Verkhoglyad - an unusual freshwater fish

There are fish that are so desirable to catch that fishermen are ready to violate the state border in order to become the owner of it. An example would be the leopard fish that lives in Lake Khanka. The lake is located on the border of China and Russia (Primorsky Krai), so that the border between the countries passes through the waters of this lake. More than half of the lake’s water area is owned by Russia, and only one third belongs to China. Lake Khanka is one of the places where the common glider lives, so beloved by the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire, especially on the eve of the “Chinese New Year”. But first things first.

What does it look like?

The Verkhoglyad is a descendant of tropical fish. It has adapted perfectly to cold temperatures and thrives in winter. As mentioned above, the topgazer is a large predator that lives in freshwater bodies. Adults of this species grow up to 100 cm in length and weigh more than 10 kg.

The long body that the topgazer (fish) has is flattened laterally. It is all covered with small scales with rims of black dots. The back is green-gray, almost flat, without a hump. The sides and belly of the fish have a silvery tint. The fin is darker in color than the back. And it has a thick bone spine in its structure. The abdominal fins are yellowish, sometimes with a pink tint. There is a keel at the rear. The anal fin is quite long and almost touches the tail. It is colored in the same way as the ventral fins.

The top gazer has a very interesting structure of the head and eyes. Its description is as follows: silver-golden eyes are located very high, it seems that the fish is only looking up (hence its name); the head is very small compared to the body, the mouth is also directed upward.

This type of fish prefers the middle and upper layers of water. In lakes, the vertebrate rarely approaches the shores, as it loves open spaces. The Verkhoglyad is a schooling fish. The smaller the individuals, the larger the school. Large fish prefer to be alone. Also, the large leopard rarely rises to the surface of the water; it is a lover of depth.

This is interesting: Valek

superlative

VERKHOGLYAD , a, m. (colloquial). A person characterized by superstitiousness.

| and. top viewer , i.

| adj. Verkhoglyadsky , oh, oh.

Meanings in other dictionaries

• top viewer - Top/o/look/. Morphemic-spelling dictionary
• superficial gazer - superficial gazer I m. 1. colloquial. Someone who has a frivolous, superficial attitude towards something. 2. Used as a blasphemous or abusive word. II m. 1. Fish of the carp family. 2. The meat of such fish is eaten. 3. Food prepared from such meat. Explanatory Dictionary by Efremova
• superglyad - VERKHOGLYAD -a; m. Razg. About someone who is distinguished by superficiality. ◁ Verkhoglyadka, -i; pl. genus. -doc, dat. -dkam; and. Verkhoglyadsky, -aya, -oh. B. approach to solving a problem. Kuznetsov's Explanatory Dictionary
• superlative - See top Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary
• top viewer - noun, number of synonyms: 22 loafer 112 helihopter 24 top whistle 3 top grip 2 top grip 3 top 4 wind 262 windy head 15 anemone 23 wind runner 16 wind call 10 wind dance 11 leten 3 half-educated 16 half-educated 4 kestrel 25 empty-headed 6 pacifier 37 mouthful 45 fish 773 whistler 51 quick grabber 8 Dictionary of synonyms of the Russian language
• superlative - spelling superlative, -and Lopatin's spelling dictionary
• superglyad - Superglyad, superglyad, superglyad, superglyad, superglyad, superglyad, superglyad, superglyad, superglyad, superkeep, superglyade, supergender Zaliznyak's Grammar Dictionary
• superstitious - (foreigner) - an unfounded person with superficial concepts To supervise - not to delve into the matter Wed. There is not even an empty gazer, what can be said about Odysseus. Gogol. Correspondence with friends. Mikhelson's Phraseological Dictionary
• Verkhoglyad - (Erythroculter erythropterus) fish of the carp family. Distributed in the Amur basin and in the rivers of China. Length up to 1 m, weighs up to 9 kg. The mouth is directed upward, the eyes are placed high (hence the name), which is associated with the capture of prey in the upper layers of water. Great Soviet Encyclopedia
• Verkhoglyad - -a, m. colloquial. neglected Someone who is superb. People who are not given the ability to delve into the essence of things are divided into Old Believers and superficialists. Belinsky, Works of A. Pushkin. “The scribbler is growing, superstar,” my mother winced after he left. Grachevsky, Tyuleniy Island. Small academic dictionary
• top viewer - VERKHOGL'YAD, top viewer, male. (colloquial, neglectful). A superficial person who does not delve into the life around him, into the essence of the matter. This is not a real scientist, this is a superficial one. Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary
• superlative - see >> slacker Dictionary of synonyms Abramov

