What colors the fish sees under water. Angle of view of fish
Many fishermen, and just curious people sometimes ask themselves the question: can a fish determine this or that color? And this is a really interesting question, since you can often hear that a bait of one color or another attracts or repels fish. Let's try to understand this issue.
Science does not stand still, and scientists were able to learn quite a lot about the behavior and biological characteristics of aquatic life. An important role in this was played by fishermen, who, thanks to observations, were able to come to certain conclusions and shared these conclusions with ichthyologists. Today, it can be argued for sure that many fish are able to identify some of the colors that humans can identify. Moreover, some fish, unlike humans, are able to detect more shades of colors such as blue, purple and blue. It was possible to find out after it became known that fish are able to change their color in the blue spectrum depending on the color of the water in the reservoir or its bottom.
Today it is scientifically proven that fish are able to detect colors. It is difficult to say whether all representatives of this detachment can do this, but those who became the objects of observation showed interesting results. It can be said unambiguously that the range of colors distinguished by fish is much wider than that of humans. Moreover, many fish, unlike humans, are able to determine color even in the dark. For example, during the experiment, minnow was fed exclusively from a red bowl, and empty bowls of other colors were placed next to it. As a result, the fish remembered in which bowl there was always food and accurately identified it even in complete darkness.
Another proof that fish are able to see and identify colors is the fact that predators prefer prey similar in color to themselves, and therefore potential prey often change their color, trying to confuse the predator. For example, fish such as sabrefish are caught in some places with a red thread. Moreover, she bites exclusively on a red thread, and if you use threads of a different color, then she will not take them on them. This proves the fact that the fish prefers the color red.
British scientists were conducting an interesting experiment. In the course of research, it turned out that a carp, once caught on a boilie of a certain color, in the future will never even come close to a bait of this color, but he will willingly take a bait of a different color. This suggests that the carp is not only able to determine the color, but is able to analyze and understand which color bait should stay away from in the future.
But, even with this knowledge, it is not yet possible to accurately determine the best bait color for a particular type of fish. Although it is known that the color of the bait is important for a particular species. Some attempts to make lures universal have been made. And some were crowned with some success. Based on all of the above, certain conclusions can be drawn.
- Pisces are truly capable of distinguishing between colors and shades. Moreover, they are able to see the spectrum in a much wider range than humans. This property is extremely important for the survival of species, foraging and reproduction. This quality has a special role in protection from predators or in the ability to hunt more efficiently.
- As for the bait, there are certain nuances. Despite the fish's ability to detect colors, the main sense of the fish is still the sense of smell, and this is due to the fact that visibility in the water is much worse. Therefore, the color of the bait is still of secondary importance. Taste and smell are more important. You should not dwell on color to the detriment of the taste of the bait, since the fish will always choose the more aromatic of the two baits.
- But you shouldn't discount the color of the bait. In cases when the fish is inactive and has little interest in food, it is the bright bait that can stimulate the animal to actively bite. In other words, a bright bait seems to irritate the fish and arouses interest in it in cases where the usual type of food does not cause any emotions in the fish.
- On the other hand, when the fish is actively eating, the color of the bait does not affect the bite at all. When a fish is hungry, it tries to take everything that can be eaten and, as practice shows, bait of any color is equally attractive to hungry fish.
Does the fish think?
There is no reason to speak of any intelligence of fish. The fish cannot think. Her brain only coordinates activity at the level of unconditioned reflexes, i.e. hereditarily fixed programs characteristic of fish from the day of their birth, but, unlike higher vertebrates, does not make decisions and is not able to generalize. With age, fish can accumulate and adopt certain life experience, which helps some to escape from enemies (fishermen, predators), others - predators - to hunt more successfully.
How well do fish see?
Pisces are naturally myopic. Most fish clearly distinguish objects within one to two meters, and the maximum range of vision does not exceed 15 m. Some fish have very sharp vision at a distance of up to 5 cm from the eyes. Predatory fish (taimen, pike), orienting themselves on their prey with the help of their eyes, have relatively good eyesight. They distinguish objects at a distance of 10-15 m. In bream, crucian carp and tench, living in muddy water, leading a gregarious lifestyle and looking for food objects with the help of the sense of smell and touch, vision is rather weak.
What is the field of view of the fish?
Each fish eye has its own field of view, and both eyes cover a large field of view - about 270, i.e. the fish sees objects not only in front and on the sides, but also somewhat behind. A similar view of the fish is provided by the structure of the eyes and their location. The fish's eyes are eyelidless and never close.
Can fish taste food?
Numerous experiments prove that fish are able to distinguish between sweet, sour, salty and bitter in about the same way as humans. The organs of taste - taste buds - in most fish are located in the oral cavity, sometimes at the ends of the antennae and lips (burbot, cod), less often on the surface of the body (carp). These fish can taste food that has not yet entered their mouth.
Does the fish distinguish between smells?
Many fish have an extremely fine sense of smell. They perceive the extract of bloodworm in a dilution of 1: 1,000,000,000. Biologically active substances (pheromones) released by fish into the water differ in negligible concentrations - 10-6-10-9 mg / l. Sex pheromones and alarm pheromones have been found in fish. Odorous secretions (sex pheromone) of males and females specifically affect their behavior and physiological state, contribute to their occurrence at spawning grounds. The presence of an anxiety pheromone, secreted from the skin of wounded fish at a concentration of 10-7 mg / l, causes anxiety in peaceful fish and their departure from a dangerous place. Extracts from swimming beetles, water striders scare off roach and crucian carp, extracts from bear skin cause anxiety in salmon. Crucian carps, carps even react to water in which predatory fish were kept.
What smells attract or scare fish away?
It is known that the fish does not take the bait, from which the smell of sweat, tobacco, cologne, fuel oil, diesel fuel emanates. Anglers widely use the scents of some oils that attract fish when preparing baits or baits (hemp, mint, camphor, aniseed, sunflower). Predatory fish are attracted by the smell of wounded and dead victims.
Can fish see color?
Fish of many species distinguish roughly the same colors as humans. And they react even more subtly to shades of blue, blue and purple. The ability to distinguish colors can be confirmed by the ability of many fish to change color depending on the color of the soil and water. A minnow, accustomed to getting food from a red bowl, always easily finds it from many similar bowls of other colors.
Do fish have memory?
A perch caught on a hook once avoids a hooked worm given to it again, but grabs the offered worm on a string. Many aquarium fish take food from their owner's hands and never from other people's hands. Fish, once caught in a trawl or net, but who escaped by squeezing through the mesh, are more cautious and fearful, which allows them to successfully avoid the fishing gear in the future.
Does the sound of music scare fish?
O fearfulness and caution of fish has long been known. But sometimes on reservoirs, in places intensively visited by amateur fishermen, fish can develop a reflex of attraction to noise, usually associated with the appearance of complementary foods at this time at the bottom. Note that this rarely happens, in most cases the fish is in a hurry to move away from the sound source. If the sound source is on the ground, rock, ice or in a boat, the fish hears it even at a great distance. Acoustic vibrations are directly transmitted through water or through solid objects in contact with water - ice, soil, boat hull. The fish hears these sounds well. To avoid this, the radio should be hung on the shoulder (when fishing from a boat) or on a tree, bush, if fishing is carried out from the shore. In this case, acoustic vibrations pass through the air and enter the water already weakened and do not frighten the fish.
Fish feeding time.
