Rotan fish photo and description. Taste qualities and interesting facts. Amur rotan: the secrets of successful fishing and cooking delicious dishes Rotan fish maximum weight

Firebrand-rotan, or rotan, or grass, or firebrand ( Perscottus glenii) is a species of ray-finned fish belonging to the firebrand family, and is the only representative of the firebrand genus (Perscottus). An erroneous Latin specific name is often found in the literature: glehni or glenhi. The name of the genus, Percottus, is also erroneous.

Description of rotan

Since the second half of the last century, among foreign and domestic aquarists, rotan has often been called the Amur goby, which is due to the very characteristic appearance of such a fish.

Appearance

Rotans, or grassworts, have a dense and short body, covered with dull and medium-sized scales.. The rotan firebrand is distinguished by a rather variable color, but still grayish-green and dirty brownish tones are predominant, with a clear presence of small spots and stripes. irregular shape. Coloration of the belly, as a rule, nondescript grayish shades. With the onset mating season rotans acquire a characteristic black color. The length of an adult varies depending on the basic conditions of the habitat, but is approximately 14-25 cm. The maximum weight of an adult fish is 480-500 gr.

The head of rotans is quite large, with a large mouth, seated with small and sharp teeth, which are arranged in several rows. Gill covers fish have a backward-pointing spike characteristic of all perciformes. The main difference between rotan is the formation of a soft spine-like process and soft fins without pointed spines.

It is interesting! In a sandy pond, the scales of golovach-rotan are more light color than in individuals inhabiting swampy waters. By spawning, approximately in May-July, the male turns into a noble black color, and the female, on the contrary, acquires lighter shades.

There are a pair of fins in the back area, but the hind fin is noticeably longer. The species feature is represented by a short anal fin and large, rounded pectoral fins. The caudal fin of the fish also has a rounded shape. In general, rotans in appearance very much resemble representatives of ordinary goby fish, but have a pair of disproportionately small pelvic fins.

Behavior and lifestyle

Rotans are not able to survive when completely frozen, but when water freezes, due to glucose and glycerin, which are secreted by fish, the specific concentration of salts in tissues and water increases markedly, which contributes to a significant decrease in the crystallization temperature. Thus, immediately after thawing water, rotans can easily return to their normal life.

Perscottus glenii prefers stagnant water bodies, ponds and marshes. The fish of this species is very unpretentious to external conditions, including oxygen deficiency, but tends to avoid fast to moderate flowing waters. The only representative of the firebrand genus inhabits ponds, is found in small, overgrown and swampy lakes, as well as oxbow lakes.

It is interesting! Rotanas are able to withstand the partial drying up of reservoirs and the complete freezing of water to the bottom in winter quite easily, and they also survive perfectly even in polluted waters.

presenter sedentary fish, actively hunts along with other typical ambush predators - hiding in dense underwater thickets. In the last ten days of December, fish form significant concentrations in ice cavities, which are filled with air-ice wet masses. In this state of stupor, the fish hibernate until the onset of spring. In the water bodies near Moscow, rotan firebrands, as a rule, do not hibernate.

Lifespan

The average life span of rotan under the most favorable conditions is within fifteen years, but a significant part of individuals live for about 8-10 years.

Range, habitats

Initially, the area of ​​rotan was the basins of the Amur River, as well as the Far Eastern part of Russia, the northern regions North Korea and northeastern China. The appearance of this only representative of the firebrand genus in the last century in the Baikal basin is considered by many scientists as the result of biological pollution.

It is interesting! To date, the presence of rotan is noted in the basins of such rivers as the Volga and Dnieper, Don and Dniester, Danube and Irtysh, Ural and Styr, as well as the Ob, where this fish prefers stagnant and floodplain water bodies.

At the very beginning of the twentieth century, rotans were released into the reservoirs of St. Petersburg, but subsequently quickly spread almost everywhere in the territory of Northern Eurasia and Russia, as well as many European countries. In water bodies with established fish communities and a large number of predatory species, there are practically no free food resources. In such reservoirs, rotan firebrands modestly live mainly near the coastal zone, in vegetation, therefore, a noticeable negative impact on the composition of the ichthyofauna is not found.

