White-eye, where it lives and how to catch it

White-eyed Sopa

The white-eyed sop, a fish related to bream and silver bream from the carp family, is also called: eyeball, klepets. The sopa is often confused with the blue wolf, but it has a somewhat rounded or blunt snout with disproportionately large eyes, as if bulging. This, apparently, served as another name for the sopa - glazach. Despite this seemingly unflattering description, the sop is quite a beautiful fish. Her aforementioned bug-eyed appearance, however, fits quite naturally with the appearance of an elegant white-eye. And the name adds even more of a touch of romance and mystery to this inhabitant of the river depths, by analogy, perhaps, with the famous Snow White... Its more elongated body than that of bream and its long anal fin make it look like a blue bream, which is why these fish are often confused. But the scales of the sopa are not blue; they are dense and light silver. Unless there is a bluish tint in the black back. The caudal fin is not symmetrical, its lower part is noticeably longer. The fins of the sopa have a grayish tint and are only slightly blackened at the ends. And the entire graceful elongated body of this fish indicates that its element is the current. The way it is. For the most part, white-eye is caught in fairly strong currents of large and small rivers, although it is more common in large rivers, for example, in the Volga and its tributaries.

Despite the fact that sopa, like all bream, has a flat shape and often shines through in the sun, especially when dried in autumn, this does not mean that this fish is skinny and tasteless. Caught in the fall, it is very fatty and tender, both dried and smoked. Moreover, it is much tastier than white bream of the same weight and size. And the white-eye sopa is not the smallest fish.
It can reach a kilogram in weight and a size of 30-35 centimeters. Therefore, catching it can be very exciting, especially if large fish are biting. But the bite of the sop is often unpredictable, especially when ice fishing. I sometimes had to spend hours in vain freezing my nose in the Volga expanses waiting for the sop to bite, but when it suddenly started to bite, often in the afternoon, then it was possible to catch as much as a successful fishing day. But the next day the white-eye suddenly began to bite in the early morning, and after lunch there was not a single bite...

Where, when, how and what to catch white-eye fish? (+ recipes)

White-eye fish, also often called Sopa among fishermen, is very attractive for fishing, since its meat is not only tasty, but can also be used in various culinary preparations, such as frying, soups, pickling, smoking and drying.

White-eye, also known as Sopa, is a fairly rare fish but very tasty, therefore, in order for your fishing for this beautiful fish to be successful and productive, you need to know where it is caught and when it bites. Knowing these nuances, you can catch a good catch of white-eye and delight yourself with culinary delights from this beautiful fish.

DESCRIPTION OF WHITE-EYE FISH

White-eye (Sopa) belongs to the family of carp fish and is somewhat similar in appearance to Bream but has a longer and narrower body. In length, the White-eye (Sopa) reaches a size of up to 45 centimeters and a body weight of no more than 1.5 kilograms. Average weight White-eye The color of the fish is silver with darker tones towards the back and lighter tones towards the belly. Difference from Bream: The main difference from Bream will be the anal fin, which is significantly longer than that of Bream and has 3 and 40 rays.

WHERE TO CATCH WHITE-EYE (SOPA) fish?

White-eye (Sopa) is found exclusively in the rivers of the Black and Caspian Seas, followed by the rivers of the Baltic and White Seas. Sometimes it can be found in the Kama River or the Ob River in the Moscow region. Adult fish love depressions in rivers when there is a current and live there mainly in a schooling form. Younger fish love the places where they grew up, that is, spawning areas. Considering the river bottom where it is best to catch Whiteeye (Sopa), there will be a sandy or rocky bottom with a strong current.

In winter: At this time of year, the Sopa fish experiences a lack of oxygen, and therefore tries to leave its favorite holes in the rivers and moves closer to various tributaries, springs and places where water is discharged into the river.

In summer: In summer, Sopa is best caught in deep holes in the sandy or rocky bottom of a river with a strong or moderate current. The depth of catching White-eye is from 2 to 5 meters on the edge of the bottom cliff.

WHEN TO CATCH WHITE-EYE (SOPA) fish?

White-eye is best caught in the summer in deep sections of the river with a strong current, mainly at night. The most active biting is observed after 1-3 weeks from the end of the White-eye spawning period

HOW TO CATCH WHITE-EYE FISH?

To successfully catch White-eye, you need to choose the right fishing spot; this is one of the most important tasks in successfully catching this fish.