Feeding time during the day is different for fish. Some feed during the day, others at night, and others little by little around the clock. Depending on this, they are divided into day, twilight and night. Daytime includes: pike, perch, asp, dace, crucian carp, rudd, gudgeon, bleak and all small fish. To crepuscular: roach, tench, pike perch, ruff, bream, carp, sterlet, sabrefish. By night - catfish, burbot, eel, silver carp. They eat almost round the clock: chub, silver bream, ide. Food consumption by fish occurs intermittently, at more or less certain times. In predatory fish such breaks last more than a day, in herbivores they are not long. During the year, fish also do not feed evenly. Some feed all year round (ruff, dace), others almost all year round (perch, pike, pike perch), others stop feeding during spawning (roach, carp, tench), do not feed on catfish, carp, and crucian in winter.
How do fish "play"?
Not all fish calmly swim and rest in the water, many "play" and even "beat". So, the carp is thrown high out of the water and falls back with a loud splash. Pike and pike perch are also thrown out, but not as high as carp, and their splash is quieter. But the asp just flies up over the water, as if it takes off, falling with such a noise that you can hear it at any part of the reservoir. Saying that the asp hits the water with its tail to stun small fish, and then eat it. The perch, chasing fry on the surface of the water, gasps for air and "chomps", and the chub gurgles in the upper layer of water, as if someone is throwing pebbles into the water. Bream does not jump on water, but on warm summer evenings, usually after rain, it sticks out its head, ventures its dorsal fin and, showing its tail, goes into the depths.
Lateral line in fish. What it is?
This is a completely unique device capable of capturing the slightest fluctuations in water. A channel runs along the sides of the fish's body, opening on the surface through holes in the scales. Nerve cells in the canals inform the fish about the environment. Waves run from a swimming fish, are reflected from underwater objects and, returning to the fish, are perceived by the lateral line organ. The lateral line, and this is the name of this tactile organ, allows the fish to feel the vibrations of the water, the movement of other fish in the vicinity, to navigate in muddy water, not to bump into obstacles even in the complete absence of light or blinding, while performing the function of a kind of radar.
For most animals, the world is available in black and white. Some of their types are able to distinguish only certain color shades. The same dogs, for example, are good at seeing yellow and blue color tones. There is an opinion that color is inaccessible to fish, and, therefore, the world is black and white for them. But then, how can one explain the fact that some of them have chosen a method of protection from predators, which boils down to changing the color of their bodies and adjusting it to the surrounding landscape? So it turns out that the colors of the fish are still distinguished. Scientists have proven that some of their species see the same color spectrum as humans, and even more. Again, it all depends on the living conditions, the transparency of the water, the intensity of sunlight.
The fish-eye retina is replete with light-sensitive receptors. There are two types of them. The former are represented by rods, the latter by cones. The cones perceive daylight, the most intense light. They are also able to perceive different color shades. The sticks are designed to receive weaker light.
The retina of the human eye has three types of cones, which are able to perceive three primary colors - red, green, blue. All ostia shades are obtained by superimposing one color on another. In total, a person is able to distinguish about 300 color shades. Diurnal fish species have significantly more cones in the retina, which means they are able to perceive a wider range of colors. Nocturnal fish, for obvious reasons, do not have such an opportunity. For example, in fish living in shallow water bodies, the retina of the eye contains up to five cones. They can see a lot more colors than humans. This can even include ultraviolet light. Some freshwater fish, such as walleye, have only two cones and their perceived color spectrum is much poorer.
The most deprived, in terms of color perception, are deep-sea fish. The retina of their eyes contains only one type of cone. Instead, they have a huge number of sticks. Sometimes this ratio can be 200: 1. But the catfish living in deep pits at the bottom of the reservoir have no cones at all. He sees the world in black and white.
Deep-sea fish living at depths of more than 500 meters have a similar structure of the eyes. Sunlight does not penetrate there, complete darkness reigns, which is disturbed only by luminous sea inhabitants. Their eyes have a slightly different structure, if not completely absent. Well, if so, then the color palette is not available to them.
And so, we have established that fish distinguish colors. It's not difficult to check this. Just take three different colored lids, one of which will be with the food, and put them in the aquarium. Do this several times. Then remove the food and put the empty lids back into the aquarium. You can change their places as you like, but the fish will accurately find the cover in which the food was.
Probably, there is no angler who would not ask himself such a question. Indeed, what do we know about this? Was it worth it to put so much effort to accurately depict on the bait the scales, fins and various spots characteristic of the species it is designed to mimic? If so, how and with what efficiency does its color affect the predator's interest in it? In other words, is the huge amount of multi-colored artificial lures on the shelves of our fishing stores just a trap for our wallet, or are they really necessary?
Each of you, dear colleagues, has probably heard such stories: on this lake, the pike takes only a yellow "shaker", on the other - it reacts only to a silver one, and, for example, on this section of the river, a wobbler must have a blue back - on a black-backed one. you will never catch a decent chub here.
As a bait manufacturer, I am often asked questions in this regard and expect professional feedback. I will allow myself to comment on these stories, but not from the position of the manufacturer, but from the position of an ichthyologist, who tested such assumptions in practice and believes that from a scientific point of view they are fully justified.
Scientists have been studying the vision of fish for over 100 years, and anglers often push fish to research by providing interesting practical information. But, nevertheless, this process is still only partially studied, and it is not known whether the time will come when our knowledge will allow us to accurately imagine what image appears in the brain of a pike at the sight of our bait.
And yet we know quite a lot about this, for example-
What happens to the light after
its penetration into the aquatic environment
Everyone knows that white light consists of a spectrum in which specific colors correspond to waves of a certain length. The human eye captures the following components of white light, in order from the longest to the shortest wavelengths: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue and violet.
Light behaves differently in water and air. They say that water "filters light." First, you should know that light, when it penetrates into the depth of water, loses energy. This is due both to the reflection and scattering of a part of the waves from the surface, and to their late absorption. Individual colors are absorbed as the depth increases. In the process of penetrating into the depths of the water, warm colors fade and change to gray-black. At a depth of about 3 m, first the red color disappears, then the orange color, and the yellow color begins to fade quickly. At a depth of about 20 m, yellow looks like green-blue, and only blue, blue and purple remain unchanged for the eye. Purple disappears at a depth of 40 m.
However, it should be remembered that these data are approximate and relate to the waters of a crystal clear lake. Any turbidity of water caused by organic matter, which is often found even in clean water bodies, as well as rippling of the water surface, dramatically change these numbers.
Light energy disappears with increasing depth, so yellow at a depth of 10 m is still perceived as yellow, but its intensity will be much less than at a depth of 3 m.In a clear lake at a depth of 3 m, red will still be noticeable, but in a muddy river it will "turn" into black already half a meter from the surface.
The discussion on whether (and to what extent) the color of artificial lures influences the results of fishing should begin with a brief analysis of our knowledge about the vision of fish. Many times I have heard that anglers doubt that the performance of lures depends on their color. Therefore, we are interested, first of all,
Do fish see the world in different colors?
Since we already know that even dogs have big "problems" in distinguishing most colors (they see yellow and blue best of all), then, therefore, fish that are at a lower stage of development, most likely, should not distinguish any colors ... Well, that's not true at all! Ichthyological studies have irrefutably proven that most fish species are distinguished by all the colors that humans see, and some even more! Of course, different fish species have completely different possibilities for distinguishing colors, this also depends on the natural conditions of the habitat (transparency of water and intensity of illumination). The fish eye is designed in a similar way to the eye of other vertebrates. The main role in the process of vision is played by the retina, it is in it that the receptors that react to light are located. These are two types of photoreceptor cells, which are composed of the so-called rods and cones. The rods receive low-intensity sends, while the cones work in strong light. Cones are responsible for distinguishing colors, as in vertebrates. In humans, for example, there are three kinds of cones that are responsible for recognizing the three primary colors - red, green, and blue. The retina arranged in this way allows us to distinguish more than 300 thousand shades of colors.