Diet, food

Rotans are aquatic predators. If initially fry use zooplankton for food, then after a while small invertebrates and benthos serve as food for fish. Adults actively eat small species of fish, leeches and newts, as well as tadpoles. Golovachs are able to eat caviar of other fish and even carrion. The species has excellent eyesight, thanks to which it sees prey from afar, after which it slowly, “rushes” approaches the victim, working at such a moment exclusively with ventral fins. The movements of the hunting rotan are very slow and calm, and the fish itself is characterized by ingenuity, which allows it to make non-trivial decisions in difficult situations.

It is interesting! In rotan, cannibalism is widespread in the form of large fish eating smaller individuals of their own species, due to which the bait is swallowed very deeply during fishing.

In small reservoirs, rotan firebrands very quickly become numerous, therefore they are able to completely and quite easily exterminate almost all representatives of any other species of non-predatory fish. Rotans are very gluttonous and often do not know the sense of proportion in nutrition. When the fish is fully fed, it becomes almost three times thicker than its normal state. Saturated rotans quickly go to the bottom, where they can sit for up to three days, trying to completely digest food.

Reproduction of rotan

The rotan firebrands reach full sexual maturity approximately in the second or third year of life. The active spawning period starts from May to July. The average female of the only representative of the firebrand genus is capable of spawning up to one thousand eggs. At the spawning stage, males not only turn into a characteristic black color, but also acquire a kind of growth that appears in the frontal zone. On the contrary, females of Phercottus glenii are characterized during the spawning period by a light, white coloration, due to which sexually mature individuals become very clearly visible in turbid waters.

Rotan eggs are distinguished by their oblong shape and yellow coloration. Each egg has a threaded leg, due to which it is very strong and reliable fixation on the bed. Since all the eggs hang freely and are constantly washed by the water, their viability indicators are greatly increased. All eggs laid by the female are constantly guarded by the male, who is ready to defend his offspring and actively protect him from any other aquatic predators. However, if rotans can quite successfully defend themselves against the encroachments of the upper or ruff, then such an aquatic predator has unequal chances with a perch and very often loses.

After rotan larvae begin to hatch en masse from the eggs, quite often the offspring is swallowed by the male himself - this is a kind of struggle of individuals of different ages for survival. The firebrands are able to live even in lightly salted water, but the spawning process can be carried out exclusively in fresh water. It is very interesting to observe life, as well as the reproduction and habits of rotan in aquarium conditions. In captivity, the habits of a typical predator appear, which hides among the vegetation and attacks its prey with lightning speed.

Important! The optimal conditions for active reproduction of the only representative of the firebrand genus are the presence of temperature regime water within 15-20°C.

It is called a toad, a firebrand, a live-eater, an Amur goby and a grass. In fact, we are talking about a fish from the golovyoshkovy family called rotan. What kind of fish it is, where it is found and how it looks, whether it can be eaten and what cooking recipes exist - all this is really very interesting.

The firebrand-rotan is the only representative of ray-finned fish of the firebrand genus. It is believed that initially this fish was found in the Amur River basin on Far East. It is well known to the fishermen of North Korea and China. Today it can be caught in such rivers as:

• Volga;
• Danube;
• Irtysh;
• Dnieper;
• Ural;
• Dniester and others.

The grass or firebrand feels great in shallow ponds and lakes with stagnant water, where other predatory fish do not survive. It spreads during periods of high water, along with birds and with the help of humans.

In large reservoirs, this predator has enemies. Mainly salmon breeds. In conditions natural selection its numbers are small, and the largest rotan rarely reaches a weight of more than 200 grams. Especially a lot of fry are eaten by perch - they simply do not have time to grow.

