Zherlitsa is one of the oldest fishing devices for fishing for predatory fish. A simple design invented hundreds of years ago and today surpasses many modern gear in terms of efficiency.

Zherlitsa is one of the oldest fishing devices for fishing for predatory fish. A simple design invented hundreds of years ago and today surpasses many modern gear in terms of efficiency. During this time, it has practically not changed, except that it has slightly modernized, and as for its popularity among predator hunters, there is hardly any other tackle that can compete with it.

So what is her secret, maybe in the design? Let's try to figure it out, and at the same time consider how to make a pike gut with our own hands.

This simple tackle is designed for fishing predatory fish exclusively on live bait. It can have several design options, but the essence boils down to one thing: the predator is presented with a bait attached to a hook connected by a fishing line to a fixed base, which, as a rule, is located above the water. Usually anglers use several girders. Their number can be any, as long as the area of ​​the reservoir and the capabilities of the fisherman allow.

Despite the fact that today you can buy any tackle in the store, fishermen prefer to make girders with their own hands. This business is absolutely inexpensive and takes very little time. A good fisherman can have in his arsenal a dozen and a half zerlits. If you know where to look for a predator, this amount is enough to get a pretty good catch. For some anglers, making girdles with their own hands is gradually developing into a kind of hobby. Making these tackles on their own, craftsmen constantly modernize them, bringing them to perfection.

Types of girders

All girders can be divided into two main types:

• winter;
• summer.

The former, in turn, are divided into overglacial and subglacial. Winter designs are more common and popular than summer designs, which in recent times are being supplanted by more modern fishing means.

Winter vents are of three types:

• with a flat base;
• on a vertical stand;
• "Taganok".

Gutters with a flat base

The most common vents are with a flat base. They have a simple design and, unlike vertical and "taganks", are easy to install. In addition, such girders are made by hand within 15-20 minutes from scrap materials.

Such a tackle consists of a wooden or plastic platform on which there is a reel with fishing line and rigging, as well as a signal flag that "fires" when biting.

Advantages:

• simple construction;
• easy replacement of structural elements;
• fast and convenient installation on any surface;
• the ability to overlap the hole to prevent sunlight and freezing.

Disadvantages:

• in the presence of strong wind without additional load can shift;
• the base may freeze into ice in severe frost;
• good factory models are quite expensive.

Vertical vents

Vertical vents work according to the same principle, however, their entire mechanism is not located on a flat base, but on a stand, which is installed in the snow compacted near the hole. This, in fact, is their only drawback: installation is impossible without snow.

Do-it-yourself vertical zherlitsa can also be made from improvised means in a minimum period of time.

Advantages:

• when securely installed, they are sufficiently stable;
• purchased models are significantly cheaper than flat ones.

Disadvantages:

• difficulties with installation without snow;
• does not overlap the hole.

"Taganok"

"Taganok" is a structure in the form of an aluminum tripod with a coil and a flag located on it. This do-it-yourself zherlitsa is rarely made, as it requires certain skills in metal processing and availability the necessary tool.

Advantages:

• compactness and the ability to fold the structure;
• ease of transportation.

Disadvantages:

• a do-it-yourself girder can be made only if you have metalworking skills and the appropriate tool;
• poor stability in strong wind conditions.

Do-it-yourself flat over-ice pike pike

Let us consider in detail the process of making a girdle with a flat base. Let's start with tools and tools. We need:

• a tablet measuring 30X10 cm;
• the most common coil for fly rod(preferably with a ratchet);
• fishing line 0.3-0.35 mm;
• cargo (olive) weighing 5-15 g;
• a leash (if for a pike, then steel or tungsten) with a carabiner;
• hook number 4-6 (according to the domestic classification);
• a thin steel plate or wire 30-40 cm long and a red flap (or a ready-made flag from a store);
• drill with drills with a diameter of 4 and 10 mm;
• 6 self-tapping screws for wood (3x10 mm);
• 2 plastic clips for fixing the electrical cable to the wall;
• screwdriver.

