THE FIRST DAY
On January 5, it is 30 degrees below zero. But we are ready for this, and on the ice we are quite comfortable. Fortunately, there is no wind, and the sun that has made its way through the morning haze by 10 o’clock adds mood and hopes for a good catch: the weather is very perky! On the first day, we decide not to go far and check the nearest shallow, with which we started last year. We do not go directly to the given point, but deliberately give a small hook: we look at the depths and check the penny drilled by someone and marked with a pole. Working depth, up to two meters, no bites. But it’s not their absence that is annoying, but the ice — all with interspersed fine sand. Through the heels of the holes, the borax sit down noticeably, and I generally manage to hit the bottom twice. Yes, the “Swedes” do not live long near Kostroma, and last year a local fisherman said, they say, we have no sand, the ice is clean.
I change knives, but they do not last long either. The comrades are no better with the “Barnauls”, in addition, they did not take spare knives on the ice. But the fishing continues – we are drilling out last year’s place. Bites begin. Comrades catch perch with a balancer, and to hell – a few ruffs. My first bite on the balancer occurs almost in the hole – the bait is completely in the mouth of a predator. On the next hole, the same thing happens – a confident grip after the bait passes the lower edge of the ice. Everything would be fine, but only there is no continuation, and it is more and more difficult to drill new holes. The sun tilts to the horizon, and after one o’clock in the afternoon, the activity of the fish generally disappears. Yuri Viktorovich manages to escape to the islands, where a small group of fishermen persisted. He returned and said that people were sitting mostly just like that, occasionally polishing a small perch on bloodworms. We decide to stop fishing: we need to put the Boers in order, rest and get ready for a longer hike.
SECOND DAY
In the morning the frost is only 20 degrees. We reach the coast by car, shortening the walking path by one and a half kilometers, the same amount we go to the first point. The holes covered with snow are visible. The first posting is a bite in the hole, like yesterday. The next wiring is a half-water bite. Everything is clear: all levels must be checked on each wiring, but this is not difficult – the depth does not exceed two meters. One bite from the hole – that’s all. Not to say that the fish is passive, the bites are clear and effective, but there are too few of them.
For the third year, my 30-millimeter baby differs from Rapala with a green back and a yellow belly: Rybinka’s veteran is in the lead here for the second season. Friends are constantly changing baits, but there is no result – only rare bites. After five hundred meters, we check the second point, where old holes are also noticeable. Everything is repeated: one bite, respectively, and a fish, from the hole. We drill and drill, well at least there is no sand in this place and the knives are fixed. As before, and before that low activity of fish after 1 pm drops to zero. And exactly a year ago, they bite at these points and fishermen gathered in this part of the reservoir. Now, only occasionally and for a short time, single snowmobiles arrive. Within sight there are a couple of clusters of fishermen, but running after each crowd is a waste of time, and there are three kilometers to the points. The second day of fishing is over, my catch is a damn dozen tails; the highest scoring hole earned three fish.
DAY THREE
We decide to start from yesterday’s evening point: maybe it’s more fun in the morning? Frosty still slowed down, no more than -15, it is comfortable to catch. We are waiting for the perch to wake up, but he is in no hurry. After about 20 minutes I have my first bite, but instead of the expected striped one, a small perch appears from the hole, and this is where the fish ends. We move to another point, located fifteen minutes walk. There seems to have been no one here before us. We are drilling, the depth is a little more than three meters. A minute later, Alexander reports a bite at the bottom and a fish coming off, then he has a few more bites – and a couple of striped ones still end up on the ice. His activity was noticed by three fishermen passing by. They drill about 30 meters away, which surprises us a lot and commands respect, and it looks like they are also catching something. I have a silence.
I step aside a little, make another hole – as it turned out, the only catchy one for me that day. On the first posting, a bite – and the perch on the ice. The second wiring is still a fish. One took from the bottom, the second one meter higher. Checking all the horizons. About fifteen minutes later, four striped ones were caught. This is my best result. Drilling new holes – no bite. I return to the previous one, catch a couple more perches, most of the bites are a meter from the bottom. Drilling new holes, but they are completely silent. At the same time, Vladimir bites in many holes. What is the matter is not clear. We catch the third day, and no patterns have been identified. So I continue to fish: I drill new holes, but each time I return to the catchy one. As a result, I fished out thirteen tails from it – a few the day before from two points. Alexander gets off a couple of large fish, probably a good perch or perch. The day has come to an end.
SUMMING UP
There is perch and even shows activity, but bites are rare. Apparently, the concentration of fish is very low, the schools of perch are small and there is generally little of it. Until the new year, perch took well here, but for some reason left these places. Perhaps this is due to the migration of fry; according to locals, the water level is high. There were some familiar guys who rushed in search of fish on a snowmobile for a whole week, but their catch was not much higher than ours, so this time no one had to envy. We had time, but the blizzard that arose the next night threatened to be delayed for an indefinite time, and we did not want to sit in such a wind on a completely open reservoir after three beautiful quiet frosty days. The situation with the fish is clear, the goal has been practically achieved, and the cherished milestone, albeit small, but such a coveted journey has been established.
author Andrey PEKHOV
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