Some people think that rotan is weed fish. Not at all. This small fish is an active and ferocious predator. Getting into the ponds of fish farms, she causes great harm, eating fry of especially valuable species, and her presence in the pool the purest lake Baikal is considered a real biological pollution.

Description and habits

Rotan has a short and dense body. The scales are dull, medium in size. Its color is changeable - from gray-green to dirty brown tones. Small irregularly shaped spots and stripes are clearly visible, the abdomen is grayish. When the mating season begins, the scales become black.

The head of the fish is large, the mouth is large, and, like many predatory fish, it is studded with sharp teeth. They are small and arranged in several rows, like a piranha. There is a gill spine, like perciformes, but it is soft. The fins do not have spikes. There are two of them on the back - one is longer than the other. The largest - pectoral fins, they are soft, rounded. The tail also has a rounded shape. The appearance of rotan resembles gobies, which is why it is called the Amur goby.

At good conditions habitat, the largest rotan reaches a length of 25 cm. If the conditions are less suitable, then growth does not exceed 14-20 cm. There are also record holders whose maximum weight is 500 grams.

Sexual maturity occurs at about two years of age. For spawning, the firebrand leaves in May-July. Each female lays about a thousand eggs. She clings to plants and various objects that have fallen into the water. This is where her mission ends, the clutch is vigilantly guarded by the male.

A good survival rate of rotan was noted. It tolerates partial drying up of reservoirs, water pollution and freezing to the very bottom.

The menu of this predator includes:

Sometimes he does not disdain carrion. Cannibalism is widespread among golovyoshkovyh. They are happy to eat their own caviar and fry.

In a small reservoir, where there are no other, no less ferocious, predators, rotan fish can a short time destroy all other species, therefore it is considered dangerous. AT major rivers and lakes its numbers are controlled by pike, minnow, catfish and perch.

Amateur fishermen are only interested in large specimens. The firebrand has almost no small bones, it is edible and quite tasty. No special gear is needed when catching rotan. Any rod will do. The bait is practically irrelevant. The fish bites on a worm, pieces of meat or bacon, on bread, bloodworms, mormyshka and baubles. The bait is swallowed greedily and deeply. The main difficulty is take the hook out of the mouth.

Small rotan itself is used as bait when catching more large predators such as walleye, catfish, pike and perch. Its survivability allows you to repeatedly cast such a bait. “In reserve” the firebrand is kept at home in an ordinary bucket or jar.

Dense and at the same time tender white-pink rotan meat is a real delicacy. You can cook a wide variety of dishes from it - from the most ordinary frying and smoking to gourmet fish with bage sauce.

The fish is cleaned as usual - the insides are taken out, if desired, the fins and gills are removed. Many do not spend time on the gills, but simply throw the head away while eating.

The flour is mixed with salt and pepper, you can add any spices to taste. Each fish is rolled in salted flour and fried for strong fire until golden brown.

Crushed garlic, a little salt and water are added to sour cream. The finished fish is poured with this mixture and put on fire. Cover the pan with a lid. After boiling, keep on fire for 1-2 minutes. Served hot and cold.

Such an ear can be cooked from rotan and perch. It is cooked both on the fire and on the stove.. If a lot of small fish fell into the bait, but you don’t want to mess with it, then you can cook a rich soup with a minimum of effort.

Fish for broth is not cleaned of scales. It is thoroughly washed, the gills and entrails are taken out. A portion of the fish is tied in gauze and dipped in boiling water. As soon as the eyes of the firebrand turn white, it is taken out and a new portion is laid. There may be several such "bookmarks".

Potatoes and spices are added to the finished broth: roots, peppers, seasonings. When the potatoes are cooked, several completely peeled large fish, greens and crushed garlic are lowered. After a couple of minutes, the ear is ready. When cooled, it acquires a jelly-like consistency. Especially tasty on the fire!

The small head is washed and cleaned. Heads and large bones are removed, and everything else is twisted into minced meat with the addition of onions, a piece of fresh lard, garlic, salt and ground black pepper. Separately, a piece of bread or a loaf is soaked in milk. Thoroughly knead the minced meat, adding softened bread and an egg to it. He must stand a little. If excess liquid appears, it is drained.

