Spinners
Now, looking at the perfect and unique in coloring fishing baubles, it is hard to even imagine such gear, for catching fish, used by Neolithic people. Evidence can serve as archaeological excavations carried out on the middle Amur, as well as in the study of the Bugo-Dniester culture in Ukraine. During these studies, the remains of fishing tools were found. Among the many harpoons and hooks, objects resembling baubles in shape were found.
In 1961, a lure was dug out of jade, a durable ornamental stone, on the Amur. At the same time, no hooks were found on an object resembling a spinner, which gave reason to skeptics to believe that these were not spinners. Unlike skeptics, many scientists believe that these artifacts are real spinners and our ancestors successfully used them to catch fish.
Our distant ancestors used various auxiliary materials as hooks. Basically, these were animal bones or hooks were made from wild boar tusks or bones of other animals. The population of the Far East used such hooks in the recent past.
During excavations in Novgorod, Izborsk, Pskov, spinners made of iron, bronze, tin and lead were found. This is approximately XIII-XIV century. Various shapes and weights of lures said that our ancestors fished in the "track", when "towing" behind the boat, successfully used them for sheer lure, and also used them for winter fishing.
Among these artifacts there are spinners with notches resembling fish scales. They were not primitive, but had a certain bend for playing baubles. Already in those days, it was understood that not only the appearance, but also the shape of the bait affects the catchability.
If we talk about Europe, then you can find information proving that the Vikings used baubles to catch fish back in the 10th-11th centuries. With such baits they caught cod in deep fjords. Spinners were a very handy tool, allowing the fisherman to be mobile. It was extremely inconvenient to use nets for fishing in the fjords, and the baubles successfully gave fish.
Until recently, when the spinning reel was invented, the technology of fishing with various types of bait differed little from fishing in the 10th century. L.P. Sabaneev’s book “The Life and Catching of Freshwater Fishes” described exactly the same baits that archaeologists found during excavations. With the advent of spinning, the technique of catching predatory fish has acquired a completely different character. And although in England at first a spinning reel was used to store fishing line, this was already a breakthrough that opened a new era in fishing technology.
At a wide pace, modern fishing technology began to develop abroad. If we talk about the fishermen of the Soviet Union, then for a long time they used primitive baits and imperfect tools, such as spinning. Everything modern - wobblers, rubber fish remained behind the "Iron Curtain" for a long time. Soviet industry did not want to develop and improve this process. For a long time, fishermen had to fish with spoons and turntables, which were mainly made in a handicraft way. The gear that the industry of the Soviet Union produced simply did not give the opportunity to somehow experiment. How much joy an amateur fisherman had when he managed to acquire a foreign fishing rod, spinning rod, hooks or fishing line. There, "over the hill" this technology was constantly improved, and after the removal of the "Iron Curtain" everyone saw how hopelessly behind the Soviet Union. But this did not prevent us from quickly discarding this primitivism of ours and introducing these latest achievements and technologies into our daily lives. We got a very wide selection of tackle and lures. Amateur anglers increasingly prefer rubber (silicone) fish, wobblers, twisters, and ordinary oscillators and turntables are unjustifiably forgotten, but in vain.
The design of the oscillating spoon (oscillating baubles) is very simple - the body of the baubles of a certain shape, a hole in the front and back, winding rings in the holes, a hook (tee) is attached to the winding ring at the back, and a fishing line is attached to the front winding ring. They are characterized by both shape and weight. In shape, they can be wide and narrow, and in weight - from a few grams to several hundred grams.
Very heavy spoons are used for cod fishing off the coast of the North Seas, using sheer lure at great depths. Smaller models of "pilkers" are used for catching asp or perch on small rivers and reservoirs.
The famous Castmaster can be safely attributed to this family. This small lure is a double-sided cut of a metal bar. The spinner is very balanced and very catchy, as it has an excellent game during wiring. Lures are not cheap and a good original costs between 10 and 15 US dollars. Inexpensive copies of this spinner are made by the Poles and Chinese, but they can be copies that are far from perfect. Its catchiness lies in its precise execution, otherwise it will not play quite like the original. Some Chinese copies generally refuse to play with slow wiring.
"Kastmaster" proved to be excellent when catching asp and perch, especially since this lure is great for long-distance casting. Her whole elongated body, without anything superfluous, speaks for itself. The only drawback is that it cannot be used in snags, but this is the disadvantage of all oscillators and all turntables. In order for the oscillator or turntable to turn into a “non-hooking”, it needs refinement, but this is for a separate discussion.
Along with Castmaster, it is worth noting the Mapps Cyclops oscillator. This Mepps narrow-bodied lure has several colors and several sizes. Its advantage is a reliable game at various posting speeds. It is worth noting that some Atom oscillators begin to rotate at high speeds. This suggests that Mepps Cyclops is more stable in large currents.