The white-eye fish is a very cautious fish, so if you catch it with a flying fishing rod, the bites of the float can easily be confused with the float swaying on the waves. It is because of the caution of this fish that very sensitive gear and increased attention to the float or nod of the winter fishing rod are used to catch it.

After a difficult-to-notice bite, it is very important for the fisherman to hook the fish in a timely manner, which will significantly increase the catch. After placing the fish on the hook, it tries to go deeper with considerable effort, but quickly gets tired and stops resisting.

WHAT TO CATCH WHITE-EYE FISH?

White-eye can be caught using a variety of gear, it can be a float rod, a winter fishing rod or various bottom gear. The main thing is to choose the right bait, hook size and, even more importantly, the fishing location.

Hooks: For catching White-eye (Sopa), use hooks numbered 3 to 6 according to the international classification of hooks.

Line: Line used for catching Whiteeye is in the range of 0.15 to 0.3 millimeters. The best choice would be 0.2 millimeter fishing line. This line holds the fish well and is hardly noticeable in the water, which makes it less likely to frighten these cautious fish.

Bait: For catching white-eyes, the bait used is the larvae of various beetles, plant baits, but maggot and worm or a sandwich of maggot and dung worm are best suited.

WHITE EYE FISH RECIPES

Important features of White-eye (Sopa): This fish can be classified as a dietary product - per 100 fillets there is only 2 g of fat. As for cooking, the lean white-eye meat is distinguished by a large number of small bones - it is best to dry it or dry it - such an appetizer is perfect with beer. It is because of the seeds that the fish is not a valuable species, but the tender meat itself is very tasty. Such fish can be used to make fish soup, fried in breading or ground in a meat grinder to prepare fish balls or meatballs, fish pate and other dishes from ground meat. Another important nuance is that this fish is perishable, so after catching it is immediately frozen or processed.

Ear from White-eye (Sopa): Like any other small fish, the white-eye must be cleaned of scales and the gills cut out. Next, we begin to prepare the fish soup - the prepared fish must be placed in a pan with water and put on fire. As soon as the water boils, add diced potatoes, shavings of carrots, sweet peppers, and chopped onions to the container. It is enough to cook the vegetables and fish broth until the fish is cooked - this will take about 10 minutes. As for spices, white-eye goes well with parsley, dill, black and allspice, and bay leaves - they can be added to taste. To make the fish soup tasty, you need to take 2 kg of fish per 3 liters of water.

White-eye (Sopa) in beer with honey: Since sopa goes well with honey, for the second you can cook fish stew with beer and honey. 1 kg of fillet must be cut into portions and the bones removed. Next, put the fish in a thick-walled pan, greased with butter, put 2 chopped onions, 2 carrots, 1-2 parsley roots on top. Pour the contents of the pan with half a glass of light beer with 1 tsp. honey - honey syrup should barely cover the vegetables. Bring the pan to a boil and cook for 8-10 minutes until the fish is ready, add salt and pepper to taste. This dish must be served with boiled potatoes and vegetables with which the fish was stewed. By the way, the remaining beer broth can be strained and used as a sauce for such a dish.

White-eye fillet with cheese (Sopa): To prepare white-eye fillet with cheese, you will need 300g of fish - you will need to boil it in milk, adding 1 chopped onion to the broth, salt and pepper to taste - cook for 8-10 minutes. Grind the finished fillet with 200 g of butter, 100 g of Swiss cheese, grated on a fine grater - also add 1 tsp to the mixture. mustard and black pepper. Place the resulting mass on a plate and serve as a cold appetizer.

Fried White-eye (Sopa): Despite the large number of bones, white-eye can be fried, but it is necessary to make a long cut on the back of the fish - this will not only allow medium-sized fish to be completely fried, but also small bones will simply “burn out” during heat treatment. You can fry the fish in a frying pan in vegetable oil, after rolling it in breadcrumbs - the frying pan should be kept on high heat. Since the fish chosen for frying is small, it is enough to fry it until golden brown on both sides. When serving, the fish must be sprinkled with lemon juice.

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Where does the white-eyed sopa live?

The white-eyed sopa is a river fish and prefers deep areas in the riverbed with strong and medium currents. The schooling of this fish is not always large, but in places with a fairly high density it strikes quite often and confidently if you find this very school. Small individuals graze together with the same young breams and white breams in grassy shallow waters off the coast and islands, where they are caught by a fisherman in the same company, often together with rudds and roach. Having become a little more mature and stronger, large white-eyes go to large and fast water, into the black depths and to the edges of these holes.