The structure of the retina of the fish eye depends on the environmental conditions.
Diurnal fish have many more cones in their retinas, so they are much better at distinguishing colors than nocturnal species. Fish that live in shallow and well-lightened places have four or even five types of cones (for example, trout), so they can capture more colors than humans (for example, ultraviolet light). In fish, the eye of which is arranged with two types of cones, the ability to distinguish colors is correspondingly more limited (for example, in zander).
Fish living in low light conditions have only one type of cones; their retina is characterized by a large number of rods and a small number of cones. For example, in burbot, their ratio is 200: 1. Deep-sea fish, as well as some river species known to our fishermen (for example, catfish) do not have cones at all. The eyes of these fish are very sensitive to light. They barely discern details.
The ultimate sensitivity of a fish's eye to light depends not only on its species. This parameter can vary greatly within the same species when adapting to specific conditions (for example, life in the dark).
So, we found out that the majority of fish distinguish colors better than humans. How important is it for us anglers? In other words -
Will the use of baits increase
different colors chances of a good catch?
Based on studies of the biochemical processes that occur in the retina, as well as experiments in training fish, you can try to imagine how different fish see our baits (see fig.).
In order for a predator to “buy” on our lures, he must first capture this bait with his eye. This requires it to stand out from the environment. This is especially important in low light conditions.
At great depths, where only the remnants of light penetrate, white and silver will be more contrasting against the green-blue background. A good effect is also obtained when using textured foil, which reflects the remaining light in different directions.
Surely, some special color or color combination, perfectly visible, for example, against the background of a sandy bottom, will not be as clearly visible against the background of a dark bottom or at depth. And, probably, this should be guided by when choosing a bait, because most predators detect the presence of a potential prey nearby precisely because they see a contrasting object that stands out against the background of the environment. It depends on several factors: the time of day, the type of bottom, the transparency of the water, the amount of light entering this place, etc.
As we have previously identified, color is an important factor in bait detection. What is the most important? We must remember what fishing with artificial baits is based on.
The bait imitates the food familiar to the fish; when it is seen, the predator mobilizes the feeling of hunger. Is this the only motivation to attack? One of the famous Polish writers (a passionate fisherman!) Once wrote that some lures are so beautiful that fish, catching them, thus express their admiration for the skill of human hands. After all, fish have no hands - therefore, they "applaud" with their mouths!
Whether a predator attacks the bait or ignores it is based on a number of factors. The fish evaluates the size, shape, and manner of movement of an object. The sound emanating from the object and its smell are also important, and it is quite possible that some other factors that we have no idea about. The more of these factors the predator estimates as attractive, the more often it decides to attack the bait - this is what matters to the angler.
However, we must remember what senses, in addition to sight, are used by the predators of interest to us. Most of them - pike, perch, asp, trout - have good visual memory. Others, such as catfish, use more senses to hunt. However, for everyone, the sideline is very important. It is known that even a pike, which for various reasons (mainly due to the human factor) is completely devoid of sight, hunts perfectly, detecting its prey only with the help of this supersensitive organ.
Therefore, without a doubt, the use of colored lures can help to deceive the predator if the fishing takes place
In clear water
Clear and well-lit water is a serious challenge for anglers looking to trick predators with artificial lures. In this case, the color and model of the bait becomes even more important.
However, will success always be guaranteed to us if we choose colors according to our own preferences? An American fisherman describes an interesting case of the inexplicable efficacy of the color of oxidized lead in the clear water of a mountain stream. The fact he discovered was later investigated. It turned out that, for some unknown reason, the trout living in the stream saw and attacked the lures of a gray and little-noticeable lead color much better than, for example, shiny nickel or polished silver colors.
It is possible that fish see these colors in a completely different way than humans. This poses great challenges for bait manufacturers. It is necessary to copy the color of the oxidized lead, although in principle it is not known how it should actually look ...
Both scientific research and fishing practice show that white and transparent baits work well in clear water. Delicate shiny designs based on the use of sequins or holographic foil "work" well. Perhaps this is how shiny scales are imitated. The blue color is also clearly visible to fish. No wonder - for example, in the waters of the Baltic for many years the most effective combination for hunting predators is azure, silver and white.
Thus, it turns out that it is quite enough to use only the appropriate colors and their shades in order to successfully catch predators with artificial lures in clear water?
This question often arises in conversations between anglers. Many of them believe that a hungry pike (and usually it is hungry) attacks anything that moves. Does it make sense when making the bait to pay close attention to the image of the patterns of scales, fins and spots characteristic of the imitation of the species?
It turns out that fish, which have more complex retinas than humans, have no problem recognizing even the smallest objects, and therefore our baits too. In the retina of a pike, for example, there is only one cone for 3-4 large rods. This structure leads to the fact that the eye of this predator has a low sensitivity to light and at the same time is able to perfectly recognize and distinguish various little things.
The low threshold of sensitivity to light intensity does not interfere with the pike, since, as we already know, it usually hunts from dawn to dusk.
But trout is not only able to better distinguish colors and the smallest details of potential victims - unlike humans, it can also simultaneously see near and distant objects, as well as distinguish colors from different distances. These data once again confirm the fact, well known to fishermen, that trout is a very serious opponent. During fishing, they should carefully camouflage themselves, every careless movement on the shore usually threatens to be left without a catch in this place.
Experiments carried out by one of the German ichthyologists, who fed small pikes with male guppies, proved that predators, after a short training, could distinguish between prey that differed slightly in color.
A simple experience based on training fish shows that they quickly learn to distinguish between basic geometric shapes. In addition, the predators were interested in some graphic designs. They were two concentric elements with contrasting colors.
The greatest activity and even aggression was caused by a figure consisting of two concentric circles, and the inner one had to be darker than the outer one. But this is a typical graphic symbol of an eye!
It turned out that at the last moment before the attack, predators aim precisely at the eye of a potential victim.
This is usually due to a slight "correction" in the direction of the attack - towards the eye. In other words, the predator foresees that at the last moment the prey will turn to the side on which the eye is located.
Nature made sure that some fish could deceive their pursuers, and created a dark spot, like an "extra eye", on the sides of the body or on the tail. So the application of big eyes on artificial baits has its own rationale. But, naturally, for fish active at night, such as catfish, this does not matter.
Now let's try to understand whether it makes sense to devote a lot of time and attention to the colors and patterns of our lures,
When everything turns to gray
Of course, the maximum light intensity at the moment of fishing is of great importance. On a cloudy day, colors fade much faster than on a sunny day. At dusk, when the lighting falls, the eyes of the fish realign and begin to see with sticks. Colors are perceived at this time as subtle shades between white and black. To attract the attention of a predator at this time of day, you need to use a color that contrasts with the surface of the water, so if fishing in clear water, red is the best choice.
Six years ago, my friend and I were fishing for pike in the Swedish skerries of the Baltic. The day was wonderful, sunny. The fish bite perfectly, in the crystal clear water the attack was clearly visible. Predators attacked our jerkbaits from afar. A friend then learned to catch with a slider and often changed the bait. As a result, at the end of the day, I had much more fish caught on my account.
Before the evening came, we decided to drop into a small cove between three small islands overgrown with tall pines. There were pikes here too. In a short time, I fished out three pike weighing 2-3 kg. I caught on the SALMO slider in Real Perch colors. When the sun went down the horizon, the bites stopped. A friend of mine decided to try catching with the Red Tiger slider. At dusk, only this color was visible from afar and allowed observing the work of the bait.
