He is not the kind of fish that is found, lured, using different fishing techniques. That is, there is no particular interest in catching burbot in the process itself. They are caught, as it were, in addition to the main fishing. And only to send to the kitchen. The meat is not lean and tasty, and the liver is generally a delicacy. Caught burbot is even beaten on the stomach to make the liver enlarge.
Catching burbot in autumn
They just throw donks and wait to pick it up - and into the landing net. A strong "string bag" is definitely needed, because the length of burbot reaches half a meter. One of the active participants in the thread on the forum wrote: “If there is burbot, then it will be on the hook. Catching special skill does not require. It doesn’t matter which line the hook is attached to, which sinker, and even the rod test. In spring and autumn, they put the bait on the bottom, tapping it from time to time to attract attention. The burbot grabs the hook so ferociously that hooking is sometimes unnecessary. But it happens that at first it twitches, and then you have to wait until it grabs tightly. An amateur with tells about this experience. But there are other situations as well. A fisherman from Polotsk is surprised that during the jigging he unexpectedly caught a burbot on a spinning rod.
Catching burbot on the bottom at night
In March, on the rivers, burbot is caught crawling out. In Logoisk, white fry. In Vitebsk, for pieces of mackerel. It’s rare when a tired burbot bucks before rising from the water, because the cane on such fishing is safe and the fishing line will not burst, the mentor of beginners notes. On Maryina Gorka, according to the word, in March, 10 burbots were caught on snacks with chopped vendace. But all this is in early spring or autumn. With the advent of warm days, the “polar explorer” loses activity and is half asleep, trying to sit deeper between the trunks of bottom shrubs and snags. By the way, this served as a humorous intrigue for A. Chekhov's cheerful story "Burbot".
Burbot habits
They say about burbot that everything is the other way around. If only because it is the only freshwater species from the cod order. And he behaves accordingly, like a river polar bear. When all the fish fall asleep, the burbot prepares for spawning. Other predators rarely grab ruffs, and burbot willingly feeds on them. The burbot fry, in general, have time to hatch while the fish “yawn” when they are awake; later, what is left is eaten by awakened predators. And burbot enters a period of plentiful zhor, since the living at this time is inactive. In gear tuned for burbot during this period, mormyshkas loaded with lead, spinners and their hybrids with mormyshka, balancers are used.
For burbot in winter from ice
The ban on catching this fish is valid in Belarus for two winter months. At this time, the forum threads are silent. The period of active fishing is practically limited to December. Bad or very bad weather at this time is a sure sign of good burbot fishing. Catch and open water, and under the ice. At night, the single-whiskered comes across more often. By the way, even then he does not cause trouble. You just need to check the vents in the morning. As one of the fans of such ice overnights said: “You go to burbot to sit in good company, and then fall asleep until morning in a tent.” And if you can’t sleep, then sitting by the hole is also not a sin. Best of all, burbot pecks on a moonless night from the bottom or near-bottom water column. If you feel a sharp push, you need the same sharp hooking, and the hauling of the burbot is short-lived. Vigilance obliges even a calm burbot to lift decisively and quickly from the hole. He has such a trick: he will curl up like a steering wheel, you can no longer pull him out of the hole. More often this happens during daytime fishing, burbot reacts sharply to the light from the hole, although night lighting causes the same reaction. It happened - you need to repeat the maneuver from the very beginning.
burbot fishing season
burbot fishing season
In late January - early February, the period of the ban on catching burbot ends in our "Central European" part of Russia. The ban on fishing is associated with the spawning period of this fish. The very essence of the prohibition during the spawning period, to me personally, is not very clear, since burbot, like any other fish, and not only fish, either eats or breeds. All other options exist, except perhaps in anecdotes. However, now the ban has ended, and any angler can try to catch this fish. Why try? Probably because, after reading the literature on catching burbot, any normal angler will come to the conclusion that the entire body of water must first be explored with the help of echo sounders and divers. Then it is absolutely necessary to mark on a personal GPS the location of not only snags, burrows and dumps, but also underwater keys, collapses between rocky ridges, because burbot prefers (from the literature) to stick to just such habitats.
