"Dead time" in the middle of winter, Amur River

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

Amur River, mid winter

In January the icefishing in the Amur River is not as good as from the "first ice" - in November.  Most of thefish are becoming sleepy and do not bite.  Thick ice makes it hard to search for the fish. 

Not far, at the right bank of Amur the busy city of Khabarovsk is waking up.  Near the low left bank the fishermen are preparing the holes for the whitefish fishing. 

Gas-powered ice-auger is rare tool on the ice of Amur.  Most of the local fishermen still prefer to use ancient ice-pikes.

When the ice is 1 m thick, it is hard work to break through it and make a hole. 

In mid December the schools of marine lamprey are coming to Khabarovsk from the Sea of Okhotsk (the distance is 900 km).  Lampreys will be spawning in May in the tributaries of the Amur River. 

The most active fish in January is burbot; it is both spawning and feeding eagerly.  

Burbot is the only freshwater cod

Amur pike is still biting, but not as active as in November & December. 

Amur pike is very pretty fish