Cutlets are formed, rolled in breadcrumbs or flour and fried in vegetable oil until golden brown. Served with any side dish.

There are many dishes that can be prepared from rotan. The fish is really delicious. The main thing is that it should be in sufficient quantity. To paraphrase famous saying- what is death for the fry, then the fisherman is joy ...

I managed to catch a 120 kg carp with a bait

Of course, avid fishermen will simply pass this news by. But this is in vain. After all, what do we even know about carps, except for their amazing taste?

Many fishermen strive for years to catch the catch of their lives, for others it is a sport. But no one has yet been able to catch the largest carp weighing 120 kg with a bait.

But in the fish center on Bungsanlam Lake, a 40-minute drive from Bangkok, such specimens are really found. And one local fisherman managed to catch an individual almost two meters long and weighing 120 kilograms.

The age of this barbel is approximately 10-12 years old, they are already old and very fat. For such a relatively poor country that lives from fishing, a catch of this level is the goal of a lifetime. He caught a carp on an ordinary line with a special tackle. It is clear that we had to fight for a long time, because carps of this size are very strong and treacherous.

Here, simple luck and muscle strength can do nothing. The main rule to remember in the fight against such living creatures is not to give her a moment's rest. Constant jerks weaken the fish, it is forced to lose a lot of strength precisely on such chaotic movements. The next step is to bring the fish as close to the shore as possible.

As long as the fish is strong, this is difficult to do. Everything, after a couple of hours of struggle, they managed to bring the carp to the shore and catch it in a snare. After measurements, it turned out that this is the largest freshwater fish that could be caught on a bait.

Is this the only case of a huge carp being caught?

Although, the carp caught in Bangkok is not yet the champion among fish of this family. In the Belgian Lake Ostend in 1937, a river monster raged for six months, which terrified local residents and tourists. Only when it was possible to catch this beast, the amazing truth was revealed.

It turned out that the river "monster" is a carp of the barbel family.

The age of our hero has already exceeded 30 years, so it is not surprising that he surrendered almost without a fight. The fish was sick and was able to live for about five more years in a special pool.

Interested in the biggest pike? In the article you will learn about the most big fish of this kind.

In this one, they will tell you about mutant fish that are found in the Volga River.

Most of the male population of the planet spends a lot of time on the shore of water bodies in anticipation of a bite of fish. And some of them happened to catch fish of impressive size, which was then photographed and the photo, along with stories and legends, went online. But for the most part, these are just legends. But there are also official data that are listed in the Guinness Book of Records, they include the largest pike and not even one, and they will be discussed in our article.

1. In 1930, the first largest pike in Russia was recorded, and the fact of catching a pike, which weighed 35 kg, was also officially registered for the first time. The place of fishing was Lake Ilmen. Many fishermen say that these are not isolated cases, but they simply keep silent about the success because they are afraid of unnecessary noise and confiscation of the catch.
2. In the state of New York, a maskinong pike, weighing 32 kg, was caught on the St. Lawrence River, the fishermen could not pull the catch on their own, so they had to help with a boat.
3. In Sortavala, the fact of catching the largest pike weighing 49 kg was recorded, live bait was used as bait, the pike is also not small in size, to be more precise, 5 kg.
4. In Lake Uvldach, which is located in the north, a huge pike was caught, the weight of which was 56 kg.
5. There are also facts of catching a significant pike on Lake Ladoga and in Ukraine, but its weight is not very impressive, which cannot be said about its age. Official sources reported that the oldest pike in the world lived for about 33 years.
6. An interesting case is that occurred in the Netherlands, where a predator was caught there, the length of which was 120 cm, and it took only 10 minutes to pull it out. The fish was released into its native element immediately after photography and measurements.
7. And relatively recently, in 2011 in Canada, the fact of catching a pike 118 cm long was recorded, which literally a few days later was beaten by anglers on the St. Lawrence River, catching a predator 130 cm long.

