Volgograd, May 14 – AiF-Volgograd. Divers say: it is not at all necessary to look for underwater treasures in distant seas. The bottom of the great Russian river Volga, along almost its entire length, is fraught with many mysteries, and even real treasures. Especially many such rarities are periodically found in the middle and lower reaches.
Dive into the past
They say that a special atlas of sunken ships has been created for the Black Sea to help divers. Compiling the same underwater “guide” for the great Russian river will obviously take much more time. Due to the frequent changes of the river bed and the creation of deep-water reservoirs on the Volga, the exact location of even very large ships and other rarities is still unknown.
“Today the picture of the river bottom is very unpleasant for a person who loves and respects nature,” explains diver from Kamyshin Evgeny Toryannikov. “Every year there are fewer and fewer fish, and there is more and more garbage on the river bottom.”
But even at such a bottom, unexpected finds happen.
“For me personally,” admits Alexey Nosov, a diver from Volgograd, “it was a complete surprise to find the skulls of prehistoric animals at the bottom of the Volga near the Volzhskaya hydroelectric power station - and a couple at once per dive. Biologists I know told me that this is a type of wild bull from the post-glacial period.”
No less often, teeth, fragments of the vertebrae of prehistoric sharks, ancient mollusks, and algae are found on the Volga coast. After all, once upon a time, instead of a river valley, in the area of the lower reaches of the Volga there was a warm, shallow sea splashing. And at the beginning of January 2013, another sensational discovery was made directly opposite the central part of Volgograd. During a training dive, divers from a local rescue station discovered a gigantic bone 150 meters from the shore.
“Underwater it seemed like it was a log, but they lifted it and saw that it was the tibia of a mammoth,” said Alexander Sivolobov, head of the Central Search and Rescue Unit of the Volgograd Region Emergency Rescue Service.
The find has already been transferred to the local history museum. However, the bones of prehistoric animals are clearly not the most valuable thing that the river, which was an ancient trade route at the dawn of civilization, hides.
“I know of cases where a coin minted in ancient Rome, says Volgograd local historian Yuri Voitov. – You can talk for hours about the “treasures of Stepan Razin” and the legendary “golden horses of Genghis Khan”, buried somewhere near the banks of the Volga in remote ravines and at the bottom of small steppe rivers. One of the most likely places for such “treasures” is the giant Sarpinsky Island not far from the Volzhskaya Hydroelectric Power Station, as well as secluded ravines and caves between the Volga and Don rivers. Fifty kilometers above Volgograd, north of Dubovka, the waters of the reservoir constantly wash away fragments of medieval ceramics. It was in those places that until the 14th century the richest Golden Horde burial site was located - the Vodyanovskoye settlement, or Beljamen. All finds here have a seven-hundred-year history.”
Underwater art gallery
There is so much underwater near Volgograd that the bottom resembles a real exhibition. Directly opposite the passenger river port, closer to Golodny Island, fragments of a sunken barge from the time of civil war. Not far from the newly built bridge lies a well-preserved Luftwaffe bomber. The number of large watercraft - tugs, steamships, barges - sunk in the Volga is measured in the hundreds. Last summer, in the waters of the Volgograd Reservoir in the Erzovka area, an event was held under the title “Secrets of the Stalingrad Convoys” with the participation of divers from several regions. With low visibility, divers still managed to examine the remains of several ships. And downstream, in the Svetloyarsk region, at a depth of 15 meters, a sunken ship from the Civil War was discovered. From the bottom they picked up cartridges with the stamp of “His Imperial Majesty’s factory.” During additional dives, it was possible to establish that it was originally a civilian wheeled tug. During hard times, it was hastily converted for military purposes.
According to the law, even if such “bottom exhibits” do not have any historical value, the costs of raising them must be borne by the owners of the vessels themselves. In the section from Kazan to Astrakhan, a special ship-lifting expedition is carried out by the only floating complex “Moguchiy” designed for this purpose with a registration in Volgograd. His recent achievements include lifting the dry cargo ship “Ivanovo” (displacement of almost 3,000 tons) in the Samara River and the infamous “Bulgaria” near Kazan.
According to the memoirs of Stalingrad residents, in 1942, a barge sank from Nazi bombs near Stalingrad, onto which a priceless collection of paintings was evacuated. At world auctions, the sunken collection would be valued at astronomical sums. We are talking about a collection of paintings from the Stalingrad Art Gallery that disappeared without a trace. There were creations by Aivazovsky, Perov, Benois, Kramskoy, Korovin, Levitan, Serov, Vasnetsov, Somov, Shishkin, Polenov, and Soviet avant-garde artists. It is known that back in the fall of 1941, a collection of paintings was prepared for evacuation to the village of Ilovatka, 250 km up the Volga, but there is no information that the priceless paintings arrived at the intended location.
“Perhaps some of the paintings of the Stalingrad Gallery still did not perish, did not drown during the crossing, but are somewhere waiting in the wings,” suggests art critic Tatyana Gafar.
