Spinners are one of the most common types of spinning baits, which have been used almost since the first days of the invention of spinning baits fishing. They are used for catching almost any predatory fish and very effective for fishing for pike and perch.

This bait in its traditional design is a wire rod around which a metal petal rotates under the influence of water resistance.

It is this rotation, which forms the basis of its operating principle, that gave rise to the name of the spinner - "spinner". There is a core (weight) under the petal, and a triple hook is usually used as a hook.

It is noteworthy that the spinner does not in any way resemble the live fish that it imitates - not in its appearance, not in its play in the water. And at the same time, such bait is very effective, and in some cases even irreplaceable. The secret is in the powerful hydroacoustic wave it creates.

A predatory fish notices it with a lateral line located on both sides of its body and capable of picking up sound at frequencies inaccessible to our hearing aid. Moreover, he pays attention to the spinner from afar, since in a dense water environment sound waves are weakly attenuated, which is why they are transmitted over long distances.

Observing behavior predatory fish, scientists have discovered that the pike, blind in both eyes, is able to provide itself with food for many years thanks to the lateral line, which serves as a natural radar endowed to it by nature.

Turntable number conditionally indicates its size and weight, determined by numbers from 00 to 6 in the following order: No. 00; №0; No. 1; No. 2; etc. up to No. 6. As the numerical value of the number increases, the geometric dimensions of the bait increase. In most cases, the number and weight of the turntable is indicated on its packaging, but many famous manufacturers fishing accessories, duplicate them on the petal of the turntable.

Design features of turntables.

Structurally, the turntable is quite simple bait, which does not use any complex and cutting-edge technologies. As was already mentioned at the very beginning of the article, everything is very simple - a metal rod is passed through the through hole of the core, and a petal is attached to it using a clamp, rotating around it during movement.

The metal rod is twisted into loops at both ends, to which: on one side the main one is attached, and on the other there is a hook - a tee. petal rotation time.

There are also turntables that do not use a clamp in their design. In them, the petal is placed directly on the rod through a through hole arranged in it.

Clampless spinners are quite narrowly targeted due to the fact that they have a fixed angle of rotation, but for certain cases related to fishing conditions and techniques, this feature can be considered ideal.

Thanks to its design, such a bait is capable of “starting up” literally from the first seconds of the dive; it does not fall like a stone to the bottom, but calmly descends in a spiral, thanks to the slowly rotating petal that performs the function of a parachute, but provided that the fishing line is free from tension, and the line-layer bracket after The casting point remains open until the bait is submerged.

As a rule, in overgrown places - such as “toad fields” (swamps) it is very difficult to carry out full-fledged long-term wiring, and using clampless turntable, you can precisely throw it out the window (a place clear of vegetation) and already count on a bite at the first moment of a dive or short-term retrieve.

Another variety spinners- so-called tandems, in which two petals are used at once, and the petals have different size and rotation frequency. Also used as tandems is a combined installation of a spinner with a soft bait or fly. Combined spinners - tandems combine the qualities of several baits and are very effectively used for catching large fish, showing themselves most clearly when hunting pike.
The most common ways to classify turntables are by the shape of the movable petal and the nature of the load. Let's consider each type separately and in more detail.

Classification of spinners by petal shape.

According to the shape of the petal, all turntables are divided into three classes proposed by the famous French company Mepps:

• Aglia;
• Comet;
• Long.

Each type of pinwheel differs not only in the shape of the petal, but also in another extremely important parameter– angle of rotation (does not apply to clampless spinners).

Turntables "Aglia" They have a fairly large and convex petal, almost regular round shape, and the angle of rotation is 60 degrees. Such an impressive angle contributes to an equally serious drag of the bait, making it advisable to use surface fishing with it with a dive of 50 - 80 centimeters, as well as using a spoon in still water.

Which is very appropriate when fishing in reservoirs with a large number bottom algae, snags and other obstacles in the way of the bait. The Aglia spinner is irreplaceable when fishing in the current; due to its impressive tenacity, it allows itself to be carried quite slowly along the watercourse.

Turntables of this type have a high rotation speed, start up with a slight delay necessary for swinging the petal, and work well both on slow and fast retrieves. Most predatory fish are caught well with them, and some species simply adore the high rotation speeds of the spinner, which emit powerful vibrations when retrieved quickly.

Spoons for trout are produced with exactly this petal shape and have proven themselves very well when fishing in the upper layers of reservoirs preferred by the salmon family. High-frequency vibrations are very good at attracting perch, which is also not indifferent to spinners with petal shape "Aglia".

Comet type turntables are equipped with an oval-shaped petal, and its rotation angle is 40-50 degrees. This is an ideal option for fishing in the water column. Many experts consider them to be the most versatile, allowing you to use different types and speeds of retrieve and fish at different depths, both in currents and in still water.
Almost any predatory fish can be caught with the Comet; this type of petal can be considered the “golden mean” between its narrow and round shape.

Turntables "Long" have a long and narrow petal, similar to a willow leaf, rotating during wiring at an angle of 30 degrees. This angle and shape of the petal ensures minimal drag and low petal rotation speed. The spinner starts up very quickly and works well with a slow retrieve even at the petal stop limit.

“Longs” are well suited for fast water, held in the current, and also used for bottom fishing. Spoons for pike perch, preferring to hunt closer to the bottom, have a typical petal shape, the pike also does not ignore the low-frequency vibrations of the “Long” petals.

Classification of rotating spoons according to loading method.

According to the method of arrangement of the core or special load, turntables are divided into two categories: rear-loaded turntables- the core is behind the petal and follows it;

front-loaded rotating spoons - the weight is placed in front of the petal. The location of the load in the design of the spinner quite seriously affects its behavior in working condition and requires a special approach and different ways wiring.

Front loaded(jig) spinners have a fixed or removable weight. They are often called unloaded spinners, because the removable design of the weight allows you to use the spinner without it.
Front loading turntables They are very well suited for fishing in deep-water areas, and such a spinner begins to play already when immersed and is used with a wide range of retrieves, including stepped ones. Such turntables fly a fairly decent distance and work well at different depths, in the middle and lower horizons, which is also their advantage.

Back-loaded spinners are considered the most common and popular; they can be recommended for beginning spinning anglers to master this type of bait. Of course, they are inferior in casting range to front-loaded spinners, but they fly very well and can be equally actively used both from the shore and when fishing from a boat.

With the right choice of the type and size of such a spinner and a well-chosen method of guiding it, you can catch any predatory fish.
There are also unloaded spoons, which do not have a core at all, but this is too light and specific bait - “not for everyone.” A rod is required to use light lures with dough 1 - 7g And fast formation, the handling of which requires certain skills. You can cast light baits far with a more powerful rod using a special device - bombard, but this is another topic that requires a separate article.

Spoon color.

When choosing the color of the turntable, it is necessary to take into account not only the features of the reservoir, which we have already discussed, but also certain circumstances, such as lighting and water temperature. Both factors are directly related to the time of day and weather conditions.

Visibility and water temperature greatly influence the behavior and activity of both predatory and peaceful fish.
In accordance with this, when choosing a spinner, you need to focus not only on its size and petal shape, but also on the color of the spinner. The primary task of the fisherman is to draw the fish’s attention to the bait and provoke an attack on it. To do this, you need to choose the right color of the spinner and the method of its wiring.

In clean, clear water it is better to use dark, not too “blinding” baits, and in muddy water, vice versa. But even in the muddiest reservoir, I do not recommend fishing with a spinner polished to a mirror shine - it can scare away a predator with its unnatural shine. The spoon should flicker in the water column, and its reflections should resemble the reflection of light from fish scales.
In very bright sunlight, a highly sparkling spoon can be lightly smoked over a fire, giving it a slight “tinted” effect.

In general, the choice of the color of the spinners is a little less critical than other types of baits, since the decisive factor for successful fishing in this case is still not appearance, and hydroacoustics. If you should pay attention to the color of the bait, it is the color of its core, since, ultimately, the attention of the object of fishing is focused on it. Often, spinners use edges or colored cambric, with a masking hook called a tee.