Based on my own experience of catching burbot, I can say the following. Burbot is a fairly rare fish in the waters near Moscow compared to the abundance of perch or roach. What is the reason for this phenomenon - no one knows, but it is a fact. Therefore, in order to catch a burbot, you must first find it.
If there is a lot of burbot in the reservoir, then finding it is not difficult. To do this, it is enough to install several dozen winter vents in different places, and in the morning it will be clear whether there is a burbot in the reservoir or not.
But if this fish is not enough, then you have to not only re-read all the "home" literature and strain your memory, but also resort to the help of echo sounders and navigators. By the way, immediately about echo sounders. Burbot is one of the most "difficult to identify" fish with the help of echo sounders. This is due to the fact that burbot practically does not swim, but crawls along the bottom in search of a victim.
For the success of fishing, the choice of location is decisive. No bait or bait on this fish does not work in terms of luring to any place. Only if the place of fishing is precisely known, then some anglers, especially if they are fishing with a lure with a piece of fish, use bait in the form of finely ground minced meat. I tried this bait and came to the conclusion that it is useless, and sometimes harmful. The fact is that burbots choose places not just with solid ground, but also try to stick to stones, flooded trees and branches. If you carefully read the fishing literature over the past thirty years, then no cases have been described. Burbots were found in old barrels, and in buckets, and in car tires. Not to mention coastal burrows and tree roots. But these same places are chosen for habitation and crayfish. The neighborhood of burbots and crayfish is found literally everywhere. And if a colony of crayfish is found, then it is possible with a high degree of certainty to look for burbot here. I wouldn't argue otherwise.
So, if you scatter meat bait in places where burbot are caught, then crayfish will get to it faster.
Places for catching burbots before and after spawning differ significantly. Probably, this is due to the fact that after spawning, burbot loses activity until the end of March, when caviar ruffs go to spawn. Then the burbot will start hunting in the morning and even in the afternoon. Before spawning and just before spawning, burbots are looked for on the "paths" along which they go to clean and oxygen-rich water. These are tributaries and underwater springs. Burbots go from year to year by the same route. Perhaps this is the only time when it is advisable to catch them on a lure with replanting fry or a piece of fish.
After spawning, burbots disperse to their usual sites. Only a small part of the burbot remains close to the spawning grounds if there is enough food. But an even more important factor for the onset of post-spawning zhor is the sufficient oxygen content in the water. In small and low-flowing reservoirs, after spawning biting, it may not be. Burbot loses activity until coastal spring cracks appear, through which oxygen-rich melt water begins to flow. This coincides with the exit to the shore of flocks of ruff.
The search for burbot after spawning is complicated by the fact that the layer of snow on the ice has now reached its maximum thickness. It is difficult to move around the reservoir in search of fish sites. Looking for perch or roach is much easier. These fish quickly react either to the game of a mormyshka, or to a small bloodworm thrown into the hole. With burbot, the situation is different, since almost all bites occur at night.
The existing ban on night fishing complicates hunting even more and reduces it to passive fishing on "stands". But if such a ban is still somehow in effect near large cities, then even fish protection inspectors do not know about it already on the Volga or Valdai. Personally, I used to catch burbot "in the appendix" in Dubna, on the Istra River below the city of Istra. Quite often, burbots are still found in the Istra reservoir, in the Ruz reservoir, in the "First Technical Bay" on the Great Volga. A lot of burbot remained in the region of Korcheva on the Volga below Konakovo. Over time, I began to purposefully go to catch this fish on Valdai Lake and Velye. The calculation here is simple. Night fishing requires at least three days for a full-fledged fishing. On the day of arrival, the live bait is caught and the girders are set for the first night. On the second day, an additional survey of the fishing area is carried out, taking into account the night bite. The live bait is prepared, then the afternoon rest and going out to catch. On the third day in the morning they gather gear, rest and go home. If you leave fishing in the afternoon, then you will be at home by dinner.
