The Volga herring

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Somewhere in the late first-early second decade of may is very significant event for all anglers Volgograd and Astrakhan regions - the herring to spawn. "Mad girl!"- having heard this cry, only the lazy do not have enough herring tackle and do not rush to the Bank of the Volga. Catch everything from small to large. Catch a lot! 20-40 kilograms of herring per day per angler... With an average weight of fish in 300-400 grams. Herring is the Volga giant shoals, and grabs her thirsty. The workpiece is held in store barrels))).
There are several subspecies of herring that make up these shoals. Directly Volga herring - Alosa volgensis, carnosine - Alosa kessleri and the Caspian herring - Alosa caspia (shad). It is difficult to distinguish them visually, but it is possible. The down really has a more outstanding abdominal part, the black back has an elongated tail part, and the Volga herring stands out for its larger size( sometimes more than 60 centimeters and weighing more than 1 kilogram). It is sometimes called "zalom".
After spawning in June, herds of herring begin to roll into the sea, but part of it remains in the river for the summer and is the food base for pike, pike, catfish and large ASP.
Catch her local fishermen on a simple tackle-end sinker 30-50 grams (to throw away) and above it a few leashes with hooks, wrapped with thread or with Cambrian wires. Often used several lures of small size, which are called "herring", and they can be bought in any fishing shop in Volgograd and Astrakhan.
When I was on the Volga river in its lower reaches, I constantly observed in characteristic places (sub-turns of the current over the pits) in the screen of the sounder huge flocks of the Volga herring. Sometimes because of their density, the sounder even took these shoals for the bottom of the reservoir, starting to show instead of 10 meters depth of 2 meters))).
It is quite interesting (for one day) to catch this fish with sports equipment. This will require spinning ultra-light class to 6-8 grams by weight of the bait, katugka 1000-2000 Shimano, cord # 0,4-0,6 on the Japanese scale. Lures - spinners, weighing 2-3 grams, 30-40 mm crankbaits or soft lures about 1.5-2 inches with weights of 3-5 grams. Animation in the water column, in the horizon, where there is a jamb of herring. Bite permanent, a few pieces on the cast, while herring will not sit on the hook...

I offer you a small video story from the Volgograd channel StalingradFishers about catching herring on ultra-light tackle:

By the way, it should be borne in mind that in June, when the ban on fishing from boats with spinning ends , it makes sense to catch herring and other predatory Volga fish next to shoals. The size and variety of trophies can surprise you. For example, I once managed to catch about one of these large shoals of herring in a row 7 perches, the weight of each of which exceeded 1.5 kilograms! And then something unknown took a bite, and after more than an hour of fight broke to me a spinning (((. Local fishermen said that it was a solid catfish...

@spinner