Disorder with "orders"
The Volga is potentially rich not only in cultural artifacts. Employees of the Leader federal center have repeatedly come to Volgograd to urgently eliminate aerial bombs discovered at the bottom of the Volga by local divers. In the Traktorozavodsky district in October 2008, the center’s specialists destroyed a German SD aerial bomb weighing 1,800 kilograms at the bottom of the river, and literally a month earlier in the same area, miners destroyed a 100-kilogram German aerial bomb and three mortar shells. Before this, they were at a depth of seven meters, almost on the ship's course. The list of such dangerous finds is far from complete. A significant threat to the lives of divers on the Volga is posed not only by objects of war, but also by scraps of nets and poachers’ gear - the so-called “orders”. A fragment of each “order” is an eerie sight - a powerful wire bowstring, from which extend rope cords with highly sharpened hooks, to which sturgeons and belugas cling. From Volgograd to Astrakhan now, not a year goes by without injuries and deaths of divers from such traps.
Recently, one of the largest oil-producing industrial companies put forward an initiative to clear the Volga bottom from the rubble of household industrial waste in the Saratov and Volgograd area. If at least part of the plan comes true, the legendary river will breathe easier and, perhaps, will begin to more actively share truly valuable treasures with us.
Searching for coins and treasures along the banks of rivers, lakes, and reservoirs is a very promising endeavor, and with the right approach can bring many finds.
I think all treasure hunters know that they tried to build settlements near natural reservoirs. It was not by chance that such a desire arose among our ancestors.
The proximity of water was very important, since in those distant past times there was no pipeline or tap with hot and cold water.
In the reservoir: they washed clothes, bathed and washed, took water for household needs (drinking, watering livestock, watering gardens) and other needs. For a long time, on the banks of rivers, people organized celebrations, fist fights, and generally had fun after difficult working days.
And of course, under the influence of alcohol, during a fight, or simply when undressing to swim, people lost: coins, crosses, chains, rings and other valuables that we so persistently look for.
In winter, the river played the role of a transport route; various goods were transported along it by sleighs on ice downstream or upstream for exchange or sale to other villages, or to a large County town if he was not far away.
They also organized mini-fairs, and you know where the goods are, there is money, coins were lost from “chilled” hands, fell out of a pocket along with a handkerchief taken out, etc. Such “lost pieces” fell on the snow-ice, and when the snow melted in the spring, they ended up on the river bottom. If it’s in shallow water, then you can get it, I’ll tell you how below.
First, let's look at promising search places.
- Gentle slope of the river bank;
- Shallow water, or the bottom of a river or lake;
- Sand, which is periodically washed up by a dredger from the bottom of a reservoir;
- Paths that go down to the river (you need to look for them, there are a lot of finds there);
- High river bank;
- Places where rivers merge, especially pay attention to the presence of a ditch or hill; discovering them is a great success.
All these places are the most valuable in terms of finding coins and other valuables of antiquity, and according to the statistics of treasure hunters, there are the most finds there.
To search for coins in the shallow waters of a river, you need to purchase a metal detector with a sealed coil (for example), such a coil is specially designed for searching in water, we examine shallow water, and do not forget about safety precautions.
Don’t pay attention to the fishermen sitting next to you or opposite, if they ask, answer that you lost the chain last year, there is no need to educate them about all the intricacies of the search, people are different.
Usually the river bank has sandy and clay soil, and as you know, coins are well preserved in this type of soil, so there are not very many “cocalics”.
To search at the bottom of rivers and lakes, one waterproof coil is not enough, and in general, put the metal detector aside, we need a “search magnet”. Buying it now is not a problem; it is not particularly expensive.
In any case, you will quickly pay for the magnet, especially if at the same time you hand over ferrous metal, which you will come across a lot during your search. There have been cases when gold and silver royal coins were retrieved from the bottom of rivers using a search magnet, so I think it’s worth a try, especially since searching on beaches and river banks is allowed by Mr. Putin’s new law.
The ancient water mills deserve special attention. But it is very difficult to look for them, I will talk about this in more detail in a future article, but now I will say that “water mills” were built in the narrowest place of the river, where the current is fast, and you need to look not for the mill itself (of course you need to find it first), but The final and long-awaited goal is the miller's house, where all payments for grinding were carried out.
This is where, according to treasure hunters' reports, deposits of small (mostly) coins are located. I have been looking for one mill for three years now, the village was simply huge and located on a vast territory, so the search area is very large, and so on, square by square, I hope I will find it soon.
It was not possible to calculate the river bed; it most likely changed directions many times.
As for treasures, I personally know the comrade who found a box with ten silver rubles of Catherine the Second in the reeds!!!
I think my advice, and in general the article, will help you at least a little in searching along the banks of rivers and lakes, and you will find your treasure, or several rarity coins. Good luck. Read our blog...
Mormysh is a small amphipod crustacean that lives in fresh water bodies. Fishermen also call it bormysh, humpback, shletsyk or simply crustacean, and among aquarists it is known as gammarus.
That is why mormysh is one of the best baits and an excellent bait. It is most often used for fishing in winter, but jig fishing in summer can be no less successful.
Where can you buy mormysh and how to get it from a reservoir yourself
Mormysh can be found on sale in pet stores and is used as fish food. As noted above, it is known to aquarists as Gammarus.