The huge pike has always been and will be the subject of fables, legends and stories that anglers have been compiling for several centuries. The most notorious legend says that the largest pike in the world was caught in Germany. Its weight was 140 kg, and the length was 5.7 meters. It also mentions the record age of the fish, which was 270 years; this was based on the data obtained about the ring, which was put on the fish in 1230 by order of Emperor Frederick II.

The skeleton of this fish was in the museum of the city of Mannheim for quite a long time, pleasing the eyes of tourists and not bothering anyone. But one fine day, scientists decided to check the authenticity of the exhibit. And they proved that this is just an assembly of the bones of several dozen smaller predatory fish. So it's nothing more than a legend.

But despite stories of this kind, giant pikes exist and are constantly recorded by representatives of the Book of Records. We talked about official data above, so I think there is no point in duplicating, but still we will pay a little attention to large pikes caught in Russia.

The record pikes in Russia are considered to be predators who lived to be 20 years old and weigh from 16 kilograms. Most often, such trophies come across on Lake Ladoga. But the fishermen are constantly silent about them, motivated by the fact that the fish will be taken away, and we will not get anything.

The largest pike caught in Russia was caught and officially registered on the Ladoga lake mentioned above near the city of Sortavala, the fish weighed as much as 49 kilograms 200 grams, and was caught on live bait - a pike weighing 5 kg, which had just been caught on a wobbler and dragged to the shore.

An angler from Germany named Stefan Gockel broke the previous record while fishing in the Netherlands. He managed to catch a pike 120 centimeters long, and he fought it out quite quickly, about 10 minutes. Rybak surpassed the previous record holder by only 2 centimeters. The fish was fixed, measured and released into its native element.

In Canada, a fisherman named Mark Hutton was purposefully hunting for the trophy, and on September 26, 2011, he finally caught it. The length of the large predator was 1.18 meters, which is only 2 centimeters less than the previous catch.

These records are for the common pike, but I think many of you may be interested in its American cousin, the muskie pike. Angler Mark Carlson Rockford caught such a specimen 132 cm long and weighing about 27 kilograms. The biggest pike in the world was caught by trolling and fought for about 15 minutes. In keeping with the tradition of our American colleagues, the trophy was photographed and released.

An equally significant record was set by Michael Forgeon on the St. Lawrence River in the USA, he also caught a 130 cm long muskinong by trolling.

I would like to provide more information about record pikes in Russia, but alas, it is quite difficult to find reliable sources of information in our country. What is the same Putin's pike worth, which has become another "zadvigon" from everyone's favorite and popular media.

Big pike fishing video

Video about catching a giant pike on the Moroshka River on artificial frog, walker and jitterbug. Interesting video, in which the techniques and tactics of catching are not shown, but the bites of a large pike and its hauling are clearly visible.

Video selection of pike world records big size. In short, this is a photo of a large pike, which is designed in the style of a slide show and is accompanied by music. But many of you came to see the photos, so the thought of the video will be of interest to everyone.

If we talk briefly about the video, then this is a two-minute video, stuffed with swearing, which accompanies the playing of a pike, weighing about 15 kilograms. Why did I add his court? That's because it's interesting to watch, and our Russians caught fishermen, so it's much more interesting than foreign videos.

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Rotan fish is better known to the inhabitants of the Far East, which is its homeland and where it was brought from. In Russia, or rather, in its European part, this species appeared relatively recently - at the beginning of the twentieth century. There is a version that rotan was delivered to Petrograd as aquarium fish. He is unpretentious to food and very tenacious, and watching his behavior in the aquarium was very entertaining. After some time, rotans were released into a local reservoir, after which they spread throughout the territory of Eastern Europe, including Ukraine and Belarus, where a huge number of this predator can be found. Before this species fish lived in lakes, swamps and rivers of the Amur basin and was not found anywhere else in the world. It is believed that rotan is a weedy fish and the increase in its population in new territories dealt a strong blow to the number of other, more useful and valuable species representatives of the ichthyofauna.