The capture proceeds as follows. I install regular winter vents that are designed for pike fishing. The difference lies in the fact that instead of leashes made of thick fishing line, I put leashes made of braided tarred nylon. A few years ago I "borrowed" a piece of such material from a "set-up" "lost" by local fishermen pulled out on a spinning rod. I must say that such leashes are not only soft and durable, but also almost eternal. Hook No. 1 or No. 2 is tied at the end of the leash. The sinker is sliding. The sinker is placed on the bottom, and the burbot can swallow the bait as much as he likes. But that's the whole point night fishing. Unlike most anglers, I believe that it makes sense not to leave the pond, but to be near the vents. The fact is that when I just started fishing on these reservoirs, I left the vents for the night and checked them in the morning. Almost every morning I saw the following picture. All the flags are "burning", and there are two or three burbots on hooks. Hooks are empty, but no fish. Sometimes the fishing line was unwound all over and even cut off. My first thought was that one of the local anglers had time to check the vents before me. But then why is the tackle sometimes cut off? It turned out that rarely, but a very large pike grabbed the live bait at night and cut off the tackle. More often, live bait was eaten by crayfish, which were very numerous in the places of fishing. From this I concluded that the live bait must be lively and be on a relatively long leash (a meter and a half), so that the crayfish could not immediately attack him. And the second conclusion was that bites still need to be monitored.
As live bait fish, I use roach, perch, ruff, and gudgeon. Undoubtedly the minnow is the best live bait, but when it is not there, the perch is very good, by all criteria. And only when flocks of ruff come to the shore, best bait becomes a large caviar ruff. Regarding the opinion about whether the live bait should be mobile, because some advise not only to cut the ruff, but also to crush it, I personally think that the live bait should be natural and mobile. When catching burbot, I always put live bait under the skin between the dorsal and caudal fins. So the live bait remains active longer.
When fishing at night, you need somewhere to hide from the wind and bad weather. For these purposes, a double tent is better. To heat the tent, you can use both a traditional candle and a small gas burner. The main thing is not to fall asleep and not to suffocate in a tent, and even more so not to burn out. It is not convenient to catch alone at night and is somewhat dreary, especially if there is no bite, but this is how you like it. Many people prefer to fish alone.
Of the additional accessories, be sure to have a hook, spare leashes with hooks and a headlamp. For flashlights, I personally highly recommend small LED headlamps. The continuous operation time of such lamps reaches 150 hours, and the beam of light is so bright and directional that you can ride a bike at night. They sell these lights relatively expensive, but they are worth it.
A. Yanshevsky
"Russian Hunting Newspaper No. 06 - 2003"
The introduction of the ban is due to the fact that it is during this period that burbot spawns. “Conditions suitable for spawning of this species of fish are formed at a water temperature close to zero, because burbot begins to spawn under the ice,” added Olga Gromovich.
Illegal fishing of burbot during the period of the ban is an administrative offense punishable by a fine of 10 to 50 base units (currently one base unit is Br130,000). In addition, the violator is obliged to compensate for the damage caused to nature in a triple amount, which is equivalent to 9 basic units for each individual. If the amount of harm is more than 40 basic units, criminal liability arises.
Burbot is the only representative of the cod family in fresh waters. On the territory of Belarus, it lives in the basins of the Western Dvina, Neman, Western Bug, Dnieper, Sozh, Pripyat, in the lakes of the Braslav and Naroch groups. The fish prefers clean reservoirs with a rocky bottom and cold spring water.
Perhaps few people do not know that burbots are the only species of the cod family that lives in fresh waters. Scientists believe that the process of habituation certain types of this family to fresh water began in the Quaternary, when, due to the melting of huge masses of glaciers, the Arctic seas were desalinated. Fish are accustomed to living in low salinity water. The Ice Age further contributed to the advancement of the ancestors of modern burbots to the south.
The climate warmed, and the new Arctic settlers were forced to adapt to warmer water. And the burbots adapted by finding an original solution: unlike all their new freshwater neighbors, they moved the feeding and breeding period, that is, the most active part of their life, to winter time. And in the warm summer months, on the contrary, they lie down, eat little, reducing their activity to a minimum. And in daily activity, for the same reason, they have the opposite: the maximum is at night, when it is cooler, and the minimum is during the day.
Usually he crawls under stones, logs, into muskrat holes, that is, an underwater hunter almost fails to see him even at night.
Burbot is the only fish of its kind
Burbot is the only fish of its kind (Lota) with a single species (Lota Lota). Having adapted to night and winter activity, the burbot occupied an almost free niche in the fish kingdom and began to exist comfortably. Judge for yourself.