The Canadian company "Williams" offers anglers no less famous and no less catchy products. Back in 1916, they began to produce Williams Wabbler at this company, and this spinner is still very popular. For the manufacture of spinners, brass is used. It does not oxidize and produces a good sound when wired. They are covered under "gold" and under "silver". These are universal baubles. They can be caught in both summer and winter. All North Americans prefer baits that can be used at any time of the year.
It is worth remembering the Finnish company Kuusamo, which is the unsurpassed leader in the production of baits. Widespread spinners "Professor" and "Rassanen" perfectly catch in stagnant water.
The Poles began the production of inexpensive spinners "Spinnex", "Condor" and others. The counters in the “For fishermen” departments are simply full of cheap Chinese products. It is worth noting that the quality of Chinese baits is constantly growing.
Against this background, it is worth remembering the Kiev plant "Sokol", which at one time produced a wide range of spinners. It is difficult to judge how popular they were now, but it is known that amateur fishermen were engaged in artisanal production of spinners. This suggests that industrial designs were far from perfect. Given that in those days they cost a penny, they were made by hand only for reasons of catchability.
Turntables
"Turntables" appeared somewhat later than oscillating spinners (oscillators). Fishing with these baits began in England around the 17th century.
In the 19th century in Russia, words like "spinning" and "trolling" had a completely different meaning than they have now. Fish were caught either with the help of sheer lure, or dragging behind the boat - the "path". Only at the turn of the 20th century, with the advent of reels, spinning fishing began to acquire the features of real modern fishing with spinning.
Spinners "turntables", as well as "spinners" are characterized by two features: in shape and in load. “By shape” means by the shape of the petal, and loading means front-loaded or back-loaded. Less common are "turntables" without any load at all. In a front-loaded lure, the load is in front of the petal, and in a back-loaded lure, it is behind the petal. The most widespread are back-loaded baits with a fixed load.
A small number of companies are engaged in the production of spinners with front loading. The advantage of such spinners is that, depending on the conditions of fishing, you can change the load. The Mepps Lusox lure is very popular with amateur and professional anglers. The baubles "Adams" and "Master" have proven themselves well.
Rear loaded lures are simple and very affordable. Depending on the shape of the petal, they can be caught both at great depths and in the shallows. The depth of immersion is regulated by the speed of pulling the spinner.
Mepps spinners are divided into three groups according to the shape of the petal. The first group includes baits with an elongated petal "Long". The opening angle of the petal is about 30 degrees, and it is intended for fast wiring, since the narrow and long petal has little resistance in the water. Lures with a petal "England" are designed for slow wiring. Its oval petal with an opening angle of about 60 degrees does not like fast currents. There is also a third type of petal - something in between the first and second - this is an elongated oval. These forms of petals can be taken as standard, although you can find spinners with asymmetric petal shapes.
In this set of lures, you can find spinners with two petals, put on one axis. When posting, such a bait creates enhanced vibrations, and the predator detects and attacks it faster. Due to the extra weight, they have good flight characteristics and are able to “turn on” even the most lethargic fish.
Sometimes it is justified to use generally unloaded spinners. These may be smaller ponds with rough vegetation, when the bait can be carried along the very top. Unfortunately, such baits are practically not produced.
Very often, the manufacturer masks hooks on spinners with multi-colored bundles of wool, faux fur or bird feathers. In this case, the bait looks more interesting, but it loses its flight characteristics. In addition, it is not known how catchy they are. This should be known to those who often modify industrial designs. Whether she is catchy or not, she will lose her game characteristics.
Among the whole variety of spinners, it is worth giving preference to Mepps. This is one of the oldest companies that still specializes only in the manufacture of spinners. Based on even this characteristic of the company, one can assume what huge characteristics it has in this area. Talking about low-quality Mepps products does not even turn the tongue.
"Making" high-precision sport fishing gear is what "Mepps" means in translation. The baits of this company are really very accurately calculated and made. In the spinner, everything should be proportional, and the thickness of the wire, and the size of the petal, and the shape of the load. Lures made "by eye" will never work well and attract fish. Lures from Mepps can be taken as a standard, although at present Meps is on the heels of Daiva, Smith and others. It is also appropriate to note here the Finnish-American company Blue Fox and their famous Super Vebrax model. When posting, this spinner emits a melodic tapping, which additionally attracts fish.
Despite all the variety of baits, their quality, variety of bright colors, it is worth noting that fishing in our time is quite an expensive pleasure. Based on this, many amateur anglers, as well as athletes, make "turntables" in their workshops. This gives a huge field for imagination and experimentation. Then, under the label of the original, you can buy a cheap Chinese fake. Not everywhere you can pick up a lure for certain fishing conditions, especially since a predator today takes on a “spoon”, tomorrow on a “turntable”, and after tomorrow it can simply ignore them. In this case, you have to take on other types of baits, which are not few. These are “wobblers”, and “poppers”, and “silcons”. For successful fishing, it is desirable to have a complete list, and this costs a lot of money.
