Practical recommendations for choosing a rod with rings
During spring fishing, in most cases it is advisable to use a conventional telescopic fly rod or plug rod. The length of the rig is slightly less than the length of the rod. Otherwise, it will not be convenient to manage the equipment. However, there are times when fishing on small rivers with overgrown banks, when fishing with a fly rod is not effective.
It is simply not possible to throw the equipment in the right place, which, for example, may be under the very shore or under overhanging branches. You have to resort to the help of a rod with line guides. For spring fishing, telescopic rods with rings are relatively convenient, which are located at the thin ends of the rod knees.
Usually, our anglers manage with fairly simple and inexpensive rods 4-5 meters long. With the help of a small inertial reel, on which a supply of fishing line is stored, the rig can be floated for a distance much greater than the length of the rod. However, in practice, releasing the equipment at a distance of more than ten meters is not advisable for several reasons.
Firstly, on a small river it is almost impossible to find such a long stretch of passage without a sharp change in depth and "straightness".
Secondly, with each meter of swimming, the "sail" of the equipment increases sharply. And in order for the float to pull the rig further, you have to increase the mass of the rig, which, by the way, most anglers do. However, an increase in the mass of the equipment leads to a sharp decrease in the number of effective bites.
In fact, I must say that the fiberglass rod with rings, so beloved by our anglers, is the epitome of the most stupid tackle of our time. And throwing a rig at a decent distance with its help is not realistic, and the sensitivity of the rig being thrown is very poor, and it is very inconvenient to handle such gear. The only real use of such a tackle is to use it as a "half-dono". My opinion is a completely obsolete tackle, but this is my personal opinion.
Similar rods are used by many anglers for rafting from a boat.
The method of fishing is based on the fact that under the action of the current on the fishing line and the float, the equipment gradually floats downstream and there is a long wiring in the bait stream. Catching is well and repeatedly described in the literature as a classic wiring. Fishing takes place in summer and autumn. The length of the rods is from 2.4 to 4 m. Sitting in a boat, it is inconvenient to control the tackle on a long rod. It is convenient to complete a rod for fishing with an alloy either with a small light multiplier, or with a high-quality wire reel (which is now a rarity), or a non-inertia reel with a closed spool. Reels with an open spool are inconvenient. Undercut is obtained with a large delay, and it is well known that during the course it should be instantaneous.
Much more interesting and practical than the classic cheap telescopic rods with rings are the same rods, but equipped with rubber bushings at the ends of the knees. A thin knee with tension moves in such a sleeve and the working length of the rod can be easily changed.
Changing the working length can also be done using plastic cones, which are also located at the ends of the telescopic elbows.
The latest designs were invented by the Italians for trout fishing in the spring and summer.
The fact is that it was in Italy that the most interesting fishing for brook trout with an "air" float was born and is widely practiced. This is a kind of "running semi-donk". At the end of the rig there is a long, removable, stick-shaped sinker. Long, in order not to get stuck between the stones at the bottom. Above the sinker on a leash is a hook with a bait. There are usually two floats. One is black and the other is either orange or lemon yellow. The floats are plastic ellipsoids no more than a centimeter in size. They are located on the fishing line, which is passed along the axis of the float, and during fishing they are above the surface of the water, as well as during fishing on the "semi-bottom". The floats are at a distance of about 5-15 cm from each other. The angler is constantly moving with tackle, catching promising places, simply by vertically lowering the equipment to the selected point. Due to the fact that the fishing point can be at any distance from the shore, light carbon fiber rods with a length of 6 to 12.5 meters are used. The length of the rod is easily changed to the desired length due to the bushings or cones mentioned above. Such rods are produced according to the most modern technologies, equipped with very small and extremely light guides with silicon carbide or zirconium oxide or aluminum oxide inserts.
In our conditions, it makes perfect sense to use such rods during spring fishing along small fast-flowing rivers, such as, for example, Desna, Sestra, Dubna, Istra, Malaya Istra and many others. The issue of tool design is very important. It can be one or the other, but the bait must necessarily lie at the bottom. The second important mo
The point is that you need to choose the shutter speed, that is, the time spent by the bait at the selected fishing point. This time can vary from ten seconds to a minute. It all depends on the transparency of the water and the activity of the fish.
If there is no bite in the chosen place, then it makes sense to move the equipment a few centimeters to the side. This is often enough to trigger a fish bite. In the spring, especially during rain and snow, the fish become so inactive that you literally have to float the bait downstream into their mouths.
It should be noted that a long and light rod with rings is successfully used during fishing using the "bolognaise" method, but this is already "summer" fishing.
One of the most versatile gear is the "long cast" or "match". The tackle is a rod with a length of 3.96 to 4.5 m. Longer rods are inconvenient for several reasons. Spring fishing often occurs in conditions when there are many obstacles on the shore that limit the actions of the fisherman - bushes, trees. Increasing the length of the rod does not increase the casting distance. A longer rod, on the one hand, gives the rig more speed due to more leverage, and on the other hand, a long rod is more difficult to disperse. A long rod is easier to control the caught fish at a distance from the shore, but at the moment of taking a large fish into the landing net, the excessive length of the rod is very good.
The rod is equipped with light guides. Rings with ceramic inserts are quite suitable, since it is dangerous to use a braided fishing line - after a hook, the rod can be simply broken. The rod is equipped with an inertial-free reel of a sufficiently large line capacity. A large fishing distance requires that the reel be high-speed, with a line winding speed of at least 75 cm per turn of the handle. If there is any doubt about choosing a smaller or slightly larger coil, then I would prefer a larger one. The type of brake, front or rear, does not play any role, as long as the brake adjustment is smooth. A fishing line with a diameter of 0.16-0.25 mm is wound onto the spool of the reel, depending on the quality of the fishing line, the size of the intended fish and the skill of the angler. But, I remind you once again, a thick fishing line sails more in the wind and excitement. A float with one attachment point is attached to the fishing line and in most cases it is not sliding, but stationary.
In the spring, fish very often grab the bait not from the bottom, but at half-water, so the descent of the equipment is most often 1-1.5 m. Elongated floats are most suitable for spring fishing, they fly much better over long distances even with a headwind. A small descent predetermines the mass of the only sinker on the rig, usually a pellet no heavier than half a gram, located 15-20 cm from the hook, and a second similar pellet located directly at the float is enough. The most common floats with internal loading, from 8 g to 20 g. When fishing from long distances, many anglers often have a purely psychological problem with watching the float.
It is known from practice that antennas with a diameter of more than 6 mm have such a large intrinsic buoyancy that a fish carefully trying the bait cannot move the float. Anglers find a way out by using antennas that have large dimensions and minimal buoyancy. A hook is tied at the end of the rig, and in many cases in the spring the hook is replaced with an "ant" mormyshka. We must not forget that the use of a forest ant as a bait is prohibited by the rules of recreational fishing. It makes no sense to use bloodworms as bait. Large bloodworm fish at this time of the year do not respect. There remains a maggot, a larva of a burdock moth for roach and a small roach. When hunting for large specimens, it is preferable to use bark beetles, worms, rats, dragonfly larvae and purely "ulcer" and "chub" bait - the May beetle larva. But the best bait now can be recognized as a worm.