A flat do-it-yourself pike girdle can be made not only on the basis of a plank. A plastic or foam plate can also play its role. It is important that the platform can securely hold all the elements installed on it.

Drill a hole with a diameter of 10 mm in the center of the board. We change the drill bit by 4 mm in the drill and make holes in the coil mounting plates. Using self-tapping screws, we fasten the coil with the fishing line previously wound on it at the edge of the board, positioning it so that the fishing line, unwinding from below, has a direction to the drilled hole.

When making do-it-yourself girders (winter), you should pay enough attention to the flag. If it is not a factory one, then we take a prepared steel plate or wire and bend its edge (1.5-2 cm) at an angle of 90 degrees. We apply this edge to the middle of the board on the side opposite to the coil and press it with clamps and self-tapping screws so that the flag is vertical and can be pulled out of the clamps with effort. We attach a red flap to its end in any convenient way.

Now all that remains is to attach the weight and the leash to the line. That's the whole process of making a flat girder with your own hands. Winter structures of the vertical type are made according to the same principle, only they have a different arrangement and fastening of structural elements.

Pike pike ice

Ice girders are used by anglers to hunt predatory fish in two cases: when the tackle is set at night or during the day for a long time in severe frost conditions. Their essence lies in the fact that the entire structure is lowered into the water in order to avoid the tackle freezing into the ice.

Do-it-yourself pike pike under the ice is even easier to make. A base is taken in the form of a wooden lath or stick with a length of at least two hole diameters. In the middle we tie a thick fishing line, to the end of which we attach a piece of plastic or rubber pipe (you can use a hose), which has negative buoyancy. From below, a thin cut 2-4 cm long is made in it. The main line is wound on the hose. The tackle with the bait is lowered to the bottom, the line is pulled up and put into the cut, where it is fixed. The zherlitsa sinks into the hole a few centimeters under the water, where the load will hold it.

When biting, the pike will pull the line with it, it will slide off the cut and begin to unwind to its full length. You can determine the bite by the emerging tube. A do-it-yourself under-ice zherlitsa can be made in the form of a stag. Similar designs were used by our ancestors for fishing for pike and burbot. Its principle of operation is similar to that described above, only a small stag is used instead of a tube. A fishing line is wound around it, after which it sinks down into the water with its horns. The fishing line is also fixed in the cut made in one of the horns. As you can see, making a winter girdle with your own hands is quite simple. What about the summer one?

Summer girders with their own hands

Summer girders are also used for catching predatory fish, however, unlike winter ones, they are installed not on ice, but above the water surface. Today it is rare to see such a design in action, but still some anglers continue to use them quite successfully.

Let's look at how to make a do-it-yourself girder for summer fishing on a predator, using the example of the classic "flyer". For this we need:

• a small wooden stag 10-15 cm long;
• fishing line 0.3-0.4 mm thick;
• weight-olive (5-15 g);
• leash (steel or tungsten);
• triple hook (No. 6-8);
• drill with drill 8 mm;
• a piece of strong rope.

We cut the hornachik from hazel or willow. It must be thoroughly cleaned and sanded so that the line does not catch on when unwinding. We drill a hole in the handle and thread a piece of rope through it. In one of the horns, you need to make a thin cut to fix the fishing line, as is the case with the winter under-ice girder. Now we wind the fishing line on the horns, having previously secured its end. We attach the load and the leash with a hook. That, in principle, is all, it remains to establish our zherlitsa.

Features of installing a summer vest

You can put the "flyer" in two ways: by tying it to a tree branch hanging over the water, or by setting a long pole on the steep bank. In the first case, we will need to either bend the branch, or climb onto it and tie our girdle so that it hangs above the water. In the case of the pole, the "flyer" is tied to its edge, after which it is driven into the shore and tilts at the desired angle to the surface of the water. This option is more acceptable, since it gives you the opportunity to fully control the tackle.

So we figured out the designs of the vents. Agree that in the process of their self-made there is no difficulty. In fact, making girdles with your own hands is a process for the most part entertaining and creative, because any design can be changed and adjusted to certain conditions, which, in principle, is what most anglers do.