Biological characteristics of the species

Rotan belongs to the perch-like order of the firebrand family. In addition to its classic name, it has a number of others, such as grass, firebrand, rotan firebrand, etc.

It is customary to rank it among the gobies known to fishermen, but this is erroneous, since both species belong to completely different families. It is very easy for a beginner to confuse them, since outwardly both species are quite similar, and an inexperienced eye can make a mistake if you do not take into account a few significant differences. If you know the description of rotan, you can’t confuse it with other types of fish, since it has signs that are unique to it.

Having figured out what one and the second look looks like, a significant difference will become visible. Rotan and goby differ in color, size, shape of the head and body, size and shape of the fins. For example, in the first, the head takes on a practical third of the entire body, while in the second, this indicator is more modest. Main Feature, which allows you to accurately determine the type of fish is the number and shape of the pelvic fins. Unlike the one that looks like a sucker ventral fin, which is available in a goby, rotan has two small fins.

The size of the rotan mainly varies from 10 to 15 cm, but sometimes there are large rotan, the length of which reaches 25 cm, and weighing 500-600 g. In very rare cases, a huge rotan weighing up to a kilogram falls on the hook.

The color varies between gray-green and dirty brown. Firebrand fish can change tones depending on the characteristics of the reservoir, namely the color and pollution of water, light, bottom characteristics, etc. During the mating season, males darken, females remain lighter in color.

Sexual maturity occurs at the age of two years. The total lifespan averages about 5 years, but some individuals live up to 7–8 years.

There are opponents to this opinion. In some cases, with the help of this species, on the contrary, it is possible to correctly balance the number of individuals of valuable breeds relative to the volume of their food. For example, if the number of carp in the reservoir exceeds allowable indicator there won't be enough food for them all. In such cases, the maximum weight that crucian carp can grow to will be very small. Rotans, eating fry, destroy unnecessary food contenders, so that each individual of crucian carp feeds fully, and as a result, it grows up to large sizes. Therefore, there are also reservoirs where rotan is allowed to be found.

Rotan nutrition

If you learn everything about rotans, then we can conclude that this is not a weed fish, but rather active predator, which can feed on almost everything that the environment has awarded it.

The fry cannot boast of a variety in the diet, the food for them is zooplankton, but what the adult rotan eats is much more interesting. In the process of development, it begins to feed on caviar, fry and medium-sized fish species, leeches, newts, and amphibian larvae. He also does not disdain his fellows, and a relatively large rotan can attack a representative of its own species, which does not differ much from it in size.

Rotan reproduces very quickly and if its population is not kept under control, then in a very short time it can completely exterminate others. valuable breeds fish. To prevent this, other predators are launched into the reservoir, for which rotan will already be a real delicacy.

For hunting, rotans gather in flocks and jointly attack shoals of other fish species. Eating its prey one after another, the predator is quickly satiated and goes to the bottom of the reservoir, where it lives until the food eaten is digested.

Thanks to the powerful jaw and large mouth, rotan easily swallows prey, which is not much smaller in size. Gradual swallowing does not interfere with his breathing in any way.

Despite the presence of many floating prey species, rotans feed on insects from the surface of the water and extract various larvae from the muddy bottom of the reservoir.

Behavior at different times of the year

In the period from May to June, rotan spawns, and one female produces huge offspring - up to one thousand eggs. It is constantly protected from other fish by males. Of course, it is possible to protect caviar only from those predators that rotan can defeat. But, for example, with a perch, which may appear near the offspring, he should not even try to fight.

They catch rotan throughout all seasons of the year. He is gluttonous and bites perfectly in any weather. Even in winter, experienced fishermen can catch good volumes of this fish in the first ice.

The behavior of a predator in winter is not the same as in other species, which are especially cold period flock in flocks and look for warmer areas. Rotans do not do this and prefer to hunt and feed alone.