Probably, I would never have believed what happened then if I had not seen it with my own eyes. Over the next fifteen minutes, my friend pulled out 7 beautiful pikes weighing about 5 kg! Meanwhile, trying to fish with the same natural color bait, I did not see even a hint of an attack!
Fish that hunt in low light conditions - at night, in muddy waters, at great depths - adapt to this in different ways.
The zander's eye has two types of cones. The large ones are responsible for yellow and orange colors, while the small ones see green. The effectiveness of these colors can be confirmed by everyone who has caught zander. In addition, the cones of this predator are exceptionally large, due to which they are the object of research by physiologists who study the process of vision not only in fish.
An additional improvement in the vision of zander is the guanine layer lining the inside of the eyeball, which reflects light. Due to this, it passes twice through the cones, while amplifying the signal passing to the brain. That is why the eyes of pike perch shine silvery even in very weak light. The eyes of some mammals that hunt at night give a similar effect.
Thanks to this structure of the eye, the pike perch has incredibly sensitive vision, it sees perfectly even in those cases when other fish, not to mention humans, see absolutely nothing! Anglers should remember that when fishing for this predator, pay attention to the smallest details of the bait, and the best color combination is yellow-green.
A pioneer in fish vision research is Professor Dwight Burkhardt of the University of Minnesota. The professor began studies of the zander retina more than 30 years ago. We studied the current generated in the cones under the influence of light stimuli. The cones of pike perch, although very large, are five times smaller in diameter than a human hair. In order not to disturb their normal functions, electrodes with a diameter of 0.0001 mm were used!
The catfish retina is arranged in a completely different way. It has no cones at all. They use only sticks, and this leads to the fact that the bright light is seen by the catfish as white, and the rest of the illumination of the eyes of the catfish fixes as all shades of gray.
Catfish vision is much more sensitive than human vision at low light levels. On a dark, cloudy night, the catfish perfectly sees what a person can hardly see with a full moon!
Of course, all anglers know that sight is not the most important quality of these predators. They often live in very muddy and dark waters and mainly forage for food at night. During the hunt, this predator, in addition to the lateral line, also uses hearing and sense of smell. He is attracted by all sorts of aromatic attractants, sounds. The use of a noisy bait - a rattling wobbler or a popper splashing on the surface, the sound of a kwok - all these are quite reasonable actions.
However, this does not mean that the color of the catfish bait does not matter. An excellent choice in this case is a luminescent color. Most distinguishable in the dark is the lure that glows green. In normal light, it turns gray-pink and looks very nondescript, so anglers often neglect it.
Many fluorescent dyes are on the market today. It is enough to shine a flashlight on the bait painted with such paint for a few seconds so that it releases the accumulated energy for at least an hour. In addition to green, dyes of other colors appeared - blue, red, pink and yellow. It is recommended to use several colors so that you can get the most contrasting composition - for example, a green-red pattern.
Among the specialty dyes, the most famous and most popular are fluorescent. It has long been known that the use of these colors significantly increases the effectiveness of artificial baits, and one of the best-selling wobbler colors is the so-called Green Tiger, also known as Fire Tiger.
However, do we know where this
The Fluorescence Riddle?
Under normal lighting conditions, fluorescent inks have a lighter shade than conventional inks. They acquire their characteristics when exposed to short light waves, especially ultraviolet ones. They seem to us very bright, as if glowing by themselves.
Underwater, their range of action is much greater than that of other colors. We already know that only the shortest waves are active at depth, that is, it is ultraviolet. The conclusion suggests itself: lures intended for fishing at great depths should be painted in "fluo". When investigated in lakes with clear water, some fluorescent colors, for example, yellow and pink, were clearly visible at depths of more than 40 m!
Low light conditions are not limited to just depth. Morning and evening dawns, great cloudiness, rain and excitement, muddy water - all these factors significantly reduce the amount of light, thanks to which the predator sees our bait. Therefore, it is recommended that you experiment with these colors just when other colors “turn gray”.
We started fishing with the lure that was most effective that day - SALMO Skinner 15 cm long in RGS color.
During the first hour, nothing happened. The sky was overcast, twilight descended very quickly. I decided to fish with the Green Tiger lure. Over the next hour, I had four bites and managed to pull out two fish, including my record 131 cm long Muskinong. At the same time, my colleagues who caught the RGS color never bite! Color GT in the coming twilight and in the dark water of the lake, as they say, hit the bull's-eye.
Maskinong 131 cm long in almost the same color as
like the water (the back of the fish is blue-green),
but the lure of the fluorescent color is very noticeable
On clear, sunny days and nights, using fluorescent colors doesn't make the slightest sense.
In addition, research has shown that the colors that are best seen from a long distance underwater are yellow and green fluo. This happens because usually the water in a river or lake is green-yellow, and the wave of fluo flowers is slightly longer than that of ordinary ones. And fishermen noticed that in conditions of intensive feeding of predators, fluo lures are inferior to lures of natural colors.
As a result, we can draw the following practical conclusion. To lure a predator from a long distance, fluo-colored lures should be used. What, however, must be done so that a predator, lured from afar, say, with the color of fluo yellow and seeing the bait up close, does not hesitate to attack? The easiest way out is to use a natural pattern on the body of fluorescent baits. Therefore, the Hot Perch color is the record holder regardless of the reservoir in which it is used. However, do we know the reasons why fluorescent colors act this way on predators? After all, it is very difficult to find in nature forage fish with a similar coloring. The explanation for this phenomenon may be the imperfection of human vision.
As I mentioned earlier, humans see far fewer flowers than predators. A fluorescent dye is found in the blood of vertebrates. This fact is used, for example, in forensic science to detect distant blood stains using a UV emitter. It has long been known that carnivores are very sensitive to traces of blood in their environment. Perhaps they don't just use their sense of smell to mark it. There is a theory according to which this is precisely the magnetic effect of fluorescence.
conclusions
In conclusion, we can confidently state that the color of the baits we use undoubtedly matters. This is also important in those cases when we catch fish that are not very picky in this respect, or those that do not distinguish between colors. There are a couple of things to conclude that will hopefully help you choose the right bait and thus improve your catches.
The key to success is the bait's ability to attract the attention of a predator. For a predator to notice a bait from a long distance, a more important factor than its color is its contrast, that is, a difference against the background of the environment.
When hunting, most predators observe the surface of the water, so it is often important how contrasting the color of the bait is against its background.
To increase contrast, a combination of contrasting colors - black and white, yellow and black, red and white - helps.
Increase the contrast of your lure in muddy waters and decrease the contrast with natural colored lures in clear water.
Don't forget about black, which is probably the most contrasting color of all colors regardless of conditions.
When fishing at night, it is worth using lures painted with luminescent paints, i.e. accumulating light (for example, with a hand lamp) and visible at any depth.
And finally, the last and most important conclusion. Remember that the most important factor affecting the effectiveness of the bait is not its color, but the correct feeding and handling, but in general, your theoretical knowledge and practical skills!
Pyotr Piskorsky: “This pike regurgitated a couple of fresh herrings into the boat.
Now it's clear why she grabbed the silver holographic imitation. "
When going to fish, every angler asks himself a number of questions: where to go? what tackle to take? which attachment to use? On the pond, additional questions arise: where to fish - at depth or near the shore? in calm water or on the current? from the bottom, top or half water? All these questions are essential. Indeed, the success of fishing depends on their correct decision. But finding such a solution is not always easy. The decisive moment is direct study of the reservoir and the fish living in it. In this case, conversations with local fishermen can be used, but the main thing, of course, personal observations.