Video how to make a winter girdle with your own hands

The massive and most difficult predator to catch for zerlichny fishing is the pike. A feature of the behavior of this fish during the hunt is a lightning-fast throw at the fry. The pike almost always grabs its prey across and, by inertia, swims 3-4 meters after the grip. This is followed by a short pause, then the live bait turns over in the pike's mouth head first and is swallowed.

Should be arranged so that the predator does not feel the resistance of the line immediately after the grip. For this, a stopper must be provided that holds the bait at a certain depth and a certain amount of fishing line, which will be freely unwound by the predator during the jerk.

Classic, ancient girders were made of wooden slingshots, required attributes there was a thick line and a steel leash. Very often, there were pinching of the tightly wound fishing line on the slingshot, which ended either with a live bait breakage, or with his injury and a pike coming off.

In winter, when setting such a tackle in the hole, the tree swelled and clamped the line. Alternatively, plastic slingshots were used. This arrangement involved putting live bait on the back. Is not The best way, which injures the fish and makes it fall asleep faster. Live bait breakdowns are very often observed by medium-sized pikes.

A modern zerlitsa should be all-season and suitable for shore and boat fishing. It should provide active fishing, give the fisherman the opportunity to see the bite and make a hooking. If necessary, such a zerlitsa should provide stealth when installed on ice.

All-season zherlitsa. Installation and Application Methods.

So, the girders are made, live baits are caught, you can start fishing. And before that, it is necessary to read the "Rules of amateur fishing" for the region where fishing for zherlitsa will take place. This tackle has a quantity limit per fisherman. The laws must be observed.

Fishing for zherlitsa has its own characteristics in winter and summer.

Let's consider the features of the use of these ice vents.

- a very exciting activity, so that "advanced" fishermen do not talk about its unsportsmanlike character. But making such a tackle with your own hands is no less interesting and creative process. In this article, we will give several examples of how to create such a live bait rod.

Homemade options

We present several models for your judgment today. Homemade vents of these designs will not require you to purchase any special materials or products.

Anything you need is in the drawer of any DIY fishing tackle or in your regular household.

Here are some homemade winter pike fishing trays we will consider in our master class:

1. A flip-flop from a plastic tube.
2. Zherlitsa from a plastic bottle.
3. Ice skater.

Of course, to consider all the options for the format of a fishing article on the site that exist today, it is not enough, you will need to publish a thick book. But even these five examples are enough for creativity, because we will describe only the basic options, and each fisherman can add his own flavor to the design.

Changeling

To make such a pike girdle, we need:

• a plastic tube forty centimeters long;
• thick wire;
• bright electrical tape.

You see how little materials are needed for such a model, and making such a fishing rod is as easy as shelling pears:

1. In the middle of the tube we drill a pair of through holes, in diameter they should be equal to the thickness of the wire. Place the holes at an angle of ninety degrees.
2. We insert a wire into these holes, it turns out that the tube stands on its legs.
3. At the front end of the tube, we make a slot for clamping the fishing line.
4. We wind the fishing line with the rig onto the front of the tube.
5. We wrap the back with electrical tape of a bright yellow or red color.

This zherlitsa works like this:

1. We measure out the required amount of fishing line, and clamp it in the cut.
2. We equip the hook of live bait and release it under the water.
3. We install the structure with the front end above the hole.
4. When biting, the pike pulls on the line, and the girder turns over with its front end straight into the hole, leaning on the wire legs.
5. The bright back end of the tube shows the bite perfectly.

This zherlitsa works best in light frost and little snow.

From a plastic bottle

Of course, no Kulibin in our time is complete without an irreplaceable plastic bottle. It was also useful for manufacturing. In addition to the bottle itself, we also need a piece of cord, an elastic band for money and a stick cut off on the shore. The manufacturing process is simple, like everything ingenious:

1. In the bottom of the "poltorashka" we make a couple of holes into which we pass the lace.
2. We fix this cord on a stick, which we freeze over the hole.
3. We wind a fishing line with a snap on the side of the bottle.
4. We measure the line, equip the tackle with live bait and lower it under the ice.
5. We put an elastic band on the neck and fix a line loop under it.