The only thing that can make them form packs is very coldy at which the reservoir freezes completely. At this time, the predator feels a lack of oxygen and a decrease in temperature, which makes it huddle in groups for the sake of survival.

Even if the water column freezes completely, and the reservoir turns into one continuous ice floe, unfrozen areas remain around flocks of rotans. This is due to the fact that riba releases substances that do not allow the water temperature to drop to an indicator that is less than necessary for normal life. Before the onset of heat, the predator is in suspended animation, and when the temperature rises, it comes to life again and can appear in its usual places.

There are no more tenacious fish in local reservoirs. Even crucian carp, which can live in very limited and extreme conditions, cannot be compared with rotan.

Ways to catch rotan

You can catch this fish day and night, there will always be bites. The only difference is that in dark time day catch may be slightly less. Her bites will seem phlegmatic to many, but you should not hesitate here, and when the first signs appear, you need to cut. If you miss the moment, the rotan can swallow the bait so deeply that it will not work to pull it out with your hands.

Excellent results are obtained by a light rod equipped with a nod or a float and a mormyshka. The thickness of the fishing line is not of fundamental importance, since rotans usually do not pay attention to this. To protect yourself from losing tackle, it is better to equip the fishing rod with a fishing line with a diameter of 0.15 mm to 0.2 mm.

Spinning for micro jig also allows you to catch a lot of fish if it is interested in the bait. Tackle should be thrown a little further than the intended location of the predator, and then perform wave-like wiring. Usually a bite follows after the second or third cast. Rubber baits should be used flavored. Their rotan takes more willingly.

Many practice fishing using spinning using the drop-shot method. In this version, a sinker clings to the end of the fishing line, and closer, at a distance of about 50 cm, there is a hook with a bait.

Winter fishing is carried out using ordinary winter fishing rods equipped with a nod or a float.

Lures for rotan

Since this species of fish is predatory, then it takes better baits of animal origin. For catching rotan firebrands, dung worms, maggots, pieces of mollusks, ribbons of lard and animal meat are used.

Fish of other species, or rather, its meat, are effectively used for catching rotan. The predator does not disdain the meat of its fellows. Many experienced anglers note that the largest specimen was caught by them on a bloodworm. If other animal baits allow you to regularly catch fish of 200-300 grams, then the bloodworm often brings a record 500-gram catch.

Lures of plant origin attract the predator less, especially if he has a choice between a piece of meat and corn, then the predator living in the reservoir will most likely not take the latter.

Moving jigs and wobblers also give good results when catching. Thanks to this, spinningists can always boast of a good catch.

Calories, kcal:

Proteins, g:

Carbohydrates, g:

Rotan fish, which has the second name rotan firebrand, is predatory fish and belongs to the family Goloveshkov. This fish is known for its voracity and special ability to disguise itself as a color. environment(calorizer). Consequently, the color of the fish primarily depends on the tone of the water and the bottom and can be slightly green or almost black, as well as brown, gray and even yellow. Rotan is small fish, the maximum body length reaches 25 centimeters, with a weight of about 500 grams.

Initially, rotan lived in the Amur River, in the Russian Far East, in the northern part of North Korea and northeastern China. In the 20th century, fish appeared in the Baikal basin, and it was also released into the reservoirs of St. Petersburg, which led to the spread of rotan in most regions of Europe and Russia.

There are three main types of rotan fish, but only one is found on the territory of Russia - a firebrand, which has big head and dark color body. Few people know about such fish as rotan, so the fish caught by the fisherman in the next region receives a new, newly invented “name”. On the this moment the following types of rotan are known: goby, wrasse, grass, blacksmith, firebrand, live-eater, gourlach, round timber and others.

Calorie content of rotan

The calorie content of rotan is low, it is only 88 kcal per 100 grams of product.

The composition and useful properties of rotan

Rotan, like any other fish, is recommended for diet food, as it is easily digested and absorbed by the human body. Fish meat is rich in low-calorie and easily digestible proteins, vitamins, which have a positive effect on the immune system and human health. The meat of rotan also contains the following valuable trace elements.

