How does perch spawn?

Perch spawning

Perch is one of the most numerous river fish in our reservoirs, and it lives almost everywhere.
Perch begins to spawn in early spring, immediately after pike. This is quite reasonable if we take into account the fact that all representatives of peaceful fish species spawn several months later.

This is due to the fact that the perch that hatched from the eggs and grew earlier than others can safely hunt for the young of the year of other fish species, otherwise the young minke whales would simply all die of starvation. Spawning in perch begins as soon as all the necessary favorable conditions are in place in a particular body of water.

Varieties

As already mentioned, there are more than 200 varieties of perch. Each has its own individual qualities.

River

The most common species has greenish-yellow scales. The head and mouth are large. The most common catch of fishermen. It lives in fresh water reservoirs, where it is introduced specifically for breeding.

It differs from the river one in a lighter or, conversely, darker color, and in greater weight, which reaches 5 kg.

It is distinguished by its low weight - only 70. The body shape is more elongated. The predator lives in shallow water near algae.

Deep

It lives at a depth of more than 10 m in freshwater bodies. It is a coveted trophy among fishermen; they often go underwater fishing for this specimen.

The deep predator is divided into subspecies:

coastal

found at a depth of 7-8 m. Externally different from the common perch with smaller eyes;

deep

a real fisherman's dream. Individuals reach 50 cm and 4 kg. They live at a depth of more than 10 m. They differ from their relatives in their bluish color, powerful body, and strong teeth.

The growth rate of the underwater predator comes from the cleanliness of the reservoir - in unpolluted water the fish develops almost twice as fast. In addition, perch is vulnerable to temperature changes - at lower temperatures, activity decreases.

Yellow

Average length 33 cm, weight – 1.5 kg. Females of this species are larger than males. They live in freshwater bodies of water.

They differ from the common perch in having a more elongated, flattened body. The color of the back is dark green, the belly is white-yellow, the sides are golden-green with characteristic black stripes. The fins of the fish are reddish with gold edging. The saturation of shades depends on the habitat and purity of the water.

Perch firebrand

The official name is rotan. Externally similar to a bull. Color varies from gray-green to black with stripes or spots. The dark color usually appears during the mating season.

It lives in fresh waters, the quality of which is not important, since firebrands are very unpretentious. The length reaches 25 cm. The maximum lifespan is 7 years. The diet of rotan is leeches, small fish, larvae.

Balkhash

Maximum length – 50 cm, weight – 2 kg. Found in lakes. It is distinguished by silvery scales, an oblong shape, and an elongated lower jaw. It feeds on other fish and does not disdain its own brood in the absence of other food.

The meat of the Balkhash predator is considered the most delicious of the entire species.

Solar

A bright, beautiful representative of his species. It is distinguished by blue-gold scales and white and cream stripes, resembling rays, on the head. The color of males is more saturated than the color of females. The body is round, elongated with smooth features. There are small fins-ears near the head. Average length – 35 cm.

Found in fresh waters. Sun perches are often kept at home, placed in an aquarium for their attractive appearance.

Nautical

Despite the name, sea bass belongs to a different family and species. Its appearance and habits are strikingly different from its river counterpart, and its lifespan exceeds a hundred years.

Read Fishing on the Yauzsky Reservoir

The main difference is that its body has poisonous spines that do not harm humans, but are dangerous to other inhabitants of the underwater world. Saltwater perches typically measure up to 50 cm in size and have a maximum recorded weight of 10 kg.

Externally, the marine predator is distinguished by a large head, large eyes, and spines. The color is predominantly red with pinkish hues. The belly is light, the back is brown. The color varies slightly depending on the subspecies.

Nilsky

It is deservedly considered the fisherman’s most desired prey, because its weight reaches 200 kg and its length is 2 m. However, hunting for a giant is exhausting - often the fish pulls out the fishing rod and breaks the fishing line. Therefore, before fishing, you should gain experience, and also take a camera with you - a photo of the caught perch will become a pleasant memory.

The Nile perch is considered one of the largest freshwater predators that dominates inhabited water bodies. Externally, the huge predator is similar to a pike perch. The head is flattened, the eyes are large black and yellow. The shade of the scales is mainly silver or bluish, but there are individuals with a greenish-yellow color.

The diet includes crustaceans, small fish, and insects. Some experts claim that the Nile representative is not averse to eating drowned people, but does not specifically hunt for humans.

When does perch spawn?

