Perch fish families with examples. Commercial fish of the perch family. Perch - description, characteristics and photographs

Pike-perch (Stizostedion lueioperea)

The distribution area of ​​pike perch covers the basins of the Baltic, Black, Azov and Caspian seas, and this species prefers reservoirs with hard soil and water that is slightly turbid in summer. In addition, pike perch is also found in large clean lakes, the waters of which are saturated with oxygen all year round - in Ladoga, Onega, Chudskoye, Ilmen and many others. Currently, pike perch is found in many fresh water bodies not only as a native inhabitant, but also as an acclimatized species. A significant role in the widespread distribution of pike perch was played by artificial breeding with the subsequent release of juvenile fish into natural reservoirs.

Pike perch is the largest representative of the perch family. It often reaches a weight of 8–10 kg, and sometimes up to 20 kg. The average body length is 40–70 cm, but there are also giants up to 130 cm long (such individuals were caught at the mouths of the Don and Kuban).

The pike perch's body is laterally compressed and elongated, like a pike's, which is why it is sometimes called a pike perch. The head appears pointed due to the long, elongated snout with a wide terminal mouth. Two types of teeth are clearly distinguishable in the jaw: large and strong fang-shaped teeth and small ones resembling bristles. The scales are quite small, partially or completely absent on the cheeks (gill covers). The eyes of pike perch are violet-bluish and slightly convex. The back color of fish of this species is dark, greenish-gray, the sides are lighter shades of green, and the belly is whitish. Young fish have large brownish-gray spots on their sides, forming 8 to 10 regular transverse stripes; with age, these spots gradually fade and are almost invisible in adults. The dorsal and caudal fins of pike perch are covered with rows of dark dots. There are two dorsal fins, they are almost equal in length and contain soft and spiny rays.

According to their lifestyle, there are two forms of pike perch: semi-anadromous and residential. The first form can live in both fresh and brackish water of river deltas and is found in the Azov, Black and Caspian seas. To spawn, semi-anadromous fish rise upstream of the rivers flowing into these seas. Semi-migratory pike perch in the south usually rises into rivers in March-April. Females lay eggs in April - early May at an air temperature of 20 - 25 ° C, and the water temperature is about 9 ° C. After reproduction, the spawned fish roll back into the sea or into river mouths. The spring migration of semi-anadromous pike perch in the northern regions is observed later than in the south - in May-June.

The second form of pike perch - residential pike perch - inhabits large and medium-sized rivers and lakes with clean water and a non-silted light sandy or pebble bottom. Here he chooses to live in deep areas littered with snags and lives in such places all year round. Fish avoid places with heavily overgrown vegetation, preferring unovergrown areas. Pike perch also cannot tolerate living in bodies of water with polluted water. At the first signs of deterioration in water quality, fish immediately go to the upper tributaries or slide downstream. In summer, pike perch often choose as habitat areas with a sharp difference in depth (for example, whirlpools or holes adjacent to sandy or rocky shallows). Residential pike perch, unlike semi-anadromous forms, does not make long-distance spawning movements.

Pike perch is active mainly during the day, and with the onset of darkness its activity decreases somewhat, however, it continues to hunt at night.

Pike perch becomes sexually mature at the age of 5 - 7 years with a length of about 40 cm. Spawning takes place around the end of May - June, and sometimes at the beginning of July on shallow, well-warmed sandbanks and rocky ridges, less often at depths. Nesting spawning: the female pike perch lays sticky eggs on plant rhizomes located deep under water, and the male, after fertilization, guards the eggs and hatched fry. The number of eggs is 150 - 200 thousand (up to 500 thousand), their sizes are about 1 - 1.5 mm.

Once born, pike perch fry first feed on zooplankton, but after a few weeks, when they reach a length of 2–3 cm, they begin to become predatory - they eat the smaller offspring of other fish. If at this moment there is no suitable food nearby, pike perch fry begin to die in large numbers from hunger, therefore, despite the great fertility of this species, the population of pike perch in all reservoirs is almost never large.

Pike perch live in small schools, and only large individuals lead a solitary lifestyle. At the end of August - September, pike perch, having left their summer camps, go to winter in the deepest parts of the lake or river, while even large single individuals can form large aggregations.

Pike perch feed most intensively after spawning and during the autumn run, less actively in the middle of winter, as well as during the pre-spawning and spawning periods. It obtains food mainly near the bottom, although sometimes in pursuit of prey it can rise to the surface of the reservoir. It feeds mainly on small fish. In northern lakes, fish such as vendace, bleak and ruff become food for pike perch; in the lakes of the middle zone - bleak, verkhovka, roach, and in the rivers - gudgeon, bleak, dace, in the seas - goby, anchovy, sprat. Pike perch can also catch other fish: small perch, silver bream, crucian carp, gudgeon. In rare cases, the diet can be expanded to include frogs and crayfish.

In the first half of May, pike perch are indiscriminate and greedily peck at any live bait, including willingly grabbing any artificial bait. By mid-June, the intensity of the pike perch bite decreases, and later it becomes very rare. In July - early August, when the water blooms, pike perch stops feeding altogether and is practically not caught. Then, from the second half of August, the bite intensity increases again and reaches its maximum by the first frost. At the same time, the fish stays away from the shores in deep places, where they are caught at this time. Pike perch are caught relatively well on the first ice, but after the appearance of a continuous ice cover, when oxygen conditions in the reservoir deteriorate greatly, schools of pike perch lie in bottom holes and completely stop feeding. The bite resumes towards the end of winter, and pike perch are successfully caught before the ice melts.

The choice of bait for catching this type of fish is determined by the fact that pike perch is an active predator, so it is usually caught either with live bait or with artificial bait that imitates live fish, with a spinning rod and vertical trolling tackle. Deep holes are usually fished with a vertically hanging spoon, “playing” with it in the lower and middle layers of water. Occasionally, a dead fish or earthworm, but all of these baits are not as effective as live bait. Live bait is chosen taking into account the usual food of pike perch in a given body of water.

You can fish either from an anchored boat or from a moving one, and the bait should not be far from the bottom. It is advisable to periodically raise it slightly and then lower it. Fishing from a moving boat is only possible in deep places (at a depth of 3 m or more). Best time for fishing - early morning, an evening bite is also possible, but it does not last long.

Pike perch can be easily distinguished by the peculiar manner of grasping the bait: first the fish grabs it across and immediately goes with it to the side. Then he releases it from his mouth for a moment, turns it over and begins to quickly swallow it from the other side. All these movements can be noted from the float: first, the float quickly moves to the side, slightly sinking, and then, jumping out of the water, it freezes for a moment and then goes under the water again. A lot of endurance is required to hold on and not pull the line ahead of time.

As soon as the float begins to move along the surface of the water, which means the fish has grabbed the bait, you must immediately release the tension of the fishing line. This is necessary so that the fish can easily take all the bait.

You need to release the line until the float rushes under the water.

Hooking should be done quickly, but not in a wide sweep. Having grabbed the hook, the pike perch will try to escape in stones or snags; the angler must make every effort to prevent this.

A hooked pike perch moves strongly on the fishing rod, but does not rush from side to side or jump out of the water, and it gets tired much faster than other predatory fish.

When the fish gets tired of fighting, you can begin to pull it out using a net or hook. In this case, you need to be vigilant: at the last moment, the pike perch can rush and break the tackle.

From under the ice, pike perch are caught in wintering pits. Its most active bite is observed on the first (November-December) and last (March-April) ice. In winter they fish with jigs and spoons in a plumb line. When fishing vertically both in winter and summer, along with narrow lures, so-called rocker arms are used, and tassels of bloodworms or a bunch of red hairs imitating bloodworms are attached to the hooks.

Pike perch are often caught using vertical lures: in winter from under the ice, and in summer from boats and bridges. The rod for this fishing method should be more rigid than for trolling perch; in this case, it is more convenient to make a good hook. The reel should allow you to quickly change the depth of the bait, which is especially necessary when trolling pike perch in the summer. The fishing line you need to choose is nylon, inconspicuous, with a diameter of 0.3 - 0.4 mm. The spoon is preferably white (silver or tinned) with a length of 70 - 80 mm; it is better if the hook is not single, but with a small tee. The fishing line is usually released so that the spoon does not reach the bottom by about 10 - 15 cm, and then, smoothly raising it by 20 - 30 cm, it is quickly lowered to the previous depth with a pause of 3 - 5 s.

Pike perch can also be caught using a large jig equipped with a single hook No. 12 - 16. A white jig with flat edges is considered more catchy, as it is very noticeable. The weight of the jig is about 30 g, and in the current - 50 g. You must place a piece of fish on the hook of the jig, or better yet a whole small fish. It is pierced with a hook in the middle and the head is tied to the jig with thread. With this method of fishing, the jig is either held at the very bottom, shaking slightly, or slowly lowered and raised, periodically laying it on the bottom. To quickly find pike perch anchorages, it is best to lure and fish with a jig from a slowly sailing boat.

Other methods of catching pike perch are using a spinning rod and a line. In shallow flat reservoirs with the same depth over a large length of the channel, fishing with an ordinary track is preferable. The deep-water track is used in large and deep bodies of water.