Another way to get mormysh is to get it yourself. It's not that hard to do. It lives both in rivers and in lakes and ponds. In summer, mormysh prefer cool, oxygen-rich water; they often stay in shaded areas, on the bottom, in snags - where there is the least light. In winter, amphipods rise to the upper layers of water, where the oxygen concentration is higher, and often attach to the lower surface of the ice.
Since this crustacean feeds on the rotting remains of aquatic plants, it can be obtained by lowering an armful of straw or spruce branches into the water. After some time, you need to take out the armful and select the crustaceans that have climbed into the branches or straw.
You can also lower a bag tied to a stick into the water and slowly move it from side to side for several minutes. The crustaceans cling to the burlap, from which they then need to be collected by hand.
How to get mormysh in winter
Fishing for mormysh in winter has its own characteristics. In cold weather, it can be collected from the lower surface of the ice, to which it clings when the oxygen content in the water decreases. To do this, you need to saw through the ice with wormwood. It is convenient to collect crustaceans if you use a special scraper in the form of a hoop with a fine mesh.
You can see another option on how to catch mormysh in winter in the following video. The authors use a special device, popularly known as a dredge or combine:
- frozen;
- dried;
- alive.
With frozen and dried mormysh, everything is quite simple and clear, so let's figure out how to keep mormysh alive at home. It is most convenient to store it in a jar of water. It needs to be placed in a dark, cool place; a refrigerator is suitable for this. If the jig was caught in a lake or river, it is better to pour water into the jar from the very reservoir where it was taken and tap water that has settled for a period of time in a 1:1 ratio.
How to properly place a jig on a hook
In order to fish with jigs, it is better to use a small hook made of thin wire. Thanks to the presence of a hard shell, the crustacean holds well on the hook, and it is not so easy for the fish to knock it off.
To make the jig look appetizing to the fish, you need to:
- insert a sting into the back of the crustacean near the head;
- pass it through the body of the amphipod;
- bring it out in the tail area.
- At the same time, the jig must retain its natural bend.
Fishermen about the use of mormysh in fishing
In conclusion, it is worth noting that jig, although it is a good food for fish, is still a rather exotic bait. And this is not without reason - it is not always easy to get it, and the amphipod crustacean is not equally distributed in all regions, and therefore, it does not attract fish equally well everywhere.
Therefore, before using jigs for fishing, if possible, it is worth making inquiries to see how the fish living in the reservoirs where you are going to fish react to it. This will allow you to understand whether it is worth using amphipods in fishing on your usual bodies of water, and find out what fish take it and under what conditions.
Fishing in the Leningrad region
Fishing in Leningrad region still remains fascinating, bringing significant catches and trophy specimens. In the Leningrad region, fishing is possible with all existing gear.
The Leningrad region still remains a kind of paradise for fishermen. In the region's reservoirs there are many different fish, sometimes it comes in sizes that have long been forgotten in other parts of Russia. In addition, among the variety of species there are sturgeon, salmon, eels, etc. Despite their presence, many local fishermen are engaged in catching traditional fish: crucian carp, pike, roach, bream, silver bream, rudd.
Fishing for crucian carp in the Leningrad region
This fish is very tasty, which is why it is always among those that fishermen constantly hunt for. Crucian carp is present in almost all reservoirs of the region. He is quite careful, so they catch him here with thin gear, using, if possible, thin fishing lines and small hooks. The gear used is float rods, feeders, and donks.
They look for crucian carp in reservoirs near grass, near water lilies, and next to other underwater vegetation. Fish can be found among sedges, in areas completely covered with duckweed. In the latter case, Leningrad fishermen make windows on the surface through which they catch large crucian carp.
Lures
Among the baits that crucian carp prefer in the reservoirs of the Leningrad region are maggots, dung worms and bread (white loaf). Some people prefer to go fishing, taking semolina, from which they prepare mash right on the spot. With the addition of valerian, garlic, kerosene, it sometimes brings catches that one can only dream of with other baits.
Among the excellent baits for Leningrad crucian carp is steamed loaf rind. It is prepared like this:
- put a pan of water on the fire;
— after the water boils, place a colander on top of the pan;
- put pieces of loaf and crusts from it inside the colander;
- stand for 1...3 minutes.
The bun obtained in this way becomes rubber-like in consistency. It stays on the hook well.
They do the same with a bagel: cut it into pieces suitable for attaching to a hook and steam it in a colander. Among good baits for local crucian carp a mixture of cottage cheese, semolina, and wheat flour.
Groundbaits
Good catches of crucian carp in the reservoirs of the region are impossible without feeding fishing spots. Branded bait mixtures are quite suitable for this. Which are prepared directly on the reservoir with the addition of maggots, bloodworms, and bread (what you are supposed to use to catch it).
Local fishermen and fishermen visiting Leningrad reservoirs prepare complementary food themselves. Most often they are made from millet, rolled oats, cookies, flour, and cake. Flavorings are added - hemp, sunflower oil (unrefined), anise, garlic, vanilla, mint. Some generally prefer, for example, kerosene, valerian, and even VD-40.
Places for catching crucian carp in the Leningrad region
The Gulf of Finland
A promising place near LEMZ with depths of 0.5...0.7 m. Suitable gear - feeder, donka. The bait is a worm. Large (up to 2 kg, maybe more) individuals are found here.