FISH BODY STRUCTURE AND THEIR MOVEMENT
Pisces need to move in order to find food and escape from enemies. However, the water offers considerable resistance to their movement. Therefore, in the process of evolution, most fish acquired a streamlined body shape, which facilitates overcoming the resistance of the aquatic environment. Anadromous fish making distant migrations, such as salmon, have the most perfect streamlined body shape. Almost the same rolling or fusiform body, powerful tail and medium-sized scales in fish constantly living on the rapids (trout, minnow, osman, barbel, etc.). Sometimes some fish (roach, ide), living in the upper reaches of the river on a fast course, have a more rounded body than fish of the same species inhabiting the mouth, where the current is slower. Wide, high-bodied fish live in calm waters, as they do not have to fight the current here; in addition, this body shape helps them better avoid predators, which are less willing to grasp wide fish.
The body shapes are also different in fish that live at the bottom and in the upper layers of the water. For example, in bottom fish (flounder, catfish, burbot, goby) the body is flattened, allowing them to rest on the ground with a large surface.
In cases where the fish hardly move, part of their body, together with the tail, turns into an attachment organ (seahorse).
A certain influence on the shape of the body is also exerted by the nature of the diet; for example, in predatory fish catching up with prey, the body is usually more chasing than in fish that feed on sedentary food.
The mechanism of movement of fish remained unclear for a long time. It was assumed that fins play the main role here. The latest research by physicists and ichthyologists has proven that the forward movement of fish is carried out mainly by wave-like bends of the body. The caudal fin provides some assistance in forward movement. The role of other fins is mainly reduced to coordinating and guiding functions - the dorsal and anal fins serve as the keel, the pectoral and abdominal fins make it easier for the fish to move vertically and help turn in the horizontal plane.
BREATH
Most fish breathe oxygen dissolved in water. The main respiratory organ is the gills. The shape and size of the gill surface, the structure of the gill slits and the mechanism of respiratory movements depend on the lifestyle of the fish. In fish swimming in half-water, the gill slits are large, and the gill petals are constantly washed by fresh water rich in oxygen. In bottom fish - eel, flounder - gill slits are small (otherwise they can become clogged with silt) with devices for forced circulation of water.
Fish that live in oxygen-poor water have additional respiratory organs. Crucian carp and some other fish, with a lack of oxygen in the water, swallow atmospheric air and use it to enrich the water with oxygen.
Tench, catfish and eel have additional cutaneous respiration. The swim bladder is involved in the respiratory functions of the perch, and the intestines of the loach. Some warm-water fish are endowed with organs that allow them to breathe directly from atmospheric air. In some fish it is a special labyrinth apparatus, in others it is a swim bladder that has turned into a respiratory organ.
In accordance with the structure of the respiratory organs, fish have different attitudes towards the amount of oxygen dissolved in water. Some fish need a very high content of it in the water - salmon, whitefish, trout, pike perch; others are less demanding - roach, perch, pike; still others are satisfied with an absolutely insignificant amount of oxygen - crucian carp, tench. There is, as it were, a certain threshold for the oxygen content in the water for each species of fish, below which individuals of a given species become lethargic, hardly move, feed poorly and eventually die.
Oxygen enters the water from the atmosphere and is released by aquatic plants, and the latter, on the one hand, release it under the influence of light, and on the other hand, they absorb it in the dark and consume it during decay. Therefore, "the positive role of plants in the oxygen regime is noticeable only during the period of their growth, that is, in summer, and, moreover, during the day.
Oxygen slowly penetrates from one water layer to another, and there is always more oxygen in the surface layers than near the bottom. This is one of the reasons for the poor development of life and the absence of accumulation of fish in summer at depths, especially in stagnant bodies of water.
There are areas in the lakes with higher and lower oxygen concentrations. For example, the wind blowing from the coast drives away the upper layers of water rich in oxygen, and in their place comes low-oxygenated deep water. Thus, a zone poorer in oxygen content is created near the calm coast, and the fish, all other things being equal, prefers to stay near the surf coast. A typical example is the behavior of an oxygen-loving grayling in Lake Ladoga, which approaches the shore mainly with a steady wind blowing from the lake.
The oxygen regime deteriorates sharply in stagnant water bodies in winter, when the ice cover prevents air from reaching water. This is especially noticeable in shallow, heavily overgrown reservoirs with a muddy or peaty bottom, where the oxygen supply is spent on the oxidation of various organic residues. In winter, zones with unequal oxygen content are found in lakes even more often than in summer.
Areas with a rocky or sandy bottom, at the outlet of spring waters, at the confluence of streams and rivers, are richer in oxygen. These places are usually chosen by fish for winter stays. In some lakes, especially during severe winters, the oxygen content in the water drops so much that there is a massive death of fish - the so-called deaths.
In rivers, especially fast flowing rivers, neither summer nor winter a sharp natural lack of oxygen is observed. However, in rivers littered with timber rafting waste and polluted by industrial wastewater, this deficiency is so great that fish demanding oxygen completely disappear.
SENSE ORGANS
VISION
The organ of vision - the eye - resembles a photographic apparatus in its structure, and the lens of the eye is like a lens, and the retina is like the film on which the image is obtained. In terrestrial animals, the lens has a lenticular shape and is able to change its curvature, so animals can adapt their vision to distance. The lens in fish is spherical and cannot change shape. Their vision is rebuilt at different distances when the lens approaches or moves away from the retina.
The optical properties of the aquatic environment prevent the fish from seeing far. Almost the limit of visibility for fish in clear water is considered to be a distance of 10-12 m, and fish can see clearly no further than 1.5 m. Daytime predatory fish living in clear water (trout, grayling, asp, pike) are better seen. Some fish see in the dark (pike perch, bream, catfish, eel, burbot). They have special light-sensitive elements in the retina that can perceive weak light rays.
The angle of view of the fish is very large. Without turning the body, most fish are able to see with each eye objects in a zone of about 150 ° vertically and up to 170 ° horizontally.
Otherwise, the fish sees objects above the water. In this case, the laws of refraction of light rays come into force, and the fish can see without distortion only objects that are directly above the head - at the zenith. Obliquely incident light rays are refracted and compressed into an angle of 97 °, 6 (Fig. 2). The sharper the angle of entry of the light beam into the water and the lower the object, the more distorted the fish sees it. When a light beam falls at an angle of 5-10 °, especially if the water surface is restless, the fish ceases to see the object.
The rays emanating from the fish's eye outside the cone are completely reflected from the water surface, so it appears to the fish as mirror-like.
On the other hand, the refraction of the rays allows the fish to see, as it were, hidden objects. Imagine a body of water with a steep, steep bank. Outside the refraction of rays, the water surface can see a person.
Fish can distinguish colors and even shades.
Color vision in fish is confirmed by their ability to change color depending on the color of the soil (mimicry). It is known that perch, roach, pike, which keep on a light sandy bottom, have a light color, and on a black peat bottom, they are darker. Mimicry is especially pronounced in various flounders, which are capable of adapting their color to the color of the ground with amazing accuracy. If the flounder is put into a glass aquarium, under the bottom of which a chessboard is placed, then on its back there will be cells similar to chess. In natural conditions, a flounder lying on a pebble bottom merges so much with it that it becomes completely invisible to the human eye. At the same time, blind fish, including flounder, do not change their color and remain dark-colored. Hence, it is clear that the color change in fish is associated with their visual perception.
Experiments on feeding fish from multi-colored cups confirmed that fish clearly perceive all spectral colors and can distinguish similar shades. The latest experiments based on spectrophotometric methods have shown that many species of fish perceive certain shades as well as humans.