- Burbot is a predator. Burbot hunts at night and at dusk, when many fish have a feeding period and they are forced to get out of hiding.
- Burbot has only one serious competitor - catfish, but since catfish are heat-loving fish, and burbots are the other way around, they do not intersect with the centers of their populations.
- In all fish, the offspring is greatly reduced even at the stage of laying eggs, because many, not necessarily predatory, fish are not averse to eating this super-caloric product on occasion. There are also many hunters for newly hatched fry. Our burbot heroes lay eggs and fry appear in the dead of winter, when the activity of all other fish is minimal, which means that they cause minimal damage to the burbot tribe.
Where does burbot live
Such a favorable life arrangement allowed the burbot to successfully multiply and spread widely. The range of burbot today occupies a vast territory. In Europe, it reaches as far west as Switzerland and eastern England. In Ireland and Scotland, as well as in southern Europe and the Caucasus, it is not. He lives and does not grieve in Canada, Alaska and the northern states of the United States.
Does burbot sleep when it's hot
In the fishing literature, one can find a common opinion, according to which in the warm season burbot does not eat at all and almost falls into complete stupor. This is not entirely true. We have already said that in summer it is inactive, but in summer different temperature conditions can develop in different water bodies. At water temperatures above +20 degrees Celsius, burbot, indeed, practically ceases to move and feed. Usually he crawls under stones, logs, into muskrat holes, that is, an underwater hunter almost fails to see him even at night.
But everything can change if even in a small and shallow river there are outlets of springs, or rivers and lakes have a great depth, and under the thermocline cold water. In such places, burbots are quite active:
- In large reservoirs, for example, in Rybinsk, they keep to depths of 15-20 meters and do not pass by the bait offered by anglers.
- In Baikal, burbot lives in summer at depths of more than 180 meters, and in some lakes in Canada it was mined in summer even from a depth of more than 200 meters.
At the end of summer and with the beginning of autumn, in rivers and lakes of middle latitudes, burbots can also enter shallow waters, where the water cools faster at night than at great depths. In a word, "fish are looking for where it is deeper," and burbot - where it is colder.
Burbot is a predator. He hunts at night and at dusk, when many fish have a feeding period and they are forced to get out of their hiding places.
Lake burbot and lake-river burbot
Ichthyologists divide burbot into two forms. Lake-river burbot feeds in lakes, and goes to rivers for spawning. Lake burbot spends its entire life in lakes and spawns in coastal areas of bays. For example, in Baikal all burbots are lake-river. In many reservoirs, immediately after their formation, burbots spawned at the mouths of inflowing streams. But then, as the reservoirs aged, they switched to a settled way of life far from the coast, acquiring a purely lake form.
The spawning period of burbot and the ban on catching burbot
As for how and when burbot spawns, for example, I have not developed an unambiguous opinion. Ichthyologists argue that “spawning migration begins when the air temperature drops to +5-7 degrees. For mid-latitudes, this is September-October. The terms of migration can be greatly extended and depend on the length of the upcoming path. In Baikal, the first spawners migrate to the rivers in September, and the last only in March. In the Ob, the duration of the course of burbot is eight months (from June to February). During migration, it usually moves along the border of the channel, occasionally going into shallow water, and travels 1-2 kilometers per day. Burbot moves at night, but there are movements during the day, especially in bad weather or before freezing.
Based on this, it is reasonable to assume that the spawning itself in these fish is greatly extended in time. And this is exactly what we can confirm, because among the burbots we caught in February and even in March, there were egg females. But we pick up the current Rules of Amateur and Sport Fishing in Moscow and the Moscow Region and read: “ Article 30.25.2. Forbidden periods for the extraction of aquatic biological resources: from December 15 to January 15 - burbot". I believe that land-based fishermen have noticed this discrepancy. Therefore, it would be reasonable to make appropriate changes to the Fishing Rules by extending the ban on burbot fishing.
Spawning of burbot occurs only at night, at various depths, but always with a hard bottom. According to the description of Canadian ichthyologists, during spawning, 10-12 burbots - males and females - are woven into a kind of ball that rolls along the bottom, and the fish in it are constantly moving. Unfortunately, neither I nor my acquaintances spearfishers have ever seen such an amazing picture.