The beginning of perch spawning depends on its habitat. It is clear that in northern latitudes it begins later than in middle or southern latitudes. One of the main factors influencing spawning is the water temperature - it should rise to at least 8-10 degrees Celsius immediately after the reservoirs are completely freed from the ice that bound them in winter. The spawning period lasts from mid-May to almost the end of May.

It is not necessary everywhere that the water reaches the required temperature in the reservoir itself - it is enough that during river floods the water in the flooded meadows and clearings warms up. This is where the perch rushes in search of spawning sites. Good to know: Fishing weather

Perch reaches sexual maturity in the third year of life in rivers, and in lakes with a rich food supply already in the second year. Small perches gather in schools and head to shallow spawning grounds (from 0.5 to 2 meters deep), while large humpback whales prefer to spawn in splendid isolation, looking for holes (up to 3-4 meters) and edges for these purposes.

Unlike the same carp, carp or crucian carp, perch breeds in complete silence, without making a sound. And this despite the fact that small lake sailors gather in flocks numbering over a hundred individuals, and the spawning process itself occurs in shallow water - from 0.5 meters deep.

Where

Perch is accustomed to approaching spawning sites several weeks in advance. Grass fish gather in schools (100 each), while large humpbacks love solitude and gather in schools of 10 individuals. During the spawning period, the outfit of the perch changes - the stripes become brighter, the scales acquire an emerald hue, and the fins become red.

Perch breeding occurs in silence, without unnecessary sounds or active movements. In shallow waters, striped backs can be seen. Females prefer secluded places with dense ribbon-like vegetation to spawn. Fish spawn for almost half a month. Sometimes weather conditions affect spawning and its duration increases.

Where does perch spawn?

Before the perch goes to spawn, a number of conditions must be met:

• the bottom should be sandy or clay. A little siltation is allowed, but within moderate limits;
• the presence of natural and artificial shelters;
• silence;
• required depth and specific water temperature;
• the bottom of the future spawning area should be covered with thick, maybe short, grass.

River perch prefers to spawn in oxbow lakes, meadows flooded after a flood, and near coastal vegetation.

After spawning, the striped robber is in no hurry to leave the spawning grounds. The fact is that here the water is already beginning to warm up to a temperature comfortable for the reproduction of peaceful fish species. It is their eggs that the perch begins to feed on, continuing to feed in this way for two to three weeks. After the end of spawning, perch can be found in the following places:

• near the shore among flooded bushes and trees;
• next to streams that saturate the reservoir with oxygen;
• near a gently sloping shore with an uneven surface, where a weakened perch can take refuge from a strong current.

During the spawning itself, the perch's bite stops. On such days it is very rarely possible to catch it, and the catch mainly consists of small sailors who have not yet reached sexual maturity.

Spawning in life and perch fishing

Spawning is a special period in the life of any type of fish, including perch. During spawning periods it is difficult to interest him with any bait. At the same time, perch has pre-spawning and post-spawning periods that deserve attention. Immediately after the ice melts, the perch leaves its winter mooring areas to head to shallow water. Such places are liked not only by perch, but also by other fish, especially small ones, which perch simply adores. The fact is that the water in the shallows warms up much faster than in the depths, therefore, most small fish accumulate in shallow areas.

Perch, gathered in schools, chases bleak, bream, roach, and also happily eats the eggs of spawned fish. Larger specimens of perch leave their hiding places only to “hunt” for white fish. At the same time, they do not mind swallowing their fellow creatures. This period is called pre-spawning zhor. It is characterized by the fact that perch can be caught using any tackle and any bait of animal origin, such as bloodworms, worms, pieces of fish or live bait.

Spinning fishermen use completely different artificial baits, such as spinners or jigs. This period can last about a week, and will end literally before spawning.

After spawning, the perch begins to eat again, and it can again peck at any animal bait. This is the most interesting and productive period of perch fishing.

When does perch spawn end?

