Klaipeda. Winter route

Winter. Long nights and short days. Dawn after few hours turns into darkness. However you will not regret early wake-up. It doesn‘t matter that it is freezing outside. It doesn‘t matter that stars still shine high in the sky and yellow moon grins at you. Wake up and go, fish is waiting for you... Fish doesn‘t doze in winter, but fishermen do not doze too. Armed with ice drills, boxes and with backpacks on their shoulders they are standing around and waiting for their friends... Morning mood is simply great! Everybody praises weather, wind, pressure, wife for being so kind for her fisherman husband who decided to go fishing in the early morning. Everything is perfect. And according to their words perch are waiting to be caught by these happy men. But this is only in the morning… Try to talk to the same fishermen in the evening and they will tell you absolutely different things: east or north wind was blowing for a whole day, pressure drop occurred, weather was simply terrible. And they simply didn’t want to muddle along with small fish…

European smelt - burbot fishing:
The path of European smelt migration runs along the boundary of fishing route, i.e. the water areas of Kairiai Polygon, Juodkrante, Dreverna (Dune canal), lighthouse of Preila. Common fish: burbot, European smelt. Conditions required: good cover of ice.
European smelt ( Osmerus eperlanus (L.))

Smelt (in Latin Osmerus eperlanus, in German Stint, Europäischer Stint, in English European smelt) is a fish of a family of smelt fish. European smelt is the most common of all subspecies (in Latin Osmerus eperlanus eperlanus). The body is long (15 to 18 cm, in some cases 30 cm) and low. The back is greenish-brown, the sides are silvery blue and the belly is white. The scales are small, thin and opaque. It is very common commercial fish. The fish is characterized by specific smell that is similar to the smell of cucumber.
We recommend you to use ordinary rod system for fishing in the Curonian Lagoon, i.e. the main fishing line of 0,18 mm of thickness and 4 thinner short frenums of 0,14 to 0,15 mm of thickness. These frenums are intended for shiny trolls. A sinker that weights between 25 and 30 grams must be attached to the main fishing line. Due to strong stream we must use stiff lever since weaker levers can be inclined. Do not forget that the maximum number of hooks to be used during European smelt fishing is 12, i.e. if you use 2 rods, the maximum number of hooks to be used on both rods is 12 (e.g. 2 rods and 6 hooks on each rod). At the beginning of fishing you
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can use the pieces of smelt with skin as bait. Later the smelt caught shall be used as bait. Roach is perfect for bait, however it is difficult to catch it in the area of fishing (almost impossible, because roach smells the smell of smelt and swims away). Carp’s skin is rigid, therefore it perfectly suits as bait. You won’t need a lot of carp’s meet. You may use only one piece of carp for a whole fishing. You shall hang the pieces of carp on hook piercing the area that contains a skin. Fresh and mildly frozen pieces of fish are seen as the most suitable bite. You can try to use 3 to 4 fly larvae or 5 to 6 Chironomus larvae. You can choose any time for smelt fishing.

More information here