Asp fishing on small rivers: the choice of gear and lures

Asp is an interesting and amazing fish that is not so easy to catch if you do not know its behavior. Experienced anglers catch asp at any time of the year, not just in open water. To do this, you need to know some of the subtleties and tricks of hunting for asp.

Subtleties and tricks are the ability to determine the places where the asp hunts, as well as the ability to choose the right gear with baits. Asp is also a cunning fish, so to catch it, you will have to choose the type of bait quite carefully.

Asp: description

In addition to the fact that asp is a cunning and cautious fish, it is also beautiful, as well as fast and swift. Because of the mass of such positive qualities, the asp has a number of other names. It is often called a sheresper, because of the appearance and whiteness of the scales, as well as the whiteness. Because of its speed and swiftness, the asp is called a horse or grip.

If the fisherman manages to catch an asp on a spinning rod, then this is evidence of the high skill of the angler.

Asp belongs to the carp family, so its body shape is long, wide and flat. It has an elongated head, and the lower jaw is slightly pushed forward and upward. Despite being a predatory fish, it has no teeth in its mouth. The role of the teeth is assigned to the bony protrusion on the lower jaw and the recess located on the upper lip. This allows the asp to hold onto its prey securely.

The teeth of the asp are located inside the pharynx, which makes it possible for him to grind food.

The body of this predator is covered with small but well-fitted scales. The lateral surfaces of the body are lighter than the back area. The belly is almost white, and the dorsal fin area is distinguished by a dark, bluish-gray tint.

The fins of this predator are light, with dark endings. The tail fin is quite large, and the lower feather is somewhat larger than the upper one. The base of the lower fins is distinguished by a red tint.

Asp or sheresper is considered a rather large fish, since the average individuals weigh about 5 kg. Individual specimens differ in weight of the order of 12 kg. In the carp family, asp is in an honorable second place, giving way to carp in first place.

Asp diet

Since the asp has no teeth, its hunting for its prey is distinguished by some features. The asp obtains its own food by stunning its potential prey. It looks like this:

• The asp finds a school of small fish and jumps out of the water, after which it falls into the water just as quickly.
• This impact on the water is enough for some of the fish to freeze in bewilderment. This moment is enough for the predator to put a part of the small fish in the mouth of the asp.

As a rule, the diet consists exclusively of small fish, such as perch, rudd, sabrefish, etc.

A small asp, which has not reached a size of 35 cm, cannot yet hunt small fish, therefore it feeds mainly on insects, their larvae, worms and crustaceans.

But this applies not only to small individuals, but also to adult asp, which has weakened after the spawning process or due to a lack of basic food, the fish begins to feed on insects, small frogs and crustaceans.

After spawning, asp can be easily caught on bottom tackle. But such fishing does not give pleasure to anglers, since he practically does not resist after he gets on the hook. Asp after spawning is greatly weakened. This is partly due to the fact that they arrange fights in the struggle for the right to fertilize eggs.

As a rule, this predator hunts both in the middle and in the upper layers of the water, which indicates that it belongs to the pelagic ichthyophages.

Habitat

Asp prefers not stagnant water, but current, so it is found in rivers, both large and small. If the reservoir has a connection with the river, then it is found in creeks, quarries and small lakes. The predator appears in such places to feed. Asp is most often found in the reservoirs of the middle zone, but it can easily be caught in the Don and Kuban rivers.

Sheresper prefers rivers with a decent current and a hard bottom. He will not live in a reservoir with a muddy bottom and thickets of aquatic vegetation.

By some signs, one can easily determine that there is an asp in the river. For example:

• If there are rocky areas in the river, shallows and rifts, as well as spits with a sandy bottom.
• If the river has steep banks.
• If the river has areas with a strong downstream.
• The bottom of the river is hard, and there are many snags at the bottom.
• Above the river along the banks grow trees and bushes that hang over the water or have partially fallen into the water.

You can determine the presence of this predator in a reservoir by the characteristic bursts that are heard within the reservoir: this asp drowns out fish fry.

If there is a decent current and a peculiar, solid bottom in a large lake or reservoir, then there is definitely an asp there.

In small rivers, asp prefers to hunt alone. It can ambush its potential prey in places where there are riffles and a lot of snags, as well as in areas where trees hang over the water.

What is characteristic of the sheresper is that it moves through the body of water along the same route. In other words, he prefers to live within the same area, where he hunts his prey.

This predator hunts mainly in the daytime, and at night it practically does not react to baits, being at the bottom of the reservoir.

Almost all summer this predator is in the upper layers of the water, and with the advent of cold weather, it goes to areas with a calmer current and sinks closer to the bottom.

With the onset of winter, the asp moves into deep pits and whirlpools and leaves them only at the beginning of May, after which it begins to actively feed and take any bait.

