Winter fishing in winter: features, possible causes and ways to prevent

Recently, many owners of country houses and suburban areas are increasingly paying attention to open water reservoirs in which you can fish or just have a nice time by organizing a picnic on the beach. However, in the spring they may be waited by a very unpleasant surprise in the form of fish thrown ashore. It is worthwhile to understand in more detail when the fish are killed most often.

This kind of tragedy happens mainly in a frosty winter, when under various layers of snow and ice slow, but inevitable rates begin to die different living creatures - beetles, dragonfly larvae and decorative, costly species of aquatic inhabitants. Often, the fish's swelling is noticeable after the descent of the ice, when a lot of half-decomposed carcasses appear near the shores. But oxygen starvation occurs in living organisms in late February - early March, since dissolved oxygen is already absorbed, and fresh has not yet arrived. The harsher the winter, the sader the consequences.

Mankind knows several reasons why winter fish are killed.

What can negatively affect the vital activity of fish in winter

• Insufficient access of oxygen (or even its absence) during the surface aeration under the ice layer. In addition, oxygen consumes not only fish, but also the decaying mass of zooplankton and phytoplankton that accumulated over the summer.
• The death of a significant amount of algae with a decrease in air temperature (even the remaining vegetation can not produce enough oxygen in the process of photosynthesis in cold conditions and with insignificant illumination).
• Pollution of water by industrial or municipal waste, sewage.
• Poisoning of the natural habitat of fish due to the remaining under the ice layer of harmful gases (dioxide and carbon monoxide or methane and hydrogen sulfide, etc.). All these accumulations also reduce the level of dissolved oxygen in the water.

The only advantage of cold weather for freshwater can be slowed down breathing and decay. But the excess in the pond of the expenditure part of the balance of oxygen over the incoming inevitably leads to a phenomenon such as the fish's zamor.

How to save fish from death in winter

Despite the fact that winter fish soup is a rather serious problem, it can be solved in fairly simple ways. It is enough to install an aerator in the pond, and for small sized ponds the compressor with air spray function is perfect. However, a conventional nebulizer will not provide sufficient circulation if the area of the pond exceeds at least one tenth of a hectare. In this case, the appearance of local overseas zones is inevitable. Therefore, owners of large closed water bodies are recommended to install special aerators-flow generators, which not only saturate the water with water, but also create the effect of a steady flow that mixes the entire water column.

How to determine the level of oxygen in water

Anyone who wants to know the exact temperature of the water and its degree of oxygen saturation can do this with a thermo oximeter. Also, this device will help save energy, because with sufficient saturation of water, the need to include an aerator will not arise. It is important to know that fish mortality begins at the time of oxygen level reduction to the level of 6-7 mg / l (approximately from 50 to 60% of normal saturation). Experts recommend purchasing a thermooximeter with a non-serviced probe and a sufficiently long cable (at least 3-5 m).

How to keep fish from freezing if there is no aerator

Many experienced owners of water bodies know - when fish starts to fish, it is important to make wormwood, thereby ensuring the supply of oxygen into the water. To do this, periodically (at least twice a week) cut or break ice. Also it is advisable to freeze in the openings of sheaves of reeds, reeds, straw. You can use a pump (a fountain pump), which pumps water into the ice. This method will be very convenient for those who live far enough and do not have the opportunity to often come to a pond.

It is worth noting that experts are skeptical of the people's ways of saving fish from a freeze. They assure that the effect from them is only psychotherapeutic, since the ice-hole is needed only to observe the behavior of underwater inhabitants in winter (in closed reservoirs at the bottom it is possible to examine the dead individuals).

In addition, the usefulness of "bald spots" in the ice can be mistaken for the reason that initially during the freeze the fish desperately wants to air, after which it disappears somewhere, allegedly "breathing in". In fact, it just dies or looks for safer places. The opinion is growing by revealing in the spring and summer of living individuals.

What is important to pay attention to avoid a freeze

Also in winter, fish outbreak may begin because of invasive diseases (chylodonellosis, ichthyothyroidism, trichodynia) or infectious diseases (pseudomonasis). To ensure a safe wintering will help and water exchange, improving the habitat of fish. In addition, it is important to pay attention to the minimum permissible depth of the reservoir - it should be at least 2 meters. Process the pond with quicklime before the wintering (about 100 kg per hectare) and make a laboratory analysis of the source water supplying the pond. The results obtained should be carefully studied and compared with the norms established for water in fishery water bodies.

Do I need to feed fish in winter?

In conditions of low temperatures, fish easily tolerates starvation, so it is not necessary to feed it. Moreover, the remains of food can decompose on the bottom and bring harm. But the exception is trout - it absorbs a small amount of food at a water temperature above +2 degrees. It is recommended to feed it in moderate amounts several times a week. It is recommended to stop feeding if it is passive eating. It is better to install a special feeder, thanks to which the fish independently chooses the food time and the amount of food.

Winter fishing will help to identify the zamora

True fishermen do not lose time at any time of the year - they seek to pond into the thaw and even into the cold. But catching fish in the sea can adversely affect the catch, so it is better to identify the tragedy in time and prevent it.

So, you can determine the zamor by the following signs:

• Rapid death of the live bait.
• Darkening of the line, brass and copper lures.
• Dead water insects on the surface.
• Throwing young animals in search of clean water.
• Stopping fish in the holes.

Under such conditions, fishing promises to be simply a failure. Moreover, catching fish at the time of its active course to the holes is considered poaching.

It is important not to panic and remember that winter frosts are a solvable problem. Ensure a successful wintering of the fish in accordance with the above methods and monitor the water in the pond to avoid unpleasant surprises.