In small pools and near riffles it is good to fish with a spinning rod. Catching pike perch with a spinning rod is complicated by the difficulty of finding its anchorage sites; sand spits at channel turns and the lower (downstream) ends of islands where fast river flows converge are usually used for this purpose. In this case, we can recommend the following strategy: throw the bait into the hole behind the sandbank, wait until it sinks to the bottom, and then with a sharp jerk of the rod, lift it up and slowly rotate the reel handle. Then you can imitate a fish struggling with the current: slowly move the bait all the way to the crest of the shallows so that it “scratches” the bottom.

When choosing bait for spinning fishing, it is necessary to take into account the characteristics of the reservoir. In most rivers and lakes, sluggish spinners with clearly visible vibrations and revolutions are preferable for catching pike perch. For this, baits such as “Success”, “Kola”, “Pig”, “Baikal” are best suited - silver or tinned, and in good lighting, brass ones are also possible. The thickness of the spinners varies from 0.8 to 2 mm depending on the speed and direction of the flow in relation to the wiring and the depth of the bait. More often, spinners with a length of 60 – 80 mm are used. The speed of the bait also plays a significant role in the success of fishing. Pike-perch prefers bait that moves slowly or with average speed. The speed at which the bait is carried can be changed by choosing a sinker of greater or, conversely, less weight.

The best time for catching pike perch with a spinning rod is June - August; in spring and autumn this method is not so preferable. Pike perch is caught with a spinning rod with a medium-hard rod and any equipment, with an inertial or inertial-free reel and a fishing line with a diameter of 0.4 - 0.5 mm. Narrow oscillating spoons are used as bait: light ones in the early morning and evening, and dark ones during the day (brass or enameled with dark streaks).

Fishing for even large pike perch is not particularly difficult. A hooked pike perch hangs firmly on the line like a weight, only occasionally pulling the line with jerks. But, once on the shore or in a boat, the fish may show belated concern and try to escape.

Live bait must be attached to a tackle consisting of 2 single hooks that correspond to the size of the live bait. More often they use hooks with a shortened shank and a bent, extended tip No. 9 - 12.

Fishing for pike perch in circles can be practiced in large stagnant (lakes) or low-flow (reservoirs) reservoirs. To study the reservoir, it is better to launch mugs on the first swims at large intervals. Having discovered the sites of pike perch, they carefully measure the depth in this area and begin to launch circles more often, making sure that they swim along the boundary of the depths or along a deep furrow among the shallows. In this case, the wrong direction of the wind can make fishing difficult: then it is better to install the mugs in the right place at the anchor. Much attention should be paid to correctly adjusting the depth of release of live bait: it should be as close to the bottom as possible, but not touch it.

In deep holes and lakes and in deep river and quiet pools, pike perch is caught vertically, using a short rod (no more than 1 m), preferably with a reel. A spindle-shaped sinker with a diameter of 0.35 - 0.5 mm is attached to the end of the main line. A leash with a length of 60–80 cm and a diameter of 0.3–0.35 mm is attached through a carbine to the eye of the sinker. The leash is equipped with one or two hooks No. 8 – 12. When using two hooks, the upper one is smaller than the lower one. The live bait is hooked with the upper hook on the lip, and with the lower hook on the tail.

Perch (Perca fluviatilis)

Perch is widespread in flowing and standing waters of Europe, but is absent from Scotland, northern Norway, the Iberian Peninsula, southern and central Italy and the western Balkan Peninsula.

Perch is not a large fish, and in most reservoirs its usual length is 15–20 cm (maximum up to 51 cm) with a weight of 80–150 g (sometimes up to 1.5–2 kg). In reservoirs, larger specimens are found, weighing 500–700 g or more. It is believed that there are two breeds of perch in our reservoirs: common perch and dwarf perch, the latter does not reach a weight of more than 250 g in its entire life. Dwarf perch is called sailor fish for its striped color; it is also an object of fishing.

The body of the perch is laterally flattened and short; in adults it appears humpbacked, for which this fish received its nickname “humpback”. The body of the perch is covered with small ctenoid (with teeth along the free edge) scales without mucus, firmly embedded in the skin. The large mouth is armed with many small and rather sharp teeth of the same structure. The perch's eyes are orange with violet pupils. There are two dorsal fins: the back one is small, soft, yellow-green in color, and the front one is hard and consists of long and sharp spines, connected by a pale bluish membrane with a large black spot at the end. The ventral, anal and caudal fins are colored bright, blood red. The pectoral fins are pale orange or yellowish. The gill covers of this fish have an interesting feature: they are not rounded at the back, like many fish, but end with 1 or 2 sharp spines, which can prick an inexperienced fisherman if they mishandle a freshly caught fish.

The back of an adult fish is dark green, and the belly is yellowish-white. The sides are usually greenish with a yellowish tint, with 5 to 9 dark stripes running across them, located across the body. This coloration is good for camouflage in thickets of aquatic vegetation and helps perch to hunt from ambush, as well as to hide from enemies.

The color of the perch is not constant, it can vary greatly depending on the conditions of the habitat; light conditions and water transparency are decisive here. If the water is clear and the bottom is light, for example sandy or clayey, then the color tones of the fish will be light. In this case, the stripes on the sides may become invisible, and the spot on the dorsal fin may completely disappear. In reservoirs with poor lighting and a dark muddy bottom, for example in peat lakes, fish with dark scales and a brightly colored belly predominate.

Perch is a sedentary fish; it does not make spawning migrations. Old individuals lead a predominantly solitary lifestyle, while young fish can often form schools. During open water season favorite places The habitats of small and medium-sized perches are backwaters overgrown with sedge, reeds, cattails and other semi-aquatic vegetation. Large perches prefer deep pools and holes and come out from there to feed only in the mornings and evenings.

Perch is very demanding on the purity of water and its oxygen saturation. When death occurs, this fish does not leave the zone with a low oxygen content, but sinks to the bottom, where it usually dies. At the same time, perch, unlike many fish, is insensitive to high acidity of water, so it can live, for example, in peaty lakes.

Perch is an active predator; it readily feeds on bleak, silver bream, gobies, roach, verkhovka, spined loach, and also eats smaller perches. Although perch is a predatory fish, the diet of young individuals is dominated by insect larvae, small crustaceans, worms, and fish eggs. Adults feed mainly on fish, but may also eat worms, molting crayfish, mollusks and other animals. Intensive feeding of perch occurs from mid-spring to mid-summer and in autumn until cold weather, and in the hot season it occurs less intensely.

Perches often hunt collectively: having discovered a school of small fish, the perches actively pursue it. Sometimes, carried away by the pursuit of prey, fish jump out into shallow water and even onto the shore.

Perch reaches sexual maturity in the 2nd – 3rd year of life. Before breeding, perches unite in schools consisting of individuals of different sizes and ages.

Spawning is nesting, it occurs at a water temperature of 7 - 8 ° C, usually in late April - early May. Long sticky ribbons of eggs are laid by females in shallow areas of the reservoir on underwater vegetation, snags, tree roots or on the stems of flooded bushes. Large perches lay their eggs at depth. After spawning, perches gather in small schools and find a suitable habitat, while avoiding areas with fast currents. In stagnant (lakes, ponds) or weakly flowing (reservoirs) reservoirs, fish stop in deep-growing reeds, sedges or thickets of water lilies, and in rivers they choose backwaters overgrown with grass and at the same time try to stay behind stones and snags in a weak current. For wintering, perches go to deep places, maintaining a school during this period.

You can catch perch all year round with short breaks during high water and the spawning period. Since perch is an exclusively daytime fish, it makes sense to catch it only during daylight hours, or better yet, in the early morning. The evening bite can also sometimes be quite intense, but in any case it is short-lived and lasts from approximately 19.00 to 21.00. Night fishing for perch is absolutely ineffective, but there are exceptions: in late May - early June in the northern regions, perch is active all night.

It is best to catch perch in calm, quiet and mild weather with low-lying fog. In sunny and clear weather, the perch bite is usually less intense.

During the open water season (summer), the most suitable tackle for perch fishing is a float rod. It is used to fish from the shore, piers, rafts, dams and boats; it is better to fish with 2-3 fishing rods.

When fishing for perch it is very important right choice bait: even a well-proven bait can be ineffective if you do not take into account the place and time of fishing. Mainly earthworms and bloodworms are used as bait for winter, spring and summer fishing, and in the fall it is better to fish with fry. Mostly they fish from the bottom, but the bait is occasionally raised. It happens that in the middle of summer there is a sharp weakening of the bite on the worm; in this case, you can use live bait as bait, for example, spined lance, goby, gudgeon, verkhovka and fry of other fish.

For large perches, a small dead fish will be an excellent bait; you just need to “revive” it from time to time by carefully tugging the rig with a fishing rod. Particularly preferable is a small-sized perch, which will immediately attract the attention of hungry relatives.

Earthworms are considered a classic bait for perch. When baiting a worm, you need to pay attention to piercing it no more than 1 - 2 times in order to keep the bait alive longer. There is one trick here: lightly pinch one end of the worm, and the perch will find it much faster by the smell that quickly spreads in the water. Crawlers are an excellent bait for large perches, and in winter small dung worms are simply irreplaceable. The latter remain alive for a long time, and therefore mobile in cold water, and in addition, they emit an intense odor that attracts perches.

