a dark bait should be more noticeable - if only because it reflects less light, i.e. absorbs it. And around the suspension in the water, on the contrary, daylight is scattered. Thus, I decided for myself that a dark bait has a greater chance of being noticed by pike perch. These are my own black foam “fishes”. For “silicone” I also try to follow the rule I introduced. Of the silicone baits I use, I can mention the Motor Oil colors from the Mottomo and Berkley brands. By the way, Berkley also has a frankly black Black colorway. I am sure that many manufacturers of soft baits have dark colors - I would choose them first of all when fishing in muddy water in the spring.

Spring asp

Asp is another predator that I catch in muddy water in the spring. First I practice this in Akhtuba in early spring. Closer to April, Akhtuba will become transparent, and immediately after the ice melts, the water in the river is still quite cloudy. Asp is not caught everywhere, but over the years I have figured out the places where it manifests itself. I don’t even undertake to explain why these particular points, because when searching for new places, I was not able to find an asp based on similar signs in early spring. For example, there is a short section of Akhtuba between two 90° turns of the river - this is his favorite place. But something like this a little higher or lower doesn’t work, and that’s it. At the same time, on the contrary, I once met an asp in an open area of Akhtuba, and I came across him there more than once. I cannot yet explain the reasons for the presence of asp in certain areas of Akhtuba in the spring. I’m just accumulating information - and in the spring I will definitely conduct reconnaissance of the water area in which I find myself.

Fishing is also done with a jig, but black colors no longer work at all. Asp bites occur exclusively on white “foam rubber” and white “silicone” colors. I think that in the previous case, the pike perch is protecting its nest, and the more contrasting the bait, the more angry it is, or something. But the asp feeds exclusively in the spring, so he is more aware of natural colors that remind him of small fish. The bites are powerful, but not vicious. If you take out the bait and there are no teeth of a predator on it, it means an asp has attacked. You need to give up non-catching baits, and use something more grippy and always white. Another option is to jig with Castmaster.

Closer to the Volga flood, the asp begins to take wobblers with spinners. This is usually in the first days when the hydroelectric power station begins its spring discharge of flood waters. The water level is rising literally before our eyes. The water floods the shore heated by the sun - and already in a muddy form, but sufficiently warmed up, it flows into the still cold Volga. In such places we catch asp. Sometimes among floating debris and foam. In this situation, the color of the bait matters little. What works more is the horizon of the spinner or wobbler and the vibration it creates. Last season I had excellent results with the Sebile Vibrato bait. And the color is suitable, it flies far, and creates a decent vibration. My “test” wobblers are Lucky Craft Clutch, and as soon as I am confident that there are fish in the water, I start fishing with more budget wobblers Usami, Mottomo, German, San-San. As I already said, it is not the specific model that is important, but the horizon at which it occurs in the water column. In most cases, asp bites occur near the bottom. When fishing with spinners, I pause after casting, letting the spoon sink, and then start retrieving. The wobbler immediately begins to reel in, and if halfway through it starts occasionally poking the blade into the pebbles, it means the horizon is chosen correctly.

Muddy Peals

The following account of muddy water is from late spring and early summer. But due to the fact that we are planning a vacation now, it would be appropriate to talk about the Volga peals, which are below Astrakhan. During this period, namely in May - early June, muddy Volga water flows into the Caspian Sea through canals and banks. Look at these places using Google Earth or Yandex. Maps” - and you will easily understand what I am talking about. Muddy streams of water alternate with more transparent ones, which have time to clear themselves thanks to the numerous reeds and algae. Sometimes such streams run parallel, sometimes a muddy stream crashes into the clear water, sometimes, on the contrary, a clean stream of water crashes into the turbidity. I think there is no need to convince anyone that it is on the border of these jets that one should look for fish.

But there is a very interesting question: how to position the boat correctly? How should such areas be fished? Lead the bait from muddy water to clear water - or vice versa? My practice and observations of the actions of huntsmen show that the main thing in such matters is to stand in such a way as not to interfere with the movement of other boats. This is dictated by basic safety rules. Well, in places like this, the longer you stand, the greater your chances of catching more fish. Such places rarely work on the fly. Clients come for a certain period of time, and standing like this, waiting for the fish to swim to such a place on its own, at first glance, is a waste of time. Of course, somewhere on Raskaty you can always find clean water and catch pike and perch for your own pleasure. However, large fish still stay closer to deeper channels and banks.

You are more likely to encounter an asp in such places. My friend and I were lucky enough to visit the same places two years in a row at the same time. On our first visit, we were content with catching medium-sized pike, rudd, and perch. And on the second trip we spent a couple of days just to watch for large fish at such points. We didn’t catch the trophy, but we clearly saw that he regularly visits this place. Well, the largest pikes and perches were caught precisely on the border of muddy and clear water. The main thing is that you should not neglect maintaining silence on the boat. After all, as it usually happens, we either hit the side with the oar, or loudly place the box with bait on the bottom. There is an opinion that there is so much fish below Astrakhan that there is no need to maintain silence. But no! It was the big fish that came out into the open water only when silence was maintained. Our huntsman even fell asleep in the boat. When another boat passed by, we waited patiently for a while, changing baits and drinking a can of cold beer. We tried to catch rudd and perch. But then they gradually switched to a whisper and patiently waited for a large fish to either bite or appear in sight. Believe me, it's very exciting!