Hello dear readers! Today I will share with you information about a fish called Rotan. But first, I will tell you about myself and the area where I live. All this is connected with this fish.

I live in the Altai Territory, Zonal District, the village of Bulanikha. Our lake is also called Bulanikha. Behind our garden near the house there are many small lakes, which all then adjoin the main one. I love fishing very much. In the summer, with the boys and my brother behind the garden, on the lakes, we disappeared for days on end.

Rotan fish. Description

Far Eastern fishermen learned about interesting fish, which was immediately given a local “nickname” - the Amur goby. This fish is of sincere interest, if only because it loves to eat its own kind and is generally a predator, despite its small size.

Later, it appeared in many reservoirs throughout Russia, and now the population of this species is growing rapidly. But is there any benefit to this process? And in general, what does this waterfowl look like and what is so remarkable about it for anglers?

What kind of fish is Rotan and its homeland

The first fish were observed by the Chinese, Koreans and Russians living in the Far East. She preferred to swim in cold rivers and reservoirs, so she mostly appeared in the northeastern regions. In appearance fish can be noted several main features by which it can be recognized:

• Small size: 25 cm is just a record for the length of Rotana, and even then, this is rare. More often you can observe individuals with a size of 10-14 cm.
• She bites. It cannot be compared with a chain dog, and it does not pull on a piranha, but it has a number of small and sharp teeth (with which it likes to absorb its own kind, but more on that later).
• The fish has a "dirty" color that varies from brown to gray-green.

Once again, it doesn’t make much sense to go into the details of the structure of the gills and the length of the scales, almost every angler has caught such a beauty at least once, just not everyone knows her name. So now be aware if such a fish falls on your hook - this is Rotan.

Here in this part you can learn more about the negative and positive, as well as a little strange qualities of this fish.

Let's start with the cons:

Rotan is practically a mass exterminator, a completely “asocial” fish. Hannibal Lector would love to have these fish in his aquarium, because they love to feast on smaller individuals of their kind.

And not only his own. In reservoirs where the Amur goby appears, the rest of the fish often disappears without a trace. Without any pity, these fish eat valuable fry breeds of their own kind. The “gobies” themselves, in turn, become a snack for perches, catfish and pikes.

Still, it's more of a weed look. But the question on this topic is still controversial.

Due to the lack of compassion for small fish in Rotan, only large individuals remain in the reservoirs where they live. So with the advent of this species, fishermen can boast of a more successful catch.

Interestingly, the fish is completely unpretentious and can live even in very polluted water. Moreover, Rotan fish can literally resurrect - that is, come to life even after a frozen state. So this perch-like no cold water not terrible.

Facts from Wikipedia

If you want to catch Rotana in the summer? Then dig earthworm! This is the best bait for hunting this fish. And in winter, we are now catching on the lungs and liver of any animal. The bite is great too.

The Hannibal fish lives no more than seven years, but reproduces quickly enough. Stepping over the threshold of two years of age, she lays up to a thousand eggs.

Adult individuals also like to feast on the cubs of other waterfowl, that is, eggs. Basically, living with Rotan in the same reservoir, leeches, fry and tadpoles risk their “children”.

This fish has spread to all the cold corners of Russia since it was released into the reservoir of St. Petersburg. This happened in 1916 and now it can be found in almost all major river basins.

The fact that the fish got into Lake Baikal in the 20th century is considered by most scientists to be pollution.

As a result, we can say that Rotan is far from the most useful fish population. Despite the fact that where they live, the number of small species is markedly reduced (or completely absent), useful fry often suffer. And without them, the number big fish also starts to decrease. In reservoirs where only the Amur goby lives, in fact there is nothing to catch - the fish itself is not special nutritional value and tastes most like an ordinary perch.

look next video how we catch Rotana fish in winter. Of course, the video is taken from the Internet, but we catch Rotan exactly as shown in this video:

Next time we will talk about where and how to catch Rotan in winter and what is needed for this.

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