Smelt: description, types, fishing features and useful properties.

Types of fish

Before you find out where smelt is found in Russia, you need to pay attention to the existing varieties of this fish . Currently, ichthyologists distinguish the following species:

1. Asian smelt.
2. European (the small lake form is called “smelt”).
3. Marine.

In addition to external differences, these species have different life spans and weight categories . For example, representatives of the European group have a life expectancy of no more than 3 years, and during this time they gain about 8 grams. The length of such individuals is 9-10 centimeters.

The fish living in Siberian reservoirs live quietly and exist for 12 years, growing up to 35 centimeters in length. Over the course of several years, they gain up to 350 grams of live weight. When talking about age, you need to take into account the time of maturation, because the longer a fish is formed, the longer it will live.

Kinds

In the literature, there are two opinions about the systemic position occupied by smelt. The family of fish it represents has not always been clearly defined. The outdated statement about salmonids can be discarded. The smelt is part of a family created specifically for it: the smelt family.

The genus of smelt (lat. Osmerus) includes 4 species.

• Osmerus eperlanus is also known as the European smelt. A small fish that lives in the Baltic and North Seas. Not uncommon in inland waters of Scandinavia and northwestern Russia. Leading a closed existence in the lakes, it was reborn into a species form known as smelt.
• Osmerus mordax or Asian smelt. The species includes several subspecies. Lives in the northern seas. Approaches the shores of the European and Siberian parts of Russia. In the east it moves to the shores of the Korean Peninsula. Found in coastal waters of Alaska. It enters river mouths, can rise upstream and be perceived as river smelt .
• Osmerus spectrum or dwarf smelt. It is the North American analogue of smelt. Lives in lakes in eastern Canada and the USA, in the state of New England.
• Osmerus dentex or toothy smelt. Lives in the Pacific Ocean. It has mastered the Arctic seas and coastal Siberian waters from the Bering Sea to the White Sea. In name and range it is similar to the subspecies of Asian smelt, whose system name is Osmerus mordax dentex.

A relative of the common smelt is the smallmouth smelt. Fishermen often call it for short: smallmouth. The system name of this genus is Hipomesus. It includes five types. Two of them attract attention.

• Smallmouth smelt .
• River smallmouth smelt.

The name of the fish reflects its main difference from the common smelt: it has a small mouth. The upper jaw ends before reaching the middle of the head. The mandibular bone has a deep notch.

The homeland of these fish is the Far East, the Kuril Islands. Smallmouth smelt inhabit the coastal waters of Alaska and Canada and are found further south in the Gulf of California. A distinctive feature of the sea smallmouth is that it spawns in salt water. Its river relative, on the contrary, does not leave freshwater bodies of water.

The smelt family includes a fish of exceptional commercial importance - capelin. Distributed in the northern part of the World Ocean. It is similar in appearance and size to common smelt. Spawns without entering rivers, near sea coasts. The smelt in the photo and the capelin are indistinguishable .

External characteristics

As already mentioned, the described species may differ from each other in their appearance. To understand these features, you need to consider each variety in more detail:

1. Asian smelts have an oblong body that is covered with large scales. By the way, when processing fish, the scaly layer separates very quickly. In the lateral part the body is painted in silver tones, and the back is brown-green. An interesting feature of fresh prey is its smell. After catching smelt, anglers often smell the aroma of fresh green cucumbers.
2. Representatives of the European group are not much different from previous individuals, although some external differences are still present. Basically, there are very few of them: “Europeans” have an underdeveloped jaw and teeth, and the lateral line is significantly shorter. At the same time, the mouth size is quite large.
3. Marine species have a large reserve of strength and can display agility and ferocity. However, unlike the two previous species, the sea smelt has a relatively small mouth opening, and the lower jaw is slightly pushed forward. The dorsal fin is significantly shorter than that of other members of the family. It is located in the same place as the pelvic fins - in the middle part of the body. The fish is distinguished by its compact size and the presence of 9 to 13 scales on the lateral line.

What’s so special about smelt?

The body of this fish is elongated, elongated, covered with large scales. Before spawning, the entire body of the fish is covered with small tubercles. Like all predators, smelt has a large, toothy mouth, with an elongated lower jaw, characteristic of all representatives of the salmon family. Each subspecies, depending on the area in which it lives, has different colors of the abdomen and back, but even the classics of world literature on fishing note that smelt:

1. Brown-green back;
2. Silvery with a bluish tint to the sides;
3. Silver belly;
4. Light fins.

Combining all subspecies of smelt, it has distinctive features:

1. This fish is high in calories, reaching 100 kcal. The meat of this fish can be cooked in a frying pan without adding oil;
2. Fish meat is rich in micro and macro elements, vitamins and is recommended by doctors for the prevention of osteoporosis;
3. Fish has a specific smell. Caught smelt exudes the smell of fresh cucumbers, which disappears after heat treatment of the meat.

Let's watch a video about smelt, reflecting some of the features and secrets that this fish keeps.

Diet and spawning

Like other representatives of the ichthyofauna, existing species of smelt eat all kinds of zooplankton. Among these food products are a variety of “dishes”. It can be:

• Cladocerans.
• Misids.
• Cumaaceous crayfish and other aquatic life.

Older specimens do not refuse to eat the fry of other fish, and their favorite delicacy is caviar. Particular activity is observed in summer and autumn, when large schools of smelt move to coastal areas in search of nutritious food.

All types of smelt have different life expectancies. For this reason, the timing of development and the nature of reproduction are also different. For example, if European inhabitants go to their first spawning at the age of 1-2 years, since they do not live longer than three years, then their Siberian relatives begin to fulfill their physiological needs only after 7 years - their maximum age does not exceed 12 years.