When the temperature drops in the winter season or, conversely, sharply increases in the middle of summer, when perches practically stop feeding and stand at depth in a half-asleep state, fishing with small bait will be most effective. You can use maggots as it. Maggots are usually caught with a float rod, but bottom fishing with a feeder is also possible. Feeders for maggots have the following structure: the holes are located in a circle, and they are tightly closed at the top and bottom, this avoids the rapid emptying of the feeder. After the feeder is immersed, it is lifted above the bottom with smooth movements at short intervals. At the same time, a trail of maggots crawling out of the feeder remains at the bottom, and among them lies a bait with a hook.

Prawns and crabs, which attract fish with their intense smell, can serve as good bait for perches. Frozen shrimp, which can be bought in almost any store, are quite suitable for this purpose. This bait is used to fish in the current on a bottom or float rig.

In addition, good baits for perch fishing can be dragonfly larvae (damselflies, lute, arrows, grandfathers, grandmothers, rockers), mayflies, stoneflies and caddisflies, crayfish meat, pieces of fresh fish, fish eyes, leeches, bloodworms or jigs. In the fall, when fishing for perch in small rivers, frogs are sometimes used as bait.

Live bait is placed on a single hook No. 5 - 7, mounted on a nylon leash 0.25 - 0.3 mm thick. Moreover, if they are fishing in the current, then the bait fish is caught on both lips, and when fishing in still water, it is hooked on the back.

The perch bites energetically, so it is very important not to be late with hooking. At the same time, it is important to exercise caution when retrieving the bass, as they have weak lips and can easily fall off the hook.

In the fall (from the second half of August), when perches begin to gather in schools, they are caught with small spoons using a spinning rod, as well as tackle for sheer trolling and twitching with a fry bait. A first or second class spinning rod with a length of 1.8 - 2.5 m with a soft sensitive tip is preferable, which will allow you to better control the behavior of baits in the water and make a softer hook. For catching perch with a spinning rod, any spinning reel of an open or semi-closed type with a small spool is suitable, but high-speed spinning reels with a gear ratio of 4:1 and higher are better suited. Use a fishing line no thicker than 0.25 mm, because when catching perch with a spinning rod, light baits are chosen, and a thick fishing line will sharply reduce the casting distance. The line is wound onto the reel so that it does not reach the edge of the spool by 2-3 mm. When catching perch with a spinning rod, you need to have a landing net with you to make it easier to catch large specimens of perch.

When fishing for perch, spinners can be a very good choice. The vibrations created by the petal of the rotating spoon imitate the waves emanating from a fleeing fish, which instantly stimulates the striped predator to pursue. Such spoons are ideal for examining unfamiliar bodies of water for the presence of perches; with their help, you can very quickly determine the location of a predator. In this case, it is recommended to catch perches with small rotating spoons (no more than No. 3). A very successful choice would be rotating spoons with a striped pattern on the petal, repeating the color of a small perch.

A good bait for large perch is a wobbler, the size of the vibrating tail depends on the intensity of the bite. For sluggish, careful biting, it is better to use small vibrating tails measuring from 3 to 5 cm, and during the feeding season you can attach a vibrating tail from 10 to 13 cm long to the hook. If the perch is close to the surface, a small wobbler with an almost vertical surface will be useful. If the fish are grouped at the bottom of the reservoir, wobblers with a horizontal blade will be more catchy. The coloring of the wobbler should be selected in such a way that it matches the color of the forage fish most often found in a given reservoir. For example, silver models with a red belly repeat the color of roach, and narrow silver-green wobblers of smelt. Any set of baits must include a bait with black transverse stripes that imitates the color of a perch; it is also well suited for catching this type of fish. Perch reacts not only to the appearance of the wobbler, but also to the noise made by the bait, so models of wobblers with balls inside are especially successful when catching this predator.

Such a common bait for perch as a twister is irreplaceable due to its resemblance to a worm. It can easily be made to move at the bottom of the reservoir by slightly tugging the rod. When choosing a twister for perch fishing, pay attention to the degree of turbidity of the water in the reservoir. If the water is clear, opt for a bait of a discreet color, perhaps with sparkles. Bright colors are preferable for fishing in murky waters: bright yellow and neon green twisters are the choice here.

When fishing at depths greater than 10 m, all artificial baits, except mini-jigs, stop working. When this bait reaches the bottom, it is led above the bottom with short twitches so that it constantly hits the bottom and raises small clouds of silt. This gives the impression of a small fish running and quickly triggers the perch's hunting instinct.

It is also possible to catch perch using a bottom fishing rod if its hooks are equipped with animal rather than plant bait. At the same time, if the fish are hungry, then neither the size of the sinker, nor the thickness of the fishing line, nor the size of the hook will scare them away. But with a donkey they hunt for large perches, and use other gear for small fish. When fishing with a bottom fishing rod, choose a large bait - a crawler, small fish or a frog.

In winter, perch fishing has a peculiarity: large fish actively bite in the first 15 - 20 days after freeze-up and about 2 weeks before the ice melts; during the rest of the winter, there is little chance of catching a large perch.

Bersch (Stizostedion volgensis)

It is found in the northern regions of the Black Sea (it enters the Danube as far as Vienna), in the Azov (in the Don area) and Caspian (from the Volga to the Urals) seas. Lives in fresh water bodies, rarely in sea and desalinated water bodies. It prefers to inhabit large flowing reservoirs with warm water and hard soil, which become cloudy in the summer.

Bersch is a relatively small fish, its size is on average 25 - 30 cm, sometimes its body length reaches 35 cm. This species is similar in appearance to pike perch, but has a more slender body. The head of the bersha has a long narrow snout and a wide terminal mouth. The jaws contain small, identical, bristle-like teeth; there are no large fangs (unlike pike perch). The body is covered with small ctenoid scales, which are also located on the gill covers. In addition, there is a small spine on the gill covers, and teeth on the pre-operculum. There are two dorsal fins: one with spiny rays, and the other with spiny and soft rays. The color of the back and sides is different shades of gray: from greenish-gray to lead-gray. The abdomen is silvery-white. Young fish have 8–10 brown stripes on their sides, which fade with age and become inconspicuous. The pectoral and pelvic fins, as well as the anal fin, are gray-yellow. The caudal fin has small black spots arranged in stripes. The dorsal fins are gray, with black spots collected in stripes.

Bersh is a predator and feeds on small fish.

Sexual maturity occurs at the age of 3–4 years. Spawning begins in April-May at a water temperature of 12 – 15 °C. The eggs are sticky and are swept among stones or in thickets of vegetation.

Common ruff (Gymnocephalus cernuus)

The distribution area of ​​this species is very large. It is found in large bodies of water (rivers, bays, lakes) from England and France, from the Pyrenees Mountains and the Alps to the White Sea, the Caspian Sea and the Urals. It can be found in the basins of the Baltic, Azov, Caspian, Black Seas and the Arctic Ocean. It is not found only in Ireland, Scotland, western and northern Norway, as well as in the Far East and the Balkans.

The ruff is a small fish, its body length does not exceed 15–17 cm, and average weight– 25 – 50 g. Sometimes individuals weighing more than 100 g are found.

This fish got its name because of one behavioral feature: when in danger, the ruffe spreads its fins and gill covers, armed with prickly spines. This protective measure is very effective and forces even such a large and dangerous predator as pike to retreat.

In appearance, the ruff resembles a perch, but in its appearance it also significant differences. The body of the ruff is relatively high, the head has a blunt snout and a wide forehead. On the underside of the head there are round cavities of the sensory organs. Each gill cover has a long, sharp spine; the preoperculum also bears spines, but shorter ones. Scales are medium sized, ctenoid. The dorsal fins are spiny, the anterior one is not separated from the posterior one. The anal fin, along with the soft ones, also bears 2 spiny rays.

The color of the back and sides of the ruffe ranges from olive-gray to gray-green with unevenly scattered spots of a dark shade. The chest has a reddish tint, the abdomen is light, from whitish to light green. The eyes of the ruff are large, convex, with a purple or bluish iris.

The color of the ruffe can vary depending on the color of the bottom soil in the reservoir where it lives. In rivers and lakes with clear water and a light sandy, non-silted bottom, the ruffe is always lighter, but in reservoirs with a dark, muddy bottom, the color of its scales darkens and often becomes dark green. In ruffes that live in ponds, the body is thickly covered with mucus, and the abdomen becomes yellowish-gray in color.

The ruffe is tolerant of water pollution and is found in rivers, lakes and ponds of varying water purity. This species does not like fast currents and prefers rivers or bays where there are deep holes and calm currents. The ruffe avoids sunlight and warm water, so in summer it can rarely be found in shallow water (at a depth of less than 2 m). Sometimes, if the shore is steep and the water, eroding it, exposes worms and insect larvae, in such places, even at shallow depths, you can find ruffes.

The best time of day for catching ruffe is early morning and evening; on cloudy days, intense biting can be observed all day. In flowing ponds, the ruffe leads a crepuscular or even nocturnal lifestyle. At the same time, the fish stay near dams, piles and bridges, where it is cool and there is an abundance of food - bloodworms.

The ruffe feeds on worms, crustaceans (amphipods), insect larvae, mollusks, as well as eggs and juveniles of other fish. The ruffe is very voracious and feeds all year round.

