Bleak fish: photo and description, where to find, how to catch

Bleak – a small fish belongs to the carp family and leads a pelagic lifestyle in various layers of water, various reservoirs. This type of fish is distinguished by its own genus of the same name, which includes some close subspecies. Bleak, in addition to its main name, has a number of others, such as perch, sebel, silyavka, buckle, shakleya, top melter.

Wrong fish name

Many people confuse bleak with the names of other fish species, most likely from ignorance. The bleak is often referred to as:

• Chebak, the name refers to the Siberian roach.
• Sprats, but in fact it is the Black Sea or Baltic sprat.
• White-eyed, but in fact the so-called sapu fish.
• bruising. This name is given to the bitter fish.
• Bystryanka, which lives in rivers with clean, oxygenated water.
• Verkhovka, which is actually called oatmeal.

It is possible to distinguish bleaks, tops and fasts similar to each other if you know the number of scales in the lateral line area: 52-55, 12-14 and 44-50. There are a number of other signs related to size, behavior and other factors by which these fish can be distinguished.

Bleak: description

Bleak is a small fish that has a short life cycle, only 5-6 years, compared to other members of the carp family, such as crucian carp, which can live up to 12 years, roach with a life cycle of up to 20 years, carp, which lives about 35 years. The maximum length of the bleak is about 15 cm, with a weight of not more than 60 grams. Although rare, larger, trophy individuals are found, weighing up to 100 grams and up to 20 cm long. The following features are considered characteristic for bleak:

• The body is not high, but elongated, with an almost straight back and a slightly convex belly.
• The tail ends in a large dark fin with a deep cut.
• The sides of the bleak are strongly compressed.
• The scales of this fish have a metallic color with a mirror finish.
• The back is gray-blue with an olive tint.
• The abdomen is light.
• The fins are distinguished by an ashy or pale yellowish tint.

A characteristic feature of bleak is that its scales are easily removed upon contact with a hard surface. Therefore, it is not difficult to clean this fish, it is enough to grind it with salt in a large container.

Pelagic fish have a classic color scheme of dark tops and light bottoms to protect themselves from bottom predators and birds in bright light conditions.

Life

From early spring to late autumn, bleak (sebel) keeps at a depth of up to 70 cm from the surface of the water. It leads a flock of life, so it moves around the reservoir in large flocks in search of food. In conditions when predatory fish are found in the reservoir, the bleak forms small flocks that are not so noticeable to predators and are more maneuverable. Although the fish is not big, it has good sprint performance, which allows it to survive in such difficult conditions.

The bleak chooses clean and deep areas to quickly get away from the attack of a predator. Therefore, the bleak does not like areas overgrown with aquatic vegetation, which is an obstacle to the rapid movement of this fish.

To find food for itself, the bleak rises closer to the surface of the reservoir, where it grabs insects on the fly or tries to knock them down with spray. At the same time, she jumps high out of the water. She behaves the same way on cloudy days, when flocks of midges and other insects fly near the very surface of the water due to heavy wings from moisture. When, for some reason, insects find themselves in the water, they immediately become food, both for bleak and for other fish. With the advent of real cold weather, bleak (sebel) moves to considerable depths. In winter, the bleak is in a state of suspended animation and waits out the cold in wintering pits next to other representatives of cyprinids. In this state, it is until the freezing point.

Habitat

This small fish lives in almost all water bodies, which are distinguished by the absence of strong thickets of vegetation, as well as the presence of a weak current. At the same time, it is able to live in water bodies with different temperature conditions. She feels good in reservoirs with warm and cold water.

Calm lowland rivers meet all the conditions in which the sebel feels comfortable. At the same time, gentle banks and a winding channel should be present in the reservoir. It is not comfortable for bleak when the water is not saturated with oxygen, and there are a lot of floating algae in the pond. In this regard, bleak will never be found in ponds or lakes with stagnant water.

Diet of bleak

The bleak mainly feeds on zooplankton, which move in the water column and which are distinguished by the presence of the main feed ingredients. At the same time, the bleak can prey on some insects that move in the immediate vicinity of the water, on the surface of the water, or find themselves in the water after falling from the vegetation. For example, these could be:

• Mosquitoes, flies, midges.
• Dolgonozhki, mokritsy, wave.
• Butterflies, papillons, lions.
• Stem-eaters, phorids, tahini.

When a mass flight of mayflies takes place, the bleak feeds exclusively on these insects. This small fish can also eat plant food brought by the current, as well as algae, although in small quantities. At the same time, the bleak does not refuse the bait offered to it, in the form of dough, dung worm, bloodworm or maggot.

How bleak spawn

Upon reaching a length of about 5-7 cm, which is possible in the 2nd or 3rd year of life, this fish becomes sexually mature. When the water temperature rises to + 15-17 degrees, the bleak begins to spawn at shallow depths, in several clutches (about 4). Each clutch can contain from 3 to 5 thousand eggs. In conditions of established warm weather, spawning can end in a few days. When the spring is cold and protracted, spawning can take up to a month, or even more.

Bleak is highly prolific, since there are up to 350 eggs per gram of weight. The eggs are quite sticky, so they are securely held on plants, on snags and on any other solid base. Eggs, depending on weather conditions, develop for a maximum of 7 days. Having been born, fish fry stray into flocks and begin to feed on plankton. During the first year of life, the bleak can grow up to 5 cm, gaining a weight of about 8 grams.

Types of bleak

The Azov-Black Sea shemaya is considered the closest relative of bleak. Shemaya grows in length up to 35 cm and gains weight up to 800 grams. As a rule, there are individuals weighing a little more than 200 grams in the catches. Shemaya got its name due to its excellent taste. Translated from Persian, shemaya is a royal fish. The habitat of the royal fish covers the rivers that are part of the basins of the Black, Azov and Caspian Seas, as well as slightly saline marine areas of these same seas. The diet of the shemai includes insects, zooplankton, crustaceans, worms, larvae and small fish, although to a lesser extent. The appearance of shemai is practically no different from bleak, except for the size, wider body and orange color of the pectoral fins.

Ways to catch bleak

Since the bleak (sebel) does not differ in significant dimensions, then for catching it you need a light float tackle with a fishing line with a diameter of 0,14-0,16 mm and a leash with a thickness of 0,1 to 0,12 mm. Due to the conditions of fishing, it is not necessary to use a thinner leader, although it is possible to do without a leader at all. Naturally, you will need a light and sensitive float, like a goose feather, weighing no more than 3 grams. Hooks will also have to be used quite small, no more than No. 16-20 on the international scale. As bait, you can use a bloodworm, maggot or dung worm, not in large fragments. Usually the depth is set to about 10 cm (minimum), since the sebel prefers to feed almost at the surface of the water. Bleak can be caught with fly or spinning rods using a fly or mayfly as bait.

Caught bleak can be placed at home in an aquarium. In addition, bleak can serve as an excellent live bait for catching larger predatory fish, since it is a must in the diet of any predatory fish.

The gastronomic data of this small fish deserve special attention. If you make canned food from it in tomato or oil, then this is a real delicacy. In addition, bleak can be smoked, dried, fried, stewed, etc. In other words, despite its small size, you can cook any dish from it.

Catching a bleak with a float rod is a spectacular sight as the bites follow one after the other. If you purposefully catch this fish, then you will never be left without a catch. In an hour you can catch hundreds of fish, from which you can get great pleasure.