In winter, maybe they have added agility in relation to victims, but in relation to stronger hunters (for example, to a person) - not at all.
Underwater hunting for burbot
The burbot has one property that makes it the undisputed leader among colleagues in the underwater world. This is the phlegm of his character. When it's hot summer outside and the water is like fresh milk, his indifference to everything that happens around him is quite understandable. But one should not think that only warm water made this fish so indifferent even to obvious danger. In winter, maybe they have added agility in relation to victims, but in relation to stronger hunters (for example, to a person) - not at all. In the cold season, burbots catch the eye of spearfishers much more often than in summer. However, this is explained not only by the general cooling and increased activity of the fish, but also by the lack of natural shelters - dense thickets of underwater vegetation.
In the cold season, burbots get out of their shelters even during the day and settle in open places. Perhaps it is easier for them to find each other in preparation for spawning, or perhaps this is their hunting tactics. The most favorite place, if we mean the non-freezing rivers near Moscow, are the deepest sections, and usually on the course. Having pressed to the bottom, two, three, and even five or six fish of approximately the same size can lie together. Burbots lead such an open lifestyle even after spawning, throughout the spring. It must be that they do not have enough night to adequately satisfy their post-spawning hunger.
In the spring of 2011, Alexander Kochubey, the author and host of spearfishing programs on the Hunter and Fisher channel (Tricolor), and I hunted and filmed another program on the Ob River in mid-March. Burbots lay at the bottom singly and in groups, sometimes up to twenty. For a two-hour rafting on the river, one could count more than one hundred of them, which convincingly indicates the quite prosperous existence of burbot in this river. After what has been seen, the conclusion suggests itself: is not the burbot the dominant predator of our Siberian lowland rivers? Quite possible…
The scales of burbots are very small and, like those of eels, the scales do not overlap one another, but only touch each other at the edges. This gives more freedom for the lateral bends of the body, but does not protect at all from the underwater hunter's trident. Therefore, shooting burbots, if they do not hang in the grass and do not lie on soft ground, is not necessary, it is quite possible to stab them. Stab and shoot should be in the head or right behind it, so as not to pierce the gallbladder and not spoil the most delicate, very tasty liver (by the way, swim bladder burbot does not have). A burbot weighing more than two kilograms has hard frontal bones, and without a shot it is already difficult to break through them. This fish is hung on a kukan in the same way as a catfish, that is, under the upper and lower lips.
In Siberian and northern rivers, burbots reach a weight of 30 kg. In the Moscow region rivers Klyazma, Ucha, Istra, Protva, Moscow, before the invasion of electric fishing rods, there were also many burbots, and quite large ones. The most outstanding specimens, mined by underwater hunters only at a depth of 1.5-2 meters, weighed 4 kg or more. But despite this, despite his extremely tasty liver, hunting for such a phlegmatic fish does not cause true hunting excitement. During my service in the Arctic, I caught a lot of burbot with donkeys in lakes and I can say the same about him as a land fisherman. In other words, how interesting and unusual this fish is from an ichthyological point of view, it is just as uninteresting from the standpoint of an underwater hunter.
In the cold season, burbots catch the eye of spearfishers much more often than in summer.
Spearfishing competitions and burbot
In conclusion, I will cite one case when it was burbots in the prey of divers who determined the outcome of the competition. It was way back in 1975. Zonal spearfishing competitions were held near Kaliningrad on quarry lakes supplied with water from the Pregol River. July, Fisherman's Day celebration. The first day of the competition turned out to be completely fishless: in the coastal zone, among the aquatic vegetation, small pike and scavengers very rarely came across.
On the second day of the competition, two friends, members of the Moscow Region national team Yuri Boytsov and Boris Chertov, changed tactics. They decided to dive into the middle of the reservoir. And the middle of the quarry was a series of longitudinal depressions, obviously made once by a dredger, 20-23 meters deep and jumpers between them 10-12 meters deep.
“With a visibility of one and a half meters, already at a depth of 4-5 meters you go into solid night,” said Yuri. - And only at the very bottom appears a small bright spot with a diameter of a meter and a half. If we fell into those very deep dips, we almost always fell directly on the burbot. The fish were from a kilogram to three. Once I hit a tree that stood upright, leaning against the wall of the lintel. Burbots hung from its branches like Christmas decorations. It was difficult to fall into those deep gaps, so the Devil and I corrected each other.