Spawning in the middle zone occurs from March to May, and in the northern regions - at the end of May - June. The water temperature is 10 – 15 °C. In lakes, spawning occurs on sandy-clayey soil near the mouths of flowing rivers, at depth, and in rivers - in shallow water. The eggs are yellowish-white in color and size 0.5 - 1 mm. Their number depends on the size of the female and ranges from 50 to 100 thousand eggs. They are swept in the form of cords or mucous lumps onto stones, less often in thickets of aquatic and semi-aquatic vegetation. The development period ranges from 8 to 12 days. Ruff is caught all year round, except during the spawning season. In the spring, the bite begins after the water has subsided and cleared; in the summer it usually weakens, and in the fall and winter it intensifies. In winter, as the water cools, ruffes gather in schools in deep areas with weak currents, where they are caught at this time. Particularly intense ruffe biting is observed at the end of winter, and in cloudy weather it bites throughout the day, and on clear days - only in the early morning and evening.

In spring and summer, the main gear for catching ruffe is a float rod with a fishing line of 0.15 - 0.2 mm. The hook is selected based on the bait: No. 3 - 4 when fishing with bloodworms and No. 4 - 5 when fishing with an earthworm. You need a small float, 1-2 pellets No. 7 as a sinker. The ruff also bites well on a jig.

On rivers, ruffe are usually caught with dung worms using donks. If the bite is weak, you should try to slowly raise and slightly lower the nozzle. You can use pieces of a crawler or ironworm as a bait, this bait will stay on the hook more firmly. When fishing on muddy, loose soil, hooks are tied above the sinker to a leash 8–10 cm long.

In reservoirs, flowing ponds and lakes, it is preferable to catch ruffs with a jig from a boat or with a winter fishing rod. When fishing with a jig, bloodworms are used as bait, as well as the eyes of fish, such as roach or perch.

Don’t forget that the ruff itself is an excellent bait for catching pike perch, burbot, perch and pike.

Don ruff, privet, nosefish (Gymnocephalus acerina)

As habitats, this species of perch prefers rivers with strong currents in the northern regions of the Azov (Don, less often the Kuban delta) and Black (Dnieper, Dniester) seas.

This is a small fish, its body length rarely reaches 20–22 cm, but more often it is 12–18 cm.

The body of the Don ruffe is low, elongated in length. The head has a long and sharp snout, which gave this type of fish another name - “nosar”. The forehead is wide and flattened. On the underside of the head of the Don ruffe, like the common one, there are large cavities of the sensory organs. The scales are ctenoid, each gill cover is equipped with a long sharp spine, and small teeth are located along the edge of the pre-covers. The dorsal fin is not divided and bears soft and spiny rays, like the anal fin.

The color of the back and sides ranges from gray-greenish to bright olive green. Small black spots are scattered throughout the main tone. The abdomen is light, different shades of yellowish-white. The fins have no spots, with the exception of the dorsal, on the front, spiny part of which there are rows of dark brown dots.

The Don ruffe leads a bottom-dwelling lifestyle. It feeds mainly on bottom invertebrates: worms, insect larvae, crustaceans, mollusks. Rarely uses small bottom fish, caviar and fry of other fish as food.

Common chop (Zingel zingel)

Chop lives in rivers belonging to the Dniester, Prut and Danube basins. Currently, the number of these fish in some areas is under threat, so in a number of countries (for example, Bavaria, Germany) catching chop all year round is prohibited.

The body length of this fish is usually 20 - 30 cm, up to a maximum of 50 cm. The body is strong, almost cylindrical in shape. The head is triangular with a terminal mouth. The tail is long and thin. The scales are small, ctenoid. The operculum has a powerful sharp spine on the back side, and the pre-operculum is equipped with small teeth located along the rear edge. The anterior dorsal fin consists only of spiny rays, and the posterior fin consists of soft ones, with the exception of one spiny one. An interesting feature of this species is the absence of a swim bladder.

The coloring of the common chop is contrasting: against the background of the yellow-brown back and sides, 6–7 irregular, blurry dark-brown stripes located across the body stand out. The abdomen is light, whitish.

Chop lives in rivers with muddy or sandy bottoms. Leads a bottom lifestyle. Active at night, during the day it hides under snags, stones and cliffs. This fish is an active swimmer; it moves in zigzags; this gliding is facilitated by the pectoral and caudal fins, which are quite powerful.

It feeds on small bottom invertebrates, eggs and fish fry.

Spawning occurs from March to May on pebble shallows with strong currents. The eggs measure about 1.4 – 1.5 mm and are spawned by the female in an amount of about 5 thousand.

Conclusion

Fishing for fish of the perch family is one of the most popular among fishermen in our country. Pike perch, pike perch, and perch are coveted trophies both in summer spinning fishing and ice fishing. In this book, you became acquainted with the ecological features and timing of fishing for the main fish of this rather small family. Fishing gear and types of baits used in catching predatory fish are discussed in detail. In addition, some general issues of preparing for fishing are discussed. How to choose the right clothes and shoes depending on the season of the year, what equipment is needed when fishing - these are questions that concern every angler.

I am sure that if you use the advice on choosing gear and organizing fishing, fishing will give you real pleasure, and you will not return empty-handed. In any case, the time spent outdoors in the company of friends or with your family will be remembered for a long time. It is not for nothing that fishing is one of the most popular types of recreation, and throughout the year a huge number of people spend all weekends on reservoirs with their favorite fishing rod or spinning rod. However, remember that thousands of people go out into nature every year, especially to the shores of water bodies. And depending on how carefully you treat the environment, you will rest. Be more careful with nature, do not leave garbage on the banks of water bodies, and be more attentive to fire. It would be a shame if a cozy place on a river or lake, where you come every year to relax, turns into a landfill. And in a lake or river, the bottom of which is strewn with bottles and cans, it is simply unrealistic to catch fish worthy of attention.

We hope that this book will be a good assistant in your wonderful hobby - fishing. And finally, I wish you, according to the fishing custom, “neither tail nor scales,” i.e. good catch!

Used Books

1. Sabaneev L.P. Life and fishing of freshwater fish. M: EKSMO, 2003.

2. Reference book for the amateur fisherman / Ed. Eishtord I.P.M.: Kolos, 1992.

3. Kurnotsik M. Encyclopedia of fly fishing. Bratislava: Priroda, 1990.

4. Chudnovsky V. Ya., Nikolsky A. K. To the angler. L.: Lenizdat, 1991.

5. Bukharov N. L. With a fishing rod on the river. M.: Physical culture and sport, 1973.

6. Fetinov N.P. To you, fishermen. M.: Soviet sport, 1993

7. Lutskov V. E., Kashin P. G. Fisherman’s secrets. Krasnodar: Soyuzblankoizdat, 1991.

8. Kazantsev V. A. With love about fishing. M.: Kolos, 1992.

In perch fish, the anal fin contains 1-3 spines. The dorsal fin consists of two parts: spiny and soft, which are connected in some species and separate in others. The jaws have bristle-like teeth, among which in some species sit fangs. Scales ctenoid.

The perch family contains 9 genera and over 100 species. Perch are common in fresh and brackish waters of the northern hemisphere. Most widespread perches(North America, Europe and Northern Asia), followed by zander(North America and Europe) and ruffs(Europe and Northern Asia).

Chops, sculpin and percarina found only in the Azov-Black Sea basin; pepper, ammocrypt, eteostomy- only in North America.

Fish kind of Okuni(Regs) have two dorsal fins, their caudal fin is notched. The cheeks are completely covered with scales. The opercular bone has one flat spine, the preopercular bone is serrated at the back, with hooked spines at the bottom.

The setaceous teeth are located in several rows on the jaws, vomer, palatines, extrinsic pterygoids, and on the pharyngeal bones; no fangs.

The genus of perch contains 3 species: common perch, yellow perch and Balkhash perch.

Common perch(Pregsa fluviatilis) is one of the most common fish. It is found in Europe (except Spain, Italy, Northern Scandinavia) and in Asia, on the territory of the USSR. (Not in Lake Balkhash, in the Amur basin and east of Kolyma. In 1919, it was introduced into the upper reaches of the Amur basin, into Lake Kenon, near the city of Chita. Perch took root there well and became a commercial fish.) It lives in reservoirs of various types: lakes, reservoirs, rivers, flowing ponds and brackish lakes and even in some mountain lakes at an altitude of 1000 m.

The perch is beautifully and brightly colored: dark green back, greenish-yellow sides dotted with 5-9 dark transverse stripes, caudal, anal, pelvic fins are bright red, pectoral fins are yellow. The first dorsal fin is gray with a large black spot in the back, the second is greenish-yellow. The eyes are orange. However, the color of the perch changes in different reservoirs, and in forest peat lakes it becomes completely dark.

In large lakes and reservoirs, perch forms ecological forms confined to different areas of the reservoir: one - small coastal, grass perch; the other is deep. Grass perch grows slowly; zooplankton and insect larvae are of great importance in its diet. Deep perch is a predator, grows quickly and reaches significant sizes. The largest perches reach a length of 40 cm and a weight of more than 2 kg (perch 55 cm and 3 kg were recorded). At the same time, they become humpbacked, as they grow more in height and thickness than in length.

Perches reach sexual maturity early: males at 1-2 years, females at 3 years and later.

