An inexperienced person will say that a fish is a fish, when crucian carp spawns, then pike perch spawns, in the same way and in the same quantity. And only an experienced fisherman will find a distinctive feature, a highlight in the behavior of a particular fish during spawning. We do not claim the title “Experienced Fisherman,” since the concept is loose, but we can tell you something about the spawning of pike perch based on old, forgotten books about fishing.
Zander spawning happens in an interesting way. It lasts a long time, up to 3 - 4 weeks and begins in late May - early June, in the south a month earlier. During spawning, pike perch emerges from its usual depths into shallow water, into places with dense vegetation. Zander, living near the sea, rises upstream.
Pike perch spawning at night and in the morning, and the action itself looks like this: pike perch swim in pairs, the female takes a vertical position, head down, and, evenly and smoothly, shaking her tail, releases eggs. In this regard, crucian carp makes more abrupt movements. The male pike perch easily swims around and waters the eggs with milk. If you're lucky, you may see tails sticking out of the water in areas covered with algae and mud. They also like to spawn in places with fallen trees. One pair of pike perch, on average, lays up to 200-300 thousand eggs.
This ends. After laying eggs, the pike perch descends deeper into the reservoir. Sea pike perch swims closer to the sea. Since it does not tolerate dirty and muddy water, pike perch can swim very far from the spawning site, because in the spring the water is the dirtiest in any river. The flood floods the banks, dirty snow from the banks flows into the river, all this aggravates the situation for the pike perch and it tries to swim as far as possible from the muddy water.
Having hatched from eggs, the fry of pike perch instinctively follows to the depths, just as turtles born on the shore run to the sea. Up to 10 cm in length, pike perch fry feed on small invertebrates; after reaching this mark of 10 cm, they completely switch to feeding on a full-fledged predator. In the vastness of some wide river in the spring, it is not possible to find even a small pike perch. If it swims anywhere, it is in the tributaries, the cleanest and deepest. In the riverbed, pike perch appears only in mid-summer, or earlier, when the water becomes clear.
Pike perch is considered a large predator, and therefore it grows quite quickly. And with plenty of food, good conditions and relatively low competition somewhere in the mouths of the river, 2 years after birth the pike perch will weigh 1 kg 200 grams, and just a year later its weight will be 700 grams.
And this growth is from a millimeter-sized egg, one of hundreds of thousands. Of course, most of the eggs are destroyed by other predators, and even the young pike perch are eaten. But this development is more the best than the usual. Most likely, by the 2nd year of life, the pike perch will weigh 600-800 grams. The ability to spawn in pike perch appears in the 3rd or 4th year of life.
For spinning anglers, because the predator is large in size and has tasty meat. It's worth catching a fanged predator once to start catching it seriously. One of the interesting periods of life is the spawning of pike perch. In some regions it is prohibited to catch this fish during the mating season. But a good bite can be observed before spawning, as well as some time after its completion. Under what conditions does pike perch spawn?
Puberty in a fanged predator occurs at the age of 3-4 years. By this time, the fish manages to gain weight in the range of 500-700 g and reach a length of about 30-40 cm.
Immediately after the end of winter and the disappearance of the ice shell from the surface of reservoirs, pike perch begins to feed intensively before spawning. The predator moves to shallow waters following schools of fry. Sometimes the fanged robber has to move long distances upstream. Experienced fishermen consider this period the best time to catch trophy specimens.
Pike perch, small representatives gather in large groups. Large fish prefer to stay alone.
After intensive feeding, schools of pike perch begin moving to the spawning grounds. The movement is quite slow; along the way, the fish continue to hunt, which local fishermen take advantage of. They watch for a passing flock with live bait fishing rods or spinning rods. The total preparation time for spawning is 3-4 weeks.
The exact time of spawning depends on the water temperature. The optimal mode for reproduction ranges from 10-18ºС. If in the southern regions spawning can begin in April, then in the middle zone favorable conditions begin only in May or June. By this time, most rivers have already entered their banks after the spring flood. Females begin laying eggs in the late evening or at night.
Spawning grounds
When it's time to reproduce, the pike perch looks for a suitable place to build a nest. Groups of predators leave deep waters, rushing to coastal shallows. These can be river oxbows, bays, eriks, small channels. Even marine and lake inhabitants enter river waters to spawn.
Photo 1. A shallow bay is one of the spawning areas.