The color of the core and edge is of particular importance when fishing for certain species of fish that show an interest in certain colors. According to my observations, perch is partial to red, pike perch loves gray and brown tones, and pike prefers white and acidic colors.

Advantages and disadvantages of rotators.

The main advantage spinners Their simple design ensures good catchability and allows for easy and simple repairs. A wide range of spinners makes it easier to choose them and the opportunity to purchase high-quality spinners at relatively inexpensive prices. Moreover, if you have plumbing skills, you can make rotating spoons yourself.

It is also worth noting that spinners are in high demand among novice spinning enthusiasts, since the technique of their use does not require special skills and can provide a good catch. Most experienced spinning anglers prefer this particular bait, because it often catches real, trophy specimens.

There are practically no disadvantages to this type of spinners; the only and easily removable one can be considered the twisting of the fishing line, which occurs due to the rotation of the rod of the bait in the place with its petal and entails the removal of “beards”.
To eliminate this kind of trouble, it is enough to slightly bend the tip of the axial rod in front of the petal, thereby preventing its rotation. Also, in some cases, it helps to use braided fishing line, which is less susceptible to twisting, or to use a swivel at the junction with it.

Characteristic features of rotators in some cases can be considered disadvantages, and in some circumstances - advantages.

One of these features is the fact that for the spinner to work properly, nothing should interfere with the rotation of its petal and the movement of the bait itself. This is despite the fact that the turntable itself must be in a mobile state all the time, which is often hampered by its open hooks - tees, clinging to everything that appears in their way. Such conditions are not always feasible, for example: when trolling in places with dense bottom vegetation or in reservoirs with a not entirely clean bottom.

The next detail that should be taken into account when using rotating spinners is the need to use a sensitive and good one for them, allowing you to control the condition of the blade.
The vibration from the rotating blade is transmitted along the line to the tip, to the rod itself and to the reel.

By the tip of the whip and the vibrations transmitted to the rod, you can judge the behavior of the spoon and determine even minor fish bites. You can also clearly feel the vibrations of the bait while winding the line onto the reel. Using a good one with a fairly free rotor movement in combination with a fishing rod, you can easily control not only the spinner, but also any bait, if necessary, adding or decreasing the rate of rotation of the reel handle.

You can train and experiment in clear water, observing the lure, measuring and evaluating the behavior of the tackle in different situations, analyzing and remembering how the bait responds to certain manipulations of the rod and rotation of the reel. By regularly practicing watching the lure, over time you will be able to easily judge the position and condition of the bait during fishing and easily control it.

The horizontal arrangement of the hook-tee in the working state of the spoon promotes its engagement, but thereby impedes the passage of the bait and does not allow its use in reservoirs even with sparse vegetation.

It would seem that there are no secrets in spinning fishing - cast away and wind the line onto the reel. Thinking like this is a big mistake. The correctly chosen speed and nature of the bait's movement affects the fishing result almost more than a precisely selected spinner.
Of course, it is simply impossible to give any definite advice on which fishing line to catch this or that fish, there are too many other factors. But in general, you should adhere to several general principles that will help you return home with a good catch:

• The more active the bite, the faster the retrieve and vice versa.
• IN cold water The bait must certainly move slowly; when warm, it must move faster, but not necessarily.
• When near-bottom fishing, we maintain a low retrieve speed, almost at the level of the petal stopping. Wiring when fishing in the upper layer of water can be very different and is chosen, first of all, depending on the mood of the fish itself. The ability to catch the mood of a predator comes with time.
• Sometimes, when retrieving, a sharp pause (8-10 seconds) is very effective when the bait is in the upper layer of the reservoir, ensuring the free fall of the spoon to the very bottom. After which you need to lift the spoon from the bottom with a sharp jerk and begin a uniform retrieve. Very often, after a jerk that lifts the bait from the bottom, a pike attack immediately follows. This is explained by the fact that while the bait is falling, it attracts the attention of a predator, who does not dare to attack it, trying to see it. The jerk of the bait, simulating an attempt to escape, serves as a signal for a lightning attack, preempting the flight of the victim.
• The next very effective technique is alternating fast and slow retrieving, using two to three fast turns of the reel handle, followed by two or three slow ones, which in many cases brings good results.

Where it is not possible to catch with rotating spoons due to frequent snags, spinners come to the aid of silicone baits- non-hooking on.

I will be very glad if my articles help you in mastering spinners and spinning rods in general. Happy fishing! Please share your opinions and comments in the comments.

Catching perch on spinners is great fun when relaxing on rivers. Perch and pike are the most likely trophies for non-professional fishing. You can take a spinning rod and try to catch a few perches, which you can easily fry right away. To fish, you need to know the basic technique of catching perch using spinners. After looking at the article you will understand what a good spinner is for perch.

Perch is caught with a spinning rod using small baits: small spoons, spinners, small wobblers, twisters, poppers, bulldozers, jigs. See for example the entries:

Fishing with spinners is not the most catchy, but the size of the perch is usually larger than when fishing with other baits.

FISHING FOR PERCH WITH SPINNERS

Aiming point at the turntables

• on meps type turntables this is a red bead
• on turntables with feathering (front sight) on a tee - this front sight

It was noticed that on excellent turntables the fish stops being caught after the fly is nibbled by the fish. Perch and asp begin to attack and miss the spoon, sometimes getting caught on the ridge, eye, gills... and here the sharpness of the tee plays a significant role.

The presence of a fly significantly increases the catchability of the spoon.

Counterfeit Mepps turntables

Each element of the Mepps spinner is strictly designed so that the assembled spoon imitates bait as much as possible and attracts a predator.

Perch sites on rivers

Diagram of the most likely perch sites on the large and small rivers.

On big rivers The most likely position for perch is near a steep bank; on small rivers, perch stands on the edges, near places where the depths change. In lakes, small perch stay shallow and take refuge in coastal vegetation, at the bottom they hide near hummocks and various small shelters, large ones prefer depths.

The active hunting of perch in summer is indicated by the fanning of fry flying away on the surface of the water.

Perch is a schooling fish, so after catching one perch, make a few more casts in this place, sometimes standing in one place you can pull up to fifty perches. The school of large perch is smaller.

You shouldn’t immediately try to make long casts; first, you can fish near the shore, making movements in the water column in shallow water and among water lilies. When casting to depth, the casting is carried out closer to the bottom.

On the river from the shore, casts are made along the shore, deepening the spinner and then starting the retrieve. You need to fish near the shore where there is vegetation (grass in the water), in the water area, in places with unusual topography. You can go into the water and move the spinner along the shore. Better perch takes from the steep bank. In the shallow waters of the lake they fish with a “net”, casting in one direction or the other so that they get a “net” of wires.

After casting the spinner, you need to start the rotation of the petal, starting a fast retrieve; after starting the petal, the retrieve speed is reduced.

Pinwheels for perch: what a good spinner for perch

MEPS, OSCO, JACKSON are generally the same catchable spoons. The color can be any - yellow, bronze, white. The yellow color and elongated petal are universal and popular.
SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS, ADD ONE-CLASS TO YOUR FEED ASSNIKOV, ON THE WALL IN CONTACT...

Perch is caught well on spinners with red feathers on the tee.

Since turntables have light weight, it is problematic for beginners to cast long distances, so weighted heads are used, but it should be taken into account that the head increases the size of the bait and small perch will take much worse on such a bait. A bombard is used to cast small spinners, while to catch perch at the bottom you need a fast-sinking bombard.

Spinner spinners

Techniques for fishing with spinners for perch

• wiring speed – medium and slow
• wiring depth – in the water column and near the bottom
• pinwheel size is small

When fishing with a spinner, the perch often follows it without grabbing the bait and, when the spinner comes out of the water, either tries to attack it (usually unsuccessfully) or sharply turns away. It is advisable to provoke the perch to bite before the spinner leaves the water by increasing the speed of the retrieve or changing the direction of movement of the spinner.

The size of the spinner is small, for Meps and Osco spinners these are sizes “1” “1.5”, sizes “0” “00” are not for beginners, “2” is also taken by small perch but less often, these are spinners larger for large perch and pike .

