During the winter period, it is often the cold winds that dominate the Italian peninsula, winds that split the peninsula in two because, on the one hand, the sea is rough while, on the other hand, it is stretched and becomes a table with almost crystal clear water, a very difficult condition to deal with.
Though often, the wind turns in the right direction and... we see how to deal with these sudden changes in weather conditions, so from calm sea to sea also formed in an important way, icon of surfcasting.
To Choose the beach
We descend below the surface and imagine the sandy bottom comparing it to a cultivated field. The flow of the seasons means that the soil is preparing for a new sowing, or that it makes the seed sprout renewing the production cycle, but if all this is upset by a sudden change of season and a continuous and permanent turning of the bottom, we are facing a beach exposed to continuous phenomena, the beach, will become sterile because the continuous dispersion of organisms, then of the production material, which disperses rapidly, will make the beach difficult to deal with as well as ensuring very little chance of capture. So, we are facing a sterile beach.
We must look at this point for fertile beaches, where the phenomena there are, but gradually, beaches little exposed to disturbances and winds not favorable to fishing. We must look for, then, deep beaches and high energy where the organic material to disperse completely needs phenomena very violent and frequent, which rarely happens in a season because, these, are beaches little exposed, then excellent for rooting fish in general who find, in this environment food in quantity and condition of ideal habitat. But we must never lower our guard, at the right time even on predators.
Two species in comparison
Rooting fish and predators share the same habitat even if they have different needs and behaviours. While rooting fish choose the area based on the food in the substrate, predators do so only based on the presence of forage fish. However, we must never forget that even forage fish choose areas rich in food because they have to feed themselves. Here we go back immediately to the argument that the two species share the same habitat.
As far as the predators are concerned, it goes without saying that their research is mostly carried out in brackish water areas such as mouths, canals and ports, triggering the living bait, where it is allowed, however, in cold temperature conditions, we will often meet them in areas richer in food. In nature it is the law to make the minimum effort possible to obtain the highest result.
Rooting fish have this behavior and, if in unfavorable weather conditions, then low temperatures and calm sea, they stop in areas difficult to reach, when there is a sea move and currents favorable to move part of the seabed will be full of energy and will begin to stop in those areas covered in the previous paragraphs. Let's talk about bream and some beautiful gilthead sea bream.
Equipment
At the level of equipment we will focus our attention on rods with good power because we can also face condition at the limit that will put a strain on equipment and fisherman, especially when the current and waves push affecting the seal of the leads. So good power rods capable of throwing even heavy weights into the wind.
As far as the reel is concerned, we recommend a 4.5:1 recovery ratio, good reel loading capacity and reel shape to facilitate wire outflow.
The lead choice
In sea conditions, spherical leads with a weight of 130 to 200 grams should never be missing from the container. It may happen that the use of the ball as ballast is not suitable for the sea conditions we are facing.
For this purpose we should focus our attention on other forms: cones, pyramids and, if necessary, ogival forms equipped with spikes. The pyramid leads offer a good hold, but at the same time do not make it much easier to launch because they have a decomposed flight by overstressing the end of the rod.
The experience gained over time, teaches us that if a rod can throw a spherical ballast of 200 grams, the weight of leads of different shapes must be at least 25 percent lower than the maximum power limit that we have verified, so in this case we should not exceed 150 grams.
The ogival leads equipped with spikes have a perfect flight during the launch. For leads equipped with grappling hooks we recommend configurations of beams with high joints and rig that stop at least one palm from the lead to prevent the nylon goes to entangle in the metal arms.
Winter Baits
During the cold season, the temperature of the sea water also drops. In cold water, the propagation of odorous trails is zero, so we will have to play mainly on baits very visible, but at the same time nutritious.
A deadly bait for the period is the fresh razor clam that affects several species of fish, including sand steenbras and sea bass. If we cannot find razor shells of adequate size, but too small, we will double the trigger. Excellent also the bibi, very appreciated by the bream