The team of the Moscow region in those competitions won by a wide margin. Others also tried to “leave” on burbots, but few were ready to hunt at such depths in a fresh, rather muddy reservoir. And as a result, those zonal competitions were marked by a large number of barotrauma.
During last year's hunt on the Angara, Irkutsk underwater hunters showed me a video: they filmed the moment of extracting a burbot from under the ice with a length of ... 2.5 meters! Fishing was carried out in lakes located to the north near Baikal. If I hadn't seen this video with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it!
At the beginning of February, the period of the ban on catching burbot ends in our "Central European" part of Russia. The ban on fishing is associated with the spawning period of this fish. The very essence of the prohibition during the spawning period is not very clear to me personally, since burbot, like any other fish, and not only fish, either eats or breeds. Most likely, this is due to the ban on hooking this fish, but in no way with catching amateur gear. After spawning, that is, usually until the end of February, the burbot bites badly, and only in March does good fishing begin.
Burbot is a fairly rare fish in the waters near Moscow, compared with perch or roach. Therefore, in order to catch a burbot, you must first find it. If there is a lot of burbot in the reservoir, then finding it is not difficult. To do this, the simplest thing is to install several dozen winter vents in different places for the night, and in the morning it will be clear whether there is a burbot in the reservoir or not.
For the success of fishing, the choice of location is decisive. No baits or baits work on this fish, in terms of luring to any place. Only if the fishing area is precisely defined, then some anglers, especially if they are fishing with a lure with a piece of fish or meat, use bait in the form of finely ground minced meat. I tried this bait and came to the conclusion that it is useless, and sometimes harmful. The fact is that burbots choose places not just with solid ground, but also try to stick to stones, flooded trees and branches. If you carefully read the fishing literature over the past thirty years, then no cases have been described. Burbots were found in old barrels, and in buckets, and in car tires. Not to mention coastal burrows and tree roots. But these same places are chosen for habitation and crayfish. The neighborhood of burbots and crayfish is found literally everywhere. And if a colony of crayfish is found, then it is possible with a high degree of certainty to look for burbot here. I wouldn't argue otherwise.
So, if you scatter meat bait in places where burbot are caught, then crayfish will get to it faster.
Places for catching burbots before and after spawning differ significantly. Probably, this is due to the fact that after spawning, burbot loses activity until March, when caviar ruffs go to spawn. Then the burbot will start hunting in the morning and even in the afternoon. Before spawning and just before spawning, burbots are looked for on the "paths" along which they go to clean and oxygen-rich water. These are the tributaries of the river and the core of the current itself. Burbots go from year to year by the same route. Perhaps this is the only time when it is advisable to catch them on a lure with replanting fry or a piece of fish.
After spawning, burbots disperse to their usual sites. Only a small part of the burbot remains close to the spawning grounds if there is enough food. But an even more important factor for the onset of post-spawning zhor is the sufficient oxygen content in the water. In low-flowing reservoirs, post-spawning biting may not be. Burbot loses activity until coastal spring cracks appear, through which oxygen-rich melt water begins to flow. This coincides with the exit to the shore of flocks of caviar ruff.
The search for burbot after spawning is complicated by the fact that the ice has now reached its maximum thickness. It is difficult to move around the reservoir in search of fish sites. Looking for perch or roach is much easier. These fish quickly react either to the game of a mormyshka, or to a small bloodworm thrown into the hole. With burbot, the situation is different, since almost all bites occur at night.
The existing ban on night fishing complicates hunting even more and often reduces it to passive catching on “stands”. But if such a ban still somehow works near large cities, then even a fish protection inspector does not remember about it already a hundred kilometers from Moscow.
It is better to look for burbots after spawning in the river not at the very core of the current, with which it is difficult for the fish to fight, but in coastal places where there is an uneven current. Burbots prefer places with uneven, torn, reverse and changeable currents most of all. The warmer the weather becomes and the thinner the ice, the closer the burbots move to the shore, while they very rarely come closer to the first shore edge, even at the time of the zhora, when there is a massive hunt for ruff that came right under the shore.