What is the purpose of the red bead near the tee on the Mepps spinner - this is the aiming point for the predator

Pike also take the spinner well, and as a universal spinner we can recommend the Meps 1.5 yellow (best choice for perch and pike Mepps Aglia Long 1+) with an elongated petal - catchy spinner for pike and perch.

If the target is only a small perch, inexpensive OSKO “1” or MEPS “1” are suitable.

There are spinners of sizes “0” and “00”; small perch are certainly better caught on them.

Leash for perch

To catch only perch, you can use a 0.2 fishing line without a leash. But since a leash is desirable for catching pike with a spinner, you need to know that a leash increases the size of the bait that appears to a predator. Catching perch with spinners will be more effective if you use fluorocarbon leader , which is not visible in the water.

The first practical tip for retrieving spinners - Catching perch with spinners on the lake with a very slow retrieve

catching perch with spinners - tulip deflection scheme, technique of fishing with spinners for perch

Deviation of the spinning tulip when moving the spinner at different speeds

It often takes the spinner well with a very slow retrieve. The higher the wiring speed, the faster the petal of the spinner rotates and the greater the resistance the spinner provides and the more the tulip (top) of the spinning rod is deflected. If the petal does not rotate (it is stuck, or the tee is caught on the fishing line), the tulip does not deviate.

Fishing with slow retrieve (technique of fishing with spinners for perch)

• after casting the spinner, the petal is launched by quickly twisting the reel handle
• after starting the rotation of the petal, the speed of the wiring gradually decreases, bringing the speed to the point at which the tulip will have an almost imperceptible deviation
• Before the spinners leave the water, they accelerate the speed of the retrieve and change the direction of movement of the spoon

Second practical advice on wiring spinners - total fishing of the place

It’s better to use a “net” to go through the intended parking area of ​​the perch without making random casts. With a net you can catch the place where the perch has shown itself chasing the fry (fry fanning out or the sound of a perch near the surface of the water).

spinning fishing scheme

How to catch perch in a ditch without making long casts?

• casts are made along the ditch - although it’s not big, the spinner needs wiring!

It is better to fish for the ditch with a fishing rod or jig.

The third practical tip for wiring spinners: catching perch with spinners from the bottom

You can catch perch:

1. During his active hunt. We have already said that the place of such a hunt can be determined by the fan of spray from the fleeing small fish. There is more efficient wiring in the water column.
2. During his stay in ambush.

Perch often stands near the bottom, hiding behind various shelters (underwater hummocks, stones). Accordingly, in order to catch a perch standing near the bottom, you need to move the spinner near the bottom. The fishing technique in this case is as follows:

• casting a turntable
• after casting, the rod is placed in such a position so that the fishing line (braid) is stretched
• V the moment the turntable lowers to the bottom the line sags
• slightly pull up the spinner, quickly wind the spinner so that the petal spins (at the same time the tulip is strongly bent) and begin slow wiring on the verge of breaking the petal (the tulip is slightly bent), while the spinner goes near the bottom
• since the depth towards the shore decreases - as the spinner approaches the shore, the tip of the spinning rod (tulip) gradually moves higher and the spinner gradually begins to move closer to the surface of the water

How to move a pinwheel over the grass at the bottom

Since when lowering to the bottom there can often be a snag or the spinner picks up tufts of grass and does not work, so that the spinner does not lie on the bottom but is still near the bottom, use the following technique:

• on the first cast, count how long it will take for the spinner to fall to the bottom (from the spinner falling into the water until the line sag) for example, the count is 7
• for subsequent casts, count after the spinner falls into the water and start retrieving one count less, – 6
• As the pinwheel approaches the shore, the tulip is gradually raised

You can use a floating bombard by setting the length of the leash with a spinner depending on the fishing depth.

You can use a special one (a 10-15 cm long wire bent at a right angle, a load is attached to one end, and a pinwheel is tied to the other on a small leash). A bombard is also used for wiring the turntable.

But if perch is caught between water lilies, in our opinion, the wiring should be in the water column.

Everyone then develops their own technique for fishing with spinners for perch after the practice they have received.

Photos of promising places for perch fishing

On the river the perch stands under the steep banks; it is also promising to fish the area of ​​reeds (grass) growing in the water on the shallows and on the edge of the shore, and areas of uneven shores.

On the lake in old men It is promising to catch in the area of ​​rare water lilies by throwing the spinner among the water lilies and along the edge of the water lily thickets. If the area of ​​water lilies is clogged with grass and algae, then the spinner is held along and at an angle to the potion, otherwise the spinner will constantly catch the potion.

A man fishes in a place clogged with grass - no prospects.

As they say, who is talking about what, but I would like to talk about my favorite spinners - spinners. It would be more correct to call them rotating spoons, or spinners, because the petal of this type of spinning bait still does not rotate around a wire axis, but rotates. However, fishermen understand perfectly well what we are talking about.

Not only famous predators, but even clumsy bulls can come across the turntable. Photo: Evgeny Konstantinov.

In the eighties, when I began my spinning career, spinners were not particularly popular.

It can be added that they are not so popular even now compared to the various types of wobblers, fashionable “edible” rubber and jig equipment that dominate the fishing market.

But there was a period when I personally prayed at the turntables, one might say.

I didn’t start fishing with them right away; In the first two seasons, the priorities were spinners, then wobblers, of which there were very few on sale - you can count them on the fingers of one hand.

But once, near Zvenigorod, when I was unsuccessfully chasing spoons along the Moscow River, a local fisherman caught a couple of pikes on a rotating spoon before my eyes.

“Okunevaya”, “Universal”, “Trofimovskaya”, “Baikal” - this is, perhaps, the entire list of turntables that were sold in our stores thirty years ago. They cost half as much as spoons, not to mention wobblers.

But it’s not even a matter of price, but of their effectiveness on some specific bodies of water. We are talking about the so-called “dams” formed after the construction of dams on rivers near Moscow.

The result was a reservoir with depths in the area of ​​the dam and shallow water in the upper reaches, where everything was usually very snarled: not only was the bottom littered with fallen trees, but also snags were sticking out of the water. It was the upper reaches that perch and pike really liked.

And I liked them, if only because other spinning anglers didn’t like them because of the inevitable snags and cliffs, and I fished there, as a rule, alone. But it’s one thing to lose your favorite spinner or an expensive wobbler, which are difficult to make wiring in such strong places, and quite another to throw light “Trofimov” or “Universal” between snags (and they cost 17 kopecks in those years).

Of course, they also found underwater snags with their tees and eventually broke off, but what about fishing without losses!

But what a pleasure it is to make an accurate cast between the picket fence, immediately after splashing down the spinner, start retrieving with very little depth and maneuver the spinning rod so that it, like a slalom skier, avoids obstacles!

And to see someone’s shadow suddenly darting across it, and in the next moment to feel a tug, hook, successfully bring the toothy one to the shore and take it not with a landing net (in such places it is not an assistant), but with your hand. Agree, such visual, albeit risky fishing has its own unique charm.

SPORT DICTATES FASHION

Soon, as they say, I was ready to participate in spinning competitions, which were held exclusively from boats. And at the very first competition he took third place, catching a pike weighing 340 grams on a “Universal”, weighted with a “Filda” weight.

I agree that the trophy is too small, but three dozen athletes didn’t catch anything at all that time. Most of them were fishing veterans and preferred to fish either with heavy spoons or loaded foam fish.

Yes, stepwise wiring of foam rubber often brought worthy trophies in the form of pike and pike perch. But just fishing is one thing, competing in the team competition is another. And at that time there was a change in the rules, and the team classification began to be carried out not by the total weight of the catch, but by the sum of the places of the team members.

That is, everyone had to have a catch, which, of course, was more sporting. But the veterans were in no hurry to rebuild and continued to resist step wiring homemade foam rubber, while the youth progressed.

I remember my first participation in the Moscow Championship in 1989, in which 10 teams of 4 athletes each met. More than half of them brought zeros to the finish line. In our team, one spinner, who was “tormenting the foam rubber”, also could not catch a fish, but three, who preferred spinners, caught it, and in the end our team became the champion.

Then there were prizes and victories at other Moscow championships. And new pinwheels began to appear at the poultry market (homemade) and in stores (imported).