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Appearance

In appearance and habits, this predator strongly resembles the saberfish. It also forms large schools and feeds in the upper layers of water, but unlike its closest relative it can reach quite impressive sizes. Adults grow up to 1 m in length and weigh more than 10 kg. As a rule, fishermen's catches are dominated by specimens weighing 2–3 kg. Catching larger fish is considered good luck.

The body of the water gazer is ideally suited for living in strong currents. It is quite long, laterally flattened and has a low profile, which increases the hydrodynamics of the predator and allows it to make quick maneuvers in a directed water flow. The length of the body is 4 times its height. A small hump only at the base of the head. Most of the back has a horizontal profile. The upper body is painted in dark colors. The sides are yellowish-silver.

Attention! At the base of the dorsal fin of the fish there is a hard spine, which, if handled carelessly, can cause injury to the fisherman.

During release from the hook, the leopard should be held by the gill covers. The pelvic fins are quite large in size and colored yellow-gray.

In summer, the glider can be successfully caught in the dark.

On a relatively small head there is an upward-pointing mouth, which indicates the pelagic lifestyle of this predator. The jaw apparatus is quite massive and allows it to swallow relatively large prey. The eyes are set high and well record everything that happens in the upper horizons of the water. It is because of this feature that the fish got its name.

Catching Verkhoglyad with a spinning rod: habitat, bait and fishing methods

A large fish that lives in the Far East in the Amur River basin. It is a common species for this region. Often forms large flocks. Pelargic predator, but in summer it actively switches to feeding on flying insects. In young individuals, zooplankton makes up a significant part of the diet.

It also happens: How it bites during a full moon

The topgazer is a typical predator, so in the summer the best fishing method is spinning. In addition, during the active flight of aquatic insects, the topgazer can switch to feeding from the surface of the water, which makes it an excellent opponent for fly fishermen who prefer fishing with “surface baits.” Verkhoglyad is well adapted to cold climates, so it can be caught in winter using spoons and fry.

About the ordinary leprechaun

3

When people talk about the glider, they mean the freshwater fish, the common glider (Chanodichthys erythropterus) from the family Cyprinidae (grass carp also belongs to this family) of the order Cypriniformes and, accordingly, from the class Ray-finned fish. This species is distributed only in Asia, but quite widely:

• Primorye - the Ussuri River and Lake Khanka - the northern part of the range.
• Eastern Asia - reservoirs from the middle reaches of the Amur in China to the reservoirs of the northern part of Vietnam - the southern part of the range.

The common leopard is found everywhere - in river beds and canals, and in lakes. This fish prefers thick water.

A photo of a leopard fish shows a “surprisedly bewildered” upturned mouth, which is scientifically called the upper one. It is the shape of the mouth and high-placed eyes that explain the name of this type of fish - the top gazer. It seems that the fish’s gaze is constantly directed upward. This feature can be seen in the video below.

External structure

The common leopard has a typical elongated body shape for fish, which is well compressed from the sides. Other features of the appearance of this fish:

• The scales are small, and the outer edge of each scale is decorated with a black rim of numerous small dots.
• The color of the back is dark grey-marsh, and the sides are slightly lighter and have a silvery tint.
• The dorsal fin is tall and dark in color, located in the center of the back. It begins immediately behind the base of the abdominal muscles.
• The first ray of the dorsal fin is bony, that is, it is a thick, smooth spine.
• The part of the abdomen behind the pelvic fins is devoid of scales. This is a keel that extends to the anal fin.
• The anal fin is quite long, starting almost at the level of the back of the dorsal fin.
• The caudal fin is equal-lobed with a deep notch in the center.

