Roach belongs to the family of cyprinids, a species of ray-feathers. Several of its species are known. Some of them are freshwater, live only in rivers, ponds, canals, others belong to semi-aisles, that is, they live in estuarine areas of the sea and brackish seas or lakes, and spawn in rivers. Read more about this type of fish, its description, classification, features of fishing and many other useful information - further.
How to recognize fish?
This non-whimsical fish is widespread in reservoirs of the whole world, undemanding to food, easily passes from one type of feed to another. In Russia, such species diversity is not observed, the common roach and its two subspecies, roach and ram, inhabit the water bodies.
The roach has an elongated body; in its shape, it somewhat resembles a herring. Her back is painted black, which casts a greenish or bluish tint, and her sides and abdomen are silvery. Before spawning, some fish become covered with small whitish spots. Over time, they become dark and harden, so the scales are rough to the touch. The size of the silver flakes are large and tightly pressed against each other.
Coloring depends on the age and nature of the reservoir. Sometimes there are specimens with a rather bright golden-colored scales, and their back and sides have a more reddish hue.
A small mouth of the roach is located at the end of the blunt snout. Teeth pharyngeal, notched, single-row. The forked caudal and dorsal fin are gray-green; the remaining fins (ventral, pectoral and anal) have a red-orange hue. So painted roach. Other subspecies differ not only in body shape, but also in color.
A characteristic feature of roach, according to which it is distinguished from numerous representatives of the cyprinid family, is the color of the iris - it is orange with a blood-red speck on its upper part.
If we talk about sizes, namely the length of the body, then the semi-aisled roach has the greatest length - up to 50 cm, the living roach constantly in fresh water is inferior in size and grows to an average of 30 cm.
Classification
Numerous subspecies are divided into freshwater representatives who never leave rivers and freshwater bodies, they are called residential fish, and those who prefer to live in brackish water.
Freshwater subspecies:
- Common roachand. The fish is small, hardly reaches 30 cm. It lives in the Caspian and Azov seas, in Lake Chebakul.
- Chebak or Siberian roach - This is a commercial fish, which is caught on an industrial scale. It differs from other species in its rapid growth and reproduction. Its habitat is fresh water bodies of the Urals and Siberia.
Non-freshwater species:
- Aral roach - This is a schooling fish found in the basins of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers. In size reaches 40 cm, maximum weight - 1200 g.
- Caspian roach - commercial fish that lives in the Caspian Sea, spawning and wintering, goes to the Volga. It can be distinguished from roach by dark gray fins with a black border. It grows up to 30 cm, weight - 1500 g.
- Azov-Black Sea ram - also a commercial semi-passage fish that lives in the Azov and Black Sea. It spawns into river waters. On average, grows up to 35 cm, but there are specimens 50 cm long and 2 kg in weight. The fish is larger than common roach, the teeth are thicker.
Average length, cm | Average weight, kg | The number of scales in the lateral line, pcs. | |
Common roach | 50 | 1,5 | 40-45 |
Chebak | 35 | 0,9 | 40-45 |
Ram | 25-30 | 2 | 48-52 |
Vobla | 30 | 1,5 | 41-48 |
Habitat
Roach prefers rivers without turbulent currents, it likes quiet backwaters with rich vegetation. The sandy bottom and warm water are all that she needs for normal life.
It hides from predators in the reeds and cattail, in the heat it moves to the shade of flooded bushes and tree trunks. It is found in small ponds, rivers and streams, lakes. Numerous flocks of roach are found in the basins of the Black, Caspian and Azov Seas.
The fish prefers to swim at the bottom of the reservoir, but is forced to rise to the middle layers of the water for food. In the hot season, she swims near the water surface, where she feasts on insects that, inadvertently, fall into the water.
What does it eat?
This species of fish is omnivorous. Roach eats plant and animal food, so it does not have a lack of it. From plants, it prefers algae and other plants, as well as larvae, various insects, fry and mollusks to taste it. Semi-passage species eat plankton, bivalves, crustaceans.
Lifestyle
One cannot meet roach alone, this fish gathers in schools, in which individuals of the same size are usually present. Small fish keep closer to land, adult roach prefers depth.
At the beginning of spring, all fish living in stagnant water rush into shallow water with warm water, because here it warms up faster under sunlight, and prepares for spawning.
In the summer, when hot weather is established, large fish leave small rivers and migrate to deeper places.
In the colder months, the whole flock floats to the depths for the winter to protect themselves from frost. She hides under snags, vegetation.
Spawning
Two-year-old roach caviar (this is how much the puberty of the fish from birth occurs) begins to lay in the second half of April, when the water is heated to +8 ° C. In this case, the water should fall after freeing from ice. A couple of weeks before spawning, the fish “dresses” in a wedding dress, as mentioned above, white spots appear on its body. However, they disappear a week after spawning.