With one of them - a single mepps - I managed to catch a 3400 g asp at the Pestovsky Reservoir, which brought victory at the MSO Rio Championship. For advanced athletes, a period has come when turntables have become in demand.

With perch, everything is clear: sometimes in five competitive hours I caught more than a hundred stripers on turntables. But the turntables tempted both pike and pike perch, and white predators - asp, chub, ide, rudd...

ALMOST UNIVERSAL MICRO

Twisters and vibrating tails began to appear on the fishing market, and imported wobblers began to appear in shop windows. And in the rules of the “Russian Spinning League” it was announced that any fish of any size will be counted in the competition.

This is where pinwheels, especially microscopic ones, came in very handy. Nulevki? No, they are too large, it would be better to have two, or even better, three zeros.

Moscow craftsmen (I. Pimenov, A. Sukhov, A. Andaralo) even made four zeros with their own hands, but this can only be examined under a microscope. The main thing is that these little things brought results in competitions.

I remember the Russian championship in the Saratov region on the Volga. It was hot, and during training the fish refused to bite at all. It was necessary to catch at least something, and I found a way out.

I tried to throw the smallest spinner under the shore, to a depth of 10-15 cm, and move it at a speed that allowed it to “wind” the petal. The trick turned out to be effective.

My tiny little fish was seduced: first I caught two bleaks, then a chub about a hundred grams, and another one, a little larger. It’s a small thing, but it’s cool, and most importantly, it’s a departure from zero.

Many athletes never caught anything during training. I thought that if I started using micro-zero fishing tactics, then during the entire tour I would catch a dozen chubs, and this is the overall result.

Therefore, I did not philosophize and began to hunt with a pinwheel for small things in the open shallows. As it turned out, it was not in vain.

First, as I expected, chubs came across, then perch came out, and further away from the shore the cauldron suddenly “boiled.” I hurried to get close to him, but in order to throw, I took a second spinning rod with a spinner and a half-spinner and... On the hook there is a two-hundred-gram skekhon!

The turntables brought me a decent result at those competitions...

FIRST TROUT

Russia spinning reached international level in 2002, when our team came to the First World Cup in shore fishing. It was understood that the organizers would first release a certain amount of trout into the Cellina River, which by that time I had only seen in pictures.

But during training, on the second cast of the spinner, I managed to pick up an obstinate pestle and bring it into the landing net. The spoon was homemade, a long-single type, golden in color. Similar turntables have proven themselves well during competitions.

But the spinner is a spinner, and you yourself are not bad. An accurate cast to the opposite bank was required. A little further - and the spoon became entangled in tree branches; if it did not reach an area with a relatively calm current, it was instantly washed aground, where there were no trout. My passion for casting helped me a lot in my casting technique...

DOUBTABLE BAN

I don’t know what the organizers of the second World Championship in Italy were really guided by, but in addition to the rule of fishing with “barbless” hooks (so as not to injure the fish), on the eve of the start there was a ban, excluding “everything unnecessary” from lures.

It was necessary to remove plastic balls from the spinners, petals and hairs from the tees. But how can one ruin branded meps?!

However, the athletes have nowhere to go, so a significant part of the spinners had to be remade. However, the Russians, in any case, worked on their baits: they changed the tees and winding rings, worked on the petals...

Their work bore fruit: repeated team silver at the Second World Championships!

"GOLDEN" TURNBOARDS

The third coastal world championship took place in Portugal on the Valdevez River. The ban on “plastic” has sunk into oblivion, and fishing with wobblers has also been allowed. I remained faithful to my favorite turntables. And not in vain!

By lot, I got the starting spot in an unremarkable sector. I started fishing with a proven three-gram golden “muran” and, without leaving my spot, without casting further than the middle of the river, I caught seven trout within the first ten minutes. My judge only had time to fix them and release them.

According to the rules, I already had the right to leave my sector and take any free one. But why run somewhere if it continues to bite here and now? It was obvious that the pied liked the bait.

Therefore, when there were fewer bites within the casting range of the “three-three-piece,” I changed the spoon to a heavier five-gram one, began casting it to the opposite bank and dragging the pestle from a long distance.

Frankly, when I already had 15 fish, I relaxed, but when I found out that my neighbor had two more trout, I started running around the sectors and caught six more before the finish.

As a result, first place in the tour, and the whole team has a total of 6.5 places! This was already an unattainable result; the Russian spinning team won its first gold medals...

IT'S BETTER NOT TO SMALLEN

In Kamchatka, I had the opportunity to take part in the “Let's Save Salmon Together!” festival. I was skeptical about the advice of experienced people to take with them bright pinwheels no smaller than No. 4, preferably larger ones. I didn’t have any of these in my arsenal.

I finally acquired three “giants” and, as it turned out later, I was needlessly modest with both quantity and size. Even the spinners of the third number were not interested in coho salmon weighing under 5 kg, so it was also necessary to cast it to the middle of the river, where it had a move. And the “light” baits didn’t reach there.

In the end, I and my “small three-piece” still caught two coho salmon (one of them became the smallest fish of the tournament), but my two teammates, whose spinners were twice as large, distinguished themselves, and we became champions...

COLOR MATTERS

One day in September, a spinning rod friend of mine suggested that we hunt for grayling on Ladoga. He preferred Blue Fox spinners to all other baits on the largest lake in Europe. By that time I was not familiar with grayling, so I decided to experiment not so much with the size and shape of the petal, but with its color.

Ladoga grayling prefers to stay on uneven rocky places, so it is better not to look for the bottom with bait, otherwise snags and cliffs will inevitably occur when fishing from the shore.

Grayling is a cautious and capricious fish: when everyone had three fish, the bites stopped. It was necessary to find a key for the grayling, and it was the Mosca Longet Fluo spinner (a lemon-colored petal with black dots).

In terms of technique, my friend and I fished in exactly the same way, no tricks in wiring, but he didn’t have a bait of this color in his arsenal, while I had only one lemon petal.

In the end, completely short time I caught 18 grayling weighing up to 800 grams, my friend was half that size. The rising wind blew up a serious wave, and the next time I fished with my delicate tackle, I was a little hasty, and the lucky spoon remained in the mouth of the fish. At this point the bites stopped...

Once in Norway we were fishing on a fast river near the famous fishing hooks"Mustad" plant. Initially, everyone was in the mood for trout, but things didn't work out until I saw a local fly fisherman catch grayling. I remembered about the Ladoga grayling, changed the spoon to a lemon one, and then, as they say, away we go.

It is noteworthy that two experienced Moscow fly fishermen were fishing next to me, but my grayling pecked and ignored their flies. The color of the bait matters a lot!

WHAT ABOUT THE WIRING?

You should always experiment with wiring. It seems that with a turntable there are not many options in this regard. After all, the main thing is that its petal rotates properly and starts immediately after splashdown.

Everything is clear with twitching, but what about wiring in relation to the horizon? Once, when there was a total lack of bite on the Istra Reservoir, I managed to notice a perch emerging behind my spinner when I was already taking it out of the water. After casting, I tried lowering the bait to the bottom, and then starting a leisurely retrieve, while simultaneously raising the tip of the spinning rod. Such almost vertical wiring brought a positive result - a dozen and a half striped ones.

Once we were fishing on a high-altitude lake in Norway, where the drop to a decent depth began almost from the very shore. The bites of the capricious trout began when, after casting the spinner, we simply waited for it to go deeper, but its petal did not start. But for some reason the trout was attracted to the falling object, and we had to carefully monitor the fishing line in order to strike in time when it trembled slightly.

ANOTHER ADVANTAGE OF THE TURNBOARD

In Norway, I enjoyed fishing for trout in shallow, winding, overgrown rivers. It is impossible to place a wobbler there normally; the trout ignored the spinners and rubber. But the turntables were just right, and in some situations only two-zero ones were effective.

Imagine: the depth of the river is half a meter or less, among the algae there is a window of clear water two meters long and forty centimeters wide. When accurately casting a micro-spoon, very little useful wiring was obtained, but this was enough for the pestle to jump out from under the bank and land on the tee...

