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Useful information for the fisherman about the silver bream
Gustera belongs to the order of cyprinids. A small schooling fish close to breams. It differs from the latter only in the number and location of the pharyngeal teeth – on each side there are 7 of them in two rows. It has a high body with a noticeable hump, a small head, relatively large eyes. Behind the ventral fins there is a keel not covered with scales. The sides of the bream are silvery, the back is gray-blue. In spring and autumn it forms dense clusters, hence the name. The length of this fish can reach 35 cm, and weight – 1,3 kg. However, mainly fish weighing 100-200 g become prey.
Ways to catch bream
Gustera is caught on a bottom and float fishing rod. The fish is small and bony, so among anglers the attitude towards this fish is ambiguous. An ideal option for sport fishing, because if you choose a promising point and go to the flock, you can catch more in less than an hour than in the whole day. In summer, the silver bream reacts worse to the bait, since other food is in abundance. Everything changes in early autumn, when the fish are preparing for the winter. During this period, the bream actively feeds and the bite improves. When choosing the size of the bait and hooks, keep in mind that the bream has a small mouth.
Catching bream on the donka
This type of fishing is used only in cases where the fish is far from the shore, and the angler does not have the opportunity to get to the place of fishing. Catching this fish on the donk is not popular, but when using the “gum” or the “rolling donk” known on the southern rivers, it can give a result.
Catching bream on a float rod
This small fish is very sensitive to tackle, so the float rod must be fine-tuned. The cross section of the main fishing line should be 0,2 mm, at the end – a leash no thicker than 0,15 mm. A composite sinker is used, a shed (with a diameter of no more than 2-3 mm) is placed no more than 5 cm from the hook. Given the curiosity of the bream to everything white as a possible food, it is better to paint the hook white. If fishing takes place at a depth of more than 3 m, then a sliding float is used, which, together with an inertialess reel, provides high-quality fishing from any depth. As with other fish, a good bite is observed in rain and thunderstorms.
Catching silver bream winter tackle
In winter, the bream is caught with a float rod and a mormyshka. The bite is characterized by jerking, lifting or slightly sinking the float. They are fed with moths. The bream is caught on the mormyshka in the same way as the bream, except that the size of the bait should be smaller.
Baits
The type of bait depends on the season. In spring, the bream prefers bloodworms and dung worms. In summer, it has a weakness for dough and maggot, in the fall, shellfish and mormysh meat will become the best delicacy. An excellent result is obtained by feeding the silver bream both a few days before catching, and directly during the “hunt”. Gustera perfectly responds to various mixtures of plant origin, which are intended for grafting crucians and carps. Bait is carried out in the same way that the fish will be caught, but in quantities that do not allow it to eat. In winter or when fishing from a boat, the best solution would be to find a feeder a meter from the location of the hook with a nozzle, a little upstream.
Places of fishing and habitat
It is widely distributed in Europe. Inhabits the rivers and lakes of the basins of the Caspian, Azov, Black, Baltic and North Seas. The largest specimens are found in deep watering close to the edge of the canals, at the outlets of the underwater ditch, in the deep mouth of the tributary. Silty places do not favor, since the main food of large fish is invertebrates, not bloodworms. Adults feed mainly on chironomid larvae, mollusks, caddisflies, algae, detritus, sometimes aerial insects, and higher vegetation.
Spawning
Spawning takes place in two or three portions with a break of 10-15 days. The diameter of the eggs decreases with each notch and varies from 1,2 to 0,2 mm. The total number is 11-109 thousand eggs. In artificial reservoirs, the number of portions decreases, and some females switch to a one-time spawning. Spawning time is the end of May-beginning of June. Duration – from one to one and a half months. Caviar sticks to the flooded vegetation, the larvae appear after four to six days. At first, juveniles feed on zooplankton and phytoplankton, after which they feed on small benthic forms. The bream grows slowly, reaching sexual maturity at the age of 3-4 years.