Spawning

With a size of 18-20 centimeters and a weight of about two hundred grams, the white-eyed sopa becomes ready to reproduce. This fish spawns at once, in a one-time release, unlike some heat-loving cyprinids. Spawning takes place at a temperature of about 12 degrees and occurs in the second half of April in the southern regions of Russia, and in the Volga region sopa spawns later, depending on the spring - in the middle or in the second half of May. Common spawning sites are shallow sections of the river where the water warms up the fastest. White-eye caviar is slightly larger than bream caviar - about 1.7 mm in diameter.

Appearance and differences from related species

The body shape of this representative of the carp family strongly resembles bream (as well as blue bream and silver bream). However, its body is somewhat smaller in height, more elongated and to a certain extent denser than that of the bream, and the white-eye is inferior in size to it. The head of the fish is thick, blunt (which distinguishes the sopa from the bluefish, which has a more pointed snout), with large eyes, the iris is painted silver-white, which gave rise to one of the names of this species. The scales are larger than those of the same blue bream and have a silvery shimmer, which can serve as another distinctive feature. The coloring is relatively uniform, silvery, the fins have a grayish color and darker edges. The body length and weight are relatively small - up to 35 centimeters and up to a kilogram, but more often fishermen come across individuals of more modest sizes.

What does Sopa eat?

Like most fish, juvenile white-eyes feed on various organisms that live in the river: zooplankton, consisting of rotifers and microscopic crustaceans found in the water column. Having become larger, the sopa switches to benthic invertebrates and insect larvae, which, in particular, include chironomid mosquitoes. Then, having increased in size even more, the already adult individuals begin to feed on medium-sized bivalve mollusks, bottom-dwelling amphipods and so-called water donkeys. It is clear that where the level of reservoirs is constantly changing and various insects and worms get into the water, the Sopa will not refuse these gifts of fate. Moreover, worms are the most common and popular bait for catching this fish, not counting bloodworms, which are more often used in winter. Maggot is also included in the set of baits, but it is better to use it as an additive to the worm, that is, in the form of a “sandwich” known to all fishermen. The sop's relatives: bream, silver bream and blue bream are not averse to having such “sandwiches” for breakfast, lunch, and also dinner.

Lures

I have caught whiteeye with shells, worms, dough, steamed peas and corn, but the main baits for catching this fish are maggots and steamed wheat.
I can’t judge which one is more effective. Maggot is good because it is resistant to bites - this is especially true when the fish is active and there is no time to frequently reload the bait. And also when you have to fish at dusk or at night. The big drawback of this bait is that both large fish and small fish are equally interested in maggots. If a hungry bleak or silver bream is hanging around the bait, be prepared for the fact that about half of your catch will consist of these fish. But for steamed wheat, you won’t be able to spare change at all. And a pleasant by-catch in the form of a weighty roach, bream or ide with several grains of wheat on the hook happens much more often than with maggot. However, there are fishing trips, and even entire seasons, when fish do not react to wheat at all. It’s difficult to say what this is connected with.

When they catch a sop

The only time I caught large numbers of white-eyed sow was on ice fishing on the Volga, somewhere between February and early March. As already mentioned, Sopa is quite capricious to certain weather conditions or the influence of other factors, which is why its bite can be unpredictable. But if you find yourself in the right place and time, then catching it can be exciting and rewarding.

During the period of open water, I had to catch sopa on the Volga from a motor boat along with ide, bream, silver bream and large roach. Moreover, I have never caught a good bite from the white-eyed sop. Maybe it was not possible to find a place, but it seems that this fish has become less numerous and its schools are now rare and small in number. Or is this fish simply more secretive and not inclined to rush to a stupid hook with an unnaturally hanging worm?

On the forested and clean Bolshaya Kokshaga every spring I catch a fat and beautiful white-eyed sop. But also in single quantities, no more than two or three copies per morning. But there were times when the fish, rising, apparently to spawn, grabbed all the bottom gear, especially without understanding it. Often the largest fish are caught at night or before dawn.

Methods for catching white-eye

Catching this species is interesting for lovers of a float rod or bottom tackle. Along with bream and other closely related species, it is a widespread fish in the south of the European part of Russia. Fishing for whiteeye will bring a lot of joy during a family vacation or with friends.