CONCLUSION

Someone will say that now that the fashion for paid reservoirs with lake trout has come, fishing with turntables is just a waste of time, they say, rubber, wobblers and micro-oscillators are much more relevant. I won't argue.

I caught on paid platforms only a couple of times, and specifically on turntables, and quite successfully. Aquarium payers are not my thing. I prefer relatively wild places: snagged dams, oxbow lakes, inaccessible rivers...

But fishing with a spinning rod from a boat is also great: pike, asp, ide, chub, perch, rudd - all of them often prefer spinners to other baits.

The pinwheel lived, the pinwheel lives, the pinwheel will live!

Technics vinyl turntables have been the established DJ standard for three decades. Their production was stopped at some point, however, under public pressure it was resumed again.

Continuing a small series of materials about DJ technologies, Mixmag Russia figured out the secret of the success of these players, and also asked the first Russian DJs to tell us about what kind of work it took them to acquire the first “Technixes”.

Any person who has ever bought any household appliance knows what the first words are at the beginning of the technical passport. “Thank you for choosing our product. We hope you have a lot of fun using our product." The Technics SL-1200/1210 Mk2 turntable models can safely cross out these introductory pleasantries from their manual simply because those who buy them know exactly why and why they are doing it. If we continue to look at the manual, we can recall how the manuals of various electronic devices, such as DVD players, faxes and digital cameras, are simply full of descriptions of solutions to various problems that may arise during their operation. The manual that comes with the 1200 (silver) and 1210 (black) players indicates only 4 possible faults: no current, no sound, reversed channels or background hum. Everything is perfect - it’s simple, there’s no other way to say it.

Some person dubbed these turntables as “an ideal design that has received recognition throughout the world.” The Guinness Book of Records only confirmed this, calling these turntables the longest-running product in the field of consumer electronics. While some computers, MP3 players or some household appliances become obsolete the moment they are purchased, the vinyl player produced by the Japanese corporation Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd., under the Technics brand, seemed like a frozen classic. These turntables were produced for 30 years practically without any changes. These sound-reproducing devices of the last decades of the past century had a fairly significant influence on modern music. This is indicated by numerous cultural studies and the enormous work “Last Night A DJ Saved My Life” by Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton, dedicated to the formation and development of DJing and dance music.

Technics turntables can be considered as a kind of time machine. When the first turntables rolled off the assembly line of the Japanese Matshusita plant in Iran, Ayatola Khomeini proclaimed the Islamic Republic, Margaret Thatcher became the new Prime Minister of Great Britain and she was yet to receive the nickname “Iron Lady”, the USSR sent troops to Afghanistan, Tarkovsky filmed “Stalker” and Pink Floyd recorded their famous album “Wall”, which Soviet censors would ban after some time. What was played at Soviet discos? Somewhere there were already disc jockeys (or hosts of disco evenings), somewhere amateur bands were playing - all the music sounded from “reels” - after all, records with adequate dance music, usually Western, dance music were worth their weight gold. Although somewhere there, in distant and incomprehensible New York, the first tracks that used samples and drum machines were already going beyond the narrow confines of the New York underground, which, thanks to DJs like Kool Herc or Grandmaster Flash, gave birth to new stylistic forms. Back then, DJs themselves modified turntables from various manufacturers and no one knew that the new Technics 1200 model would become the main DJ instrument for the next 20 years. It was this model that made it possible to easily carry out still timid scratches and rewounds, sawing down “twelve-inch” ones to holes.

In the same 1979, a single was released that mixed disco and hip-hop: the Sugarhill Gang recorded “Rapper's Delight”, completely building it from the bass line of the famous disco hit of the Chic group “Good Times” and the breaks of the Positive Force group, and Fab 5 Freddy and the Sugarhill Gang were rapping over it. The track, which lasted a full fifteen minutes, marked the beginning of a whole generation of tracks that were ideal for a new type of player. Possessing quartz stabilization and gaining the required speed in a split second, the SL model had a solid advantage in the market. Add to this a solid weight of 12 kilograms and a cleverly designed shape that protected the turntable from shocks. For this reason, in DJ circles these players were nicknamed “wheels of steel” and by the early eighties, Technics turntables became an unspoken standard almost everywhere in DJing. To be precise, the company released the first turntable from the 1200 model range in 1972, but only having acquired a pitch that made it possible to regulate the rotation speed of the plate, plus some truly ingenious solutions of Japanese engineers, only became classics in the form of the SL-1200 models/ 1210 Mk2.

The fact that this turntable was designed taking into account club features is hinted by the presence of a 4-band dotted reflector located on the rim of the disc, which makes it possible to adjust the speed of the record by eye when lighting is difficult: if it seems that the strip with the largest dotted lines in the light of a small flashlight installed is on the turntable, this means that the record is being played at normal speed. However, Technics developers went even further. Clearly perceiving their potential buyer as a serious person: in the official user manual, they themselves indicated and suggested various modifications to the player. For example, the start-stop speed of the mechanism could be changed with almost one movement of a screwdriver. And inquisitive owners of turntables subsequently learned how to double the pitch, which initially allowed the speed to be changed in the range of +/- 8 percent. In the early nineties, during the widespread rampant of hardcore, breakbeat and jungle, turntables were subjected to these modifications everywhere.

God knows how long Technics would have existed as a standard if not for digital technologies that allow you to play from anything, even from a couple of iPods. Technics, of course, tried to meet the trends of the times - in 2004 the company launched a series of CD turntables, but Pioneer had already set the tone in this market, and besides, CD turntables are unlikely to be able to last as long as their analog counterparts.

In 2010, the company, as it seemed at the time, put an end to the legend and the standard by ceasing production of the entire SL-1200 lineup. For a long time, fans tried in every way to reach the directors of the Japanese company, and it seemed that all efforts were in vain. But at the beginning of 2016, Technics unexpectedly rose from the ashes and announced a new, improved model that should continue the classic lineup. Of course, vinyl is no longer the only or dominant format among DJs, and the price of new models is above average. However, hardly anyone can doubt that this is a kind of classic that has influenced the musical history of the last three decades, that these are “one of the most successful musical instruments,” as not only DJ Spider, but many generations believe DJs - there is no doubt about that.

In the late eighties, when we were all still playing on reels, thanks to rare video clips from the West, we already knew that most of the DJs there played on records, since there were some kind of turntables that made it possible, through pitch, to change the speed. As a rule, these turntables were Technics model 1200. In the USSR there were also vinyl players designed for the needs of discos - two complexes were common - the Polish Unitra and the Czechoslovakian Tesla. This complex included two turntables, two reel-to-reel tape recorders, two cassette tape recorders and a built-in mixing console. The speed on the turntables could not be changed, so there was no benefit from the turntables. Well, then, it was always possible to get new records big problem and all our new music appeared, as a rule, on reels, and somewhat later on cassettes. We learned to adjust the speed on Yauza cassette recorders, even then trying to adjust the speed. When we, already in the early nineties, worked at the Jump discotheque, even then there was an idea to acquire real turntables. Just then, the first music stores appeared in Moscow, launched by the Americans, I don’t remember, unfortunately, what they were called, where you could order records from abroad. As a rule, these were Spanish reprints of various kinds of techno hits, like Quadrophenia “Paradise” or Interactive “Who Is Elvis”.

I became more familiar with Technics turntables after meeting Oleg Ojo. At the same time, Zhenya Fish and Borya Spider met them, who at that time worked in the “Class” disco, where I brought them, but by the time I met Ojo, we were already working in Igor Siliverstov’s new youth club, which was called Jump. Ojo, interested in how we tried to mix music on reels, invited us to visit him, saying that he had turntables at home. And he was the first person to show us how to mix tracks while playing on records. Although we already understood the technical principle, since before that we had mixed a lot and often on reels. Besides Ojo, there was another pair of turntables at the Maximum radio station. But there they stood as dead weight, since an insignificant number of records came to the radio, and the radio hosts played all the music from CDs. Artemy Troitsky brought me there, saying, “Let’s do a program about dance music,” and regularly supplying me with underground music. It was then that I realized that in order to further my growth, I simply needed to have my own turntables. In addition, working at an essentially American radio station, I had the opportunity to order fresh musical material on records on a regular basis. In order to order my “technicians,” I contacted a company that was engaged in supplying various radio equipment to Russia. They announced the price to me - in dollar terms it’s about the same as a pair of new turntables costs now. But at that time it was a lot of money. As a result, I decided to take a desperate step - for several months I rented out my apartment and desperately saving on everything, I was eventually able to earn money for both turntables and a Numark mixing console. This remote control, by the way, is now in the Audio School. Two months after the order, the delivery company for some reason sent them not to my home, but to some closed enterprise, and I spent two whole weeks trying to get them out of there, proving that this was nothing not secret equipment. In the end, I pulled them out of there and, if I’m not mistaken, these were the first turntables that stood in the Jump club.

