Leash materials
Leashes can be made from any durable material. When catching small specimens, a “pigtail” of several lines is quite suitable. If you plan to catch large specimens, then this may not be enough. Therefore, more durable materials are used, such as:
- steel cables;
- metal wire;
- guitar or piano string;
- nylon cord.
For those who do not want to spend their precious time making leashes, there are many different devices available in fishing stores. Here you can also purchase leash material intended for hunting catfish. It has a breaking load of 25 to 45 kg. As an alternative, you can use tennis racket cord. This is basically a braided line, but it has thinner threads woven into one. Such material may be too tough for a catfish.
Equipment for catching catfish
How to tie a catfish hook to a fishing line. Choosing hooks for catfish
Hooks for catfish.
This is not a catfish hook museum.
Stories are planned about hooks sold in fishing stores. Without unnecessary advertising, since the author of the site values \u200b\u200bhis name. No decision has been made about the future of this page, how to simultaneously talk about hooks for fishing with kwok and donks, about single hooks and triple hooks, about homemade and “branded” ones. The site is in a “teenage” state of development. There is a lot of interesting things ahead. Fishing stores are filled with a variety of hooks for catfish. Catfish fishermen still use homemade hooks to catch catfish.
My “favorite size” hook. I use these as “standard” hooks. Depending on the situation, I change leashes. The “factory” hook was made in the Soviet Union, unfortunately the tip is slightly retracted, but these are the hooks that have stuck with me.
Homemade hooks for catfish
Hooks for catching catfish using kwok
Why do somyat fishermen use homemade hooks:
- What remains are homemade catfish hooks from our fathers and grandfathers.
- Not all wire hooks of the appropriate diameter are suitable for catching catfish. Most of the large hooks sold in fishing stores are designed for sea fishing or it is not clear why. Often the hooks sold have a strange shape, including a tip bent inward, which in no way contributes to successful hooking.
- “Store” hooks are expensive.
The main reason for using homemade hooks for catfish
— dissatisfaction with the shape and strength of hooks sold in fishing stores.
It should be noted that some fishermen are “sick” of gigantomania. Using huge hooks to catch catfish often does not make sense. And from “store-bought” hooks it is quite possible to select strong and thin hooks of the optimal size for the bait used. This is especially important for those using fishing rods and fishing lines (braids).
The first photo shows a unique homemade fishing hook for catching catfish with a kwok. I seriously doubt that you will see such hooks anywhere else. The hook is made with needle files from an unbent spring of a suitable diameter. Naturally, the hooks were not heated during manufacture. A magnificent hook of the correct, beautiful shape with incredible strength.
I have come across the opinion that hooks for fishing with quok should be straight, without bending towards the blade. I do not agree with this opinion because when hooking, the straight hook turns outward.
Handsome man close up. Ideal proportions
Classic shape and size. Nothing to add.
This hook, about 40 mm wide, requires a lot of bait. I don’t see the point in such huge hooks when fishing on the Don. On the Volga or in other rivers where very large catfish remain, they are probably caught with such huge hooks. The leash is made of four lines with a diameter of 0.5 mm. The leash is too thin for this hook.
The size of the hook used depends on the bait and the size of the intended prey. This photo shows light and thin homemade hooks compared to what are probably the largest ones.
Excellent Soviet hooks. These were produced in the Soviet Union. The hooks are woven into a short leash designed to protect against catfish brush teeth and for proper placement of bait. Catfish fishermen on the Don still use such equipment despite the absence of large catfish in the Don. The hope of catching a huge catfish lives in my soul. And a habit, of course.
Using a donkey when fishing from the shore
Most anglers catch catfish with simple tackle from the shore. This is due to the fact that not every fisherman can afford to buy a boat, and even one with a motor. The basis of the bottom fishing rod is the rod blank, 3 to 3.5 meters long. It should be a reliable and powerful rod, equipped with an equally powerful reel. This can be either an inertia-free or a more reliable multiplier reel. It is also called a sea reel, and it is increasingly becoming popular among spinners when catching large fish. Such reliable elements of gear are equipped with a reliable and strong fishing line with a sliding weight. A leash, 0.5 to 1.5 meters long and made of steel wire, is attached to the main line.
Techniques and features of catching spring catfish on a donk
The fishing technique itself is quite simple, the difficulty lies only in the fish and its behavioral characteristics and habitat. By their nature, catfish are very unpredictable and cunning, so they choose places that are problematic for fishing and are active only at night, when fishing is extremely inconvenient. Here is a list of actions you need to take to increase your chances of success:
- Prepare all the appropriate gear and equip the workplace. If this is the shore, then it is convenient and secure to fasten the rod or rope. The bite time can be very different, some will be lucky to catch it in 5 minutes, while others will spend half a day, so take care of the fishing chair. It should be comfortable and stand steadily close to the donkey; the closer, the faster you can react.