Ponds in St. Petersburg
In the northernmost capital there are enough ponds in which crucian carp bite. There are several such reservoirs:
— at the intersection of Alpine Lane with Budapestskaya Street: the pond is small, almost round in plan; at one time it was well cleaned and stocked with fish; You can catch crucian carp in it immediately after the ice melts; in the reservoir there is crucian carp up to 700g, although catching it is problematic - over the past time it has been filled with a large number of small crucian carp, which quickly pounce on any bait;
— on Leni Golikova Street: there are three ponds; For fishing on them, float rods up to 4 meters in length with sliding equipment are well suited; the catch on the ponds is always guaranteed; large crucian carp (0.3...1 kg) bite on the outer ponds; the central reservoir is very overgrown, but if you somehow prepare a place for yourself, you can wait for bites of very decent specimens;
— on the “Medium Slingshot”: this is the area of the Moscow highway; the ponds have recently been cleaned and dredged; There are a lot of crucian carp in them, and they are not shy here, they are quite decent in size and bite well;
— on Tankist Khrustitsky Street: the reservoir itself is elongated; crucian carp of different sizes live in it - many large ones; They fish here with float rods, the bait is a roll, maggot, mastyrka, and worm.
Pike fishing in the Leningrad region
This predator is one of the most favorite among Leningrad fishermen. It is found in almost all reservoirs of the region and is caught with a wide variety of gear and methods.
There are three periods of very active pike biting in the region:
— the first begins after the ice melts and lasts until the moment when the water level in reservoirs becomes the highest; At this time, the pike goes out to the thickets near the shore and hides in anticipation of prey swimming nearby; In addition, she is in pools, pits and, hungry, is ready to attack any bait;
- second - 1.5...2 weeks. in the post-spawning period; This is explained by the toothy one’s desire to quickly replenish the energy reserves that were expended by it on spawning; this time (for the Leningrad region approximately May-June (middle);
- the third falls in autumn; more precisely, September-October, when the pike feeds, trying to stock up on fat for the upcoming winter.
Tackle
Some Leningrad fishermen prefer to hunt pike with girders. In summer, it is an ordinary flyer, carved from wood, on which a cord (thick fishing line) is wound, carrying a load at the free end, a hook (single, tee, double). Such a pole is attached to the branches of bushes bending over the water, to the end of a pole installed on the shore and inclined to the surface of the reservoir. The end of the fishing line with live bait is lowered into the water column. When a pike grabs the bait, it pulls off the supply of fishing line from the flyer, which signals that the predator has been caught.
There are many winter options for girders. The simplest, for example, is a small piece of rubber tube on which a piece (10...15 m) of thick fishing line or cord is wound. The free end of the latter is equipped with a sinker, a leash and a hook. The tube is also equipped with a separate loop from the same fishing line. The hole is attached with a loop to some twig, which is placed on the surface of the ice, above the hole, across it. The device itself, with bait baited on a hook, is lowered under the ice. Zherlitsa periodically check for predators self-notching on them.
Most fishermen in the region use spinning rods when hunting for toothy fish. They fish with long rods from the shore, and short rods from a boat. Considering that it is possible to catch decent specimens, medium and high-power reels and fairly strong fishing lines and cords are used for installation. Leashes made of metal and leash material are required.
Lures
All known types of pike baits in the region's reservoirs can be used: vibrotails, twisters, wobblers, spinners, and spoons. The latter, by the way, are among the most catchy and beloved by toothy fish in most reservoirs.
Pike fishing spots in the Leningrad region
Most often, in summer, pike in reservoirs in the Leningrad region should be looked for in warm water, in areas with abundant vegetation. The lakes located on the Karelian Peninsula are considered the most catchy for toothy fish. They have an interesting bottom topography and sharp changes in depth.
The most visited water bodies by fishermen for hunting for toothy fish: Ladoga lake, Vuoksa River. These also include the Rakovicheskoe and Balakhanovskoe reservoirs.
Roach fishing in the Leningrad region
This type of fish is most abundant in reservoirs located geographically in the Leningrad region. There is a certain pattern in its size: large individuals are more often found in large lakes (for example, in Ladoga), less - in reservoirs of smaller area.
Roaches in the region are found in reservoirs with both running and standing water. Most often it can be found in pools where there is a reverse current, in areas with unevenness on the bottom, where there is underwater vegetation, in creeks, and oxbow lakes. In summer it can be found in parts of shallow waters, and during high water it can be found wandering in areas with shallow depths.
Roach fishing spots in the Leningrad region
If you want to catch a big roach, it is better to go straight to either the Gulf of Finland or Lake Ladoga. When you don’t have such ambitions, you can safely go to the lakes: Zerkalnoye, Pionerskoye, Aleksandrovskoye, Roshchinskoye, Lembolovskoye, Vysokinskoye.
The most promising places remain near steep banks, areas with little current, calm reaches located behind the rifts, whirlpools, backwaters, which are characterized by calm water. In reservoirs-lakes, coastal areas, edges of reeds, small channels, and creeks filled with underwater vegetation are catchable.