They spawn at temperatures from 7-8 to 15° C, in water bodies in the middle zone, following pike. Eggs are laid on last year's vegetation, driftwood, roots, willow branches, and even just on the ground. The egg clutch is a hollow mesh tube made of gelatinous substance, the walls of which have a cellular structure. The eggs are located 2-3 pieces on each side of the cell. The size of the developing egg is about 3.5 mm. The yolk contains a large drop of fat. The masonry, hung on various objects under water, resembles lace ribbons. The length and width of the clutch tape depends on the size of the female. In small ones its length ranges from 12 to 40 cm, in large ones it reaches 1 m or more. In the coastal zone there are often numerous short clutches, but sometimes in certain areas large clutches can be found in significant numbers. But more often large clutches are swept out at depth. This can be judged by measuring clutches laid on spruce brooms lowered to different depths in advance, the so-called artificial spawning grounds. The gelatinous substance in which the eggs are enclosed probably protects them from saprolegnia (a mold) and enemies - various invertebrates and fish. In some lakes, which are not very deep and fairly transparent, it is possible to count the number of eggs laid and thus determine the absolute number of females in the spawning part of the herd.

Females, depending on their size, lay from 12 to 200-300 and even 900 thousand eggs.

In the first year, small “sharp perches” stay mainly in the coastal zone and consume zooplankton in the thickets. Perch can switch to fish early carnivorous feeding, already at a length of 4 cm; but usually it becomes a predator after reaching a length of 10 cm. Perch is especially predatory at the end of summer, when numerous grown fish fry provide abundant, easily accessible food.

Perch makes small movements to spawning and feeding grounds. From large rivers or lakes it often rises into tributaries and spawns in the floods. After spawning, perch makes feeding migrations. For example, in the lakes of the Meshcherskaya Lowland, located in the floodplain of the Pra and Oka rivers, at the end of July perch 10-14 cm long comes to feed on numerous young fish. Perch willingly feeds on its own young. It is more voracious than pike: 4.9 kg of other fish are spent on 1 kg of perch meat, and 3.5 kg on 1 kg of pike.

Due to its wide distribution and high abundance in water bodies, perch is an accessible prey for many fish. Catfish, pike, pike perch, and burbot readily feed on it. Gulls, terns and osprey also attack it.

Perch is caught in significant quantities, making up half of the fish catch in some lakes. It is readily consumed by the local population. Thanks to the enormous gluttony and behavioral characteristics of the perch, amateur fishermen easily catch it throughout the year with a variety of gear: float rods, mugs, spinning rods, a track, a jig, and vertical lures. The perch takes it willingly; Often, having fallen off the hook, he grabs the bait again and again until he is completely hooked. There are known cases when a perch, having broken one hook, sits on another after a few minutes. Perch is insensitive to pain. Fishermen have seen how a perch, having caught its eye on a hook and thus losing it, soon fell for the same hook, deceived by its own eye. Often, large perches grab small fish caught in nets and go to fishermen as an unexpected catch. Perch is not afraid of noise. In the Neman delta, they even use a special method of commercial winter fishing, in which perch are lured by striking an oak board, one end of which is lowered into a hole. To catch large perch, fishermen on lakes in the Gatchina district of the Leningrad region make a noise with their rods, slightly reminiscent of the sound of a jumping fish. Perch often stays among the piles of destroyed mill dams, near large stones, and hides near flooded snags. Small perches climb inside dark glass jars and even into bottles placed at the bottom. This is how small fishermen catch them.

In lakes, reservoirs and ponds rich in valuable commercial species (whitefish, trout, bream, carp, pike perch), perch is a trash fish: it feeds on the same food and eats the eggs laid by these fish. In such reservoirs, it is necessary to strive to reduce the number of perch - to increase its catch, and most importantly, to limit reproduction. For this purpose, artificial spawning grounds are placed in the reservoir, which are then removed along with the perch eggs laid on them.

Balkhash perch(P. schrenki) is distributed in the system of lakes Balkhash and Alakulya, in the river. Or the lakes of its floodplain. It differs from the common fish in its more elongated body, the absence of a black spot on the dorsal fin and transverse dark stripes in adult fish, a lower first dorsal fin, and a protruding lower jaw. It lives in a wide variety of conditions, found both in fast semi-mountain rivers, for example in the Ili River below the city of Iliysk, and in heavily overgrown lakes, where it sometimes has an almost black color. Spawning in April, for spawning it goes from Balkhash to Ili. Balkhash perch is a predator; it feeds on loaches and juveniles of other species, but especially often eats its own juveniles. It grows slowly, reaching a length of 50 cm and a weight of 1.5 kg. In Balkhash, perch is a commercial species; it is prepared in salted, dried and frozen form. Balkhash perch meat tastes like pike perch meat.

Yellow perch(P. flavescens) is very close in structure and lifestyle to the common one. It is possible that it should be considered as a subspecies of the common one. It is distributed in eastern North America and is important object sport fishing in the Great Lakes. In some lakes it is bred specifically for this purpose.

Genus Sudaki(Stizostedion, or Lucioregsa). Pike perches have an elongated body, the ventral fins are spread wider than those of perches, the lateral line is extended onto the caudal fin, and there are usually fangs on the jaws and palatine bones.

There are 5 species of pike perch in the genus: common pike perch, bersh, sea pike perch- in water bodies of Europe, Canadian pike perch and lightfin pike perch- in the eastern part of North America.

Common zander(S. lucioperca) differs in that in the second dorsal fin it has 19-24, and in the anal fin 11-13 branched rays, the cheeks (preoperculum) are bare or only partially covered with scales, the fangs on the jaws are strong. This is the largest representative of the perch family, reaching 120 cm in length and 12 kg in weight. The usual dimensions of pike perch are 60-70 cm, weight 2-4 kg. The back of the pike perch is greenish-gray, with 8-12 brown-black stripes on the sides. The dorsal and caudal fins have dark spots, the rest are pale yellow. Pike perch is common in the basins of the Baltic, Black, Azov, Caspian and Aral seas, in the river. Maritsa, flowing into the Aegean Sea. The range of pike perch is expanding due to active human activity. At the end of the 19th century. it has been introduced into some lakes in England. In the 50s of the 20th century, pike perch was transplanted into lakes Issyk-Kul and Balkhash, lake Biylikul and the Ust-Kamenogorsk reservoir, lake Chebarkul (Chelyabinsk region). Within its natural range, it is resettled in reservoirs where it was previously absent: in some lakes of Karelia, the Latvian SSR, in the reservoirs of the Moscow Canal, and the Mozhaisk Reservoir.

According to their lifestyle, two biological forms of pike perch are distinguished: residential, or semi-anadromous, and semi-anadromous. Residential pike perch inhabit rivers and clean lakes. In lakes and reservoirs it lives in the pelagic zone, where it stays at different depths depending on the location of the main food, oxygen content and water temperature. Pike perch prefers a water temperature of 14-18°C. It avoids bodies of water with unfavorable oxygen conditions.

Semi-anadromous pike perch is common in the southern seas of the USSR in brackish water and rises into rivers to spawn. From the Black Sea it goes to the Dnieper, from the Azov Sea to the Don and Kuban, from the Caspian Sea to the Volga, to the floodplain flooded with spring floods. About 90% of the total pike perch catch comes from the semi-anadromous form.

The caviar of pike perch is small and the fertility is high: in the Kuban, for example, from 200,000 eggs to 1,000,000. Spawning occurs at dawn, the eggs are spawned within 1-2 hours. The male chooses a place for laying eggs and cleans it of silt.

For spawning, pike perch uses a wide variety of substrates. In the Don, Kuban, Volga, it lays eggs on vegetation, in large number lakes and reservoirs - on sand, and in the Curonian Lagoon of the Baltic Sea - on stones. This plasticity of pike perch in relation to the substrate contributes to the fact that pike perch successfully lays eggs on artificial spawning grounds (spruce branches, bast, synthetic fibers sewn to burlap stretched over a frame, on sheets of slate imitating a flat stone).

The rate of egg development depends on the temperature: at 9-11° C, the larvae hatch after 10-11 days, at 18-22° C - after 3-4. After absorption of the yolk sac, the larvae feed on zooplankton. In the second month, pike perch switches to feeding on large invertebrates - mysids, cumaceans, and also juvenile fish. If juvenile pike perch is always provided with suitable food, it grows quickly and reaches 10-15 cm by autumn. Pike perch feeds on relatively small prey, the main size of the prey of a large pike perch is 8-10 cm. It usually swallows runaway prey, and therefore the favorite food of pike perch in In the northern lakes there are smelt, roach, in the middle zone - ruffe, perch, bleak, roach, in the southern seas - sprat, gobies. Thus, pike perch feeds on low-value fish. For 1 kg of its weight, pike perch consumes 3.3 kg of other fish. This is less than what pike and especially perch need. Therefore, it is readily bred in different bodies of water.

The Kuban pike perch grows faster than others, reaching sexual maturity at 3-5 years. In northern reservoirs, pike perch grows more slowly and reaches sexual maturity later - at the age of 5-7 years.

Pike perch also have enemies. Invertebrates, especially cyclops, feed on its larvae. Young pike perch are consumed by perch, pike, eel, and catfish.

Pike perch is a very valuable commercial fish. Fishing enthusiasts also catch it, and it is caught only in the morning, in the evening or at night.