Using food training methods, it has been established that fish perceive the shape of objects - they distinguish a triangle from a square, a cube from a pyramid.
Of a certain interest is the relation of fish to artificial light. Even in pre-revolutionary literature, they wrote that a fire made on the banks of a river attracts roach, burbot, catfish and improves the results of fishing. Recent studies have shown that many fish - sprat, mullet, damp, saury - are sent to the sources of underwater lighting, therefore, electric light is now used in commercial fishing. In particular, this method is used to successfully catch sprat in the Caspian Sea, and saury near the Kuril Islands.
Attempts to use electric light in sports fishing have not yet yielded positive results. Such experiments were carried out in winter in places of accumulation of perch and roach. A hole was cut through the ice, and an electric lamp with a reflector was lowered to the bottom of the reservoir. Then they fished with a jig with bloodworms in the adjacent hole and in the hole cut away from the light source. It turned out that the number of bites near the lamp is less than far from it. Similar experiments were carried out when fishing for pike perch and burbot at night; they also had no beneficial effect.
For sport fishing, it is tempting to use lures coated with luminous compounds. It has been found that the fish catch the luminous lures. However, the experience of the Leningrad fishermen did not show their advantages; In all cases, ordinary fish baits are more readily accepted. The literature on the subject is also not convincing. It describes only cases of catching fish with luminous baits, and no comparative data on fishing under the same conditions for ordinary baits are given.
The peculiarities of the fish's vision allow us to draw some conclusions that are useful for the angler. It is safe to say that a fish located at the surface of the water is not able to see a fisherman standing on the shore further than 8-10 m and sitting or fishing for a distance - further 5-6 m; the transparency of the water is also important. In practice, we can assume that if the fisherman does not see the fish in the water, when he looks at a well-lit water surface at an angle close to 90 °, then the fish does not see the fisherman either. Therefore, camouflage makes sense only when fishing in shallow places or on top in clear water and when casting a short distance. On the contrary, items of the angler's equipment close to the fish (leash, sinker, net, float, boat) should merge with the surrounding background.
HEARING
The presence of hearing in fish has long been denied. Facts such as the approach of fish to the feeding place upon a call, attracting catfish by striking the water with a special wooden mallet (“shredding” the catfish), reaction to the steamer's whistle, proved little. The occurrence of a reaction could be explained by irritation of other sense organs. The latest experiments have shown that fish react to sound stimuli, and these stimuli are perceived both by the auditory labyrinths in the fish's head, and by the surface of the skin, and by the swim bladder, which plays the role of a resonator.
What is the sensitivity of sound perception in fish is not exactly established, but it has been proven that they pick up sounds worse than humans, and fish hear high tones better than low ones. Fish hear sounds arising in the aquatic environment at a considerable distance, and sounds arising in the air environment are poorly heard, since sound waves are reflected from the surface and poorly penetrate the water. Given these characteristics, the angler should beware of making noise in the water, but may not be afraid to scare the fish by talking loudly. The use of sounds in sports fishing is interesting. However, the question of which sounds attract fish and which ones scare away has not been studied. While the sound is used only when catching catfish, "shredding".
Lateral line organ
The lateral line organ is present only in fish and amphibians that constantly live in water. The lateral line is most often a canal that runs along the torso from head to tail. In the canal, nerve endings branch out, which with great sensitivity perceive even the smallest water fluctuations. With the help of this organ, fish determine the direction and strength of the current, feel the currents of water formed when washing off underwater objects, feel the movement of a neighbor in a flock, enemies or prey, excitement on the surface of the water. In addition, the fish also perceives vibrations that are transmitted to the water from the outside - shaking the soil, impacts on the boat, a blast wave, vibration of the ship's hull, etc.
The role of the lateral line in the seizure of prey by fish has been studied in detail. Experiments carried out many times have shown that a blinded pike is well oriented and unmistakably grasps a moving fish, not paying attention to a stationary one. A blind pike with a destroyed lateral line loses its orientation ability, stumbles upon the walls of the pool, etc. being hungry, he does not pay attention to the swimming fish.
With this in mind, the angler must behave with caution both on the shore and in the boat. Shaking the soil underfoot, a wave from careless movement in the boat can alert and scare the fish for a long time. The nature of the movement of artificial lures in the water is not indifferent for the success of fishing, since predators, when chasing and seizing prey, feel the water vibrations created by it. The more catchy, of course, will be those baits that most fully reproduce the signs of the usual prey of predators.
The organs of smell and taste
The organs of smell and taste are separate in fish. The organ of smell in teleost fishes is the paired nostrils located on both sides of the head and leading into the nasal cavity lined with the olfactory epithelium. Water enters one hole and exits the other. Such a device of the olfactory organs allows the fish to feel the smells of substances dissolved or suspended in water, and during the course the fish can smell only along the stream carrying the odorous substance, and in still water - only in the presence of water currents.
The organ of smell is the least developed in diurnal predatory fish (pike, asp, perch), more strongly in nocturnal and crepuscular fish (eel, catfish, carp, tench).
The gustatory organs are located mainly in the mouth and pharyngeal cavity; in some fish, taste buds are located in the area of the lips and whiskers (catfish, burbot), and sometimes are located throughout the body (carp). Experiments show that fish are able to distinguish between sweet, sour, hot and salty. Just like the sense of smell, the sense of taste is more developed in nocturnal fish.
EFFECTS OF WATER TEMPERATURE AND PRESSURE ON FISH
Fish are animals with variable body temperature. It changes along with the change in ambient temperature and is only a few tenths of a degree higher than it. Only in tuna can the body temperature exceed the temperature of the surrounding aquatic environment by 8-9 ° C. Therefore, a sharp change in temperature (for example, transferring fish from one pool to another with a temperature difference of 4-5 °) causes their disease and often death. A gradual rise or fall in temperature can be tolerated by fish without any particular consequences.
On the Chukchi Peninsula, in streams and shallow lakes, the dahlia fish is found, which freezes when water bodies freeze and comes to life when they thaw. But this, of course, is an isolated example, as usually fish cannot tolerate such a wide temperature fluctuation.
Temperature has a great influence on the vital functions of fish. Each type of them shows the greatest activity in a certain temperature range. For example, the optimum nutrition for trout is observed at 10-12 °, for pike at 15-16 °, for carp at 23-28 °. Above and below a certain temperature, fish stop feeding altogether. Trout does not eat if the water temperature is below 3 ° and above 18 °. Burbot does not feed at water temperatures above 12 °. The carp begins to feed no earlier than the water temperature reaches 10 °, and so on. These figures cannot be considered unchanged: there are deviations associated with the adaptation of fish to local climatic conditions.
Reproduction of fish is closely related to water temperature. As the temperature rises in the water, algae, higher aquatic plants, various animal organisms develop and the best conditions for the nutrition and growth of fish are created. Sometimes an increase in water temperature can also have an adverse effect (for example, worsen the oxygen regime of a reservoir).
The fall in temperature in the fall forces most fish to change their lifestyle and go to deeper places where the water temperature is more constant. In winter, life processes in heat-loving fish freeze. Fish migrate to the depths, almost stop moving, stop feeding and, as it were, go into hibernation. Only burbot, trout, salmon are almost completely active in winter. Perch, roach, ruff, pike continue to feed in part, less often - pike perch, bream.
Water temperature has a decisive influence on the distribution of fish; there are northern and southern distribution boundaries for each species. For example, the carp is kept mainly only in the lower reaches of the southern rivers; the barbel rarely climbs the Dnieper above Dorogobuzh; pike perch, widespread within the Leningrad region, is completely absent in the White Sea basin. In marine and oceanic bodies of water, isotherms are often the boundaries of the distribution of a particular type of fish.
