Rarely does winter fishing go without catching roach, and in February, when other fish are less active, silvery ones become the most common trophy. To attract a school to the hole and whet its appetite, it is important to use roach bait. Winter baiting has its own characteristics - from the selection of components and moistening to the methods of delivering the bait mixture. We tell you how to properly prepare roach bait in winter, and give five working recipes.

Winter bait for roach: features

There are several nuances in preparing bait for winter fishing for roach. The first is the choice of flavors. Many fishermen know that roach likes sweet aromas: vanilla, biscuit, chocolate and caramel. In summer, they work well, but in winter it is better to choose various spices and herbs or combine them with "confectionery". Anise, cinnamon and coriander will attract roach at the fishing spot in tandem with sweets or on their own. The second important point is the intensity of the smell. Aromas spread worse in cold water, but if you overdo it with flavors, you will get the opposite effect. The roach will be wary and will bypass the place where you are trying to attract it. For winter roach bait, it is important to choose the right fraction. Combine medium and fine grinding, giving preference to the latter. This will create a column of turbidity without saturating the fish. The presence of medium particles will help attract larger individuals. The color of the bait for roach in winter also plays a role. Most anglers agree that dark, even black compositions work better in cold, clear water. However, light mixtures also give results, so do not neglect them. It is important to properly moisten the bait for roach in winter. In frosty weather, the dry mixture absorbs water almost twice as long, and immediately after mixing it may seem that you have over-moistened it. Therefore, it is best to prepare the composition in advance in a warm room, for example, at home in the evening. Just make sure that the prepared bait for roach does not freeze on the way to fishing, otherwise you will have to wait until it thaws.

How to feed roach in winter

When winter fishing for roach, you can use one of three methods of delivering bait:

-Balls. At a depth of up to 3 m, you can form small balls from the moistened mixture and carefully lower them into the hole. As they sink, the small fraction will separate and hang in the water column, larger particles with the remaining small ones will reach the bottom.

-Pour the mixture directly into the hole. This method is less effective, but it can be used at a shallow depth. The cloud of turbidity will be more pronounced.

-Feeder. Load the roach bait into a special cone-shaped dump feeder and deliver it either to the bottom or into the water column. With a jerk, the lid of the feeder will open, and the mixture will scatter well, forming a turbid cloud. This method is suitable for a depth of up to 6 m.

Feed the winter roach in portions, at intervals of at least 20 minutes. Winter bait for roach: recipes We have prepared five different bait recipes for winter fishing for roach. Each of them is good in its own way, but may not be 100% effective: the bite depends not only on the bait, but also on the chosen location, the depth of the reservoir, the method of delivering the bait, the weather and other factors. For mixing, use a little less than 400 ml of water per 700 g of dry composition to get an average level of moisture. If the finished mixture is a little drier, it will dust better in the water column. Slightly over-moistened bait will sink faster and will collect fish at the bottom.