Of course, a lot of people came to look at these turntables. I remember that Volodya Trapeznikov came with friends. Zhenya Zhmakin also brought records, and I remember in 1992 or 1993 I went with him to London for the first time in my life to buy records. So the musical material was gradually collected.

My first pair stayed in my house for quite a long time - eight years. When a new model appeared - 1210 - I sold these turntables to a music store to Roma Digger, and bought myself a new pair, already black, which are still with me and are now in my studio.

I saw the first “Technics” with my own eyes and touched it with my own hands at the “Holiday” party with the participation of Mark Kamins at the House of Cinema and at the performance of MC Solaar at the Jump club. And it was at these parties that we, in general, looked at how you can control music from records. Personally, I first worked with Technix at Maximum radio and at the Jump club. I learned from them. When Jump closed for the summer holidays, I simply took these turntables home and practiced mixing for several hours a day, without leaving anywhere. However, my first turntables were not Technics but turntables from Gemini, since at that time I was under the patronage of this company. Subsequently, I exchanged these turntables for one Technics turntable, and the second turntable was given to me by friends from El Cosmo Group. There was a funny story associated with these turntables. Making Chinese with Oleg Tsodikov in the Beijing restaurant New Year It turned out that in order to connect both turntables it was necessary to chew off the wire from the completely new turntable. And subsequently this pair of turntables was attached to one fork for a long time. The epic with the purchase of turntables lasted a very long time, since a thousand dollars in the early nineties was very serious money. One pinwheel was silver, the other black. This pair served me for a very long time, and now they are on one of the islands in Croatia, where they were left after one of the parties in 2005. I believe that Technics turntables are one of the best musical instruments invented recently.

I first saw Technics turntables at the DMC championship in London in 1983. Although I started playing turntables before that - in 1979, when I was 12 years old, I was already trying to mix something. Moreover, these were homemade turntables, assembled from a box and an ordinary belt-driven turntable, under which erasers were placed, which served as a kind of shock absorber. The first mixer I saw in my life was a Citronics rotary mixer. But I became very interested in DJing only after what I saw in London. What struck me most about Technics then was how there were tracks running on the “plate” itself, along which you could determine the rotation speed. I was also hooked by the launch speed. As a rule, belt-driven turntables take a very long time to accelerate, but here once - and off we go. And, of course, its reliability and the way it maintains speed, which, if anyone doesn’t know, depends on the voltage in the network, is captivating. My first Technics appeared at my home only when I arrived in Russia, in 1991. Before this, I didn't have a need to keep turntables at home because I didn't DJ on a regular basis. When I first came to Russia, in 1989, nothing happened here at all. Well, in order to have some fun, some expats, including me, started holding their own parties at the Sokolniki cultural center. And one day, returning from Nigeria, I decided to bring turntables and a remote control with me to Moscow. Let them stand, I think. Moreover, I then overpaid a lot for the advantage. And at the very beginning of the nineties, I opened the Palace club, where there were also turntables and where my first two students, Nuzhdin and Zmey, began to work. And I brought that first pair of turntables, along with the records that I kept in a Pepsi box, to the Jump club free of charge, where Lantern, Spider and Fish were already working. True, they didn’t know how to play them, and therefore only I played on the turntables. I showed them how to play the turntables at my home, where they visited regularly.

My first acquaintance with Technics happened in Belgium in 1992, at a disco, where Artem and I lived then. True, at that time we did not pay much attention to this fact. Having returned to Moscow and having worked as a DJ for the entire summer of 1993 on CD turntables at the Hermitage, he and I conveyed to the owners the idea that we simply needed vinyl turntables. Having convinced them of this, we followed them to Belgium. Along with the turntables, we also brought a stack of records, which we purchased from a Belgian distributor. And it was on these turntables and with these records that Artem and I learned. Then, however, I had to leave these turntables at the Hermitage. True, it was on these turntables that I learned to play - I took them away during the summer holidays and at home I learned to maintain speed, mix and everything that a DJ should be able to do. The flashlight, I remember, taught me how to tune the turntables, which also plays a very important role in this matter. important role. And those turntables that are in my office are probably already twenty years old. Sergei Teplyakov and I once bought them for our events, and at which I still record all my mixes and podcasts.

I got my first turntables (and I had about three sets in total) Technics, second-hand ones of course, from Dan. Dan, in turn, also got them from someone, I think from Grove. These were silver 1210 and they stayed with me for three years, and then, when the crisis broke out in 1998, I had to sell them. Then I had a critical situation - I had to pay rent, but there was no money and no sign of it. And then I knew that Shushukin was just starting to spin records and was looking for someone to buy turntables from. In the end, I call him and say, do you need turntables, Andrei? At first he asked incredulously, and then he bought it. And although it was a drama for me, he saved me then, of course. It would be interesting to know where he took them, because after all, they were already quite old. I remember how in the DJ bar “Bubliki”, in my absence, they managed to turn the tonearm so that it stood vertically.

In general, I learned to play on Vega players. There was already some kind of pitch with a very floating speed, but it was somehow so floating that all my first mixes that Zorkin asked me to record, I recorded at hellish speed, and the records played one and a half times faster than they were it's supposed to. And when I came to play for the first time at Relax, not a single record was mixed at the Technics there, because the speed there was completely different, and the music sounded completely different. And I actually learned to mix the next two, probably, parties all over again, at normal speed. This was in January 1995. And a little later I started working at the “Station”, and there Dan, out of the blue, offered to buy turntables from him.

I didn’t know then that DJs played on vinyl players, but they had to be Technics, my friends told me, I heard something in Lantern programs. At the same time, there were also video clips in which we always tried to look out what the DJs were doing with vinyl, what kind of needles he had, how he held his headphones. And the turntables in the videos usually looked like a small spaceship, where everything was spinning and blinking. Moreover, this feeling lasted for quite a long time. And now they have become my good old friend. Although I got my own turntables quite late, around 2004. Before that, I had one Gemini player, on which I listened to records. That was enough for me. And so, I learned to play on a Vega 109 belt player, which was connected to a Gemini remote control and a Gemini turntable. This is the set I trained on. I saw the first Technics from my friend, DJ Pasha Cash, who once bought himself beautiful silver turntables. This was in 1994 or 1995. Very often I rented these turntables from him for parties, for which I am still grateful to him.

Theoretically, a fish located at the bottom of a shallow pool sees the bait “playing” near the surface from below, against the background of the sky, light in clear weather or dark in cloudy or evening time. And this makes it difficult to distinguish the colors of its working outline, since in any case the fish looks at the bait against the light. At the same time, white and light baits seem to merge with the sky, while dark ones, on the contrary, stand out against its background.

During clear, sunny weather, direct contact between the spoon and fish in the upper water horizons depends even more on the intensity of the light and its direction. Sometimes so much so that the bright light forces the fish to abandon the attack or interrupt it. Which happens much less often and for other reasons in the shade of the bank or trees. Why is it that on a clear morning, spinners are drawn from open places to the forest, and the more strongly the higher the sun rises. In general, the light, its direction and the background against which the fish sees the “playing” bait are issues that require special attention.