When biting, the loop will pop out from under the elastic and the line will begin to come off the bottle, swinging and spinning it. This will signal a bite.

Do not throw used plastic on the ice and the banks of the reservoir, respect nature!

Under the ice

Such pike trays are used when setting at night or in especially severe frosts. The entire "mechanism" in these structures is placed under water, and on the ice there is only a stick to which such a fishing rod is attached.

Under-ice girders are made from a hose, pipes, wooden flyers, softly thick wire, pieces of plastic or polystyrene. And here is a schematic diagram of these structures:

• in the upper part, a hole is made for the cord, with which the tackle is attached to the stick on the ice;
• a fishing line with a snap is wound on the body;
• at the bottom, a slot is made to fix the fishing line, or a bank elastic is put on.

In order to better see the bite in the hole, the upper end of such a vent is equipped with a multi-colored float, which, while rotating, shows the bite.

On the leg

This do-it-yourself zherlitsa already requires more work in the manufacture, and a lot of materials are used in comparison with previous models:

• plastic tube;
• checkbox;
• metal plate;
• line reel;
• hose bushing;
• bolts with washers and nuts;
• base.

Despite the large number of elements, it is not difficult to make this tackle at home:

1. Cut out the base from a piece of wooden board or hard dense plastic.
2. We make a hole in it for fastening the tube.
3. We make a slot for skipping the line.
4. We fix the tube at the base.
5. Cut out a coil holder from a sheet of metal.
6. We bend one end of the resulting plate around the stand tube and fix it with bolts.
7. To the free end of the plate we attach a coil for the gutter, for this we cut out a bushing from a hose of a suitable diameter and insert it into the hole of the bobbin.
8. We attach a flag at the top of the tube.

The flag can be fixed initially in the cork, and then the cork can be inserted into the upright tube from above. It is also possible to attach the shaft to a silicone tube pre-wound with electrical tape.

This gore can be used without a base, by inserting the leg into the snow slush and freezing it. This will save space in the bag, the notes will not protect the hole from light and frost.

On the platform

This pike design is the only one that requires a blueprint for precise fit. The fact is that all of its elements are mounted on one platform. This can be a piece of wooden board, plastic or plywood. Here is the sequence of work:

1. To make the tackle correctly, right on the base we draw the layout of the elements: the coil, the flag, the holes and the retainer brackets.
2. We attach a coil at one end of the platform.
3. At the second end, we attach a wire flag with a spring.
4. In the middle of the base we drill holes for passing the fishing line.
5. Closer to the coil we put a pair of brackets, between which there will be a charged flag.
6. The flag shaft must lie exactly between the brackets, the height of which must be such that they can rise above the laid flag.
7. The zerlitsa equipped with live bait is installed above the hole, and the line loop lies under the staples above the flag pole, charging it.

After a bite, the line jumps out from under the retainer brackets, releasing the flag and signaling a bite.

Homemade coils

Speaking about homemade zerlitsa for catching winter pike, pike perch, burbot or perch, one cannot help but talk about making zerlichny reels with your own hands.

Coils for winter fishing do in two ways:

• from lumber bobbins;
• made of plastic and foam.

In the first method of manufacturing, a piece of rubber or silicone hose of a suitable diameter is inserted into the finished reel as a sleeve. Then a bolt is placed in the hole of the hose and large washers are put on it from both sides, covering the holes in the reel, fixing them with nuts.

In the second case, two circles with a diameter of about five centimeters are cut out of thin plastic, and a smaller circle, 3-3.5 centimeters from the thick material. These circles are centered like this:

1. Holes are drilled at the points of installation of the compass needle.
2. A large circle is put on a suitable diameter axle and smeared with glue, this is the first side of the coil.
3. Then a thick circle of the core is inserted and glued to the sidewall.
4. Next, the second sidewall is glued.