As far as is known, the craftsmen successfully make at home “oscillators”, and “turntables”, and “wobblers” and successfully take on “silicone”. No one wants to leave such expensive things in snags. You can add a good inertia-free reel with branded fishing line to the baits plus a super-light carbon spinning rod and the amount is considerable. From this we can conclude that amateur fishing in our time is entertainment for the rich, especially since you can’t go far on a bicycle.
Lure fishing
A lot can be said about the technique of catching fish on oscillating and spinning baubles. Very often one hears from fishermen, hung from head to toe with the most modern baits, that these spinners are already the past and they do not have a special catchability. But, as practice shows, the time for these baits has not yet come - sometimes pike prefer a simple and proven piece of iron, and the technique of catching it is not so simple. Everyone will be able to cast it and wind the line back onto the reel, but not everyone will be able to force the predator to attack it. It is important to determine where and under what conditions to use the “turntable”, and where the “oscillator”. As a rule, shoals are caught with turntables, and "oscillators" are used in deeper water areas.
When using such spinners, beginners make the same mistake: they try to catch fish for fast wiring. Basically, these fast movements are caused by the fear of losing the lure. And it is really very easy to lose it, since in the places of fishing there can definitely be “pitfalls” in the form of various snags. Thus, you can constantly throw the same lure, but you may not see the fish. Pike, for example, do not like fast wiring and in order to catch it, it is recommended to use very slow wiring on the verge of a breakdown or make stops for 1-2 seconds. She usually attacks the bait during a stop. At the same time, the pike can attack it both at the very bottom and in the water column. In this case, you can stop the "turntables" for a short time, and the "oscillators" for much longer, up to laying it on the bottom. At the same time, it will slowly lower, making oscillatory movements from side to side. At this moment, she can become the prey of a predator. If the fish did not take it during the fall, then already at the moment of the fall, when the bait raises a cloud of dust, the predator may definitely be interested in it.
Closer to autumn, predatory fish tries to go to the depths and here the oscillating baubles can go unnoticed. On some reservoirs with stagnant water, pike take on spoons better than on other baits. The fact of such "amateur" is difficult to explain.
Very often, novice spinningists repeat another mistake - they start fishing the territory with a long cast. Practice and experience tells a completely different story - it is necessary to start fishing from shallow water, and then move to depth. Very often, a predator stands under the shore and a long cast can ruin everything, especially if during the posting you get a hook or you can pull out a small log with vegetation. At this point, you can no longer make casts. It will be worse if the bait remains at the bottom from the first cast.
In short, the bait fishing technique is as follows: the bait is thrown and slowly held at the bottom or in the water column. It should be recalled that the speed of posting is a determining factor when fishing with baubles, which cannot be neglected in any way. Although there are many cases when a pike attacked the bait during a fast, aggressive retrieval. It all depends on the quality of the spinner. The main thing is that with an increase in the speed of wiring, it does not lose its game. The “oscillators” are most susceptible to this problem, and as for the “turntables”, when the wiring increases, they simply fly out of the water column without losing the game.
Oscillating spinners of the "Atom" type, with an increase in the speed of wiring, begin to rotate around their own axis. This indicates that the spinner is not of high quality. When there were plenty of fish in the rivers and lakes, it is possible that predators rushed to such a game of bait. Nowadays, when fish are caught with all legal and illegal gear, such a game of oscillating does not work. The fish became smaller, and she became "smarter".
In the arsenal of an amateur fisherman there should be 3-4 models of spinners of various weights and various shapes. It makes no sense to have more, because everyone requires their own wiring technique. It is best to master the wiring technique with these 3-4 models. In this case, they can give the fish more than a whole box of all kinds of baits. Throwing this or that model, it is worth experimenting with wiring in order to catch the moment of truth. It happens that fishermen undeservedly ignore some kind of lure, believing that it is not very catchy. Having thrown everything, but to no avail, the fisherman decides to throw this lure anyway. After 2, 3 casts, it turns out that the lure works great and gives a fish. Using your own, albeit not a large arsenal, you should adapt to each bait individually, feel its work.
"Kolebalka" can be successfully used for jig wiring both at the very bottom and in the water column. For this, elongated lures are suitable, since they create minimal resistance in the water. Thus, pike, perch and even chub are successfully caught.