The fanged predator makes its nests in areas of the reservoir with an abundance of grass, snags and other debris. Before the mating season, flocks break up into small groups consisting of one female and 2-3 males. Pike perch spawn in special nests, which females begin to prepare in advance. To build a cradle, the fish actively uses its pelvic fins. In this way, it is possible to remove remnants of grass and debris from the bottom, forming a clean area. The males join the female, leveling the ground with their bows. By joint efforts, a space is created with a recess of 5 to 10 cm, shaped like an oval up to 60 cm long. The nest is surrounded by branches and roots, which will protect the masonry from lovers of easy money.
In some regions where the walleye population is endangered, people are trying to help the fish spawn safely. The problem with the reproduction of this predator often lies in the fact that sexually mature individuals do not find a place to lay eggs. As a result of spontaneous spawning, the entire clutch dies. Therefore, caring ichthyologists proposed making artificial spawning grounds.
To organize them, first the reservoirs are cleared of remnants of vegetation so that the fish do not deposit sexual products on them. And then they make nests from stainless steel or vine branches. A special substrate is placed in the formed frame. It consists of nylon ropes and plant roots. To mark artificial spawning grounds, floats on thin cords are attached to the nests. Such spawning grounds do not cause fear or criticism among fish. In them, the caviar safely turns into fry, increasing the number of this predator.
Reproduction process
Zander spawning occurs quite calmly and is not accompanied by too energetic behavior of the fish. During spawning, the female lies head down and begins to sway smoothly. Sometimes anglers can see the tails of a breeding predator visible from the water. This usually happens at dusk.
The number of eggs laid depends on the size of the female. Thus, individuals weighing 8 kg are capable of laying about 300 thousand small yellowish eggs with a diameter of about 1 mm. The largest male participates in the fertilization process, although there may be 2 or 3 applicants. The predator slowly processes the entire clutch with its reproductive products. But those males who are not involved in fertilization perform an equally important mission. They protect future offspring until they hatch from eggs. Pike perch are quite aggressive towards fish swimming nearby, not allowing them to approach the nest. Another task faces the guard male. He must promptly clean the masonry from silt and periodically aerate the water. If this predator is caught, the entire clutch will die.
After the juveniles emerge, the spawning of pike perch ends, and the adults move to the deep-sea areas of the reservoir. The growth rate of young animals depends on the richness of the food supply in the reservoir. In favorable conditions, the fry reach a size of 20-22 cm by winter. But if there is not enough food, the fry do not exceed a length of 10 cm. After a strong cold snap, the growth of the fingerlings stops.
Features of fishing before and after spawning
Pike perch actively feeds both before spawning and 10-14 days after the mating season. However, fishermen encounter certain difficulties in the fishing process.
- Pre-spawning feeding of fanged predators often occurs during floods. Therefore, it is not possible to get to river beds without watercraft. One of the signs of the presence of a feeding predator is the movement of schools of fry in shallow waters. This can be seen on lakes and small rivers. When the fish begins to migrate to the spawning grounds, experienced fishermen try to place the bait on the path along which the predator will go. In the spring, pike perch can be caught successfully on artificial baits. Since fishing is carried out at shallow depths, it is best to use wobblers and.
Photo 2. Decorated spinner.
Note to anglers! The easiest time for beginning spinning anglers is to catch their first pike perch in the spring. If you manage to catch a feeding flock, you can catch the first trophy using any bait with the most primitive fishing technique.
In some rivers and lakes, pike perch has become a rare fish. To increase the population of the fanged predator, it is better for anglers not to disturb the fish during spawning. Only then can one hope to catch a trophy fish.
The spring activation of pike perch biting begins in the first half of April. This is a pre-spawning feast that will last until mid-May. It reaches its apogee at the moment of maximum rise in the water level in the rivers. As the water level drops, the food activity of the fanged fish gradually decreases.
During this period, pike perch gather in large schools, which leads to pronounced food competition. The high density of fish in a limited area does not allow each individual fish to obtain a sufficient amount of food, which leads to competition for prey. In a fight, as we know, the strongest wins, and in our case, the largest. This is how, literally in a nutshell, we can explain the fact that a significant part of trophy specimens of pike perch are caught during this short period.
With the beginning of spawning, i.e. from mid-May, the pike perch bite stops. The fish are busy spawning. After spawning, the pike perch remains to care for the offspring on the spawning grounds, so the likelihood of its being caught is not high. And is it worth catching him during this period? Very little time will pass and the larvae will turn into independent fry that do not need parental care. Then it will be possible to catch pike perch.
