In January the ice on Amur River is about 1 meter thick. Most of fish in this period are more sleepy comparing with the time of "first ice" - November & December.
It takes lots of time & effort to make a hole in the thick ice with the ice-pike.
Ice-auger is not very useful at Amur River ice - the ice has lots of sand in it, so the blades of a drill get dull after 2-3 holes. Ancient tools - ice-pikes - are still popular in Khabarovsk.
By mid December lots of lampreys are coming up to Khabarovsk.
These "fish" are anadromous; they do not feed in the river and will be spawning in the spring.
The life cycle of a lamprey is exactly the same as the one of a salmon.
The fish which is very active under the ice is burbot Lota lota.
The best rig to catch burbot is a heavy lure baited with piece of row fish
Trophy whitefish is hard to catch in mid winter, when it is cold
Amur pike is one of fish which is active through the whole winter
Tail of Amur pike