In most cases, spawning begins after the end of the ice run. If the water temperature rises to four degrees, then it is quite possible that the smelt will try to make its first attempts at spawning. An increase in the rate will be noticed when the water warms up from six to nine degrees. Once these indicators are reached, the fish will begin to travel long distances and look for a promising place.

How to catch smelt without getting caught

There are fewer poachers on the Putin - they were scared off with large fines

The warm winter had a positive effect on St. Petersburg smelt. Firstly, the fishing season started two weeks earlier than the usual season. Secondly, in winter, single fishermen were afraid to go out on thin ice (and rightly so), so now all the fish went to the fishermen. They are closely monitored by Rosrybolovstvo employees to ensure that there is no abuse. But, as Andrey Yakovlev, deputy head of the North-Western Federal Fisheries Agency, noted, after the tightening of the code in 2021, there are fewer poachers. Nowadays, especially serious violations during fishing - for example, when using prohibited means of fishing or transport - are subject to a fine of up to 500 thousand rubles or imprisonment. And even a drag is considered a means of transport - it’s a sled that looks like a trough.

In addition, in order to be subject to criminal prosecution, the amount of damage caused to wildlife is important; it is estimated at 100 thousand or more.

“Now, for one head of pike perch, sanctions amount to several thousand,” Yakovlev recalled, “which means that it is enough to catch two dozen pike perch for you to face criminal punishment. Fishermen know this and try not to violate it. As for smelt, which is much smaller than pike perch, you need to catch 128 kg illegally in order to become a defendant in a criminal case. In the bay, the fish are smaller, and here the ban starts at 200 kg (taking into account the fact that one fish weighs 50 grams).”

In a word, only commercial fishermen who have received the appropriate quotas from Rosrybolovstvo have the right to fish in such volumes.”

This year, fishing enterprises were given a quota to catch 1,070 tons of Ladoga smelt, of which, as of April 10, 200 tons were harvested. The bay has a quota of 640 tons (120 caught). Rosrybolovstvo emphasized that there is no lower limit for the quota. If fishermen find out that they have stopped buying smelt and do not go fishing, no one will punish them for this. But they will buy. Firstly, two thousand tons allowed for catching is only 300 grams per person, if you count all the residents of St. Petersburg and the region. Regional residents, by the way, prefer river smelt - from Svir, Syasi and Narova. There is also a quota for it - 380 tons.

Secondly, they buy mainly enterprises - for example, a cannery in Novaya Ladoga. 70 percent of the fish – the smallest ones – go to them. Large and medium-sized specimens - from 13 cm - go to the counter. Or rather, they are first given to the carriers. Only 20 percent of artels managed to organize sales to retail chains themselves, but this percentage is increasing every year.

However, fishing quotas are determined not by the appetite of the townspeople, but by the data of scientists - on the size of the fish population and migration routes. There is quite a lot of smelt: for example, every third fish caught in Ladoga is smelt.

Natalya Tarasova, head of the department for development of the fishery complex of the regional committee for the agro-industrial and fishery complex, said that most of the smelt sold in St. Petersburg, of course, was frozen and defrosted. For this purpose, special storage facilities were built in Novaya Ladoga.

“It’s better to eat frozen fish than fish that was stored in an unknown place for three days after catching,” she concluded. “But there are no fish markets this season and there won’t be, unfortunately.”

To combat poachers there is a hotline, its phone number is +7921 9313216. Poachers are “looked after” not only by mobile groups of inspectors plying along the water routes that ichthyologists suggest to them, but also by the Mercury information system - it tracks all cargo supervised by the veterinary control.

No criminal cases are opened against official fishing cooperatives. There were 4 administrative ones, for inaccuracies in the documentation. Seven criminal cases have been opened since the beginning of the season - against real poachers. All enterprises pay fines on time, because without paying the fine there will be no new fishing permit.

Selection and preparation of gear

It is no secret that both river and sea smelt are considered very popular fishing prey, which can be caught almost all year round. Here you need to take into account the regional characteristics where fishing takes place.

For example, St. Petersburg smelt bites well in December, however, during this period only small representatives of the species are caught on the hook. To catch six kilograms of fish, you need to get at least five hundred units from the hole. If the priority is to search for trophy prey, then it is better to wait until the end of January or the beginning of February. The main advantage of such an activity is its excitement and extremeness. In order not to leave the reservoir without a catch, it is important to show skill and endurance. Otherwise, instead of a good bite, the fisherman may face complete disappointment.

As for the suitable gear for catching such fish, unlike capelin, there is no need to use too expensive or inventive fishing tools, because the weight of the prey is relatively small, so even the lightest fishing rod can easily cope with the load.

The next selection criterion is the convenience of the gear. The devices used should not take a lot of energy from the angler during the fishing process. In addition, fishing in the winter season requires some skill and diligence, so operating comfort becomes a paramount factor. When fishing with comfortable gear, there is no risk of fatigue and lack of pleasure from the process.

Catching Black Sea or freshwater smelt is so easy that you can make fishing tackle yourself. The main thing is to take into account the basic subtleties of creation and follow the recommendations of experienced folk craftsmen. A good manufacturing method is the following points:

1. The first step is to carve a cylindrical handle with increased density from polystyrene foam.
2. Then it should be equipped with two support legs.
3. A coiled spring can be used as a nod material, and the free end of this spring must be equipped with a red foam ball.

When choosing a fishing line, it is not necessary to take the widest models, since the bite does not depend on this. It is better to avoid rigid products altogether, because they interfere with the free movement of the equipment.