During the spawning period, only individuals that have not reached sexual maturity continue to actively feed. Even in reservoirs with a good food supply, their weight does not exceed 600 grams, so they are not of particular interest.
When choosing a place for fishing, you should take into account that in the spring, pike perch are not as closely tied to their sites as in other periods of the year. In principle, pike perch can be scattered throughout the entire reservoir, so finding a promising point is not at all easy. Typical places where the fanged one hunted may turn out to be completely ineffective, but a quiet backwater with a weak reverse current can give a good result.
When choosing a fishing spot, you should take into account that in the spring, pike perch avoids the main stream and gravitates towards a slow current. Areas below bridge supports become promising, where the flow is divided into two jets, between which a local point with a weak or even reverse flow is formed. It is in this zone with a slow flow that the fanged one can feed. Promising places are in areas where the main and reverse flows separate.
Summer
In the first ten days of June, the post-spawn feeding period of pike perch begins. Spawned individuals are now hungry, but have not yet fully recovered from spawning. This must be taken into account when choosing bait and the speed at which it is retrieved. Small, narrow-bodied lures on a slow retrieve are the key to success. After ten days, the size of the bait can be increased, as well as the speed at which it is retrieved.
Until the end of the month, daytime fishing can still give some results, but in July, daytime fishing becomes hopeless. Moreover, during periods of maximum heat and fishing at dawn may not be successful - pike perch completely switches to night feeding.
Therefore, in the summer, night fishing will be most successful. With the onset of darkness, pike perch leaves their habitable deep areas and goes to feed in shallow waters. The most promising areas for fishing are long elongated sand spits, areas behind rifts and places where small fish accumulate. Such places are visited mainly by pike perch weighing up to two kilograms, although they often catch a trophy specimen. For targeted fishing for large pike perch, you need to fish in relatively shallow areas directly adjacent to the entrances and exits of channel holes.
In summer, the activity of pike perch, i.e. zhor, is periodic and unstable in nature. Successful fishing is most likely due to a well-chosen place and time of fishing, and not to the general activation of the predator. In general, the summer period, and especially its hottest part, can be considered the least promising time for catching pike perch. It can only be compared with the wilderness, when the activity of pike perch in shallow water bodies is practically zero.
Autumn
With the onset of autumn cooling, the activity of pike perch increases sharply. The autumn zhor begins - the most active and longest. It lasts from mid-September until almost freezing. There are no clear boundaries for this period, since in different regions they can shift in one direction or another, and from year to year the temperature indicators of a particular month can vary significantly. The month of October can be considered the most promising, but this is still a convention.
Moreover, throughout the fall, against the backdrop of zhora, outbreaks of increased activity of pike perch may be observed, which will be short-term and local in nature. As a rule, such an outbreak of activity is taken to be a mass exit of actively feeding pike perch to some local area.
In the autumn, pike perch is caught mainly in the pre-dawn hours, at dawn and in the period from sunset to dark. Since fish gather in schools in the fall and concentrate on certain areas of the reservoir, knowledge of the bottom topography and potential sites for pike perch is a fundamental factor in successful fishing.
The more the water cools, the deeper the pike perch sites become. The fanged one appears less and less often in the coastal zone - its main hunting grounds are areas along the dump with depths of 3 meters or more, underwater tables and navels with a similar depth, and, of course, the pits themselves and the entrances and exits from them.
In November, with a general decrease in the activity of pike perch, there is an increase in the time period when you can count on catching fish. In cloudy weather, accompanied by slight warming, individual fanged bites can occur throughout the daylight hours.
The period preceding freeze-up is also characterized by the fact that the chance of catching a trophy specimen increases. Of course, this is only true if fishing is done from a boat. When fishing on shore, this is only possible in areas where channel holes are located in close proximity to the shore.
Winter
The winter fishing period begins with the formation of ice. From this moment, and for two or three weeks after it, the most active pike perch bite is observed. Then fish activity gradually weakens, reaching its minimum in the second half of January. Before the ice melts, when the water in the reservoir is refreshed by streams of melt water, the activity of pike perch gradually increases, eventually turning into a pre-spawning feast.
In addition to natural biological rhythms, this course of fish activity is also significantly influenced by the amount of oxygen dissolved in the water. The minimum oxygen in water is observed in the second half of January and February. It is this period that is called “wilderness” in fishing slang.