A bolt suitable for the diameter of the hole is used as an axis.

Fishing homemade gallant from plastic tube the most effective. At one time, on a predator fishing trip, I tried many girders of different designs. He started, like many others, with a wooden flyer. I tested factory-made plastic devices that resemble the same flyer. Then there were the trims of the rubber hoses and plastic bottles With a fishing line wound on them. Having summarized my very rich experience in this area, I came to create the best, in my opinion, girders. Thirty years have passed since then, and I have practically nothing to add to this design even now, and therefore I consider it almost ideal. I myself currently fish mainly with spinning, but many friends and acquaintances still enjoy fishing with my girders. Now about how to make the girder yourself.

How to make a gutter from a plastic tube

You can make such a gutter from a plastic tube - the same one that is commonly used in plumbing as a water pipe (for our purposes, PVC, polypropylene or polyethylene pipes, which are both generally available and cheap), are suitable.

We need a white tube (the most common option) - this is noticeable from afar. In addition, when the fish, when biting, removes the dark line from the white tube, zherlitsa as if changing color, signaling a bite. This moment can be seen from afar, which makes fishing more efficient.

The length of the pipe upon purchase depends on the number of vents you need. The calculation here is quite simple: the length of the girdle for fishing from the shore is 12-15 cm, for fishing from a boat you can use shorter girders - up to 10 cm. As for the diameter of the tube (it is usually measured in inches), it makes sense to choose it so that both the tips of the twin hook were hidden inside the tube during transportation - it is very convenient and safe.

We cut the purchased pipe into blanks according to the selected dimensions. Then, on each workpiece, we drill a through hole of 5-6 mm on one side and make a slot with a depth of 8-10 mm on the other side with a manual jigsaw. Now we equip the vest body with a strong rope for fastening and a fishing line, which can be easily and quickly wound on the tube "in bulk", or you can wind it a little slower, but evenly and beautifully, loop to loop.

We fix the sinker on the fishing line, tie a carabiner, to it - a leash with a hook. A piece of polystyrene, strung on a fishing line, will be useful if you place the girder near the shore: when the sinker lies at the bottom, the foam float does not allow the bait to lie down on the bottom.

For gutters installed from a boat, a foam float is not needed, there the sinker is suspended above the live bait. The length of the fishing line for coastal gutters is usually 5-6 m, for boat ones 3-4 m is enough, so I have some shorter than others. However, this depends more on personal preferences - you can make all the girders the same, but the visualization of the bite, if too little dark fishing line is initially wound on the tube, will deteriorate.

Now a little about the tricks of attaching the vents during installation. The photo shows two versions of the lashing rope. One - with a clamping tube, which should move with some interference along the rope folded in half. This method allows you to quickly fasten and then unhook the girder, especially for a bunch of coastal grass. By the way, do not be afraid that the pike will be able to tear the girder away from this grass, well, perhaps the "crocodile".

The second mounting option is simpler, but also effective. For him, you just need to fold the fastening rope into a loop, as shown in the photo, and tighten it on a peg. A few simple recommendations for equipping the vents. As I already mentioned, we attach a carbine to the fishing line. This is done so that the leash can be easily attached and detached.

Why is this necessary, after all, by tying it directly to the fishing line, we simplify the design? The point here is that, having pulled out the caught fish, we can simply and quickly disconnect the leash, put another one with a hook in its place and, having planted live bait, re-install the girdle, and remove the leash from the fish at home. In the case of a tied leash, we will have to cut it off, then tie a new one, and this is time, nerves, and sometimes also mosquitoes ...

We choose the leash material according to our own taste - from homemade, from guitar string, up to the brand name, made of titanium. Some people use a very thick (over 1 mm) mono line as a pike leash, which has its own advantages: invisibility and low cost.

And a little about live bait for fishing with girders. Do not use minnows, minnows, or other small fish. Do not feel sorry for a large crucian carp or roach - from 15 cm or more. The larger the live bait, the more likely it is to catch a large pike, and minnows and gudgeons most often come across only squints. Taking into account the specificity of the tackle, it is hardly possible to let them go. So if you are going to fish with girders, then a decent fish.