Lure
Without bait big catches roaches are rare in the reservoirs of the Leningrad region. One of the mixture options is as follows: to a kilogram of breadcrumbs add 400g of sunflower cake, 100g of rolled oats (flakes), 50g of boiled rice, 300g of wheat bran, 30g of maggots, 5g of vanillin, 100g of dry milk, 50g of granulated sugar, 300g of ground biscuits.
Roach fishing - tackle, bait, technique and tactics
For roach, you need to go to the reservoirs of the Leningrad region early in the morning or in the evening, at dawn. In spring, in the absence of sun in summer, it also bites during the day. In clear water, roaches are hunted with float rods, donks, and feeders. Fly fishing and even ultralight spinning rods are in use.
The roach feeds all year round, therefore it remains active even in the dead of winter. In winter, it is also interesting and productive to catch it. They do this with winter fishing rods with spinners, with various jigs, without and with floats. Winter baits – maggots, bloodworms. In spring, during periods of thaw, you can try dough and bread.
The best option to catch a lot of roach is a float rod. It is with this that you can accurately measure the depth at a fishing spot and place the bait near the bottom (15...20cm is the horizon in which roach most often feed). The latter is unattainable in other methods, but it is precisely this that explains the more active fish biting.
It is easier and simpler to catch roach in the reservoirs of the region with fly rods. Their length is selected according to fishing conditions. Floats are used lighter - maximum 2g. The fishing line is also taken from thin ones; ideal 0.12mm. Hooks to match her - No. 12... No. 20.
The fishing technique includes measuring the depth and feeding a promising area. They do the latter by throwing seven balls of bait at once.
The bait is given the ability to sink smoothly and naturally in the water column. To do this, several weights (3...10) are used in the rig, which are placed one from the other at a distance of 25 cm. The sub-weight is left at the place where the leash is attached to the fishing line.
Usually, with such equipment, the roach bite follows immediately after the bait reaches the lower position. If this does not happen, they do not wait, but throw the tackle again.
Half an hour after the main feeding, additional feeding should be done. Small balls of bait mixture, about the size of a walnut, are prepared for him. They are thrown one by one, with an interval of ten minutes. In the future, after catching a roach, it is also worth throwing some bait into the fishing spot.
Baits for roaches in Lenobalst are traditional throughout Russia - maggots, bread, caddis, dough.
Bream fishing in the Leningrad region
This fish is one of the most desired and loved by fishermen of the Leningrad region. There is a lot of it in the reservoirs of the region; he lives at great depths in lakes, has inhabited rivers with slow currents; it is found in numerous channels and artificial quarries. They catch it in oxbow lakes and quiet backwaters. Promising places to search for it are located near dams, bridges, on river bends, holes, and depressions at the bottom. At night, bream are caught in shallow waters, where they emerge from the depths to feed.
Bream fishing spots in the Leningrad region
This fish, like roach, is abundant in the region’s water bodies. You can go fishing with it on almost any lake, any river. True, the size of potential production may vary greatly.
Large bream are caught in Ladoga, Glubokoye, Aleksandrovskoye, Pionerskoye, Zerkalny, Vysokinsky, Beloye, Roshchinsky, Samro, Sudachye lakes. Fishing on these reservoirs is free. Among the paid lakes are Quiet Backwater, Lepsari, Kopanskoye, and Monetka.
Bream is also caught in rivers. Breed fishermen often visit the Neva, Tikhvinka, Tiksha, Kovash, Sista, Voronka, Oyat, Svir, Luga.
Lures
In the spring, after sleeping off the winter, bream can be offered leeches, dung worms or crawlers. Later, after spawning, the fish becomes interested in maggots, bloodworms, bunches of worms, and algae (only young ones). When it’s hot, he willingly enjoys mastyrka, dough, steamed peas, boilies, and canned corn. By autumn, after the water temperature drops, animal baits are used: worms, bloodworms, caddis flies, maggots.
Tackle
Bream in the Leningrad region are caught with all sorts of gear - floats, feeders, donks. Bolognese and match fishing rods are in use. As bycatch, it can be caught on spinning rods in the fall. Although the most reliable and catchy ones are the float and feeder.
Tactics and fishing techniques
Bream must be caught with bait, which creates a feeding spot at the bottom of the reservoir. It attracts fish, keeps them in place, and makes them forget about caution.
Usually, bait mixtures are used from small fractions, matching the color of the bottom of the area where bream is caught. The compositions are low-calorie, which “force” the fish to eat, but not get full. To keep the bream in place, they constantly feed it by sending a small portion of the mixture into the water.
The bream, after hooking, strongly resists. You need to try to bring him to the surface so that he swallows air. After that, he immediately gives up and it is not difficult for the fisherman to bring him to the shore and put him in the landing net.
In winter, bream are caught with winter float rods. The bait is bloodworm. When fishing you need to be quiet, be patient and persevere.
Fishing spots in the Leningrad region
Fishing on the Sestra River
The river is located northwest of St. Petersburg; flows out of the swamps of the Lembolovskaya Upland and ends, flowing into the Sestroretsky Razliv. Its length is 85 km. Near the sources it is very shallow - you can wade through it. In the upper and middle reaches, the average depth is 0.4...0.7 m. Closer to the mouth it becomes more serious, reaching depths of 3 meters; there are places with a depth of 6 m. The river is not wide (10...20 m).