At the beginning of winter, pike perch sticks to the same places as at the end of autumn. The daily course of its activity remains approximately the same, with outbreaks in the morning and evening hours. During a thaw, in cloudy weather, pike perch can bite during the day, but only if the fishing is done directly in its habitat.
In general, the motor activity of the fanged animal is significantly reduced compared to the previous period. Yes, it comes out to feed, a school of pike perch can migrate within a certain water area, but the scale of these migrations is significantly smaller than in the autumn. Accordingly, knowledge of the local habitats of pike perch in a specific area of a reservoir becomes even more important.
However, you can scout for pike perch in an unknown body of water using secondary characteristics. The fact is that there are an order of magnitude more anglers who catch pike perch from the ice than there are anglers who catch pike perch from a boat in late autumn. Congestions of fishermen or the traces they leave clearly indicate the presence of fish in a given area. This information will always be useful, even if these traces were left by breams - in winter, bream and pike perch walk nearby.
Since pike perch leads a sedentary lifestyle in winter, you don’t really have to count on it coming to the fishing spot on its own. Therefore, winter fishing involves a constant search for sites for feeding predators.
As mentioned above, the activity of pike perch in winter is significantly influenced by the lack of oxygen in the water. Due to oxygen starvation, it can leave its usual habitats and move, albeit to atypical, but oxygen-rich areas of the reservoir. This factor must be taken into account when fishing in the wilderness.
Depending on the temperature conditions in the reservoir, spawning of pike perch can begin either in mid-April or at the end of May. In southern rivers, where the water warms up faster, it begins in mid-to-late April, while in reservoirs in the middle zone, pike perch spawning occurs later - in late May-early June. For spawning, the water in the river must warm up to 7-10 degrees Celsius; when the water reaches this temperature, the pike perch gathers in mating groups.
During this period, pike perch, which is devoted to rapids, riffles, and other places with strong currents, goes to areas unusual for it in quiet sections of rivers, with extensive aquatic vegetation and an almost complete absence of current. For spawning, mating groups of pike perch usually choose relatively shallow water places - with depths from 0.5 to 4 m. Even 4-meter depths are exceptions; more often, the spawning grounds of pike perch are located in quiet places with depths of about 1.5-2 m.
With the onset of spawning, schools of pike perch begin to search for a suitable substrate for spawning. These can be branched roots of reeds, sedges, rhizomes of water lilies, as well as the roots of various shrubs, coastal or flooded trees (alder, willow and others). There are frequent cases when pike perch chose flooded meadow grasses with depths of 1 - 1.5 m for spawning.
The spawning of pike perch is very interesting. Each mating group of pike perch consists of one female and 2-3 males accompanying her. The first thing the females do is prepare the nests. Having stopped at the flooded roots suitable for spawning, the female actively fans the roots with her fins, forming waves and thus removing the remaining soil from the roots. Then the whole group uses its snout to level the hard ground around the spawning area. As a result, a 5-10 cm deepened space in the form of an oval is formed around the roots, where the eggs will be spawned. The dimensions of the nest depend on the size of the manufacturers themselves, and can range from 25 to 60 cm in diameter. Spawning usually occurs at night. The female spawns all the eggs at once in one go, but only one male takes part in fertilization, the rest go home. After spawning, the female swims away, and the male, who fertilized the eggs, remains to guard it. It is called the “guard” pike perch.
The “sentinel” pike perch remains near the spawning area until the larvae begin to hatch from the eggs. The mission of the “guard” pike perch is very important; during the period of caviar maturation, it actively fans the eggs with its fins, thus aerating them and also protecting them from silting. If you scare away the “sentinel” pike perch, after some time it returns to the nest. But if caught, all the eggs die. In addition, pike perch is not highly fertile; the number of eggs hardly reaches 200 thousand per litter.
Pike perch, despite its high numbers in many rivers, may well disappear from them. Often in reservoirs and other large bodies of water there are simply no suitable places for spawning, and if a spawning ground is not found, the eggs are swept out spontaneously and soon die. But pike perch in problem water bodies can also be easily saved - it willingly lays eggs on artificially created spawning grounds.
After the end of spawning, a short period of feeding is observed. But this period ends surprisingly quickly, and the pike perch bite weakens. Before spawning, few people catch pike perch; its activity at this time is very low. Only with the onset of the first days of May does its bite become satisfactory, and improves at a slow pace until it stops for the spawning period. The pike perch bite reaches its peak in July-August, and then gradually worsens again.