In winter, the most effective is pike fishing with live bait. This is mainly done with the help of girders, as the simplest and most practical trailers. Ready-made tackle can be bought in the store, but many use home-made options for winter fishing or assembled at home with their own hands from store components.

Winter zherlitsa is a fairly simple tackle, consisting of a base, a reel with a fishing line, a weight and a hook, and a signaling device. For this reason, the manufacture of girders for pike fishing does not cause any difficulties, but as a result, there is a huge number of their most diverse varieties.

There are two main types of winter girders:

• normal when the base with the reel and signaling device are on the ice;
• under the ice, when all the tackle is in the hole under the ice and is attached to the outside of the crossbar.

We will now consider how to correctly make a winter pike for pike of the first and second types with our own hands, and the under-ice can work both in winter and in summer as an ordinary pike.

Making a glacial girdle

As already mentioned, the easiest way is to assemble a gutter for winter fishing from accessories purchased in a store.

We will need:

• circle base with a radial slot;
• signaling flag on a flexible, springy holder;
• reel-reel with mount;
• for equipment: fishing line, leash, weights and hook.

If the winter zerlitsa was purchased in full, then on the base there will be connectors for attaching the coil and the flag. All you have to do is equip the reel.

If you want to make winter pike gutters completely with your own hands, you can replace the store accessories as follows:

At home, you can make a gutter, which solves both the problem of attaching the coil and the flag to the base, and allows you to better see the signal, and save the coil from being swept by snow.

For her you will need:

1. A base with a slot, it is better to buy it, but you can also make it yourself;
2. Plastic or metal-plastic water pipe of small diameter, calculated at the rate of 30 cm per one vent;
3. Clip-fastening for this tube (during construction they are used to fasten these pipes to the wall);
4. Two self-tapping screws, 5 mm longer than the clip thickness;
5. Small reel for a winter fishing rod;
6. Flag signaling device, again purchased or homemade
7. Insulating tape.

The assembly order is as follows:

The zherlitsa is ready, it is collapsible and easily assembled in place, just insert the holder tube into the clip and attach the flag.

We will consider below how to equip a winter gutter for a pike.

Making an under-ice girdle

The under-ice zherlitsa differs from the previous one in that all the tackle is under water and tied to a stick placed across the hole. As under-ice, you can use ordinary summer girders.

But an ordinary flyer is not very suitable for winter, since it has some buoyancy and, pressed from below to the ice, can not only freeze, but also simply cling to it when the fishing line is dropped.

In winter conditions, vents with a plastic tube reel work well. We will consider how to make such a tackle at home.

We will need:

1. A piece of plastic tube 10 cm long and about 3 cm in diameter;
2. A piece of a bicycle tube for making a fixing elastic;
3. Self-adhesive film of bright red or orange color, measuring 7x10 cm;
4. Rigging - main line or cord, leash, weight, hook.

The manufacturing procedure is as follows:

1. Cut off a 10 cm piece of pipe and grind the edges;
   
2. From the edge of the tube we make cuts to them (an elastic band will be attached in these holes);
   
3. On one (top) side of the tube, one centimeter from the edge, we drill two holes 1.5 - 2 mm, along the line of the diameter;
   
   
   
   
4. Then, from the upper end, about 2 cm from the edge, perpendicular to the cuts, we drill one hole Æ1.5 - 2 mm, for the loop holding the gutter;
   
5. From the opposite (lower) end of the tube, along the diameter line perpendicular to the upper cuts, we make two more cuts, one centimeter (the pinched fishing line will start in them);
   
   
   
6. Even at the lower end of the tube, under the cuts for the elastic, we make two grooves somewhere by 1-2 mm and 10 mm wide (the fixing elastic will be inserted here);
   
   
   
7. On the main line we measure out half a meter, and at this distance we knit a large knot, more than 2 mm in cross section;
8. We pass the main fishing line or cord into the free hole at the upper end, until it stops in the knotted knot, it should not go through this hole;
   