Access to the river is normal in the lower reaches; You can approach the reservoir via Primorskoye, Sestroretskoye, Vyborgskoye highways. In the upper reaches it is difficult to get to the water; There are only trails and rare dirt roads here.
Despite its relatively short length, the Sestra River is rich in tributaries. These are the Samenskaya and Lyublinka rivers, the Dubensky, Serebryany, Lesnoy, and Pastorsky streams.
There are many decent places on the river where you can hope for a rich catch. In the lower reaches you can always catch roach, ruffe, perch, and you can often catch burbot. Higher up the river, fishing is more interesting both in terms of the number of fish and its types.
Grayling fishing on the Sestra River
Just above the mouth of the river there is a shallow section with a rocky bottom and a fast current. There are many large boulders in the riverbed, and the banks are steep and dotted with ravines. There are also a lot of small (maximum 200 g) grayling here.
They fish for grayling with light fishing rods equipped with a 0.2mm fishing line. They fish with the line stretched all the time, which allows you to feel the moment of the bite and make a quick hook.
The river section is replete with slippery rocks that pose a danger to fishermen. When hunting for grayling, you need to remember this, do not make sudden movements or try to bring the prey to the shore. It is better to take some kind of fish container with you and store your catch without leaving the water.
Sestra River in the upper reaches
The upper reaches of the reservoir are located in a thicket of forests and are often represented by several channels. There are many islands overgrown with tall grass. Here they catch brook trout, located mainly on the islands and hiding in the grass. Trout can be caught with a float rod (grasshopper bait, worm) or with a spinning rod.
Here, in the upper reaches, there are many pools on the river. These places abound in pike, which fishermen catch mostly with spinning rods. The toothy one attacks the bait on almost every cast.
The upper reaches of the river are rich in other species of fish. In May-June you can go here to catch bream. From the beginning of October until the freeze-up, burbot can be caught well.
Fishing on Lake Beloye in the Leningrad region
The reservoir is located in the Kingisepp district. Around it are low hills covered with mixed forest. From it to Luga Bay no more than 4 km. The lake receives water from springs and small streams. There is no single river flowing out of it.
The western coast is represented by shallow areas with a sandy bottom. The western coastline is the same in depth with a muddy bottom. The lake is elongated, with a length of 3.8 kilometers and a width of 1.1 kilometers. On its area there are places with depths of 5...6 m, near the shore they are smaller - up to 3 m. In the northern part of the reservoir, the water area is overgrown with aquatic plants.
The lake has a variety of fish; it contains medium-sized bream, a lot of roach, crucian carp, and perch. Thanks to such a good food supply, pike feel good in the reservoir, reaching a mass of 3...4 kg. After spawning, the toothy fish settles in shallow waters from 1.5...2 m depth; It is perfectly caught in such places with mugs and spinning rods. The last option includes baits - poppers, copper-red spoons, wobblers.
The bream in the lake grows to weigh 1 kg. There is not much of it in the reservoir. They fish with feeders from the shore and float rods from a boat. Bait - a bunch of worms (preferably dung), maggots. A sandwich made from these attachments is also good. The bream ignores plant baits on White.
The perches in the lake are small, not exceeding 70...80 g. But you can catch a decent crucian carp, weighing up to a kilogram.
From the beginning of spring until spawning, crucian carp actively bites around the clock. In the summer it can only be seen early in the morning and very late in the evening. Many fishermen catch crucian carp at night. The best bait for it is a medium-sized dung worm. The best places are clear windows of water between reed thickets.
To catch crucian carp, the use of bait is mandatory. The bait mixture is the simplest - bloodworms and chopped worms are added to the clay, which is taken right on the spot. Add flavors: cumin, dill.
With the onset of winter, pike are actively caught from the ice. However, it almost completely stops pecking after the New Year. An improvement in the toothy bite occurs closer to spring. But perch is active all winter, especially a lot of it is caught in the northern part of the reservoir, near the confluence of the stream.
To get to White Lake you need to leave Peterhof on Gostilitskoye Highway. Drive to the settlement of Vybya. There is a turn here, further along the road all the way to the reservoir.
Fishing on Lake Bolshoye in the Leningrad region
The location of this lake, popular among Leningrad fishermen, is near the settlement of Ilyichevo, which is 8 km from Zelenogorsk. Among the locals, the pond is also called “Beauty” because of the surrounding landscapes.
The Big Lake is oval in shape and stretches 3 km in length. The width is approximately 3 rubles. less. The reservoir is deep, there are places with a depth of 19 meters. In it you can catch pike, roach, perch, ruff, bream, silver bream, rudd, and burbot.
The lake is also actively visited by vacationers, but more often by fishermen. They get to Ilyichevo by hiring a taxi or using a minibus. Travel time is no more than an hour. Then walk about fifteen minutes.
Features of fishing on the lake
The best fishing on the lake is in the summer. It is better to start coming to the reservoir for fishing towards the end of spring. At this time, all types of fish are actively caught and, most importantly, using all known gear. They fish from the shore, from a boat. In the latter option, side fishing rods and mugs are used.