Spawning period

Asp reaches the periods of puberty in different ways, depending on weather conditions, or rather, on the temperature of the water. In the southern, warmer rivers, this period begins after 3 years, and in colder ones, it begins to spawn after reaching 4 or 5 years of age. At the same time, its body length reaches 40 cm.

The time when the asp spawns also depends on the climatic conditions of the region. In warmer rivers, it begins to spawn in mid-April and this period lasts until the end of the month, while the water temperature should be between +6 and +16 degrees.

Fish spawn in pairs, and several pairs can be in one area at once. As a result, it seems that the asp spawns in groups.

Compared to other species of fish that are looking for more comfortable places for spawning, asp spawns in the places where they live. But in some cases, the asp still rises upstream, in search of more suitable places for spawning.

The female glues eggs to the roots and stems of dead underwater plants. At the same time, she lays about 300 eggs at a time.

Somewhere in a couple of weeks, fish fry appear from the eggs. If the water is cold, then the maturation of eggs may be delayed for another one and a half weeks.

In the process of spawning, males often receive significant injuries. This is due either to the movement of fish along the rifts in search of comfortable areas for spawning, or in the struggle for females.

How to catch asp on small rivers

To catch such a predator as an asp is the dream of any spinner, although the asp is caught by anglers and other gear. Each fisherman decides on what gear to catch this predator and what bait to use for this. The choice of fishing gear depends on what time of the year it is in the yard.

Basically, asp is caught on spinning, like other types of predatory fish. Spinning fishing is an interesting, dynamic and exciting type of fishing that requires a certain skill from the angler. It is necessary not only to choose the right bait, it also needs to be carried out correctly in the water column so that this cunning fish decides to attack. In addition, the asp has excellent eyesight and sees everything that happens on the shore, so disguise never hurts.

This predator bites on classic spinners, wobblers and turntables. In addition, the predator bites on the beard, on the leash, and also on the streamers.

Some anglers master fly fishing. This tackle is quite difficult to use and it takes a long time to master. You can also catch asp with this tackle. As bait, flies are used that imitate insects that have fallen into the water.

In the cold season, when the asp goes to the depths, it is better to catch it with bottom gear. In this case, live bait can be used as bait.

Asp fishing in spring

With the advent of spring, already in the month of March, the asp begins its biting. During the spawning period, biting stops and resumes after it only in the month of May.

During this period, asp is caught on jigs, although for successful fishing it is necessary to determine the places of its parking. At the same time, not on every river during this period this predator begins to peck at artificial baits.

In the month of May, it is also better to catch it on spinning, using artificial lures such as jig, castmaster, thin wobblers, etc.

The end of spring – the beginning of summer is characterized by the fact that the asp switches to a summer diet, so the jig will have to be postponed until autumn.

In spring, this predator hunts along steep banks, where fry of various fish species gather.

Asp fishing in summer

In the summer, the asp prefers to stay as close to the surface of the water as possible, as there is always something to profit from here. He can hunt fry in such areas of the reservoir:

• In shallow water.
• On shallows and rifts.
• Along the steep banks.
• Within the overhanging vegetation.

During this period, it is better to catch asp from long distances, using heavy baits, with a large amplitude of the game. In summer, the asp pecks at the beard with flies.

On small rivers, the most preferred tackle is fly fishing, since spinning at short distances does not have good efficiency. Although, again, it all depends on the skill of the spinner. Casts should be carried out under overhanging vegetation. The better the fly, the more plausibly it resembles an insect that has fallen into the water, the more likely it is to catch this cunning predator.

autumn asp

With the advent of autumn, the water begins to slowly cool down, but until the end of September, he still chases flocks of small fish near the surface. Already in October, he moves to a depth where he can only be reached with a jig or bottom tackle.

As baits, twisters or vibrotails made of silicone, both ordinary and edible, may turn out to be the most effective. Pilkers are also suitable if they are carried out at the very bottom.

Lures such as streamers or barbs are practically useless in autumn.

The right choice of gear

When going hunting for asp, you should remember that this is a strong and powerful fish, which is typical for all cyprinids, so you need the appropriate tackle. In addition, you will have to make long casts, and for this you also need a powerful spinning rod.

Therefore, you will need long-range and durable spinning.

It is better to take a monofilament fishing line, which has more preferable characteristics for long-distance casts. It is stretchable, so it can help absorb the jerks of this powerful fish.

When fishing for asp, it is permissible to use the same gear as when fishing for pike perch near the coastal zone. The inertialess coil will allow you to more effectively deal with the resistance of a strong predator.

An ordinary float rod also allows you to successfully catch asp, but this requires a thick and strong fishing line. Unfortunately, a thick fishing line can alert the asp, which reduces the chances of being caught. In addition, it is unlikely that it will be possible to pull out trophy fish with a regular fishing rod without any problems.