Chasing Sabre

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Fishing Academy

When Vadim, a long-term partner in treks to rivers and lakes, invited me to go fishing to catch sabrefish, I thought … Many years ago I had a chance to catch this fish, and that fishing was remembered by the fact that then pecking only a trifle. Since that time, I have associated sabrefish purely with bleak (they are very similar). But it has long been known: what more or less self-respecting fisherman will wallow with bleak! Wasted fish. And not a fish, but a fish. Apparently, guessing about my doubts, Vadim excitedly began to tell how he was in those places two years ago, as he put it: "dragged the saber one after the other." True, he did not say how large that fish was. After some hesitation, I agreed.

Since there were still several days left before leaving for sabrefish, I decided to find out more thoroughly what kind of fish this is

sabrefish. First of all, I turned to L. P. Sabaneev. And this is how he characterizes this fish, starting with the name:

But what information I have learned from other sources … Chekhon is a schooling fish of the carp family, it grows up to 60 centimeters in length and reaches a weight of 2 kilograms. Usually, fishermen usually come across specimens of 150-200 grams. Chekhon is a pelagic fish, which means that it prefers to stay in the water column. And the mouth, directed upwards, indicates that the fish feeds mainly at the surface of the water.

Since sabrefish is quite widespread in the water bodies of Russia (and not only), therefore it has many names: saber, scales, sidewall, cleaver, mower, whistle, oseleet, scythe, goat and even … herring. In addition to these, there are a dozen more local nicknames.

Chekhon spawns in late spring - early summer (in the conditions of the North-West - this is the end of May - early June) mainly in a fast current. Her caviar is not sticky, swells strongly and develops in the water column. The current carries it often far from the spawning site.

Small individuals spawn earlier, large ones later. Juveniles of sabrefish flock and feed on zooplankton, insects and their larvae. Adult fish (3-4 years old) become predators and eat eggs, fry and small fish.

Despite the fact that P. Ivnev's book "With a hook, a jig and a spoon" states: "There is no her (sabrefish) in any lakes," nevertheless it should be noted that this fish is found in the reservoirs of our region. It is most often found in Volkhov and in the basin of Lake Peipsi. There is sabrefish in Lake Ladoga, Vuoksa, sometimes caught in fresh waters throughout the Gulf of Finland.

The most successful catching of sabrefish is during half-water and fly fishing. Often this fish also takes on the donk. Quite often, sabrefish is hooked "along the way" with other fish: perch, roach, asp.

A float rod for fishing sabrefish should be light, resilient, 4-6 meters long, line 0.2-0.25 mm. The hook size depends on the attachment. The most commonly used hooks are # 3-5. The float should be light, preferably plastic. It should be remembered that too large, brightly colored float, coarse thick fishing line, noisy movements of the fisherman can alert even this very not shy fish.

Often, anglers fish sabrefish without a sinker, since it has been noticed that this fish gives a clear preference to sinking bait.

The most effective baits for catching saberfish with a float rod are small fish and maggot. Maggot is easily accessible and can withstand multiple casts. In addition, other well-known baits are suitable: caddis flies, bloodworms, various worms, grasshoppers, dragonflies, burdock moth. You should put the nozzle on the hook as tightly as possible, otherwise the saber will pull it off and, as a result, there will be many empty bites.

You can successfully fish for sabrefish and spinning. To do this, 2-3 short (8-10 centimeters) leashes are tied to the main fishing line with a diameter of no more than 0.3 millimeters. The leashes are located at a distance of 15-20 centimeters from each other. They are equipped with hooks No. 5-6 and are masked with bright, multi-colored threads or hairs. A heavy sinker is placed at the end of the main line (see Fig. 1).

You can place natural or artificial flies, small grasshoppers and dragonflies, and, of course, maggots on the hook of a fishing rod for catching sabrefish.

The bite of the sabrefish is grasping: she takes it decisively and correctly. And most often it is caught on the hook itself. But it should not be abruptly pulled out of the water: she has tender lips that can easily be torn off with a crochet. Quite often, sabrefish gains freedom, already in the hands of a fisherman. It will jerk, twist its slippery body and fall into the water, and it was like that.

However, no matter what tackle and nozzle the angler would try to catch sabrefish, the main thing is to find it. The problem is that this fish, figuratively speaking, leads a "wandering" lifestyle - constantly moving around the reservoir. It often happens that a fisherman stumbles upon a school - he catches two or three sabrefish - and that's it. In a word, there was just a saber, and there is none: look for fistulas!

Sometimes a successful fisherman manages to keep a flock of sabrefish for some time with the help of bait. However, I must warn you: this is a very troublesome business, to pick up what the fish needs at a given moment. Here, how lucky is anyone …

But, if you still get lucky, and sabrefish is a trophy, then you will get real pleasure: the meat of this fish, although it is rather bony, has a pleasant aroma, fatty and tasty. Szekhon is especially good in dried form. Here it is not inferior in quality to either bream or roach.

Alexander Nosov