Fishing with mugs on the lake is always successful. Often the prey is large perch, pike, but of medium size (0.5...0.8 kg). Large toothy ones are very rare.
White fish, perches, and ruffs are often caught with float rods various types. Attachments: 6 worms, maggots, caddis flies, bread crumbs.
In summer, the pond is often visited by spinning anglers. Pike can be caught using wobblers of almost all types. Often caught on oscillators and rotators. Fishing places for spinning are those located next to lake vegetation. Where there are underwater anomalies and depth differences.
In winter, fishermen also come to the lake. However, biting activity from the ice in the reservoir is not high, which affects the catches. During the period of first ice, perch and pike are caught using vertical lures and girders. At the same time, they try to fish the deepest places.
Fishing on Lake Vysokinskoye in the Leningrad region
The reservoir is located southeast of Primorsk, just 12 km from it. Travel to its southern end using the Primorskoye Highway.
The lake is elongated in plan. Its maximum size is approximately 6 km in length and 1.5 km in width. The greatest depths are 12 m, average depths are 4...5 m. The banks are of average height. Mostly sandy. Coniferous forest grows on them. The bottom has slopes. Coastal areas with depths of 1.5...2 m have a sandy, rocky or pebble bottom; deeper everything is covered with silt. There are stone ridges near Cape Komariny.
The lake is connected to Lake Pionersky by the Senokosnaya River. There is a channel between it and the Gulf of Finland. In the waters of the lake there are large numbers of perch, ruffe, roach, pike, whitefish, and burbot. There are much fewer bream and pike perch.
The most catchy places on the lake are near the mouth of the Senokosnaya River. In summer you can catch a lot of roach here; I often catch pike on a spinning rod. In September, whitefish begin to catch on the reservoir. They catch it at depths of more than 5 m, using spinning rods with spoons, on which small worms are hooked. At the same time, the autumn feeding season of pike begins, which goes great for fish.
Fishing on Lake Zerkalnoe in the Leningrad region
The reservoir is located 120 km from St. Petersburg, on the Karelian Isthmus, in one of its most beautiful corners. It has an unusual teardrop-shaped plan, the direction of length (4.5 km) is from northwest to southeast. The width of the reservoir is 2 km.
In the eastern part of the lake there are two islands - Love (smaller) and Separation (larger). The reservoir has places where the depth reaches fifty meters. The average depth is 10 m. A river flows out of the lake on its northern side.
Lake Mirror is one of the most popular among Leningrad fishermen. It is convenient to fish from the shore - this is facilitated by the surrounding landscape and terrain. For fishing, spinning rods or donks are used. In the latter, decent-sized bream and roach are often added to the catch. Spinning fishermen are content with pike, perch and, less often, pike perch.
Seasonal differences:
- the best in spring fishing spots on the lake in its northern part;
— in the summer months there are promising places for fishing near the islands, more specifically in the holes near them;
— in winter it is better to visit the southern part of the reservoir for fishing.
There are different ways to get to Mirror Lake. It’s fashionable to take an electric train from St. Petersburg – they go to Zelenogorskaya, then transfer to a diesel train, which takes them to the “86 km” station. From there it is a two-kilometer walk to the reservoir.
They drive their car along the Primorskoye Highway to the settlement of Zelenaya Roshcha. Behind him they turn onto the railway. Yappilya station. You can park your car anywhere near a pond.
Features of fishing in the Leningrad region
Among the features of fishing in the region:
— the presence of reservoirs with different fishing conditions; This is due to the close location of the sea, the presence of large and small bodies of water, and different natural landscapes;
— the opportunity to fish in fresh water and at sea (Gulf of Finland);
— the presence of a large number of natural reservoirs within St. Petersburg, other settlements, far from civilization; here you can find fishing spots with or without equipped infrastructure;
- a large number of different fish in reservoirs; its numbers have decreased since some times, but still remain high; if you choose the right body of water, you will always end up with a good catch;
— the presence of a variety of valuable fish species in reservoirs;
— the possibility of sudden weather changes, especially on large bodies of water; this complicates preparation for fishing and makes it less safe;
— the presence in certain periods (usually April-May-June, when fish spawn) of a ban on fishing in general;
— the effect of a ban on catching certain valuable species of fish in some or all water bodies of the region.
Fishing for pike perch on the river is practiced by all spinning anglers, without exception. This predator attracts fishermen with its size, difficulty of fishing, and gastronomic qualities. Successfully hunting for fanged representatives of the ichthyofauna is possible only if you have suitable gear, a set of baits and a thorough knowledge of its habits in different time of the year.
River pike perch fishing spots
Pike perch loves cool, oxygenated water. It inhabits medium and large deep rivers, as well as reservoirs formed on their beds. Can live in spacious and deep lakes. This predator will never live in swampy bodies of water with a muddy bottom and abundant aquatic vegetation. Fishing is also not carried out on small rivers, due to the inadequacy of the conditions necessary for fanged animals to live in them.
You should look for pike perch on a hard bottom. It prefers sandy or dense structure, likes rocky and pebbly areas, and can stand in areas strewn with shell rock. This predator is rarely found on soft bottoms. Typical places where the probability of catching a fanged one is maximum are:
- Channel dumps and rifts.