The “calling card” of the surface gazer’s appearance is its head: it is small with an upper mouth and large eyes located very high. The lower jaw of the mouth is directed almost vertically upward, just as is typical for the structure of the arowana's mouth.

The common leopard is a large fish, reaching a length of up to 1 meter and a weight of 9 kilograms.

Nutrition and reproduction

Based on their feeding type, leopards are predators. They begin to eat fish when they reach a body length of seven centimeters. They like to hunt in rivers behind capes, where there is a small backwater and a fast current nearby. The basis of the diet is fish with an elongated body shape (juvenile chebak and crucian carp). But food preferences may change; for example, in lakes, the raspberry plays a large role in the diet. Insect larvae, such as mayflies, during their massive flight, are also important in the diet of surface gazers.

Reproduction

Having reached the age of 6 years, the common leopard begins to reproduce; the length of the spawners is approximately 40 centimeters. Spawns in July, when there is a summer flood. Spawning grounds are located next to sand spits in river beds. The eggs are pelagic and do not require care from their parents, therefore, having completed spawning, the adults migrate to channels, where they begin to feed. And the fry that hatch from the eggs are carried into the bays by the current and wind. The young feed on plankton and then switch to predation (after reaching seven centimeters in length).

Why do Chinese fishermen need sky gazers?

So, back to the citizens of China, who almost regularly, on the eve of the Chinese New Year, violate the state border with Russia passing through the waters of Lake Khanka. But first, it is important to mention that the fish has tender and soft meat, which is the reason for its widespread use in cooking.

According to a long-standing tradition in China, the New Year's table must contain a dish made from fish. It is believed that a fish dish is a guarantee of prosperity and wealth in the home. For this purpose, freshwater fish are the most popular, but not grown in artificial conditions, but caught in a natural reservoir. And the topgazer from Lake Khanka is valued more than all other fish.

The leopard spends the winter months in wintering pits. Almost all of them are located in the Russian part of the lake. A strong desire to catch fish is what forces Chinese fishermen to illegally enter Russian territory across the ice of the lake in order to catch this fish, which is of particular value during the pre-New Year days of the eastern calendar.

The cost of 1 kilogram of verkhoglyad in Chinese markets reaches an incredible figure - 300 yuan. For many Chinese, trading this fish during the New Year's Eve is a good source of income. One of the Chinese detained by Russian border guards admitted this, saying that his family exists only through fishing, sometimes illegally. Sad. But the viewer is not to blame for this! Take another look at the photo of the leopard fish and its slightly unusual head.

Lifestyle

On the river, this predator prefers to stay in places with reverse currents. The largest individuals usually stand on the main stream. For parking, the fish chooses areas with an uneven bottom, where it is more convenient to set up an ambush. In cold water it is more often found in deep coastal pools and riverbed holes. In the warm season, it is evenly distributed throughout the entire water area.

The leopard is characterized by a gregarious lifestyle. It should be noted that the smaller the fish, the greater the number of individuals in the school. The largest specimens often hunt alone and jealously guard their territory.

Where is the saberfish found?

Fish weighing less than 1 kg usually stand at the surface of the water. Larger individuals prefer to stick to the middle or bottom horizons. The location of the topgazer in a reservoir can be influenced by several factors:

• water level and its transparency;
• temperature;
• degree of illumination;
• weather;
• seasonal features.

Despite the fact that this predator is a tropical fish and feels more comfortable in warm water, it does not lose its activity in winter. In winter, fish move less around the reservoir and are more often found near deep holes, as well as under steep, washed-out banks, where the depth is 3–4 m.

This is interesting: Verkhovka

Nutrition

This type of fish lives in the water column. The main food of the topgazer predator is small fish, here are the main ones:

• Gudgeon.
• Crucian carp.
• Savory belly.
• Squeaky killer whale.
• Chebak.
• Smelt.
• Podust et al.