Of great importance when fishing with spinners is their color. In the recent past and in the distant past, natural colors were used. That is, the color of the bait matched the color of the metal from which it was made. As a rule, these were copper, brass, silver. It is also possible that there were also baubles made of gold, although there is no information about this. For another 10-15 years, there were much more fish in rivers and lakes, and they successfully chased brass, copper and silver lures. At the moment, the fish has become smaller, and it has become more picky. Spinner manufacturers also do not stand still and offer fishermen a huge number of colors. More and more modern technologies are used in production. Laser technology is successfully used to obtain a three-dimensional pattern on the body of the spinner. It gives its fruits, but they are very expensive. When choosing the color of the spinner, you need to take into account the background of the environment, as well as weather conditions. In cloudy weather, it is advisable to use brighter colors, and in sunny weather, dimmer ones so that the body of the spinner does not give "bunnies".
Lures are not monophonic, but two-color or even multi-colored are very popular. In addition, the fish is not indifferent to the spinners, which, when posting, make all kinds of sounds. Usually, such baits are very catchy. In two-color lures, the body of the spinner is painted on both sides and has 2 or more colors. Usually these are multi-colored dots or stripes, but there can also be intricate geometric shapes.
When fishing with spinners, it is worth experimenting with their size. Size also matters. It is believed that the pike prefers to grab larger prey so as not to waste its energy on trifles. Many spinning masters do not recommend going out for pike with small lures. A good pike (about a kilogram) can easily swallow the bait, the size of a palm. When hunting for pike, it is advisable to use spinners of at least the 3rd number. If it is very hot, you can use the "turntables" and the 2nd number.
For catching other fish, such as perch, asp, chub, much smaller baubles are used. If we talk about perch and asp, then they mainly prefer small fish. Many amateur fishermen noticed how asp walks under the shore and “beats” fry, that is, it jams them, and then collects them. He usually walks alone in his territory and feeds. Perch, on the contrary, is a schooling fish and they hunt for “little things” in a company. To catch these predators, "ultralight" baits are usually used. Chub and ide can be caught with this type of bait. There were cases when such baits were attacked (and caught) by the white bream.
You can use spinners for fishing all year round, as long as there is access to water. In cold water, the fish prefers oscillators, as it ceases to respond to high-quality radiation from the "turntables". For this purpose, “oscillators” of the 3rd number or more are suitable.
Most likely, the time of jigsaws has not yet passed, and it will not pass: as fish were caught on them, so they will be caught. The whiter that the manufacturers of "oscillators" and "turntables" manage not to stay still, but move forward. It is appropriate to note here that a scientific approach and modern technologies are used in the manufacture. Increasingly, multi-colored holographic patterns are created on the petals of the "turntables" and on the body of the "oscillators". Once in the water, they create a three-dimensional image that does not disregard the predator. Such baits are super catchy.
These types of spinners are trying to force out other types of lures from the market: these are “wobblers and poppers”, but especially silicone ones. Wobblers are fish-shaped lures with different colors. Wobblers, especially oblong ones, are very well suited for "twitching". Silicone lures are used for "jigging" and "micro-jigging" wiring. Poppers are similar to wobblers, but they are designed for surface wiring. But on silicones it is worth stopping especially. These are baits in the form of fish, bugs and worms with a very wide range of colors. Recently, toads, mice, crustaceans have appeared. The material for their manufacture is silicone. Recently, "edible" silicone has begun to be used. Another argument for the constant improvement of oscillating and spinning baubles.
Lines, reels and rods
It would not be entirely correct in an article about spinners to ignore such accessories as fishing lines, reels and rods. No matter how many baits there are, it will not be possible to catch at least some fish without them. Of course, this is a topic for a separate discussion, but at least in passing, for familiarization, it is worth touching on it.
Let's start with the fishing line and its primitive choice. This is very important because both long-distance casting and playing trophy fish depend on its choice. The fishing line is characterized by its thickness (diameter) and tensile strength (kg). Spinningists use mainly fishing lines with a diameter of 25 to 35 mm. A larger diameter fishing line is used for very large fish, and it is very difficult to cast it far. In short, it all depends on what kind of fish fishing is designed for. When hunting for pike, it is advisable to get metal leashes, as it bites the line without much difficulty.
The quality of the coils depends on the number of bearings that the manufacturer has installed in his product. Spinning players use reels with 3 or more bearings. The softness of the winding and the stability of the movement of the bait depend on the number of bearings.
Spinning rod can be attributed to the main tool. They come in different lengths and different systems, telescopic and pin. The most high-quality are rods consisting of two parts (pins), they are also more reliable. A spinner should have at least two rods in his arsenal: one for heavy lures, the other for light ones. It is difficult to catch with one rod, because you have to use spinners of various weights. If a rod is used according to the weight of the spinner (on the handle it is indicated: for example, 15-25g), then the spinner always feels it and reacts to the bite in time. Otherwise, frequent fish gatherings are possible, as well as problems with casting baits.