Perch spawning usually lasts no more than three hours. It begins at sunrise, and by lunchtime it subsides. This continues until all individuals have spawned, within three weeks. Useful: Installation of a diverter leash on a perch

The pre-spawning feast of perch begins even before the reservoirs are under ice, but melt water, rich in oxygen, is already beginning to flow under it. Perch actively feeds until the ice breaks up, and after the rivers flood, they begin to look for future spawning grounds. In rivers, for obvious reasons, this process begins a little earlier than in lakes or reservoirs, which means that even in the same region, but on different reservoirs, it can begin at different times. Recipes: Perch sprats

Spawning is a time of calm. Perch is not particularly eager to feed, and there is no food in its spawning areas. But after spawning, it begins to fatten. For several days the perch comes to its senses, and then begins to hunt for everything that catches its eye - fry, crustaceans, underwater insects, and its own eggs. During the current, it tries to stick to natural and artificial shelters so as not to be carried away by the flow of water, while absorbing everything edible that floats past. This is interesting: Catching perch with live bait

At first, after spawning, the perch sticks to the bottom layer, and then gradually begins to rise higher and higher, until it’s time to arrange the famous “perch cauldrons” on the surface of the reservoir. Read also: Fines for fishing with nets

Spawning sites

Spawning of grass (small) perch can be observed in areas of the water area whose depth does not exceed 1 meter. Deep-sea (large) perch spawns at depths of more than 1.5 meters. The spawning process must be facilitated by certain conditions:

1. Absence of current at all or presence, but weak current. A lot of fish, including perch, spawn in the bays. Most bays do not have a current, but have thickets of aquatic vegetation, which makes these places ideal for fish spawning.
2. The presence of various underwater, including artificial, barriers. The main thing is that the current is not fast. There are reservoirs where there is no aquatic vegetation at the depth where perch can spawn, therefore, it has to look for appropriate places.
3. Appropriate oxygen balance.

If fish spawning occurs in places that do not meet these conditions, the eggs will most likely die. If there is a strong current, it will simply be washed away from the shallow water, and without oxygen, offspring will not appear. In search of suitable places, perch can migrate through a reservoir or rise upstream of the river. In any case, the perch knows all the promising places for spawning and annually lays eggs in such places.

A female perch can lay from 50 to 200 thousand eggs, which indicates its fertility. Despite this, some of the eggs are eaten by the perch itself, and some by other predators. Therefore, very few will survive.

But it is still worth noting that the spawning of perch, like any other fish, is a unique process that contributes to the appearance of offspring and the continuation of the genus of a striped predator.

This process is also interesting for fishermen because perch is the fishing object of most fishing enthusiasts. Its fertility contributes to the fact that perch populates most reservoirs that correspond to its habitat conditions. Despite the fact that small perch are caught more, it brings a lot of fun to the fishing process.

Perch spawning time by region

Before the start of spawning, the perch becomes more beautiful and bright - the fins burn with a red flame, the stripes on the back darken, and small protrusions appear on the gills. This factor distinguishes juveniles from older individuals - the shells that have not reached puberty are faded and inexpressive. They follow flocks of their fellows and eat the eggs they spawn.

1. In the Moscow region, perch spawning begins in the second half of April and lasts until mid-May, depending on the reservoir and climatic conditions;
2. In the Leningrad region, the spawning period of perch coincides with the spawning period in the Moscow region - it also begins in mid-April and can last until the second half of May;
3. In the Chelyabinsk region, it may be very late for the striped robber to look for spawning grounds, this is due to the fact that local reservoirs are cleared of the ice shell too late;
4. In the Rostov region, the ice disappears at the end of winter and beginning of spring, and on the rivers it may not exist at all. Only on small lakes can you find more or less thick ice that can support a fisherman in winter. Spawning here begins early - already in March. This is interesting: Spawning period in the Rostov region;
5. In the Krasnodar Territory the weather is even warmer and conducive to early spawning. Perch spawns here in March;
6. In the Urals the ice melts very late. First of all, rivers are freed from it, then reservoirs, and lastly lakes and ponds. In this regard, perch spawning can begin even at the end of May and last until mid-June;
7. In central Russia, perch begins to spawn after the water begins to subside. Most often this happens in late April-early May;
8. In Belarus, as in most of Russia, perch spawning begins in mid-March and ends in April. True, these terms may directly depend on the conditions and region where the fish live.

How does it behave during spawning?

Often this fish approaches the spawning areas a couple of weeks in advance. Grass perch gather in huge schools of several hundred heads each, while humpback whales follow to the spawning site in small groups of a maximum of ten individuals. By this time, this predator acquires a more elegant coloring: expressive stripes, emerald scales, scarlet fins.

Unlike many other fish, perch reproduce without excessive sound and visual effects. In shallow water, in the spawning zone, you can see the striped backs of grass perches, but they behave decently. The spawning of humpback salmon, which takes place at great depths, is completely hidden from prying eyes.