The young first feed on plankton and insect larvae, and then, as they grow, they switch to feeding on small vertebrates. In addition, the topgazer (fish) eats flying insects, which, while flying over the surface of the water, fall en masse into the water and become very easy prey.

Superglover fish: recipe for cooking in Birobidzhan style

Another way to prepare it is with vegetables. We will need: a large verkhoglyad (about 3 kilos), a kilogram of eggplants, half a kilogram of tomatoes, half a kilogram of onions, a head of garlic, half a glass of vegetable oil, half a glass of flour, salt and pepper, herbs.

1. We clean the verkhoglyad, cut it into pieces, add salt and pepper, and roll it in flour.
2. Fry the pieces in well-heated vegetable oil (on both sides, until crusty and golden).
3. Cut the peeled eggplants into circles, add some salt and leave for about fifteen minutes. After a while, dry the mugs, then fry them in vegetable oil (at the end of the process, add tomatoes cut into slices). In a saucepan greased with oil, place: a layer of eggplants, a layer of fried onions, tomatoes, fish.
4. Add the greens, a little hot water (a third of a glass), close the lid and simmer over low heat for about 45 minutes. Some time before readiness, add the garlic.
5. Ready! Serve with dry white wine.

Spawning

The leopard becomes sexually mature in the fifth year of life. By this time, it manages to reach a length of about 40 cm. Spawning begins in the second half of June, when the water in the Far Eastern rivers warms up to 18 degrees. Spawning takes place on sandy spits with moderate currents.

A small rotating spoon is one of the best baits for catching gliders.

In one clutch there can be about half a million eggs, which undergo the development process in the water column without sticking to any underwater objects. This feature of reproduction is not typical for other representatives of carp breeds.

During spawning, males acquire a “nuptial plumage.” Their fins and upper back become black. After spawning, the fish returns to their usual habitats and begins to feed intensively, restoring the strength spent on spawning.

Slender fish and where to catch it

Whitefish can be caught throughout the season and are an excellent choice for spinning anglers. It bites most actively with the onset of the summer flood, accumulating in large schools in quick succession near the sandbanks; in spring and autumn, the water gazer fish stays at a depth near the fairway, which can make it difficult to detect. Catching a leopard, like catching a lenok, is most successful at dawn, at this time it hunts for riding fish and insects. During the day, the chances of catching a leopard are significantly reduced; before a heavy rain, biting activity may increase.

Verkhovka - description of fish

Verkhovka is an excellent live bait for perch. How she is caught. Habitats, spawning and distribution of verkhovka. What does she eat?

Description of the Verkhovka

This small fish, which is called the redhead, oatmeal, and in some places chikoy, belongs to the ray-finned fish from the carp family. Verkhovka has some similarities with a small bleak , with which it is often confused. But the difference between the verkhovka and the bleak lies in the slab body and larger head. Bleak is a somewhat flat fish.

The crown is distinguished by a short lateral line, attributable to 2-12 scales, compared with the head with large eyes, an upper mouth and, of course, small size. This fish never grows more than 9 cm, and most often its length is about six centimeters.

The color of the top has a light green tint, the back is slightly darker, and the sides have a silvery tint. In the water, flocks of crowned moths sparkle like sparkles. In the sun, the scales of these fish become dazzling silver. The fins are transparent, matching the color of the water. On the sides you can see something like a bluish stripe. Depending on the color of the water and other conditions in a particular reservoir, the color of the top can change, be a little lighter and darker. The life of this small fish is also short - no more than four years.

Verkhovka as live bait

Like bleak, verkhovka is a delicate fish with easily falling scales that can be removed even with your fingers. This makes it a very weak live bait, but still there is no alternative to this fish in catching perch and other predators with it. But you can only grab it by the lip. However, perches often willingly take the dead top if some movements of the bait are made in the form of simple retrieving or jerking.