It is not entirely clear how changes in atmospheric pressure affect the behavior of fish. Some anglers believe that fish are best caught when the atmospheric pressure drops, while others say that when the air pressure rises. Most believe that a gradual change in pressure does not affect the fish bite, only sharp jumps in the barometer are harmful.
There is a point of view that changes in atmospheric pressure are not reflected in fish at all. This is motivated by the fact that the fish, even with insignificant vertical movement in the water column, experiences much greater pressure changes than with the sharpest barometric jumps. Indeed, when the atmospheric pressure changes by 50 millibars (a very sharp jump in the barometer), it is enough for the fish to rise or fall by 0.5 m, respectively, so as not to feel such a “jump” at all.
It is difficult to say which opinion is fair, for this there is no reliable data yet.
NUTRITION
Some fish blue bream, some whitefish, sabrefish, bleak, as well as juveniles of most fish feed on plankton - small organisms that live in the water column. Others - bream, carp, silver bream, ruff, gudgeon - are looking for food at the bottom of reservoirs; in the silt, they find larvae of insects, worms, molluscs, organic remains, and are said to feed on benthos. Some fish - roach, rudd, podust - feed mainly on plant foods. A number of fish - catfish, salmon, pike, pike perch, perch - eat other fish, therefore they are called predatory. In the diet of fish such as trout, grayling, dace, insects falling into the water play a leading role.
The composition of food changes with the age of the fish, which is associated with a change in its organs. The nutrition of the Caspian roach - vobla - changes especially sharply: at the earliest stages of development, the oka feeds on plant plankton, later on animals, then switches to feeding on insect larvae, and at an older age it eats almost exclusively mollusks.
The whole organism of the fish is adapted to feeding on this or that food, from the sense organs to the digestive tract.
Of the sense organs in fish that feed on benthos, the sense of smell and taste is most well developed, in insectivores - vision, and in carnivores, in addition, a lateral line, which helps to catch the movement of prey.
The structure of the mouth of fish is also not the same. Fish that feed on plankton usually have a large mouth, and the gill rakers are elongated, helping to strain out small organisms. In benthic-eating fish, the mouth is mobile, sucking; in bream, for example, it is pulled into a tube. Predators usually have teeth in their mouths to help them grip and hold prey. In carp fish, teeth are placed in the pharynx and serve to grind food.
The shape of the teeth in fish is varied and is one of the signs when determining the species.
Some predators, in particular the pike, periodically change their teeth. Their change occurs gradually, as they wear out, and for each individual at a different time. Therefore, the opinion widespread among anglers that all pikes are not taken because of the change of teeth at a certain period is unreasonable.
The digestive organs are also different in fish. Predators have a stomach, while peaceful ones have no stomach and food is digested in the intestines, which are longer, the more plant substances are in the usual composition of food.
The duration of food digestion in fish is not the same. Predatory fish digest it for the longest time, swallowing prey whole. The digestion of food in pike, perch, pike perch under normal filling of the stomach and normal external conditions lasts about three days.
Therefore, they eat at long intervals. Peaceful fish digest food in a few hours and can eat almost continuously.
The feeding intensity of fish depends on the state of their organism and environmental conditions.
In most fish species, spawning changes have a significant effect on food intake. Before spawning, the so-called pre-spawning food is observed, during spawning it stops, and after spawning it resumes with particular intensity. There are exceptions to this general rule. For example, salmon that entered the river for reproduction sometimes do not feed for about a year, that is, during the entire spawning period. Chub, ide, grayling, perch feed during spawning, and burbot, pike perch - only after the end of it. In pike, bream, carp, there is a long interval (about two weeks) between the end of spawning and the beginning of zhor.
The behavior of fish can change in different bodies of water. So, the asp living in Vuoks has a pre-spawning rye, while in Volkhov, Mete, Dnieper such asp is not known. Anadromous bream in most rivers has zhor, but the local one does not. In some rivers, pike perch, roach, carp are not taken before spawning, and pike in the Neva.
Environmental conditions such as water temperature and oxygen content in it, as mentioned above, have an even greater effect on fish nutrition. The intensity of feeding and, consequently, the biting of fish largely depend on these conditions.
INFLUENCE OF WIND AND OTHER FACTORS ON FISH
The wind has a great influence on the nutrition of fish and their biting. The northerly and easterly winds are unfavorable for fishing and that fish take better on westerly or southerly winds.
When the wind changes, the air temperature usually changes as well. North and north-east winds in our hemisphere, as a rule, cause a cold snap. A decrease in air temperature leads to a cooling of water in reservoirs, and this can affect the behavior and biting of fish in different ways.
It is known that each fish species feeds most intensively in a certain temperature range. Let's assume that the water temperature in the reservoir was 15 °. The north wind blew, it got colder, and the water temperature dropped to 10 °. Then the biting of trout will improve, and perch and pike will worsen. A cold snap will especially adversely affect heat-loving fish - crucian carp, carp, tench, carp. On the contrary, cold-loving burbot, fingerlings, who did not feed at all until the cold snap, can go out from the depths to shallower places and take a nozzle.
With southerly winds, warm weather is usually established, and warming will most likely lead to a weakening of the bite of cold-loving fish and a revival of the bite of heat-loving fish.
Westerly and easterly winds at different geographic locations can cause different temperature changes and therefore affect fish behavior differently.
Winds not only change the air temperature, but also affect precipitation. In early spring and late autumn, the best catches are usually on sunny days. On the contrary, in the middle of summer, when the weather is clear, revival in the bite can be expected more likely on rainy, cloudy days. Therefore, the fisherman must take into account what kind of weather in a given area is expected by winds blowing from the west or east, from the north or south.
Sometimes changes in biting occur earlier than any changes in the environment of the fish occur, as if the fish anticipate them. It is explainable. The fish could develop a reflex to a change in the direction of movement of waves, surface currents, the direction of the wind, entailing changes in the placement of food objects.
However, there may also be a simple coincidence with the feeding rhythms of fish.
Often the wind can affect the behavior and biting of fish, whether it is blowing from the north, from the south, etc.
In summer, some bodies of water lack oxygen in the water. The wind, as mentioned above, promotes mixing of different layers of water, and the oxygen content in the water increases. Obviously, in the hot season in water bodies suffering from a lack of oxygen, after the winds of any direction, the bite improves.
In some parts of the reservoir, the wind can create an unfavorable oxygen regime. Suppose that during the "blooming" of water, the wind will drive a lot of algae into some creek. Initially, this will not affect the oxygen content, but as soon as the algae begin to die off and consume oxygen for decay, its amount in the backwater will sharply decrease. The fish will leave the creek, and where there has recently been a magnificent bite, you can not wait for a single bite.
If the bottom of the surf is muddy, then the wave washes out the larvae of various insects from the mud, which attract bream, carp and many other fish here. If the bottom near the coast is rocky or sandy, and, moreover, devoid of aquatic vegetation, then it is difficult for small fish to stay here; it goes to calm places, and therefore predators will not congregate near the surf coast.
In lakes, the wind creates different currents. They change with a change in its strength and direction. Studying the direction of the emerging currents is especially important when fishing on rocky or sandy shoals far from the coast. Fish here accumulate at the border of shallow and depth, standing against the current with their heads towards the shallows.
When looking for such places, it should be borne in mind that the current in the bottom layer can be directed at any angle to the upper one. It depends on the topography of the seabed, the location of the shores and islands. Bottom currents persist even in complete calm due to the return of water masses that were previously driven back by the wind. Particularly strong currents arise in the channels between lakes and between islands; here the best bite is observed at the moments of the strongest movement of the water.