After river flow regulation south seas In the USSR, the natural conditions for spawning pike perch deteriorated. Currently most of pike perch is reproduced in special fish farms. At the same time, pike perch is becoming an important commercial fish in reservoirs of temperate latitudes in the European part of the USSR.

Bersh(S. volgensis) differs from pike perch in that it has no fangs on the lower jaw and the preoperculum is completely covered with scales. The size of the bersh is smaller than the pike perch: it reaches a length of 45 cm and a weight of 1.2-1.4 kg. Bersh lives in the rivers of the Caspian, Azov and Black Seas, mainly in the lower and middle reaches. Mainly freshwater fish the lower reaches of the rivers, but also goes out into the Caspian Sea. It rises quite high along the Volga, and is found in Sheksna, Beloozero, and Kama.

Bersh is quite common in southern reservoirs: Tsimlyansk, Volgograd, Kuibyshev. As you move north, the timing of spawning shifts to a later time. In the Volga delta, spawning occurs in April - May, and in the Kuibyshev Reservoir - in May - June. After hatching, the larvae feed on small zooplankton, and when they reach a length of 40 mm or more, they switch to feeding on benthos. The transition to carnivorous feeding is observed in bersha in the second year of life. Its main food is fingerlings of carp and perch fish. Bersh over 15 cm feed exclusively on fish. Bersh is not able to capture (due to the lack of fangs) and swallow (narrow throat) large prey. The size of the prey ranges from 0.5 to 7.5 cm. Fish 6.0-7.5 cm are rare, even in large berths (30-40 cm). The usual size of the prey is 3-5 cm. Bersh intensively feeds on overwintered yearlings in the spring and on grown-up young-of-the-year fish in the fall; in the summer the feeding intensity decreases.

Walleye(S. marinus) differs from pike perch and bersh by smaller eyes and fewer branched rays in the dorsal fin. Distributed in the northwestern part of the Black Sea, in the middle and southern Caspian Sea. Sea pike perch of the Caspian Sea does not enter rivers and avoids desalinated areas. From the Dnieper-Bug estuary it occasionally enters the mouths of the Dnieper and Bug. Reaches a length of 60 cm. Caspian pike perch prefers dense soils. Partially reaches sexual maturity at the age of two. Spawns in spring in rocky areas. The caviar is larger than that of ordinary pike perch. Depending on the size, fertility ranges from 13 to 126 thousand eggs. Sea pike perch guards caviar, which gobies are especially keen on. The main food of pike perch is gobies, sprat, silverside, juvenile herring, and shrimp. Its commercial value is small.

American pike perch are closer to sea pike perch than to common pike perch and bersh.

Canadian walleye(S. canadense) resembles the color of the dorsal fins of the common pike perch. It is distributed from Hudson Bay to the states of Virginia, Oklahoma and Kansas. Lightfin zander(S. vitreum) reaches 90 cm in length. Its dorsal fins do not have rounded dark spots, but at the end of the first dorsal fin there is a large black spot (like our perch). Its range extends much further north, including the Mackenzie River system, which flows into the Arctic Ocean.

Rod Ershi(Acerina) is characterized by the fact that the spiny and soft parts of the dorsal fin are fused together, there are large cavities of sensitive canals on the head, and the teeth on the jaws are bristly.

There are three species in the ruff genus: common ruffe, privet, striped ruffe.

Common ruff(A. cernua) is distributed in Europe west to France and in Northern Asia. It is not found in Spain, Italy, Greece, Transcaucasia and the Amur basin.

In its extensive range, it inhabits large rivers and small tributaries, lakes, and flowing ponds. Avoids northern fast-flowing rivers. The back is gray-green with blackish spots and dots, the sides are somewhat yellowish, and the belly is whitish. Dorsal and caudal fins with black dots. The color of the fish depends on its habitat: the ruffe is lighter in rivers and lakes with a sandy bottom than in those with a muddy bottom. The eyes of the ruff are large, protruding, with a dull purple, sometimes even bluish iris. The usual dimensions are 10-15 cm, weight 20-25 g, sometimes reaching a length of 25-30 cm and weight 200 g. Larger specimens, as a rarity, are found in Siberian rivers and Ural lakes. Numerous in reservoirs, especially in the central zone of the European part of the USSR (Rybinskoye, Moscow Canal reservoirs, etc.).

The ruffe spawns in the spring, in southern rivers - from April. In the Moscow region, spawning begins in the second half of May and ends in early July. The caviar is about 1 mm in diameter, with a large drop of fat. The female lays eggs several times. Individuals 8-10 cm long spawn 4-6 thousand eggs, and 15-18 cm - up to 100 thousand.

The ruffe feeds very intensively. At a time, it consumes 14.4 g of chironomid larvae per 1 kg of weight, which is 6 times more than bream. The ruff is very voracious; it does not stop feeding throughout the year.

The ruffe matures early; at two years it already spawns. Early maturation and high fertility ensure rapid growth of its numbers in the reservoir. The ruff has a detrimental effect on the feeding conditions of valuable commercial fish, especially bream. In addition, the ruffe is a very active consumer of caviar from other fish species.

Immediately after hatching, the ruffe feeds on zooplankton, but soon switches to feeding on benthos.

The activity of the ruffe increases at night, when it goes to smaller places and intensively fattens. It is difficult to observe the ruffe in natural conditions. We observed ruffes in an aquarium in winter. About a dozen ruffes were released into a large aquarium. They hid in the corners, two or three hid in a shelter that was built in one of the corners. Soon a struggle began between them for possession of the refuge. They drove each other out, hitting the enemy with their snouts, pulling fins, tearing off scales. Other ruffs joined them, sometimes all ten fish ended up in the shelter. After several days of struggle, one of the ruffs firmly took possession of the shelter and did not let any of its relatives, who huddled in the corners of the aquarium, get close. Soon they all died. The ruffe remaining in the aquarium almost never left its shelter, jumping out only for a moment to grab food. A perch that lived for some time in the aquarium climbed into his shelter from time to time, and they spent the whole day peacefully, side by side. The ruff did not notice any other fish in the aquarium - crownfish, minnows, silver bream. With the onset of spring, the ruffe perked up and began to show aggressive tendencies towards other fish. As soon as the food was given, the ruffe with fins spread out jumped out of the shelter, drove away all the fish and did not let anyone near the food until it had eaten its fill. It is possible that in a reservoir the ruffe also drives other fish away from their feeding areas. It is known from fishing practice that in places rich in ruff, no other fish except perch are found.

The ruff grows slowly. The maximum age of the ruffe in reservoirs near Moscow is 7-8 years; in the Gulf of Finland, the ruffe lives up to 10 years. An increase in the number of ruffe in water bodies is very undesirable. To combat it, it is necessary to maintain a high number of predatory fish, primarily pike perch, and also to actively catch ruffe on spawning grounds.

Nosar, or little privet(A. acerina), differs from the ruffe in its long snout and smaller scales. Found only in rivers with fairly fast currents. In such areas it is much more numerous common ruff, which prefers lakes and flowing ponds. The general color of the body is yellowish, the back is mostly olive-green, the belly is silvery-white, and on the sides of the body and the dorsal fin there are several rows of dark spots, making the fish appear very motley. The privet is somewhat larger than the ruffe, its usual size is 8-13 cm; privet 16-20 cm long are quite common. It spawns in the spring, before the ruffe, in fast-flowing rivers, on clean sandy and rocky soil. The caviar is bottom-based, sticky, with a large drop of fat. Development is slow due to low temperatures. At a water temperature of 14° C, hatching occurs after 7-8 days. The size of the hatched larvae is 4.3 mm. They spend a significant part of their time in the bottom layers. The yolk is absorbed after 9-10 days, during this period the larvae are light-loving, lead a pelagic lifestyle and are carried down the river by the current. The privet feeds on various bottom invertebrates and small fish. Privet meat is tender. Fishermen highly value privet fish soup.

Striped ruff(A. schraetser) lives in the Danube, from Bavaria up to the delta, and is also found in the Black Sea before the mouth of the Danube. It has 3-4 black longitudinal stripes on the sides of its body. The length of the striped ruff reaches 20-24 cm.

Chops(Aspro) differ from ruffes by the fusiform-cylindrical shape of the body, the presence of two noticeably spread dorsal fins, and the smooth lower edge of the preoperculum.

Rod Chopy includes 3 types: regular chop, small chop and French chop.

Ordinary chop(A. zingel) has a grayish-yellow color, with 4 oblique dark brown stripes on the sides. It is distributed in the Danube and its tributaries from Bavaria to the delta. Reaches a length of 30-40 cm, sometimes up to 48 cm. The chop stays near the bottom, in deep places, feeding on bottom invertebrates and small fish. It spawns in March - April in the riverbed, on pebbles. The caviar is small and sticky.

Small chop(A. streber) is distributed in the Danube and in the Vardar River, which flows into the Aegean Sea. French chop(A.asper) lives in the Rhone basin.

Perkarina(Percarina, one species P. demidoffi) is close to ruffs, but differs in that there are two dorsal fins, although they touch. The lid is equipped with spikes along the edge. The posterior edge of the operculum overlaps the spine located on the upper part of the clavicle. The scales are thin and fall off easily. Perkarina lives in the northern, slightly saline parts of the Black and Azov Seas. This is a small fish (about 10 cm), the body color is yellowish with a pinkish-purple tint on the back, the sides and belly are silvery. There are several dark spots on the back at the base of the dorsal fin; all fins are transparent, without spots.