Until then, it is better to look for burbot on the upper edge and immediately behind it. Fishing is now still exclusively night, although it happens that the burbot takes during the day, but only if the bait accidentally hit him right under his nose, which is unlikely. Night fishing requires at least three days for a full-fledged fishing. On the day of arrival, the live bait is caught and the girders are set for the first night. On the second day, an additional survey of the fishing area is carried out, taking into account the night bite. The live bait is prepared, then the afternoon rest and going out to catch. On the third day in the morning they gather gear, rest and go home. If you leave fishing in the afternoon, then you will be at home by dinner.
Catching can proceed as follows. The simplest thing is to use ordinary winter vents that are designed for pike fishing. The difference lies in the fact that instead of leashes made of thick fishing line, I put leashes made of braided tarred nylon. A few years ago I “borrowed” a piece of such material from a “set-up” “lost” by local fishermen pulled out on a spinning rod. I must say that such leashes are not only soft and durable, but also almost eternal. Hook No. 1 or No. 2 is tied at the end of the leash. The sinker is sliding. The sinker is placed on the bottom, and the burbot can swallow the bait as much as he likes. It is important that the sinker should not crawl along the bottom, so it is better to choose the mass of the sinker with a margin. Personally, I think that it makes sense not to leave the reservoir, but to be near the vents. The fact is that when I was just starting to purposefully catch burbot, I left the vents for the night and checked them in the morning, like most anglers. Almost every morning I saw the following picture. All the flags are “burning”, and there are two or three burbots on the hooks of a dozen zherlits. The hooks are empty and there are no fish. Sometimes the fishing line was unwound all over and even cut off. My first thought was that one of the local anglers had time to check the vents before me. But then why is the tackle sometimes cut off and not all the burbots were taken. Later it turned out that rarely, but a very large pike grabbed the live bait at night and cut off the tackle. More often, live bait was eaten by crayfish, which were quite numerous in the places of fishing. From this I concluded that the live bait must be lively and be on a relatively long leash (a meter and a half), so that the crayfish could not immediately attack him. And the second conclusion was that bites still need to be monitored. Thirdly, it makes sense to rearrange the vents to other holes after one in the morning.
Fishing on vents with signaling devices is advisable if the depth is several meters, which is more typical, for example, for the Volga. If fishing is carried out on a small river with a relatively strong or medium current, then it is better to use a “set-up” type of tackle. It consists of a pole up to three meters long and several centimeters thick. A piece of one and a half to two meters long or thick fishing line (0.30-0.50 mm) or tarred string is tied to the lower, thinner and pointed end of the pole. At the other end of the string is tied one single hook with bait. The pole falls into the hole and sticks into the bottom - that's all the tackle. Conveniently, such tackle is easy to find in the morning and also easy to remove from the water even after a strong night frost.
As live bait fish, I use roach, perch, ruff, and gudgeon. Undoubtedly, the minnow is the best live bait, but when it is not there, the perch is very good, by all criteria. It should be noted that burbot is also perfectly caught on a bunch of worms or on a bunch of bloodworms, and in some reservoirs and on pieces of fresh meat. When flocks of ruff come to the shore, large caviar ruff becomes the best bait. Regarding the opinion about whether the live bait should be mobile, because some advise not only to cut the ruff, but also to crush it, I personally think that the live bait should be natural and mobile. When catching burbot, I always put live bait under the skin between the dorsal and caudal fins. So the live bait remains active longer.
When fishing at night, you need somewhere to hide from the wind and bad weather. For these purposes, a double tent is better. To heat the tent, you can use both a traditional candle and a small gas burner. The main thing is not to fall asleep and not to suffocate in a tent, and even more so not to burn out. It is inconvenient and somewhat dreary to catch one at night, especially if there is no bite, but this is how you like it. Many people prefer to fish alone.
Of the additional accessories, you must definitely have a hook with you, since it is not easy to extract a burbot weighing three or four kilograms from a hole, spare leashes with hooks and a headlamp. For flashlights, I personally highly recommend small LED headlamps. The continuous operation time of such lamps reaches 150 hours, and the beam of light is so bright and directional that you can ride a bike at night. These lamps are relatively expensive, but they are worth it.