The light bottom reflects part of the light and creates a clearer environment in which the fish not only sees the bait well, but also behaves much more carefully, since most fish have a white belly, silvery sides, but the back is dark, almost black. This coloring was given to her by Nature and is protective, the least noticeable. And in small fish that lead a bottom-dwelling lifestyle, not only the back, but also the sides are painted in the colors of the bottom. In addition, fish that stick to the same areas that have a certain illumination and bottom color, themselves acquire a color that corresponds to the conditions. The pattern is the same as that of the “neighbors”, but in a darker or lighter tone. For example, fish caught in a section of a stream with a dark bottom, where dense spruce trees grow on the banks, are noticeably darker than those caught in places with a light bottom and open banks. Which, by the way, gives reason to think about the habit of sedentary predators to food that has a local color.

Natural fish food has natural colors, mostly protective, camouflaging, i.e. allowing them to survive in the environment. This also applies to many insects, but not all: some have a deliberately bright color, warning that they are poisonous and dangerous. However, once in the water, they also become prey for fish. Which to some extent serves as a logical basis for the use of brightly colored baits. Although there is a scientific point of view that no color as such exists at all. But there are only surfaces or substances that we call paints that reflect, say, green, yellow or some other color from the entire spectrum. Or the whole spectrum - such as, for example, a mirror or a “white” fish feeding by the stream, the side of which sometimes reflects the light of the sun just as well. Which is also a natural protective coloring - and works effectively. For example, in some small fish that appear translucent in the water, or in striped “watery” perches that are almost invisible against the backdrop of rare algae.

Now let’s imagine that when the bait moves “at the fish”, it shows it the maximum diameter of its “game” outline (the pattern that appears during the “game”) and its color. Of course, in favorable light, the fishing ideal of which is considered to be calm, cloudy weather (with rare, if lucky, drizzling rain), when the light is uniform. Then both the fishing location and the direction of movement of the bait are not limited by the position of the sun. Having caught up with the fish, the “spinner” shows its working outline and drawing from the side. In this position, the famous trout bait BlackFury with yellow dots on a black field and a copper petal is very similar to a speckled, motley-colored insect. That is, something living, moving and possessing a protective coloring. With a very attractive at the same time yellow-red bead located in front of the hook.

Having passed the fish, the rotating spoon gives it the opportunity to observe itself from behind. From where the colored side of the petal is no longer visible and nothing interesting at all, except for the general outline that creates volume for the “spinner”, and a bead reminiscent of a large egg, and a hook that can be equipped with a colored cambric or “fly”, which, of course, represents for fish a more attractive sight than a naked tee, albeit golden. And this, mind you, often happens in the hottest moments of pursuit, which then turns into attack and grip. From which it follows that at such a tense time the attacking fish is quite satisfied with the modest spectacle of the rear of the working “turntable”, and here, please note, the color of the petal no longer appears. Although the predator leading the pursuit actively uses his vision, because the prey (real) who knows about this tries to confuse him by jumping out of the water, i.e. disappearing from sight. To which a predatory fish can respond in kind - and then repeat its maneuver. And what happened to be observed repeatedly in Nature, and during fishing with “spinners”, which, just like live prey, inspired predators to take such decisive, and therefore quite motivated, actions.

Rotation of "rotators" and oscillations of "oscillators"

Rotation as a method of operation is used in only a few more or less independent types of fishing lures. Such as Devons or turbines with a weight and two blades. And also in the forgotten flat turbines with several blades and similar propellers, used even on feather baits with jig heads. Also in spinnerbaits, where the “spinner” blade is used, and in weighted wobblers with a forward-positioned blade. It seems I haven't forgotten anything.

The method of repeated oscillations, long familiar to man from Nature, has become widely known in connection with the massive use of oscillating spinners. And a little later it confirmed its popularity with the advent of wobblers and “rubber”, which literally flooded the modern fishing market. However, it should be noted that wobblers as voluminous fishing lures have been known to man for a long time. This only confirms that they are still made of wood, although many models have already passed the stage of production from foam plastic and are now made hollow from different types of plastic, which, in my opinion, irrevocably deprives some floating varieties of lightness and natural behavior during uneven wiring. However, this does not detract from their main advantage - the fishermen themselves are excellent at catching them.

But let’s return to the “spinners” - and without wasting time, let’s note that the principle of rotation is not used by anyone in water as a natural way of movement. At least I don't remember anything like that. Usually, everyone who needs it uses oscillatory movements - for example, with the tail from side to side, up and down, or with the fins back and forth. In general, if someone wants to swim or simply move in the water, he has to push away from it, this water, one way or another. And the only thing that rotates for this purpose is the fishing screws. motor boats. And here are the “turntables”, which, as we now see, are engaged in imitation... imitation, that is, with the help of rotation they imitate vibrations - the traditional way of movement in water. In turn, it is also an imitation of the movements of the creatures living there.

Curious? Then let's continue. So, the most important thing in this case is the frequency of the simulated oscillations. Because with an increase in the speed at which the oscillating spoon is driven, we can, of course, get an increase in the frequency of its oscillations, but at the same time the risk of causing it to spin increases. Therefore, with the help of rotating spinners, we obtain more frequent oscillations, inaccessible to oscillating spinners, at normal fishing speed. Or rather, their imitation, created through rotation.

I would like to add that such different, at first glance, baits have a lot in common. And first of all, the oscillating spoons do not oscillate in their pure form, but use for this approximately half a circle, which they pass each time, but, unlike “spinners”, in both directions. Therefore, only wobblers and “rubber” can be considered real “oscillators”, in which oscillations occur “as expected.”

About the appearance and behavior of baits

The behavior of a spoon or other spinning bait in water is a man-made matter. Now often called animation - an action where the spinner is compared to a puppeteer, and the doll into which he “breathes life” is the bait. But it should be remembered that its behavior is not just movement, since in order to attract fish the bait must move in a certain way. And if the conditions in which it is located are changeable (stream, ripple, creek, turning into each other), its movement should also change, remaining similar to the natural behavior of those living creatures that it imitates.

Here we come to the main thing, i.e. to movement not as such, but to targeted movement-imitation. In other words, to imitation aimed at creating certain “images” that are attractive to fish for a number of reasons. But what could this attraction be and what are its reasons?

If we try to answer this question briefly, we should say that they are, first of all, natural and appropriate, in my opinion. In general, a combination of movement, size, color and, again, the time and place of the appearance of the bait.

About time - a little more detail, since it determines the time of day, year, as well as the appropriateness of the baits used relative to the time cycle of the simulated food objects - for example, insects or fry. For example, it would be wrong on a bright summer day to offer a bait that imitates anyone or, what also happens, itself among a relatively flat, open area of ​​the bottom, away from all kinds of shelter. What may be justified in the late evening or at night if, for example, the site has features that allow food to accumulate on it during the day - such as a weak current, slight irregularities in the bottom, stripes of silt, etc.

In some situations, the initial reaction of the fish to the movement of the bait is an instinctive interest, forcing it to approach the source of the movement to conduct a kind of research based on previously gained experience, which may turn out to be negative (movements, pricks on hooks). And fish are capable of learning, otherwise they would not be able to survive. A positive experience is probably the entire food supply that she has known since birth. And a plus is the innate ability of fish, very useful for us fishermen, to show curiosity in order to expand their food supply - again, in order to survive. After all, until some time ago, say, she had never encountered dough with anise oil or semolina porridge prepared in a special way in her life, to which, nevertheless, she later became quite addicted. Which, I emphasize, is due to the law of survival in changing conditions - and, by the way, is characteristic not only of fish.

So, as a result of the existence of this ability, we have the opportunity to offer the fish not only copies that are close to the food that is already familiar to it, actually existing (in fly fishing), but also fairly approximate imitations (in spinning). And, what is no less important for manufacturers and sellers - bright fantasy baits.

It remains to add that this feature of fish also extends to the movement of baits. And this has been confirmed for many years by practice, which proves that fishing with natural baits (rigs), moving copies close to the originals and fishing with spinning imitations have quite similar possibilities.

However, we should not forget that all good things are good only in moderation. Therefore, a certain framework of naturalness, i.e. The similarities of baits with natural food are not superfluous.

About cycles

We mentioned cycles in the behavior and life of fish food. But the fish itself and its life are also subject to certain cycles. For example, a complete cycle - from emergence from fertilized eggs to sexual maturity and then to natural death. Annual cycles - with spring spawning, summer feeding (the presentation is, of course, arbitrary), autumn fattening and wintering, so that in the spring they can start all over again. As well as daily cycles - as a rule, with morning and evening periods of active feeding, etc.