The pike perch fish is the largest of the perch family. The length of the fish reaches 130 cm, and the weight of pike perch can reach up to 20 kg. However, in commercial catches, the average length of pike perch does not exceed 60 cm, and the average weight is 3 kg.
Pike perch is demanding of water - it must be running and clean. During the summer siltation of water, this fish moves downstream. Industrial pollution can lead to mass death of the population.
Pike perch food
Pike perch is a predatory fish. At a young age, it eats planktonic crustaceans, but after reaching 30 mm in length it switches to a fish diet - first on the larvae of fry, then on a variety of fish (dace, minnows, roach, bleak, ruffe, etc.). Adults are not inferior in gluttony to pikes. Moreover, unlike pike, pike perch aggressively pursues its prey. To gain 1 kg of weight, pike perch needs to consume 3.3 kg of prey. This fish reaches a kilogram weight by 2 years.
Juveniles stick to schools. Moreover, the larger the pike perch, the smaller the flock. Adult pike perch prefers solitary hunting.
Appearance
The body of pike perch is oblong, with small and dense scales. The gill covers are covered with scales only in the upper part. The snout is pointed, and the head is longer than or equal to the length of the body.
The pike perch has a large mouth equipped with several fangs. The other teeth are small, and the gills have spines. The mouth is similar to that of a pike.
The back of the pike perch is gray-green in color, and the belly is white. Juveniles have up to 10 stripes on the sides of the body, which become almost invisible with age. On the back there is a fin with sharp and hard rays with a speckled film stretched between them. The remaining fins are gray-yellow in color. The eyes are bulging, with a blue or purple tint.
Types of pike perch
There are two biological subspecies - semi-anadromous and sedentary. The settled one lives in freshwater bodies of water. The spawning of pike perch of the semi-anadromous subspecies takes place in the upper reaches of the river. Following spawning, it moves to the lower reaches or fresh areas of the seas. Visually, the subspecies are difficult to distinguish, but the sedentary variety is characterized by slow growth.
Pike perch in a river environment
The habitats of pike perch are whirlpools, pits and steep rivers. Preference is given to places where it is easy to hide - snags and cluttered areas. Pike perch likes to be closer to the bottom - preferably sandy, especially in places where there is a sharp change in depth. Closer to the surface, this fish rises on calm evenings. For hunting, it can penetrate into shallow water.
Tactics for catching pike perch have specific features depending on the type of reservoir. For example, on a river, to fish, fishermen move in a boat along the current, and baits are sent to depths with a slow current.
Pike perch in the reservoir environment
In reservoirs, fish stay in flooded channels, holes, and littered areas, sometimes migrating after schools of small fish. Preference is given to a clean sandy bottom at great depths.
This fish is caught where there is sufficient depth (at least 3 meters), clean water and a pebble, rocky or sandy bottom. At the same time, pike perch does not like dense algae. Unlike pike, pike perch does not hide in ambush, but moves along steep slopes and edges into the depths. Good places for fishing are places below dams and rapids, where pike perch hunt for fish weakened by the current.
The pike perch bite dies down if it is full. During this period, the fish prefers to rest in places where snags or stones accumulate. Pike perch is cautious. It is not caught with a large spoon. The best way to fish is with a minnow or small white fish. Although pike perch is a nocturnal predator, it can also be caught during the day.
The secrets of catching pike perch are based on knowledge about the periods of fish activity. Fishing occurs twice a day: before dawn (dark) and before sunrise, and from sunset to midnight. During this period, the fish approaches the shores and can even jump out of the water when hunting. After sunset, the pike perch bite becomes worse, but persists, and in the fall it may not weaken.
Catching pike perch is carried out from the bottom when it goes hunting. Moreover, in contrast to perch, pike perch does not champ when it grabs prey. The optimal time for fishing is immediately after spawning, at a water temperature of 18-20 degrees. Fishing is carried out throughout the year, but fishing conditions worsen in winter, before and during spawning. Conditions improve at the end of winter when the snow melts.
The feeding process of pike perch is characteristic. The process begins with a fight, which is different from the fight of other fish. It lasts up to half an hour - the fish chases the bleak throughout the upper layer of the reservoir. The sounds of pike perch fighting are similar to the sounds that occur when stones hit the water. During the fight, the fish do not bite the bait, but immediately after the fight the pike perch begins to bite. Fishing results directly depend on the supply of food in the reservoir. If there is insufficient food, the bite will be good even during the daytime.