For bait, I would recommend minnow wobblers with a noise chamber. It seems to me that the crackling sound created by a wobbler should attract the attention of a predator standing in muddy water. Perhaps this noise causes it to move closer to the boundary of the jets. But I also believe that some of my wobblers were just more lucky, and some less so. When you are patiently waiting for a bite from a large fish, the angler’s confidence in his bait is of great importance. So far, for me, this is the main condition on Raskat when hunting for a trophy.

Of course, all famous brands will work and there is no point in listing them. I’d rather write about one situation for which you need to be prepared. A large pike appears near the boat unnoticed. While you are busy with ordinary twitching, suddenly with average vision you catch something like a log against the background of thick grass. It's her, the crocodile! So, what is next? The minnow wobbler will not reach it. And it turns out that the long-awaited chance will be missed. Knowing that there is a high probability of encountering a potential trophy, it is necessary to select a bait that will be at hand and which, when retrieved, will pass just above the bottom grass. It could be some big crank. But after several attempts to find something universal, I chose the Kuusamo Lippa-Rasanen combination spoon. Since I see what is happening underwater, I can easily calculate the pause during which the spoon sinks to a given depth. When posting, I have both volume and oscillation of the front lobe. As they say, two in one. Well, the spoon itself was designed primarily for catching large pike. The trick is that Kuusamo spinners are more popular in the northern part of our continent. But in the south of Russia I rarely saw these spinners. So I recommend everyone to make room for these baits in their arsenal.

Returning to the topic of fishing in muddy water, I must admit that most often I caught fish from muddy water. Apparently, the dregs camouflage the predator. Perch, of course, often organize a collective hunt in clear water, but pike more often bite from the side of a muddy stream.

(meaning and origin of phraseology)

Fishing in troubled waters | Fish in troubled waters (used with a subject with the meaning of person) –

Meaning:

Taking advantage of the ambiguity of the situation, disagreements, etc., to take advantage of someone’s difficulties. It is said disapprovingly of someone who takes advantage of the situation for personal gain.

Etymology:

The phraseological unit is widespread in the Russian language and has almost complete analogues in many other languages, which indicates the popularity of fishing and knowledge of fish habits among many peoples. Over time, the expression went beyond fishing and acquired a broader meaning: to take advantage of confusion and confusion to achieve one's selfish goals.

There is a well-known Latin maxim: Turbato melius capiuntur flumine pisces (from the ancient Roman poet Ovid), which literally means “fish are caught better in troubled waters.” One of the fables of the ancient Greek poet Aesop talks about a fisherman who muddied the water around his nets, driving blinded fish into them.

So, the image of the expression is obvious: it is easy to catch fish in muddy water, since it does not see nets and other fishing equipment. The phrase “muddy water” gives the expression a negative connotation.

Examples of use:

1. Sallust [Roman historian of the 1st century. BC] from the very first lines paints Catiline [the Roman politician] as a depraved scoundrel who sought fish in troubled waters.

(N. Dobrolyubov. “Library of Roman writers in Russian translation.”)

From the 18th century: He, the uncle-educator, had no doubt that under the circumstances at that time he would be the first person with me and therefore would sometimes have the opportunity catch fish in troubled waters.

(Bolotov. “The Life and Adventures of Andrei Bolotov..., Letter 18.”)

Fishing in troubled waters or fishing in troubled waters. This phrase can often be heard in modern life. What does it mean, what do they want to say when using it?

This statement refers to a situation where a person “fogs in”, achieves his own well-being by dishonest means, or takes advantage of someone else’s difficulties. I wonder where this saying came from, because it didn’t appear out of the blue?

It is well known that the ancestors of many peoples lived in fishing. And, of course, they used nets for fishing, and in order for more fish to be caught in the net, they muddied the water. They lost the ability to navigate and fell into a trap.

In literary works, this expression is first found in the Greek fabulist Aesop. He has a fable in which a fisherman muddies the waters to get a rich catch.

“The fisherman was fishing in the river. He stretched out his net to block the current from bank to bank, and then tied a stone to a rope and began to hit the water with it, scaring the fish so that, while fleeing, they would suddenly get caught in the net. One of the local residents saw him doing this and began to scold him for muddying the river and not allowing them to drink clean water. The fisherman answered: “But if I hadn’t muddied the river, I would have had to die of hunger!”

Of course, every fable contains a moral. In this fable it is like this:

“So demagogues in states live best when they manage to create unrest in their fatherland.”

As you can see, the meaning and essence of this expression is the same as in the modern world.

Here's another poem about the benefits of fishing in troubled waters. It was written in the 18th century by Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart. It's called "Trout".

frolicking in a bright stream,

The cheerful trout flew like an arrow.

I stood on the shore and watched with emotion

While swimming a nimble fish in a clean stream.

One fisherman with a fishing rod stood on the shore

And he watched dispassionately as the fish twirled around.

As long as the water is clear enough, I thought,

The fisherman cannot catch a trout with his hook.

However, apparently, the scoundrel was tired of wasting time.

He muddied the water of the stream, and before I had time to come to my senses,

How the fish fluttered on his hook,

And I looked excitedly at the deceived creature.

Honore de Balzac also writes about fishing in troubled waters in his novel “Balamutka”. Child labor was common then, and the girl had to muddy the water in the streams, scaring the fish and crabs, driving them into nets in order to get a good catch.

All these examples show that indeed fish in troubled waters easy because she can't see the fishing gear. And if we ignore fishing, then in another broader meaning we get that by taking advantage of the confusion, vanity, confusion of others, you can benefit for yourself.