The movement of fish in lakes from depth to shores and back is often associated with the direction of the current. As you know, fish are more willing to move against the current, and the approach to the shore of bottom fish can be expected rather when the wind blowing from the lake, and the approach of those living in the upper layers of the water - at the coast.
Interesting migrations of pike perch and catfish are observed in the handles of the Azov Sea. With the wind blowing from the sea, salt water enters the arm, and along with it the pike perch rises and begins to be well caught with fishing rods. Catfish avoids sea water and, when the water in the channels becomes brackish, goes into the estuary. If the wind blows from the estuary, then the water in the channel becomes fresh, the pike perch returns to the sea, and the catfish enters the channel.
The currents arising from the winds can change the temperature of the water in certain parts of the reservoir and cause the concentration of fish where it would seem unlikely to be expected.
On rivers, the wind blowing with the stream is not conducive to fishing, while the wind blowing against the stream provides a good bite. Such an indication is hardly correct: rivers usually have many bends, and in different areas the wind will blow either from the coast, then downstream, then up.
In which areas it is better to fish depends on the type of fish, the kind of its food and the way of life in the given body of water. For example, it is more expedient to look for chub, trout, grayling in summer near the leeward shore: the wind blows off a lot of insects from the trees and bushes growing on the shore, and fish willingly gather in such places.
Young fish find shelter near the calm coast, and where there is a lot of little things, you can expect predators.
It happens that a surf wave erodes the base of the clay springs, washing out the mayfly larvae huddling here, so fish come here on windy days.
At the mouths of large rivers, the wind blowing against the current causes the water to rise and the current weaken. This facilitates entry into the river of perch, pike perch, bream. Winds and rains can cause significant gains or losses in water. This has a different effect on the bite and behavior of the fish.
If the water gain causes significant turbidity, then the bite usually deteriorates, since the solid particles suspended in the water clog the gills and make it difficult for the fish to breathe. It is also more difficult for fish to find baits in muddy waters. On the contrary, the rise and cloudiness of water in a river flowing into a large river with clean water attracts fish (ide, bream and others) to the mouth of this river, which makes the biting increase.
If the profit of the water is not associated with its turbidity, then the results of fishing depend on the nature of the banks and the size of the spill. A large spill is not conducive to fishing: the fish are widely scattered over the newly flooded areas and it is much more difficult to detect its accumulation. And the amount of food on tap increases, so the fish are less interested in the bait. The rise of water in the river, flowing in steep banks, little changes the conditions of feeding and biting of fish.
The loss of water adversely affects fishing only in the first period; but as soon as its level is established, the fish gathers in new places, and normal biting resumes. A decrease in food and habitat leads to a concentration of fish, and this increases the results of fishing. Some anglers believe that the behavior of fish is greatly influenced by the change of lunar phases, and in one area they believe that fish are best caught on a new moon, in another - on a full moon, and in a third - in those phases in which fish spawned.
Abroad it is believed that the relative position of the moon and the sun has a great influence on the fishes. The American fisherman I. Knight has compiled tables according to which it is supposedly possible to determine on which day the fish will be caught well, and on which - bad.
Similar tables are common in the Scandinavian countries, in particular in Finland. According to Finnish data, fish will be best caught during the hours of the highest moon.
It is known that the attraction of the moon causes ebb and flow in the oceans and seas, so there the phases of the moon can undoubtedly have a great influence on the behavior of fish. There are special tidal currents, while the tidal wave washes out of the coastal soil the animals that fish feed on.
In inland waters, the change of lunar phases does not cause such significant changes in the environment surrounding the fish, and therefore it is difficult to assume that the phases of the moon affect their behavior, including biting.
The tables compiled abroad do not take into account the main thing - the type of fish, and every fisherman knows that the time of active zhora in different fish is not the same. For example, two or three weeks after spawning, the pike does not feed at all, and the ide at this time can very actively seize the bait offered by the angler; in the middle of summer comes the best time to catch asp, and burbot, when the water is warm, you can't catch it, etc.
Thunderstorms seem to have little effect on fish. The exception is close thunderstorms, which for a short time can scare the fish away.
In conclusion, it should be said that in the question of the influence of changes in the atmosphere on the behavior and biting of fish, much remains unclear. Further observations of sports anglers should play an important role here.
INSTINCT AND EXPERIENCE
Some fishermen attribute to the fish exceptional ingenuity, telling "hunting" stories about pikes and ides opening the lids of cages, about bream rising through the forest to the surface of the water in order to disappear into the depths after being convinced of the presence of a fisherman, about "smart" carp, knocking down a nozzle from a hook and only after that those who enjoy it; about "cunning" perches, driving their less smart comrades away from the hook with a nozzle, etc.
Of course, most of these stories are a figment of the imagination of those who tell them, but there are examples that seem to confirm the presence of "quick wits" in fish. Doesn't it seem smart to take long journeys of salmon, white fish, and eels in search of spawning grounds? Or the protection of offspring observed in sticklebacks, catfish and some other fish? Or the method of foraging, used by a tropical archer fish, which, releasing a stream of water from its mouth, knocks insects off the trees surrounding the pond and seizes them when they fall? The behavior of fish, clearly wary of thick and rough woods, also seems clever.
Academician I.P. Pavlov believes that fish, like land animals, are inherent in two types of activity, as it were, replacing the mind: based on individual experience and instinctive, transmitted from generation to generation. These two types of activity explain the actions of fish, which seem smart to us.
Spawning migrations, protection of offspring, this or that method of obtaining food are instinctive actions developed in fish in the process of adapting to changing living conditions. The suspicious attitude of fish to unfamiliar objects or to familiar, but behaving unusually, is explained by the instinctive caution of fish, developed due to the need to constantly fear enemies, as well as personal experience acquired by this individual.
The role of skills in the actions of fish is clearly illustrated by the following example. The aquarium with the pike in it was partitioned off with glass and a live fish was allowed into the fenced off part. The pike immediately rushed to the fish, but hitting the glass several times, it stopped unsuccessful attempts. When the glass was taken out, the pike, taught by "bitter" experience, no longer resumed attempts to grab the fish. In the same way, a fish that has been on a hook or grabbed an inedible spoon takes the bait much more carefully. Therefore, in deep water bodies, where the fish are unfamiliar with a person and a fishing rod, they are less careful than in water bodies often visited by fishermen.
In order for the fish to become wary of coarse tackle, it does not need to be on the hook itself. Sharp throws of one frightened fish caught on the hook can scare and alert the whole flock for a long time, causing a suspicious attitude towards the proposed bait.
Sometimes the fish use the experience of the neighbor. In this respect, the behavior of a school of bream surrounded by a seine is characteristic. First, finding themselves in tone, the bream rush in all directions; but as soon as one of them, taking advantage of the unevenness of the bottom, slip under the bowstring, the whole flock immediately rushes after him.
Since the caution of a fish is directly related to the experience it has acquired, the older the fish, the more suspicious it is of all unfamiliar objects. In different fish species, caution is developed differently. The most cautious are carp, bream, trout, ide, and the least cautious - perch, burbot, pike.
The gregarious lifestyle plays an important role. It is easier for a flock to escape from enemies, find food and places convenient for breeding.
Thus, the "quick wits", "intelligence", "cunning" of fish are explained by the existence of an innate instinct and acquired experience. Instinctively, the fish is afraid of swinging the rod, shaking the soil, splashing in the water, it avoids a thick and rough forest, not masked by the hook attachment, etc. This means that the angler must be able to disguise his tackle, be careful and observant.