Roach swims to spawn in large numbers in packs. Therefore, this process is accompanied by noise, you can clearly hear the fish splashing and playing, especially if it lays eggs in the lake. Fish, as if on command, jump out of the water, soaring upward, and then plop down on the water surface, the rest cut small circles or describe zigzags in a rather strange “pose” - upside down or on their sides.
The large number of fish gives the impression that they “rub” against each other and the water surface. Such spawning allows for a high degree of fertilization of eggs, while female roach lays up to 100 thousand eggs. In rivers, spawning is not so noisy, but it is also noticeable and longer due to cold water. When cooling, spawning can last up to 3 weeks.
Semi-bore subspecies in order to lay eggs first you need to climb the river to the lower reaches with fresh water. Females lay eggs at a time, sweeping from 10 thousand to 202 thousand eggs, which have a greenish tint. Caviar is soft, transparent and sticky. For this reason, it easily adheres to blades of grass or moss. After spawning, spawning fish returns to the sea again.
After 7-14 days, juveniles appear from the eggs. By mid-May, nimble flocks of fry rush at the surface of the water. From predatory fish, including their larger relatives, they hide in the grass and reeds. At first, they feed on their yolk sac - this is an outgrowth of the intestine, inside which there is a supply of yolk, but there comes a time when it is emptied, and the fry have to look for a new feed - small plankton. The grown juveniles are gradually moving to crustaceans and plants. In July, young growth leaves its shelter and floats out into open water and finally settles there by the end of August.
Roach fishing
Residential roach is not only commercial fish, which is often used to produce cat food and added to animal feed, but also used for sport fishing. During its capture, the fisherman demonstrates his skills, and she is also a bait for catching a larger predator fish - pike perch, pike, catfish. The roach is caught almost all year round; it does not fall on a hook only during severe frosts - in December and January.
The best period for fishing:
- May - afternoon, the water warms up well by this time;
- summer dawns;
- a week before spawning - the roach begins at the roach, it loses its vigilance and finds fault with the bait less;
- on the first and last ice.
Features of fishing at different times of the year
In spring, as soon as the water bodies are free of ice, roach populates the shallow water. For fishing, take a fishing rod equipped with a thin fishing line, a light float and a small hook. Bloodworms, dung worms, dough or maggots are selected from the bait, which are sent downstream or lowered to the bottom of the reservoir, depending on the gear chosen.
As a feed, breadcrumbs and oatmeal are used. During spawning, roach is prohibited in most water bodies. During this period, the fish is not afraid of anything to such an extent that it can be caught by hand.
In the summer, with the onset of heat, only small fish are found near land. Nibble is very moody. A well-fed roach is not interested in bait. To catch it, choose a shortened rod with a hook number 16-20 with a thin leash. Maggots, bloodworms or caddis larvae are taken for bait, but the grasshopper, bark beetle and mulberry (water buttercup) are more seductive for roach.
In the fall, nibble comes alive. During this period, it is better to choose shallow ponds for fishing, but with a large area. To interest the fish, an earthworm or a bunch of maggots is planted on the hook. In October – November, at the first noticeable cooling, the fish gather in schools and go into the depths for wintering.
In winter, fish are attracted by bloodworms, burdock moths and are caught in mormyshka. A thin line is selected - 0.1-0.12 mm.
Which gear to choose?
Both docks and float gear are suitable for fishing. The fishing line will need thin to 0.15 mm, the float and even less to 0.1 mm. Hooks pick up small ones. With a bad bite, a yellow hook is used, since it is less noticeable. The float should be light and camouflaged so as not to scare the fish, as it is usually caught at a shallow depth or near the surface.
For summer fishing tackle is prepared more inconspicuous and sensitive, fishing line and hook choose thinner. During this period, roach does not experience problems with food, so it becomes picky and shy. The bait is mounted so as to completely hide the sting of the hook.
How does a fish bite?
Roach is a careful and smart fish. Her bite is fast and sharp, often the fisherman does not have time to notice how she managed to pull the bait off the hook. Large roach is distinguished by a bolder bite, and the attentive fisherman will not miss his chance to hook it. Small fish can prettyly pat their nerves, sometimes it feels like the fish are simply mocking a grief fisherman. But this is far from the case. Roach, like any living creature wants to live, it feels danger and acts very carefully.
Growing roach
On an industrial scale, roaches are not artificially bred. Usually it is grown in parallel with other cyprinids to get rid of excess vegetation in the pond.
It can be populated into its own pond, providing the necessary living conditions for it. The “appetite” of roach depends on the temperature of the water and the season of the year. The optimum temperature is water + 18 ... + 24 ° C. When it is cooled, the intensity of nutrition decreases, in winter it practically does not require food. It should be remembered that roach eats a lot of zooplankton, the food of which is algae, so the pond can bloom quickly.
So, roach, although a fish of little value, but its fishing is a pleasure for fishermen. Properly selected places, tackle and bait are part of successful fishing. Observation and attention is another component that depends only on the fisherman.