Verkhovka habitats

Verkhovka lives in the upper layers of rivers with weak currents, oxbow lakes, lakes, in dug pits and reservoirs, adhering to not very silted places with hard clay-sandy soil. This is a typically schooling fish that feeds all day and in the dark. At night in good weather under the moon you can always see circles on calm water - this is the melting of the tops and bleak. During prolonged bad weather, as well as in spring and autumn, the verkhovka goes deeper. But for the most part, the upper layers of water are its home. This is a very shy fish. Often, from hitting the water with an oar, from knocking and even screaming, flocks of crowned beetles jump out of the water - splashing in all directions. The same picture happens during a driven hunt of perches, which also in a flock drive a flock of perches aground and begin a feast. Then the water boils from the frightened top leaders fleeing. Such boiling “cauldrons” attract seagulls, and they serve as a guide for anglers with spinning rods who come to these places and catch perch with small rotating and oscillating spoons.

I advise you to read: Catching boiler perch

Verkhovna spawning

Verkhovkas become capable of reproduction quite early - by the age of two years of their short life, when they reach a size of four centimeters. Spawning occurs in several stages, starting from May-June and often in July. The optimal water temperature for spawning verkhovka is 15-25 degrees. The eggs are deposited at a depth of about one and a half meters. Females stick it to the bottom of aquatic plants: water lilies, pondweed, arrowhead, even to objects floating in the water. The eggs mature for about a week and the larvae hatch ready for independent life, that is, capable of moving in the water and feeding.

What does the verkhovka eat?

At first, the fry greedily feed on zooplankton, which includes rotifers and cladocerans. Next, the verkhovka begins to feed on various larvae, eats beetles, insects, and will not refuse fish eggs, being a very harmful fish in cultural reservoirs. During the daytime it feeds on mayflies, flies and other flying insects, and by night it goes to the depths, where it continues to feed, only now on zooplankton. Despite its small size, it is a very voracious fish.

Spreading

The verkhovka lives in most reservoirs of Russia, Europe, southern and northern latitudes, without affecting the northern rivers and reservoirs of the Middle and Far East. Although the verkhovka is distributed in many countries and regions, and in large quantities, this fish, due to its insignificant size, is not in demand as a food product, although its meat is fatty and tender. They say that canned food, sprats, and cutlets are made from verkhovka. True, cleaning and gutting such a fish is hard labor.

I advise you to read: How to cook verkhovka

Fishing for verkhovka

As already mentioned, this fish is an excellent bait fish for perch fishing. Therefore, the verkhovka is caught with lifts or the lightest fishing rod with thin equipment using pieces of worms, maggots and bread.

Encyclopedia of fish {amp}gt; Methods for catching a glider

The redfish can be caught with a spinning rod, fly fishing, bottom fishing rod, float rod and wire rod.
The bait for it is oscillating and rotating spoons, mostly of medium size, which are cast in the upper layer of water at maximum speed. In the current, the bait for the surface gazer is a bunch of white nylon threads, small live fish or pieces of it, shrimp, worms, crayfish necks and insects. The animal bait is allowed into the wiring no lower than 0.5 meters from the surface of the water. In this case, fishing line is used with a diameter of 0.3-0.4 millimeters. Hooks No. 8.5-10. The top viewer takes the bait very carefully, often unnoticeably removing the worm from the hook. He himself is almost never hooked, so when catching him you need to have a certain dexterity.

In addition, when particularly large predators are encountered, it is necessary to show patience and remarkable physical strength. The bluegill bites well almost all year round, but it is best at the beginning of the summer flood. In winter, it gathers in places where the river current is moderate, and then it must be caught vertically with a spoon, whitebait or imitation whitebait, which is made from a white oilcloth hook up to five centimeters long and about a centimeter wide.

You can fish with a strip of skin taken from the belly of salted chum salmon. The humpback is a subspecies of the topgazer. It is significantly smaller than the surface gazer, reaching a length of up to 35 centimeters and a weight of 500 grams. The humpback has a tall body, compared to the topgazer, and an increased size of scales. This fish lives in Ussuri and Lake Khanka, mainly in calm waters.

You need to catch it with float and bottom fishing rods, fishing line with a diameter of 0.15-0.2 millimeters and hooks No. 3-5. The bait is crayfish, shrimp and other animal baits.