Winter pikeperch fishing with Valentino Vidrasc

I find myself here telling you about one of the world's most valued predators, the Pikeperch .

This fish stands out from other predators not so much for its fighting strength but, for the way in which it attacks our bait. The perch's eats are nothing short of fantastic, out of nowhere, without any warning, it comes determined to attack our bait and in the moment of the grab, it bites it hard enough to give us chills.

It all happens so fast that you think someone has hit your rod with a stick; in an instant even the ferrata comes instantaneous and instinctive because, it doesn't even give you time to think about what to do or what is happening.

It is a fantastic predator that depending on the time of year in which we fish for it can surprise us.

In this short article I discuss their behavior of the cold months in the Great Lakes.

I am originally from Luino, a small citadel on the shore of Lake Maggiore that is my home stadium. Place in which fortunately excluding the period of prohibition you can catch all year round. It is by no means easy to interpret because, its vastness and the depths it can reach intimidates even the most experienced fishermen.

The rules to follow to find these fish are few, where there is food there is also food.

As many people know, the most likely place to find pikeperch are mainly river mouths, which is the obligatory passage for all prey that need to go up or downstream.

Generally, every watercourse that flows into the lake at distances more or less close to the shore have a step, that is, a point at which the bottom suddenly rises from a regular river depth to a more or less sloping chasm (adjusted by the depth of the lake), where our beloved striped predators with teeth prefer to stay.

It is an excellent hunting area. They stand deep at the end of the step or on the step itself with a boundary zone above, where their prey must pay customs duty to cross that zone by going from the river to open water or vice versa.

Generally during the day they choose the deepest spots in the step or even move away but, in the evening with the change of light the games begin and our perch friends start to move. As the light goes down they move closer and closer to the shore, move up the river or position themselves in shallower water nearer the shore where they can corner their spoils to better prey on them.

It turns out that the best time to settle this predator is the change of light as darkness sets in, although in Italy in some places fishing at night is prohibited is the best time for us remains until an hour after sunset.

Often talking about the lakes , it happens that they are not found in all the mouths.

In the cold months, prey gather in large herds and even move along the surface of lakes, but in a lake like Lake Maggiore or other large lakes that often reach great depths, where will they ever put themselves ?

Definitely it is difficult to give a generalized answer because it really depends on a lot of factors but, from my experience I can say that, when fishing on the shallows and we find forage fish there are always lightsperch there as well.

They are definitely not easy fish to catch considering that the average shallows reach 15 to 20 m depth, and bait selection must be very careful.

Often the first approach is by using silicone lures; personally taking into account those depths probably a first approach I would choose would be with a lure around 10 cm, baited on a jig head weighing 10 to 20 gr depending on the currents present or the activity of the fish. Obviously each situation is to itself, so like every angler I have my two baits and colorations that give me the most confidence and in my outings in search of this predator I have noticed that there are often many attacks without a conclusion. I had to reinvent myself and after a variety of trials and ideas I came to a conclusion: VibraShh 55V e VibraShh 45v, the two lures that bring me to conclude those difficult eats that with silicone lures I cannot conclude.

These two handmade Vibe models, can be handled in different ways and often induce the fish to attack them not only because of hunger but, because of the vibrations they emit( which either intrigue them or by entering their territory annoy them).

They are very easy baits to use é the retrieve you choose according to the situation. For example, fishing in great depths, I recommend letting the bait jump on the bottom by applying a slow retrieve or vertically under the boat.

On the other hand, if you fish from the shore, you can play with it more by holding it in the current when fishing in the river, bouncing it or retrieving it slowly on the bottom.

Talking about the river now here in my neck of the woods we normally approach the end of winter and we talk about pre-fishing, a time when some perch go upstream to look for their own spawning nest.

Perhaps the best time to fish them when they are feeding to build up energy to have the strength to defend their nests and complete the spawn.

Conversely, when it comes to large rivers that have this species present year-round, the fish migrate as early as the first cold weather into the channels where they often stop to spawn or return to the main course of the river .

When the temperatures begin to rise for me it begins the period in which I let them rest and prepare for spawning in anticipation of the opening that often gives some of the best catches.

Thank you for checking out my site and looking forward to the next article, a big hello to all of you.

Valentino Vidrasc