Moreover, the cycles of predatory fish are directly related to the cycles of their main food. Therefore, say, pike and perch stick to places where fry and small fish gather. Which is reminiscent of the behavior of wolves following migrating herds of reindeer. And also, if we continue this idea, the dependence of the number of arctic foxes in the tundra on the amount of their main food - lemmings: a lot of lemmings means a lot of arctic foxes next year.

Spring fish behavior cycles are different from summer or autumn. Because they also depend on the changing behavior of the food, which has its own life cycles.

All this has been going on for centuries, although the “thinking” of fish also contains a certain flexibility that allows it to adapt and survive during changes. Which, as already mentioned, we willingly use for our own purposes. However, under stable conditions, this natural mechanism works quite smoothly. Why does it sometimes happen that some bait, catchable two weeks ago, suddenly becomes unclaimed? And the fish are more or less caught using other baits. Or, again, after a seemingly short break, you just can’t find a “key” to the river, although there are still fish in it. But it doesn’t get caught, or rather, it doesn’t want to be caught constantly by the same thing and in the same places. Why? I hope this will be a little clearer now.

This, by the way, is influenced by many other factors that constantly change in their cycles. For example, the weather - after all, fish live “at home”, in Nature, which has its own known and little-known cycles. It is we who appear there for a limited time and hastily try to comprehend its structure. Or we don’t even try, but “just catch fish.”

Hooks, or the main thing in catching gear

We all know the AgliaLong spinner bait from Mepps , which is certainly one of best baits. There is little that compares to the AgliaLong when it comes to bass fishing. And, of course, it behaves more confidently than all the “Mepps” in the current - thanks to the small angle of rotation and if there is also a lead head located in front, similar to the one used when fishing with the Mepps Lusox, but not replaceable and much smaller in size. For some reason this design is not sold here, but in fact it has existed for a long time. When I first saw and even held the AgliaLong spinner in my hands, it was impossible. There was another way: to make the lure you liked yourself. I understood this - and therefore I very carefully examined the first issue of AgliaLong, made in Japan, memorizing the design features. And they clearly took place, as one of my friends said. First of all, I was surprised by the elongated, almost flat petal, hitherto unseen on any other bait. And, of course, there was the embossed geometric design that gave it a semi-matte look.
Which later served as the main requirement when choosing a material, which, in the end, became sheet cupronickel, mined somewhere by my colleagues. The shape and size of the petals were chosen arbitrarily, by eye, and embodied in two patterns that, in my opinion, corresponded to the first number and zero, which I, however, have never seen.

In general, as a result of considerable and varied work, including lead casting into a mold made by himself, Long with and without heads it entered service with my friends and I. And it turned out to be a catching and universal bait: with it, especially with “our” No. 0, the most different fish. And everything would be great if, at the same time, with catchability Long ’and we didn’t encounter a problem that we couldn’t solve - the hooks that we had to put on it were disheartening. Because the fish that grabbed the bait needed to be hooked and removed, and this is no longer the task of a petal and a weight. In a word, the fish came off very often, and precisely from the domestic treble hooks No. 5 needed by “our” No. 0, which were of terribly poor quality: for some reason, one of the hooks of this tee was necessarily such that its sting did not even make sense to sharpen. And some batches had a bluish tint of overheating - and simply broke under load. In general, for the owner of a bait with such hooks, catching fish and landing it became two separate tasks.

Now this problem, which was relevant in the past, is almost forgotten. Although there are, of course, not the best hooks, believe me, they are far from what they once were. However, when catching cautious, fast and strong fish with good catchable baits, the role of hooks should not be relegated to the background. Because as soon as the task of the bait is completed, the hooks will come into play, and then they will become the first, most important link in the chain that connects you to the fish. Therefore, do not skimp on quality hooks for catchable baits- and they will not let you down.

Dental remedies

In many small rivers and even streams that flow into lakes and rivers, along with other fish, pike is also present. As a rule, it enters streams in the spring and remains until autumn. Something you have to reckon with one way or another or... irretrievably lose your bait. And so you have to deliberately spoil the “game” of light baits - put on a leash.

The only factors mitigating this forced condition are the ability to choose the length and diameter of the leash. And determine the degree of its necessity - of course, if you can correctly assess the situation or visually control each cast. That is, to determine the time when the pike is passive or absent from the fishing areas, which means there is no need for a leash. For example, I often had to catch a chub in the daytime without a leash where a pike would come up in the evening and “sit down” on my already protected baits. Or in streams, when fishing short, it happened that you noticed a pike rising from the bottom of a pool, immediately took the bait out of the way of the blow, put on a leash - and then fearlessly seduce the predator with the lure that attracted it. But, of course, there were also losses of baits, especially during relatively long casts, when the fact of a grip was determined exclusively through the spinning rod, and its consequences - by the fishing line cut by the teeth.

Conventional leashes are made from guitar or balalaika strings with a diameter of 0.11 - 0.15 mm. And “special” ones - made of wire approximately 0.3 mm thick. Their length can be different - from 5 to 12 cm. And they are used depending on the power of the gear and local conditions, i.e. For a fishing line with a diameter of 0.24 mm, intended for “extreme” use, a “special” leash is more suitable. Thanks to the diameter of the wire, even under significant load, it deforms the fishing line tied to it less. It is necessary to have a set of leashes of various lengths and diameters.

The relatively short, at first glance, length of the leashes is sufficient for pikes of ordinary sizes. However, the troubles that a toothy pike mouth can cause depend not only on the size of its owner - the greatest losses to baits are caused by grass pikes. From the name it is already clear that they are small and live mainly in grass and algae. Although in streams they sometimes choose an ambush position in the recesses of washed-out banks, among coastal snags or in places where there are changes in depth and widening of the channel. Their attacks are fast and are carried out at the next bait from a short distance, so it is very difficult to pull the spoon out of the danger zone, even if everything happens before your eyes. In some cases, they miss - probably due to the dispassionate behavior of the spinners, or take excessive lead - and no longer attack the bait and the leash protecting it, but the fishing line. And then they cut it in a barely perceptible way - one might say, almost without the participation of the fisherman. The fishing line seems to free itself from the spinner, which is under own weight goes to the bottom, and it’s still good if it’s shallow and clean. Although the spinning angler takes an active part in most of the biting of baits. Because under normal conditions, the pike often attacks the “spinner” from the side or at an angle to the direction of its movement, after which, of course, it closes its mouth. To which the spinner responds with a hook, turning the fish “along the way” - and the fishing line, which has nowhere else to go, is sent along the pike’s teeth to form a natural straight line in such circumstances between the bait, stuck in the mouth, slightly open in pain, and the “tulip” of the spinning rod. If this is not enough, the pike begins to resist and shake its head. In the absence of a leash and luck (“the spinner” got caught in the edge of the mouth), these actions have only one ending. If there is a leash, then a small pike is able to “stand on its tail” - and, shaking its head with its mouth wide open, free itself from the bait, which sometimes flies off a couple of meters. A well-known and proven remedy against such a “trick” is to immediately lower the tip of the spinning rod to the water, as soon as the fishing line quickly moves to the side.

The bait, attacked in pursuit, can be, as it were, pre-grabbed by the fish, or almost swallowed. It all depends on the situation and size - the bait and the fish itself. Therefore, sometimes we find the hook of our spoon stuck in the jaw bone or caught in the gill area. And so deep that only a short piece of the leash remains outside, which saved the situation.

It should be noted that depending on how the pike hooks on certain baits, the required leash length can be selected. But for this you will have to collect statistical data.

Considering the considerable value for us of catchy “spinners”, we must admit that the “theme of pike jaws” is really important. Therefore, I would like to talk in more detail about one unusual episode.

It is believed that the ability of spinners to attract fish is due to several well-known factors. And due to the fact that spinners are mechanical devices, these factors can be seen, heard and touched with your hands. This allows you to change or even create them at your discretion. For which, however, it is necessary to clearly imagine the end result.