Perkarina begins to reproduce in the second year of life, spawns in portions, and spawning continues throughout the summer, from June to August. The eggs are small and stick to the substrate at the bottom. The hatched larvae first lie on the bottom, then begin to float up from time to time, and after two days they rise to the surface and switch to a pelagic lifestyle. The juveniles feed on small invertebrates, then exclusively on calanipeda and mysid crustaceans, and upon reaching a length of 4 cm, on juvenile gobies and sprat. IN different time percarina feeds on different organisms during the day: during the daytime it consumes crustaceans, and at night - mainly sprat. Probably, the sprat, which has good eyesight, is more accessible to perkarina at night. Perkarina hunts for sprat, focusing on the lateral line organs, which are very well developed in it. Perkarina feeds on pike perch. Perkarina - trash fish, it secretes a lot of mucus, and therefore, when it is caught together with sprat, the value of the catch decreases sharply.

Sculpin Perch(Komanichthys, one species of K. valsanicola) was first described in 1957 from small mountain streams in Romania. Its preopercular bone has a smooth edge. There are two dorsal fins. The pectoral and ventral fins are long. It is remarkable that the sculpin perch has a well-developed genital papilla (genital papilla), like small American perch darters. The sculpin perch reaches a length of 12.5 cm. It usually stays under stones.

Three distinctive genera of American perch - pepper(Percina, 20 species), ammocrypta(Ammocrypta, 5 species), etheostomy(Etheostoma, about 74 species) - called darters. Darters are small fish, their usual length is 3-10 cm, only a few reach 15-18 cm.

The preopercular bone in darters is completely smooth or slightly serrated in some, the mouth is small, the posterior edge of the maxillary bone is hidden under the preorbital bone. Due to the bottom lifestyle, a reduction in the swim bladder is observed; it is completely absent in species of the genus Etheostoma. Females have a genital papilla, which is especially well developed in large individuals. During spawning, males of many species develop epithelial tubercles, the so-called nuptial plumage, in the lower part of the sides and on the belly. Darters are found in various types of bodies of water, but many prefer streams and small rivers with fast currents. They stay near the bottom, hide under rocks, or, if the soil is sandy, burrow into it. When danger approaches, they quickly, like an arrow from a bow (hence their English name darter), take off, move a short distance and, just as suddenly stopping, hide again under stones or in the ground. Some species stick to rocky areas with developed vegetation. They feed primarily on insect larvae: chironomids, mayflies and stoneflies.

Among darters, there are species that take care of their offspring and protect laid eggs. Others do not directly protect the eggs, but are located near the spawning area, as if protecting the spawning area from other individuals of their species. But there are species that, having buried their eggs to a depth of several millimeters, leave these areas and never visit them again. Many species are characterized by the formation of pairs, peculiar spawning games, and fights between males.

The species diversity of darters is enormous (about 100 species!), they inhabit such unique water bodies that there are probably still species that are still unknown to science. Until recently, new species were described and the systematic names of already known species were put in order.

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Fish are classified according to a number of characteristics: lifestyle, fishing season, sex, physiological state, fatness, feeding pattern, length or weight.

AB - fishing length of fish; AB - standard size; 1 - gill cover; 2 - hard dorsal fin; 3 - soft dorsal fin; 4 - caudal fin; 5 - lateral line; 6 - anal fin; 7 - anus; 8 - ventral fins; 9 - pectoral fins

The length of the fish is measured in a straight line from the top of the snout to the beginning of the middle rays of the caudal fin (Fig. 20). Some small and low-value fish are classified as small fish of groups I, II or III. A number of fish species listed in the standard are not subdivided by length and weight. The minimum length of fish that can be caught is set by fishing regulations and international conventions.

IN commodity practice fish are classified by species and families.

A species is a collection of individuals occupying a certain geographical area and having a number of inherited characteristics that distinguish this type from related species. Species that are similar in a number of characteristics are grouped into genera, and the latter into families.

IN trading practices Classification of fish into families is carried out mainly by external characteristics. Strictly scientific classification of fish into families is carried out according to many characteristics. Characteristics of the main characteristics of the families of fish most commonly found in commercial practice are given below.

Herring family has a laterally compressed body, covered with easily falling scales. There is no lateral line. There is one dorsal fin, the caudal fin has a deep notch. Herrings of commercial importance are: Atlantic, Pacific, Danube, Don, Dnieper, Kerch, Volga, Chernospinka, Azov belly, Herring, Sardines, Sardinella, Sardi-nops (Ivasi); sprat: Caspian, Baltic (sprats), Black Sea, Tyulka.

Anchovy family has a cigar-shaped body, similar in size to small herrings. This family includes the Azov-Black Sea Hamsa and Anchovy.

Sturgeon family has an elongated fusiform body, with five rows of bone formations - beetles: two abdominal, two thoracic, one dorsal. Elongated snout, With four antennae. The dorsal fin is single, the caudal fin is unequally lobed. Of commercial importance are: beluga, kaluga, sturgeon, thorn, stellate sturgeon, sterlet. By crossing beluga and sterlet, Soviet scientists obtained a bester, which is bred in reservoirs.

Carp family has a tall, laterally compressed body, covered with tightly fitting scales, sometimes naked. The dorsal fin is one, soft, the lateral line is well defined, the teeth are pharyngeal. This family includes fish of inland waters: carp, carp, crucian carp, roach, roach, ram, bream, white-eye, bluefish, barbel, silver carp, grass carp, buffalo, vimba, shemaya.

Salmon family has a tall body, laterally compressed, covered with small scales. There are two dorsal fins, the second is adipose. The lateral line is well defined. Chum salmon, pink salmon, sockeye salmon, Chinook salmon, Caspian salmon, salmon, trout, whitefish, vendace, muksun, and omul are of commercial importance.

Family smelt has an oblong body shape, with easily falling scales, and an incomplete lateral line. There are two dorsal fins, the second is adipose. Main species: European smelt, smelt, capelin.

Perch family has two dorsal fins, the first is spiny, the anal fin has three spiny rays, the lateral line is straight, and there are transverse stripes on the sides. Common species: perch, pike perch, ruff.

Horse mackerel family has a flattened body shape. The lateral line has a sharp bend in the middle, and in some species is covered with bony spines. There are two dorsal fins, the first is spiny, the second is soft and long. There are two spines in front of the anal fin. The tail stalk is thin. The Azov-Black Sea mackerel, oceanic mackerel, trevally, seriola, pompano, lichia, and vomer are of commercial importance.

Cod family are divided into subfamilies of cod-like and burbot-like. The former have three dorsal and two anal fins, the latter have two dorsal and one anal. This sea ​​fish, with the exception of burbot. They have a well-defined lateral line. The pelvic fins are located under the pectoral fins or in front, and many representatives have a barbel on the chin.

The body shape is close to torpedo-shaped. Cod, haddock, navaga, pollock, pollock, blue whiting, burbot, and cod are of commercial importance.

Mackerel family has an elongated fusiform body and a slender caudal peduncle. There are two dorsal fins; behind the second dorsal and anal fins there are four to seven additional fins. Black Sea, common, and Japanese mackerels are of commercial importance. Mackerels are sold under the names “Azov-Black Sea mackerel”, “Far Eastern mackerel”, “Kuril mackerel”, “Atlantic mackerel”.

In terms of body shape and arrangement of fins, tuna, bonito, and mackerel fish are similar to mackerel; the latter have one dorsal fin and additional fins.

Flounder family has a flat body, flattened from the back to the abdomen, the eyes are located on one side of the head. Dorsal and anal fins along the entire length of the body. The commercially important halibuts are black, common, and arrow-toothed; sharp-headed and river flounder.

Of the fish of other families, the following are of commercial importance.

Groupers golden, beaked, Pacific from the scorpionfish family have a large head, an oblong, laterally compressed body, often red in color, one dorsal fin, usually spiny in the front.

Catfish striped and spotted from the catfish family

They have one long soft dorsal fin, a large round head, and the body in the back is laterally compressed.

Terpugi northern, southern, toothy have a spindle-shaped body, one spiny dorsal fin, highly developed anal and pectoral fins.

Ice fish from the white-blooded family, it has a large head with an elongated snout, two lateral lines, the color is light green, the blood is colorless, as it contains copper instead of iron.

Butterfish and butterfish small fish from the Stromatoid family they have a flattened high body, one soft long dorsal fin of the same size and shape as the anal fin, the lateral line follows the curve of the ridge.

Marbled and green notothenia, squama, toothfish from the nototheniaceae family have a large head, two spiny dorsal fins, a long anal fin, large pectoral fins, and the body is thickened in the anterior part.

Croaker, captain, umbrina- fish from the croaker family, have a high body, a humpbacked back in front, one dorsal fin, divided by a deep notch, the front part is spiny, the lateral line is well defined.

Macruruses from the grenadier family they have an elongated body that tapers off at the tail in the form of a thread. There are two dorsal fins.

Other types of fish that are caught are catfish, pike, lamprey, eel, gobies, argentina, mullet, eelpout, pristipoma, bluefish from families that have similar names, and sea bream from the brahmin family; merrow, rock perch - from the serranaceae family.