Catching white-eye with bottom tackle

Schools of white-eye are not numerous and often live together with other “white” fish. In its habitat, several species of fish may be caught in the catch. The most convenient and comfortable way of fishing is with a feeder or picker. Fishing with bottom gear most often occurs using feeders. Very convenient for most, even inexperienced fishermen. They allow the fisherman to be quite mobile on the reservoir, and thanks to the possibility of targeted complementary feeding, he can quickly “collect” fish in a given place.

Feeder and picker as separate types of equipment currently differ only in the length of the rod. The basis is the presence of a bait container-sinker (feeder) and replaceable tips on the rod. The tips change depending on the fishing conditions and the weight of the feeder used. Fishing baits can be of any kind: both plant and animal origin, including paste. This fishing method is available to everyone. The tackle does not require additional accessories and specialized equipment. This allows you to fish in almost any body of water. It is worth paying attention to the choice of feeders in shape and size, as well as bait mixtures. This is due to the conditions of the reservoir (river, pond, etc.) and the food preferences of local fish. The fish bites very carefully and should be hooked at the slightest movement of the rod tip.

Catching whiteeye with a float rod

Fishing with float rods is most often carried out on reservoirs with standing or slowly flowing water. Sport fishing can be carried out both with rods with blind equipment and with plug-in rods. At the same time, in terms of the number and complexity of accessories, this fishing is not inferior to specialized carp fishing. For those who like to relax on a pond, a float rod also remains the most popular equipment for catching this fish. The “delicacy” of the gear is very important and is associated not only with the simultaneous catching of bream and other fish, but also with the caution of the white-eye itself. Fishing with a float is well used on “running” gear. For example, using the “in wiring” method, when the equipment is released with the flow. This way it is best to fish from a boat at anchor. Fishing with match rods is very successful when the whiteeye stays far from the shore.

Fishing winter gear

In many reservoirs, it is in winter that targeted fishing for this fish is possible. From the beginning of December until March, fishermen's catches can consist only of this fish. The main criterion for successful fishing for sopa is knowledge of its wintering places. The fish often stands in the current. White-eye is caught using traditional jig tackle, sometimes with an additional leash.

What to use to catch the white-eyed sow

I have never come across a snort on a float rod, even from the bottom. Apparently, even on small rivers, its paths lie away from the banks, along some kind of bottom hollows-paths. In the spring, bites most often occur at the border of a sand spit and a hole, usually closer to the opposite bank, steep and snagged, where current streams break off a fallen tree lying in the water. Therefore, to catch this fish on small rivers, bottom tackle for long casting is required: picker, feeder, cast, probably heavy match equipment will work, but, most likely, the resistance of the float will be too great, since the sop is held on a rather rapid current.

Where she lives

“Sometimes it’s thick, sometimes it’s empty” - this proverb, familiar to everyone, very successfully describes the habitats of the white-eye. Of all the relatives of bream, perhaps it is the only one that lives exclusively on the current. At least I have never caught this fish in still water. And since white-eye spawning takes place on sandy spits of large and medium-sized rivers (photo 2) , this fish does not enter small rivers at all. But even in those reservoirs where the white-eye lives in considerable numbers, its distribution is very uneven.

I have observed the largest concentrations of this fish on sandy river islands, where it stands along the border of fast and slow currents, on wide river reaches, where the white-eye hides behind uneven bottoms (underwater dunes), on external, gentle slopes of river holes and along gentle riverbeds eyebrows (photo 3) . And at the same time, the white-eye does not stay along the river steeps at all, avoiding uneven flows, silted bottom and grass.

Very often (especially in early summer) white-eye lives next to roach and silver bream. More precisely, it is the roach and silver bream, being less picky about the choice of feeding and habitat, that sometimes wander into the territory of the white-eye.

According to the time of day, the peak of white-eye activity occurs at sunset and continues until about midnight. At dawn, the white-eye also bites well, but I like evening fishing more. In the evening there is more time for creativity. And the bite at sunset is increasing. So the angler always has time to properly set up his gear and experiment with bait. And you need to experiment a lot when catching this fish.

In its pickiness about baits and methods of their presentation, white-eye can easily compete with crucian carp. And only immediately after spawning, which in our area occurs in late spring - early summer, white-eye can be caught briskly all day.