Chub: Both Peaceful And Predator

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

Fishing Academy

Although the

chub is a fairly well-known fish, it is rarely found in amateur catches, just like among fishermen. This is probably due to the fact that only small individuals (underyearlings) form small flocks. Large fish keep one by one: let's say, they were lucky, they managed to find a parking place for an individualistic chub. And I caught him - look for a new place. And so on without end.

This is how our famous fishing expert S. T. Aksakov describes the chub. “Although it is obvious that his name comes from a large head (the old name of the chub), it is not at all so large for him, and if it seems to be larger than that of other fish, it is only because the chub's forehead is very wide and somehow merges with his squared body."

It should also be added: an adult chub is easy to recognize among other fish, especially in shallow waters in clear water. Each scale is enclosed in a dark rim, the pelvic and anal fins are orange, the caudal fins are black. As for large chubs, there are different opinions: some sources claim that there are fish weighing 12 kilograms or even more, in others - up to 8 kilograms, some stop at 5 kilograms. In a word, complete discord.

Being a fisherman at one time (we caught fish for a fish processing plant), in my materials I often refer to professional fishermen. But none of us have ever seen more than 6 kilograms of chub in our catches. However, I am by no means claiming that my experience (and not only!) Is the ultimate truth. It is quite possible that there are larger chubs, but I repeat, I have never seen such and could only judge about them by rumors. Usually, amateur fishermen come across specimens, at best, about two kilograms.

It has been established that sexual maturity of this fish occurs at the end of the second - in the third year of life. Chub spawns in river beds, in areas with a rocky, pebble bottom. Spawning takes place at temperatures of about 15 ° C in May-June, mainly during white nights. He does not make long spawning migrations.

The chub is quite often found in the Ladoga and Onega lakes, in the rivers: Neva, Volkhov, Syas, Vuoksa, Luga. It is less in other rivers of the region.

Most of the fishing literature states that chubs often stay near rifts, dams, under bridges, in pools, near coastal landslides, and on steep banks where there is a twist in the water. You can find them under the branches of trees hanging over the water. This is partly true, but not always.

Both me and other fishermen have had occasion to catch chubs not where insects fall from trees and bushes hanging over the water, but where the current brings them. And fish know such places well. In the summer, you can determine the parking lot of the chub by its game. More often fish plays in calm weather at morning and evening dawns. The game resembles the gurgling of a stone thrown into the water.

The chub is perhaps one of the very few fish of the cyprinid family, leading, if not a predatory way of life, like, for example, asp, then a semi-predatory one. And here's why … In the spring, the chub feeds on insect larvae, caviar, worms, crustaceans, molluscs. In summer, insects and algae are the main food. Closer to autumn, the chub turns into a predator, and frogs and small fish predominate in its diet.

In the rivers flowing through large settlements, the chub feeds on all kinds of food waste that gets into them with wastewater. Hence the omnivorousness of the chub follows: everything suits him - both animal and plant food. When cutting, what can you not find in the stomach of this fish!

In addition to the food already listed, there may also be what a large army of fishermen offers: various cereals and food mixtures, crumpled bread, cherries, lingonberries, blueberries, boiled eggs and a great many other treats. Artificial baits should also be added here: spoons, streamers, wobblers, twisters, poppers.

Based on these premises, it is easy to conclude that you can catch chub with any tackle and any bait. Sometimes it happens, but rarely. The main problem is that you never know what fish tastes at the moment. The chub is extremely finicky: he can bite on some specific bait, but ignore it the next time it is cast. It seems to me an interesting judgment, expressed in a conversation by a seasoned fisherman in Belarus: “This klenchuk is painfully wonderful” (the local name for chub). So it really is …

In spring, spring waters wash off many worms into rivers. The chub is looking for them and willingly takes on this attachment. At the end of May, a mass emergence of beetles begins, which continues until mid-June. This insect is a tasty food for the chub. Around the second half of June, crayfish molt begins, continuing throughout July. At this time, in the evening twilight, at night and at dawn, chubs patiently wait for their favorite prey at the crustacean burrows. They catch crayfish and crayfish meat with bottom tackle and wiring from the bottom.

Alexander Nosov