Females lay eggs in secluded places and on vegetation in the form of long ribbons, and males immediately fertilize them. In this case, mating games take place in the first half of the day, from dawn to lunch. The spawning is carried out in portions, in 2-3 doses, which is typical for many types of freshwater fish.

Perch spawning lasts an average of two weeks, but can be delayed due to changeable weather conditions. The female, having spawned the first batch of eggs, can suspend the reproductive process until favorable conditions arise.

Behavior after spawning

Having finished spawning, the perch does not immediately leave the spawning grounds. The fact is that by the time its spawning is completed, the water warms up even more and peaceful fish enter these places, in which the process of prolongation of the genus begins after the striped one. Therefore, the predator “spins” in these areas, eating their eggs. In the area of ​​spawning grounds, the predator can continue to feed for about one to two weeks, eating and gaining strength after the difficult process of spawning. Then it gradually breaks up into smaller groups and disperses throughout the reservoir, occupying places that are promising for hunting. Post-spawning sites for striped fish are: • coastal zone in the area of ​​flooded shrubs and vegetation; • shallow channels and streams with current and clean water saturated with oxygen; • areas near the confluence of small rivers with the main channel; • places along steep banks with pockets and edges where you can hide from strong currents. In small rivers, perch likes to occupy places near bridges. Here he hides at their supports, collecting floating food or looking for it at the bottom, and also attacks small fry. Medium and large individuals are located in tanks with a slow flow. You should look for such areas immediately behind the rifts and shallows. An additional advantage in such areas will be the presence of snags or wells. The activity of perch during the day during the post-spawning period can be seen very clearly. Perhaps it is most active in the evening, especially the last hour before sunset. Sometimes he takes the bait when it is almost dark. In the morning, the striped fish is also active and pecks while the morning coolness still lingers. Immediately after spawning, perch still gravitates toward the bottom layer. But as the reservoir warms up, it begins to rise in the water column, increasingly coming to the surface. Already in May, its famous cauldrons can be observed everywhere in many reservoirs, when it squeezes the fry to the surface and devours them.

When does perch spawn in central Russia?

Comfortable temperature is a must for successful spawning. Since even in central Russia the weather has been unstable lately, it is quite difficult to predict the spawning of perch. Most often, spawning occurs at a temperature of 10–12 degrees.

Perch goes to spawn when the ice melts, since the water must be sufficiently saturated with oxygen. Remember that spawning times are different for deep-sea fish and grass fish. The fact is that each of these species chooses different places to lay their offspring. Deep-sea inhabitants rarely appear in shallow water in the spring.

Spawning process

Despite its constant mobility and activity, during spawning the perch behaves quietly, rarely showing its presence.
It is difficult to visually determine where the striped robber lays its offspring, since it does not give itself away by noise at the surface of the water. Large individuals are completely secretive, since for them this process occurs at medium depths. Important!
In many reservoirs there is a spawning ban at this time, so fishing is prohibited! Fishing is permitted only in certain areas, a list of which is published in fisheries protection orders. Perch usually spawns in the morning or evening hours. On sunny days this happens from the very time the sun rises and during its sunset. In cloudy weather, the spawning hours may shift closer to the middle of daylight, but the striped one still sticks to the dawn.

Perch becomes sexually mature at three to four years of age. In some reservoirs, where there is a rich food supply and this type of predator is dominant, the striped robber can begin to spawn at the age of two years.

Photo 3. Mating games of perches.

The female perch is very fertile. An individual measuring approximately 200 grams per spawning is capable of laying from 200 to 300 thousand eggs, and larger specimens even more. Naturally, not all of the offspring will survive, and the majority will be eaten by waterfowl and underwater inhabitants, such as roach, crucian carp, goby, silver bream and others.

The spawning process for perch lasts about two to three weeks. During this time, the female striped robber lays eggs in two, less often in three, stages. The masonry itself is a light ribbon of eggs glued together, up to one and a half meters long. It has a cellular structure and attaches to submerged branches, vegetation and other irregularities on the bottom.

Features of perch spawn

Spawning of perch in spring occurs in several stages. At first, fish gather in large numbers in places of future spawning, but young individuals begin to spawn first and then - according to seniority. If a sharp cold snap occurs, spawning may stop for a while, and will resume only after the water warms up again.

During spawning, a large female is accompanied by a large number of males, who strive to be the first to fertilize the eggs. Their number can reach up to ten per female.