Perciformes are the largest, numbering more than 10,000 species, distributed throughout different bodies of water on the planet. The most common are the perch fish family. Some species have pelvic fins, which are located under or in front of the pectoral fins. The fins of perciformes, as a rule, have spines. The number of rays is no more than six. The bases of the pectoral fins are placed obliquely or perpendicular to the axis of the body. Perciformes lack an adipose fin. unconnected to the intestines or completely absent. The order includes 160 families and 20 suborders.

Which fish belong to the perch family?

The perch family is found in fresh and salt waters of the Northern Hemisphere:

• in European countries, with the exception of Northern Scotland, Spain and Italy;
• in Norway, Greece;
• in Northern Asia, not counting Kamchatka and Chukotka;
• in North America.

The dorsal fin is divided into a soft and spiny part; in some individuals they are combined, while in others they are located separately. The bristle-like teeth on the jaws are arranged in several rows, and some even have fangs. The gill membranes are free from the interbranchial space. The scales consist of thin, round, translucent plates with a serrated outer edge. The family of perch fish has ten genera and more than one hundred species, 7 of which inhabit the waters of Russia. Perches are more widespread, followed by pike perch, pipe cleaners and chops.

In the Azov-Black Sea basin they catch sculpin perch and percarina, as well as chop. Etheostoma, pepperina and ammocrypta can be found in North America.

Rod Okuni

There are three types of perch: river (ordinary), yellow and Balkhash.

River perch is one of the most popular fish species. It lives in most reservoirs, as well as in mountain lakes, which are located at an altitude of several thousand meters.

The perch has a striking color - a rich green back, and the sides with dark stripes of a yellowish-green hue. The pectoral fins are yellow, and the pelvic fins are reddish. Round eyes of orange hue. The color of the common perch depends on the environment; for example, in forest lakes it becomes dark.

Females become sexually mature after three years, and males already at one or two years. Female eggs are laid on silt and driftwood. There are 200-300 thousand eggs, the number depends on the size of the female.

Newly born perches live in the coastal zone, trying to stay together, and feed on zooplankton. A young perch becomes a predator when its body grows to 10 cm in length, and then it begins to eat small fish.

For pike and pike perch, perch is considered an easy and tasty prey.

Common perch makes up the bulk of the total catch in some waters. It is eaten with pleasure. Perch is very voracious, so anglers catch it throughout the year using various gear.

Perca flavescens, Perca schrenkii

Yellow perch is very similar to river perch in all respects.

It lives in eastern North America and is considered an important sport fishery.

Balkhash perch, unlike river perch, has an elongated body. It does not have dark spots on its dorsal fin. Balkhash perch is a predatory fish that happily devours small fish, but does not disdain its own fry. Perch grows slowly, growing up to 50 cm in length and weighing up to one and a half kilograms.

Perch is considered a game fish. It is dried, smoked, and frozen.

Genus zander

The genus of pike perch has a long body, the lateral line covers the caudal fin. The pelvic fins are widely spread, and the jaws usually have fangs.

The following types are distinguished:

• ordinary;
• bersh;
• nautical;
• light-feathered;
• Canadian.

The pike perch has about 20 branched rays that are located on the dorsal fin. Strong fangs are located on the jaws. There are very large fish, weighing 11 kg and 115 cm long. Mostly pike perch with a body length of 60 cm and weighing 3 kg. Pike perch, the largest species of the perch fish family, is widely known and popular in the waters of the Baltic, Azov and Caspian seas. The back is grayish in color, with black stripes on the sides.

Residential and semi-anadromous pike perch are two biological forms. The first prefers clean lakes and rivers. Feels comfortable at a water temperature of 16-17 degrees. The migratory fish prefers brackish water. Approximately 90% of the total catch is semi-anadromous pike perch. The eggs are small and fertile. Enemies: perch, eel, pike. River pike perch is considered a valuable commercial fish.

Sander volgensis

The Volga pike perch (bersh), unlike the common one, does not have fangs, the preoperculum is entirely covered with scales. The weight of pike perch is 1.3 kg and the length is 45 cm. It is popular in the rivers of the Azov and Black Seas, usually in the middle reaches.

Volzhsky is a freshwater fish, but sometimes enters the Caspian Sea. Volga pike perch lives in Sheksna, Kama, and can also be found in southern reservoirs. The farther from the south the habitat of pike perch is, the later spawning is postponed. When born, pike perch begins to feed on small-sized zooplankton, and as soon as it grows to 40 mm, it begins to eat benthos. In the second year it switches to carnivorous feeding - perch fish. Pike-perch, which are longer than 15 cm, eat exclusively fish. They don't have fangs, so they can't catch big fish. Pike perch swallows fish from 0.5 to 7 cm. In the spring it begins to fatten up with yearlings, in the summer the feeding intensity decreases, and in the autumn it feeds on older fish.

Sander marinus

Sea pike perch, unlike the Volga pike perch, has smaller eyes. The length of pike perch is 600 mm. This fish is especially popular in the middle and southern Caspian Sea, in the west

Pike perch, which lives in the Caspian Sea, practically does not enter rivers. In spring it is time for spawning. The eggs are larger than those of river pike perch. Fecundity depends on the size of the female and varies from 13 to 126 thousand eggs. At two years old, pike perch are ready to breed. Sea pike perch prefers to eat young herring, gobies, sprat, and shrimp. The fishing role is small.

Rod Ershi

In the genus of ruffs, the fins on the back, consisting of a spiny and soft part, are interconnected, there are cavities of receptive canals on the head, and bristle-like teeth on the jaws. The following types are distinguished: common, privet and striped ruff.

Gymnocephalus cernuus

The common ruffe is popular in large rivers, mainland lakes and flowing ponds. Beware of rivers with fast flowing water. The body of the fish is covered with scales and mucus, compressed from the sides. The back is gray-green with dark, almost black spots, the belly is white and the sides are yellowish. There are black dots on the dorsal and caudal fin. The eyes are large, the iris is dull purple. The color of the ruffe depends on its habitat. In reservoirs with a muddy bottom, the color shade is darker than in waters with a sandy bottom.

The fish is from 10 to 15 cm in length, weighing 20-25 g. There are individuals up to 30 cm in length, weighing up to 200 g, mainly in reservoirs of Siberia and the Urals. In spring the spawning period begins. At this time, females are able to lay eggs repeatedly. The ability to reproduce occurs at two years. Rapid maturation and excellent fertility contribute to a rapid increase in population.

After birth, the common ruffe feasts on zooplankton, but after some time it switches to feeding on organisms that live at the bottom of the reservoir. The ruffe has a peak of activity at night, and it begins to feed intensively. The maximum life age of the ruffe has been recorded as 10 years.

The privet, unlike the ruffe, has a longer body and small scales. It can only be found in bodies of water with fast currents. The body color is yellow, the back is greenish-yellow, the belly is white, slightly silver, and several dark spots are visible on the sides. It goes to spawn in the spring. It eats mainly benthic invertebrates and small fish. Privet makes a very good ear.

The striped ruffe lives in fresh waters with a sandy bottom and saturated with oxygen. It feeds on crustaceans, eggs, and worms. The body shape is elongated, the head is large, the dorsal fin has a small notch. The fish is slippery to the touch. There are black longitudinal stripes on the sides of the body. The body is pale yellow, the belly is whitish-silver, the sides are golden-yellow. Spawns in early spring.

Rod Chopy

Chops also belong to the family of perch fish, but, unlike ruffs, they have a fusiform-cylindrical body shape, two spread dorsal fins, and a smooth lower edge of the preoperculum.

There are the following types of chops: ordinary, small, French.

The common chop has a cylindrical, slightly flattened body of a yellowish-gray color. There are distinct brown stripes on the sides. Popular in the Danube and its tributaries. The size of the fish can reach 48 cm. Specimens are mainly found with a length of 25 cm. Chop prefers to be at the very bottom, feeding on small fish and bottom invertebrates. It spawns in March-April. The eggs are mostly small and sticky.

Zingel streber

The small chop is popular in the Danube and the Vardar River, which flows into the Aegean Sea. Chop prefers twilight.

As a rule, it feeds at night on larvae, worms, mollusks and crustaceans. The body length is 20 cm, and the weight is approximately 200 g. It spawns in April-May. Fertility can reach 10 thousand eggs. The eggs are small and stick to the substrate.

Zingel asper

The French chop leads mainly nightlife. Lives at the bottom of reservoirs. It feeds mainly on various bottom animals. The length ranges from 15 to 20 cm.

The body of the fish is grayish-yellow in color. The belly is white, and there are three brown stripes on the sides. They spawn from March to April. The lifespan of a French chop is approximately 3.5 years. Chop - a small fish of the perch family common in the pool

Family Stavridae

Horse mackerel have two dorsal fins: the first is spiny, small in size, with small spiny rays, and the second is long. Some species have bony shields on the lateral line. This type of fish has a thin caudal peduncle. Horse mackerel live in warm waters. Most fish are of great importance in fishing. The family includes about 20 genera with two hundred species of marine fish.

The most popular species is considered to be the horse mackerel genus. The perch family has an oblong body, which is slightly compressed at the sides. The head is covered with scales, and the eyes have fatty eyelids. Horse mackerel has small teeth and feeds on zooplankton and small fish.

Perch have spread almost everywhere to the globe. They are of greatest value when consumed fresh, frozen or canned.