Mormyshka is a bait invented in Russia. This bit of metal with a hook becomes more effective when paired with animal bait. The fishing regulations in Germany are not as strict as in Poland, that is why local anglers can fish with mormyshka in many ways without any problems.
A foreign angler who fishes at the end of the years 50. in the lake Schluch looks! suspiciously – his forearm trembled like an aspen leaf, and in his hand he was holding a comically short fishing rod, a half-meter pole with two guides. No wonder then, that Rudi Faller had decided to control the strange-behaving gentleman. He was quite surprised, when it turned out, that he's not a poacher. The angler was a Russian specialist in mormyshka fishing. “I had the opportunity to see, what this method is all about and I took advantage of it eagerly ", Faller remembers. “The Russian lowered the bait to the bottom, he stretched the line, and then, using the resilient properties of the tip, he made the mormyshka vibrate and sensitively danced it over the bottom ". Faller caught the bug and soon started fishing just the same. He was one of the first German anglers, who have mastered the technique of catching perch and other species of fish with mormyshka. As the years went by, Russian technology caught on throughout Central Europe. After some modifications it turned out, that the super-delicate set with mormyshka can be effectively fish not only from ice, but also from a boat, decks and bridges.
Throwing and driving
Sometimes the Mormyshka, which bounces in one place above the bottom, does not want to take anything. Like for example today. We are standing on a pier overlooking the lake. The hot summer sun is slowly hiding behind the trees. Evening is falling. Fish hatches swim just below the surface. Voracious perches fiercely stalk the pet fish. And now we are supposed to fish on the bottom, since perches feed in the water and below the surface? Bounce with the bait in one place, when clearly seen, that brindle predators are furiously chasing prey? – In such a situation, it is better to throw and lead the mormyshka with short jumps – Faller explains. His rod is not thicker than the little finger and is just over a meter long. Above the short handle there is a reel with a line wound on 0,12 Mm. In Faller boxes I counted over a hundred different types of Mormyshka. All these lures are made in-house. The simplest mormyshka models look like lead pellets with single hooks embedded in them. Corps (heads) other Mormyshka's resemble peas and hemp, shells, convex lenses, pears, droplets, pucks, prisms or bananas. The lures are also varied in color – individual models of mormyshka are gray, green, yellow, Red, White, some of them sparkle with fanciful colors.
There is a small hole in the body of the mormyshka, over the knot at the end of the line, pellets are tightened to prevent the bait from falling off the line.
Hole in the body
Rudi Faller decides on a "lead drop". Just like all Mormyshki, The "lead drop" also has a tiny hole in the body. Faller pulls the line through the opening. He tightens a tiny lead ball over the knot at the end of the line, so that the mormyshka does not fall off the line (look photo). He puts two white worms on the hook. They might as well be a red worm or a tiny dead fish (brood). A naked Mormyshka, which is supposed to imitate a spa sprout, only a few fish are interested. The light stick whistled in the air and the mormyshka glides along the edge of the slope for a distance of approx 15 meters. Faller allows the bait to sink to the bottom, then starts rotating the reel handle evenly, as if leading an ordinary spinning lure. The tip of the rod bounces slightly, that the Mormyshka dances in the water. The perches immediately jump to the bait. It's five already, six brindle predators are clearly interested in the mormishka, however, neither fish chooses to attack. In high summer, perch is very careful. – In colder water, in spring and fall, Mormyshka is a much more effective bait, explains Faller. Perhaps this is due to the fact, that small invertebrate benthic fauna is then one of the most important elements of perch's food.
Spells with a nymph
The master, however, does not give up quickly and after a few casts he reaches for the next bait box without taking a bite. He chooses a small nymph and ties it to a fishing line. This leader with a nymph (side strap) it ties half a meter above the mormyshka. and there you go – already in the third cast the perch is definitely targeting the nymph. It is not a specimen. The lake trout is much larger, which on the second morning decided to attack the mormyshka that was led just above the bottom. We no longer fish from the pier, but from a boat. Thin fishing line 0,12 mm forces a very gentle haul. Sea trout literally goes crazy in the water. She is led to the landing net twice, in the end, however, the mormyshka's delicate hook breaks and the fish calmly floats off into the depths. Faller is much more fortunate than other large fish. It catches not only two 1.5 kg perch and a beautiful zander with me. Zander took a carriage. Faller threw the Mormyshka as far as possible and swam several meters away with the reel's bow open. He closed the bail and began to slowly pull the mormyshka just above the bottom in the distance 20-30 meters behind the boat. A large red worm stretched over a hook and rippled in the water like a soft twister tail. By hitting the oars slightly backwards from time to time, the mormyshka drops down and when the boat starts moving forward, it jumps attractively over the bottom.
Jumping into the water
But let's get back to the perch. We change the fishery and anchor at the back of the railway bridge. From the bridge, from seven meters high, the children are jumping into the water. – Very good, perches always react to such jumps with extremely intense feeding, says Faller. About anglers, who shout at bathing children and prohibit them from jumping into the water near the place, in which they are trying to catch perch has expressed itself: "They harm themselves". Attracted by the red Mormyshka worm working like a twister's tail, she glides in the air again. This time the set is traditional, without a side strap with a nymph. Faller leads the bait into the water, at a depth of about three meters. taking! A delicate cut and a medium-sized perch after a short fight (30 Cm) lands in the boat. The next flushes end with the next take of the striped predators.
At some point a thin rod bends more than usual. What could it be? Could be a bigger perch? Full of tension, we look deep into the clear water. Suddenly we notice a silver flash. Plow! Great roach! The fish took the Mormyshka in the water quite quickly.
Rudi Faller is a staunch supporter of mormyshka fishing. Just like other anglers from Lake Schluch – neither of them put out on the water without the Mormyshka kit. Did these anglers give up fishing with modern lures made of soft plastic?? of course not! For example, Faller often puts a twister tail on a mormyshka hook instead of a red worm.
The Russian Mormyshka and the American twister together provoke the perch to bite. I had time to find out, that to great effect.
Tin figurines
Mormyshka bodies are most easily made of lead or tin. Rudi Faller drills holes of various sizes in a hardwood block (at the very edge of the block) and fastens in them (on the side) long shafts of hooks. A thin wire is inserted into each such form from the top, so that the finished bait has a hole in the body to thread the line. Then, in turn, he floods the holes with soldering tin, waits for the metal to cool and takes the mormyshki out of the molds.
After smoothing the body with sandpaper and widening the line hole with a small dental drill, the bait is ready to use.