- When all the equipment is ready, you need to choose a location. Habitats and tips for finding a place were described above in the section “When to catch catfish in the spring.” Follow these rules and the likelihood of success will be much higher.
- Catching catfish can take a very long time, but the number of gear will increase your chances. Using 4 donks will be much more effective than one. But you shouldn’t put more than 5, because then it will be very difficult to keep track of everyone. Using several bottom tackles will increase the coverage area; throw 2-3 tackles into the pit itself, and 1-2 at the exit from it.
- When the bottoms are abandoned, feed the catfish to attract them to your gear.
- Then everything depends on the fisherman. It can jerk the bottom in the water, creating waves or muddying the bottom, creating the effect of swarming the fry. One way or another, you need to periodically carry out manipulations to attract hunters.
After some time, everything depends on luck and the number of individuals in the reservoir, the coveted catfish will be hooked, then you need to not miss it and, with all diligence, pull it ashore. Large specimens in large rivers can well exceed 10kg and come with corresponding strength, so be prepared for a fight.
Source
Feeder tackle for catching catfish
A feeder is the same bottom tackle, but its equipment includes a feeder, and the fishing process itself begins with feeding the fish. The “paternoster” is selected as equipment. It is knitted very simply and consists of two loops formed at the end of the main fishing line. The feeder is first put on the first loop, and the leash with a hook is put on the second, which is located at a distance of about 20 cm. As a rule, large specimens are not caught on a feeder, but what the hell is it? It’s better to use nylon as a leash.
Leashes in different methods of catching catfish
To catch catfish, they usually use “donka”, “quoka” fishing, feeder tackle, and also fishing with wobblers using the “trolling” method.
Bottom tackle for fishing from the shore
For coastal fishing for catfish, a powerful rod with a length of three to three and a half meters equipped with a power reel is usually used. The rig is simple, with a sliding sinker. A sinker is threaded into the main line. A strong swivel is attached to the end, to which, in turn, a leash with a hook is attached. The length of the leash is from one to one and a half meters. To catch large catfish, it is recommended to use steel cable or wire.
Fishing tackle using the kwoka method
Tackle for fishing from a boat with a kwok usually consists of a short and strong spinning rod. Equipment with a rigidly fixed sinker. A wire is threaded into the sinker and bent at the edges into rings. The main fishing line is attached to one ring, and the leash with a hook to the other. The leash is usually one meter long. If fishing is planned for large fish, the leash is made of nylon cord.
Tackle for catching catfish on a feeder
The method of catching catfish on a feeder involves preliminary feeding and luring fish to bait. Then the fishing process begins. To rig a feeder for catfish, a “paternoster” is usually used. At the end of the main line, two twists are made, with loops at the ends. The first is twenty centimeters, a feeder with bait is attached to it. The second is smaller, about fifteen centimeters, on the loop of which a leash, one meter long, is attached.
Large catfish are not caught with a feeder. And the leash is no different from any other gear - use nylon so that the catfish does not cut the fishing line.
Tackle for catching catfish using the “trolling” method using wobblers
“Trolling” refers to the method of fishing from a moving boat with a fishing rod and equipment on it. The bait used is an artificial bait - a wobbler. Typically, when trolling at great depths, a steel frame is used to hold the wobbler at a given depth. The frame is a piece of wire bent at an angle of ninety degrees. A sinker is attached to one end, and a long leash made of soft metal cable with a wobbler at the end is attached to the other.
Among fishermen, opinions differ regarding the material of the leash. Some say that they are less willing to take the bait if they use metal as a leash. Others argue that there is no difference in the material of the leash; catfish will equally grab the bait with a steel cable and with a fishing line as a leash. Try all the materials and you will find the right one for you.
About fishing in the Black Sea with a tyrant
The tactics of fishing for tyrants are as follows. They are caught at a depth of 50 meters or more. You release the line until the load touches the seabed. Then you sharply lift the rod 1 meter up - make a hook. Then slowly lower it down. Pause for 5-15 seconds, hook again, and so on.
If Black Sea fish are not caught from the bottom, it makes sense to look for it in the water column. Raise the load a meter or two from the bottom and fish this area of water. If there are no bites, raise more. Sometimes, especially at night, schools of fish stand right under the bottom of the ship.
If this does not bring results, try fishing with a reel. Lower the weight to the bottom and reel the line towards you at medium speed, like on a spinning rod.
It is best to fish in the morning or evening. During the day, in the heat of the day, sea fish feed poorly, and you won’t be hurt either. In August – September, on the Black Sea, night sea fishing gives good results.
When going Black Sea sea fishing, it is better to take bait with you and put it on hooks. The bait must be prepared in advance. Still, with tyrant bait in the Black Sea, the fish are caught better, larger and more varied.