9. We knit at the missed end of the fishing line / cord a strong loop with a length of 17 - 20 centimeters;
   
10. Below it we knit another large knot that does not go into the mounting hole, ideally they should rigidly fix the girder on the fishing line;
    
11. We wind all the remaining cord / line around the tube;
12. Cut out a rubber band from the bicycle camera so that it is larger, cut at an angle;
    
    
    
13. We put the elastic through the cuts into the holes of the upper end, it should look like a curler;
    
    
    
14. We attach a weight, a leash and a hook to the opposite end of the line;
    
    
    
15. Zherlitsa is ready.

In the working position, we unwind the fishing line necessary for the free movement of the live bait at the required depth, put it into the cuts at the lower end of the tube and fix it with an elastic band inserted into the grooves on the underside of the vents. Then we lower the tackle, loaded with live bait, into the water, and fasten it by the loop to the crossbar laid across the hole.

Rigging the gutter

Now we will consider how and what to properly equip a girder for winter pike fishing.

As the main one, we take a braided line or fishing line with an optimal diameter of 0.3 mm. Its thickness is usually enough to pull out the largest and liveliest pike in winter. The length of the main line is taken taking into account the fishing area: the depth of the reservoir, the presence of snags, grass, reeds and other underwater hooks. In addition, holes will be drilled based on the length of the fishing line, so that the pecked pike cannot confuse the neighboring girder. The optimal length will be 10 m. If there are a lot of snags and other underwater obstacles, it is shorter, if the depth is greater, it is longer.

Take a sliding, elongated weight so that it does not cling to the lower edge of the hole when playing. The weight is selected so that it does not allow the live bait to float, but at the same time does not tire it very much, while maintaining its mobility.

A rubber stopper can be placed below the weight on the main line. It will prevent the weight from hitting the leash attachment point. In addition, by moving the stopper higher along the line, we can lengthen the leash for the live bait.

Which leash to use, steel or fluorocarbon is up to you. The first makes playing easier and more reliable, the second increases the likelihood of a bite, but increases the likelihood of retirement. It is better to attach the leash to the main line with a loop in a loop, so it is more reliable. If this is not possible, use a swivel and winding ring. But the more such elements, the more unreliable the tackle.

There are many opinions about which hook to put on the girders and how to hook the live bait. Some advocate one hook, justifying this by the fact that the pike is careful in winter, and when the bait gets into its mouth, the only hook folds, pressing against the live bait, and the pike does not feel it.
True, the number of empty bites increases. With one hook, the live bait clings to the back behind the dorsal fin. A double is a compromise between a hook and a tee. The double can be attached both under the dorsal fin and in the mouth of the live bait by passing the leash through the gill slit.

The tee is even more difficult. With most attachment methods, at least one sting of the tee will be free and can frighten off the pike when biting. The only way to attach a live bait to a tee is to pass the leash through the gill slit, placing the tee in its mouth with the forearm.
Then the pike grabbing the live bait and turning it with its head into the mouth will not feel the points of the hooks, and when hooked, these points will just be directed in the right direction. At the same time, when choosing a tee, you need to take into account the size of the live bait, with a small tee large size live bait can interfere with the hook. With this method of baiting, the tee is attached to the leash through the winding ring.

Structural elements

Since fishing for pike in winter is often a collective affair, the rest of the girder's equipment also requires additional mention.

Very often, in the fishing area, not far from yours, there are gnats of other fishermen. Although according to the rules, fishing is allowed only for five girders, few people limit themselves to this.

Therefore, when some of the distant gadgets is triggered, it is not always clear whether it is yours or not, and with a large number, you do not always remember the place of all your galls. Therefore, it is better to mark equipment such as coils and flags.

A pattern is applied to the coils with a red marker or white corrector (in the case of black ones), which not only makes them recognizable, but also allows you to determine whether the coil is spinning or not.

The flag is marked with some kind of letter or symbol that is visible from afar, this will save you from unnecessary runs. The checkbox can be marked and tied with an additional bright ribbon of a different color.