- Wide deep-sea reaches with uneven bottom topography.
- Any snags, wells and fellings.
- Extended ditches.
- Bridge supports and other hydraulic structures.
- In some situations, pike perch may approach coastal edges, slopes and pockets.
- In the coastal zone it is most often caught in the area of steep rivers at sharp turns of rivers.
Tackle
The most productive fishing is done with a jig. For this type of fishing, it is necessary to have a well-chosen spinning kit that provides the following requirements:
- Good sensitivity necessary for recording predator bites and tracking wiring.
- Rigidity for a confident hook to break through the fish's bony mouth.
- Power that allows you to speed up your fishing, since you have to fish in difficult conditions where you can’t hesitate, otherwise the pike perch will go into cover and tangle the gear.
When fishing from the shore, the spinning set must have a decent range, since you often have to cast the bait over a long distance in order to reach the treasured edge or snag where the pike perch stands.
The gear looks like this:
- A fast action rod with a rigid tip. The test is about 15–45 grams, there are options depending on the depths at the fishing site and the strength of the current. The length of the “rod” for coastal fishing is at least 2.70 meters; from a boat it is better to use a fishing rod of about 2.10 meters.
- Power coil with a reduction of about 5.0:1. Size 2500–3000. With good line laying and a reliable friction mechanism.
- Braided line only. The cord has the inextensibility necessary to fix bites, reliably hook and confidently fish out the predator.
The teeth of pike perch are not as sharp as those of pike. It is not able to bite through the braided line, but a steel leash is still necessary when catching it, since the by-catch will certainly come across a toothy beast that will certainly cut off the bait. In addition, the last centimeters of the cord wear out when in contact with snags, stones, or shells, which weakens the equipment and can lead to its unfortunate breakage when fishing a weighty specimen.
Lures
Pike perch are caught with different baits. These include oscillating spoons, front-loaded spinners, and deep-sea wobblers. However, silicone baits are considered the best and catchiest - twisters, vibrotails, worms, slugs, crayfish and others.
Today, edible silicone baits have gained unprecedented popularity. Among them, the following models stand out:
- Keitech Swing Impact.
- Reins G-Tail Saturn.
- Lucky John Tioga.
- Jackall Shad.
- Imakatsu Javastick.
- Lucky John Long John.
“Inedible rubber” also catches. Separately, we can highlight twisters from Mann`s and vibrating tails from Bass Assassin.
Fishing technique
As mentioned above, the most effective method is the jig. It consists of performing stepwise bottom wiring. This animation technique brings a large number of pike perch bites and allows you to fish the most inaccessible areas where the concentration of the predator is maximum.
With experience, the spinning player begins to add various jerking elements to the classic “step” - pulling, twitching, shaking and others. Lethargic, sleepy and apathetic pike perch can be induced to bite using the “dragging along the bottom” technique.
The Amstel is a river in the Netherlands that flows into the North Sea. At the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. A small village arose in the river delta - the future Amsterdam. The settlement grew, enveloping the river channels with a network of streets that flowed downstream to the sea.
Not long ago, in the expanding city, there was a need to build new metro lines, so for safety reasons, several water areas had to be drained.
It turned out that the river channels flowing within the city are a real archaeological repository. Archaeologists had a rare opportunity to study objects that fell to the bottom of the river over the course of dozens of generations.
During the study, the specialist managed to collect more than 700,000 different finds. Among them there are both objects of the modern era and real historical artifacts: medieval dishes, cutlery, kitchen utensils, coins, smoking pipes of all sizes...
Upon completion of the search work, Amsterdam archaeologists created the website belowthesurface, where you can learn more about what has been accumulating at the bottom of the river for centuries.
The rarest wood, precious material - bog oak - costs an average of $2000 per m3.
Unlike other trees, such a tree lived two lives on Earth: a plant life, filled with the energy of growth and power, and a secret life, hidden from the sun and eyes, under water.
This second life began many centuries ago, when, subject to intergalactic laws, rivers changed their course. Time eroded the shores, and trees from coastal oak forests ended up under water, where they remained until an inquisitive person discovered them. 
Only in the post-Soviet space are such huge reserves of bog oak preserved. For example, in European countries For 100 years now, the discovery of a single specimen of bog oak has been an event. And such finds are reported in the media. 
For 100 years, many enterprising people in all corners of Russia have been harvesting bog oak. Bog oak, as part of other firewood, was mainly used as fuel. 
One day, having pulled the trunk to the surface and tried to process it, he was amazed at the beauty and strength of the resulting wood. While admiring, the man asked himself the question: what unknown force turned the familiar oak into a mysterious one, covered on the surface with torn pieces of coal, and inside hiding a strong, smoky, living, unique texture of the material? And he began to look for answers to his questions, working with bog oak and giving it a third life... 
In Rus', furniture sets and souvenirs were created from bog oak, which now occupy pride of place in fine arts museums and antique salons around the world. 
Not a single foreign furniture company can offer for public viewing products adequately made from natural bog oak. This is the prerogative of only Russian masters. Since from the beginning of the millennium to the present day, relict oak forests throughout the world have been completely destroyed, reserves of bog oak remain only in Russia.