At a depth of over 5 meters, live bait can move vertically (under the boat). In this case, the sinker is tapped on the bottom. When the depth is less than 5 meters, live bait is released 10-12 meters in front of the boat. If the depth is less than 2 meters, fishing makes no sense.
After the pike perch is caught, you need to return above the bite site and repeat the swim. You need to remember the place of the next bite, anchor there and continue fishing in this place. However, frequent swimming can alert the fish.
Spinning fishing
Fishing for pike perch using a spinning rod is not as common as fishing for pike. The disadvantages of spinning fishing are:
- The pike perch bite begins only in the evening;
- a good bite occurs in the pre-dawn twilight, and with dawn the bite becomes worse;
- darkness does not allow accurate casting with a spinning rod.
For spinning fishing, heavy, narrow, elongated spoons are used. Good fishing happens with wobblers and also with jigs. Sometimes several hooks are attached above the spinner on 30 cm leashes with small white twisters, or tassels made of feathers or threads.
Young pike perch are schooling fish. Therefore, having caught one individual, you need to throw the spinning rod there.
Summer season
In summer, this fish loves places near breakwaters and bridge supports, near dams and under rapids. In summer, successful fishing occurs on the rifts. In many cases, successful bottom fishing is possible in well-known sites.
Autumn season
In autumn, fish prefer the deepest and quietest places in rivers with a non-silty bottom. The movement to winter sites coincides with the yellowing of birch leaves.
A good catch is achieved using bottom rods using live or dead fish. It is best caught with gudgeon or ruff.
Fishing improves starting in August, becomes excellent in September, and weakens starting in October.
Winter season
In winter, it is better to fish with a large jig with a sprat strung on it. You can also fish with a balancer or spoon.
In winter, pike perch moves little. For successful fishing, you need to establish its parking place. At this time of year, fish prefer edges with differences in depth levels. To search, holes are drilled at intervals of 15-20 meters. Along the way, the depths are determined. As soon as a difference is detected, starting from this place, the interval between holes is reduced to 1-3 meters. Fishing begins in the hole where there is the greatest difference in depth. This fish cannot be spooked by noise; on the contrary, it is believed that noise improves the pike perch’s bite.
The caught fish must be quickly pulled out and fishing continued immediately. If you lose time, the flock will leave. When fishing with a spinner, breaks between retrieves can be 5-7 seconds. The spoon should be 5-10 cm from the bottom. The rise of the spoon should be smooth, but the first 5-10 cm of the rise should be carried out with acceleration. Slight swaying of the end of the fishing rod is used. You can place the spoon on the bottom and move it slightly, then lift it 5-10 cm.
If fishing is carried out at shallow depths (up to 4 meters), you can sprinkle the holes with snow, this will improve the bite.
Spring season
In the spring, the fish hunt for fry, which is why they come out of the holes. During the feeding season, pike perch are easy to catch, but difficult to spot. After the snow begins to melt, fishing improves.
Spawning
The sedentary subspecies does not make significant spawning trips and spawns from May to June. Preference is given to shallow, well-warmed places. Pike perch spawn in pairs: first, the male builds a nest, pike perch eggs are laid by the female, while the male guards the eggs.
For the first time, pike perch spawn when the fish turns 4-5 years old. Spawning duration is 10-20 days. Increased biting after spawning is observed for 8-12 days.
Fishing
Once you feel the grip, which is usually not too sharp, you need to make a sharp hook. Usually pike perch is caught by its powerful jaws. Sometimes behind the cavity of the mouth. The bait is swallowed extremely rarely. In the first moments after hooking, the fish reacts violently, but the resistance does not last long. As soon as the pike perch comes out into the air, it calms down. You need to remove the fish from the hook so as not to get damaged by sharp fins or gill covers.
When fishing, instead of pike perch, sometimes you come across bersh. Outwardly they are very similar. However, the bersh has darker transverse stripes, it lacks fangs, its teeth are straighter, its scales are larger, and its head is wider and shorter. The body length of the bersha is no more than 50 cm, and the weight is no more than 3 kg.
Cultivation in captivity
Pike perch are bred in feeding ponds abounding in weed fish. The best results are obtained when grown together with carp. Since there are no natural spawning grounds in the ponds, it is necessary to create artificial ones.
Pike perch is a worthy trophy for any fisherman. You can not only brag about it to your fellow fishermen. Their pike perch makes tasty and healthy culinary dishes.
