Common roach belongs to the family of cyprinids. This type of fish is very common throughout the world. Science knows seventeen species of roach. And the most famous of them is ordinary. Ordinary roach also has subspecies: ram, chebak, roach, etc.
Roach
Roach is considered a low-value fish, not for everybody. Therefore, mainly its sales are only local; it is not exported. Roach fishing occurs mainly during spawning or in autumn. Roach is considered weedy fish. In Europe, they hardly eat it. If it is sold out, it is only large and at a very low price.
Basically, various feeds for livestock, poultry and domestic animals are made from roach. In stores you can see bags of dog and cat food. It is their fish species that is often made from roach. In Russia, only ram and roach are caught on an industrial scale. But basically it is caught by amateur fishermen. Many large predatory fish feed on roach - pike perch, pike, catfish, etc. And some aquatic animals - otter, etc. Roach - delicious fish, especially dried. It tastes like a roach.
Habitat
European roach is most often found in European territories located east of South England and the Pyrenees. And also north of the Alpine mountains. There is a lot of roach in the Caspian and Aral Seas, in all rivers and lakes of Siberia and Central Asia. In the middle zone of Russia, in Ukraine and Belarus it is also a lot. Roach is not found only in mountainous cold rivers.
Where do roaches live?
Where does roach live? It keeps in packs in ponds where the current is the weakest. This fish loves those places that are protected by snags and drooping tree branches, as well as ponds overgrown with vegetation. Roach avoids fast currents and cold water. She prefers warm and calm.
In lakes, roach is found in shallow waters, well warmed by the sun. Wetlands and sites with silt content do not like roach. Before the cold, she swims into deep ponds, where she stays for the winter. After floods and ice drift, this fish is found in water bodies on floodplains.
After opening water, spring roach tries to stay near the coast. In the rivers it often goes into floodplains and elders. After the decline of water, most of the roach remains there. This fish tries not to go far from its own dens.
Description of the appearance of roach
Roach can be small, medium and large in size. There are many similar fish in nature. Distinctive features of roach are pharyngeal teeth, located on both sides of five to six pieces, notched. Large scales on the body. There is a jaws on the face. The dorsal fin begins to grow in the abdominal region.
Roach in shape may be different. It depends a lot on the feed. If there is a lot of it, then large roach with a high back grows. If the feed is small or defective, then growth slows down, and the body becomes narrow and long. In the Trans-Ural lakes, roach can reach gigantic sizes for it. The average length of the body of an adult roach is twenty centimeters. Sometimes it can reach forty. Weight can reach a kilogram.
Coloring
The back of the roach is an ordinary black hue. But it can be with a blue or green tint. The sides and abdomen are silver. The fins on the breast are yellowish. The hind and on the abdomen are red, on the back and tail are gray-green with a barely noticeable orange tint. The iris is yellow with a red spot. Some fish have the same color and fins, golden scales with a red tint on the sides and back.
Species of roach
Common roach - freshwater fish, semi-passage. There are also individuals who constantly live in salt water. Freshwater - roach. Ram, roach live in salt water. All these types of roach differ in color.
Nutrition
The diet of roach mainly consists of animal and plant foods. These are plant seeds, algae and other aquatic vegetation. Larvae, as soon as they leave the yolk sac, eat rotifers, crustaceans, insects, and small bloodworms. Matured common roach begins to additionally feed on mollusks. Former food becomes secondary. The nutrition of roach varies depending on its habitat.
She feeds day and night. This fish is constantly in motion. Most often, you can meet her at midnight. During cold weather, during the winter, roach eats much worse, as it becomes more difficult to get food. But roach is active in the winter and pecks well. In the cold, it usually swims near the muddy bottom and between the algae. In winter, it feeds mainly on bloodworms and vegetation.
Spawning
Roach puberty occurs two years after birth. Spawning of roach begins later than ide, pike and some other species of fish. But a little earlier bream, catfish, pike perch and carp. In central Russia, roach spawns in the riverbed after water drops. In the Kama, Volga and Oka, this fish spawns in old ladies and saline lakes. On the Don, lower Volga and Dnieper roach spawn until the spill. In Don, she spawns early in March.
The onset of spawning depends on the temperature of the water. If the area is located closer to the south and the spring is warm, ponds heat up faster. In this case, spawning begins earlier. Typically, roach spawning begins in late April - early May. At this time, the water temperature already reaches from 10 to 15 degrees. In reservoirs located to the north, and in the Middle Urals, roach spawns in the middle or end of May.
Before starting to throw caviar, roach is covered with a rash in the form of whitish spots. Then they become darker and harden. Scales to the touch become rough. Traces of solid spots disappear a week after spawning.
Before throwing eggs, roach females rise in large flocks. The males emerge behind them. Due to the fact that after spawning there are fish without milk and caviar, it is assumed that reproductive products are swept in one go and mature at a time.
Roach eggs are transparent, soft, with a slight green tint. They stick to pitfalls, snags, etc. The eggs are located very closely, and being on the moss, they look like clusters of grapes. The largest clusters can contain over 84 thousand eggs.
The number of young roach depends largely on favorable environmental conditions. In stagnant water, spring storms are very fatal for juveniles, during which many eggs are thrown ashore. The fry are not at all afraid of the unrest of water, therefore, they go to the depth only in June. In the rivers a lot of young are drifted by floods.
Young roach growth
Young common roach begins to emerge from eggs after a week, in warm weather. Often ten days after spawning. Less often - in two weeks. Fry swim close to the surface of the water. First they feed on their yolk sacs, and then on small plankton. First, the fry hide from enemies among the algae. There, she gradually begins to feed on crustaceans, plants. In the rivers, young roach is located near bathhouses, rafts. There she hides from predators and finds food.
In July, a young fish begins to swim in open water. She finally leaves the shelter in the form of water bushes in August. In autumn, young growth leaves with adult fish for wintering in deep holes. In some lakes, roach sometimes comes to the surface for food, even in late autumn.
Roach fishing
The most active biting of roach in May, June, a week before spawning and the same period after laying eggs. But fishing will be more successful if the river or lake is well warmed up. Roach is caught on bloodworms, small worms and caddis flies. In summer, roach willingly takes steamed wheat, maggot, dough and greens. Many fishermen catch this fish on Hercules, semolina dumplings, moth larvae, grasshopper and bark beetle.
The most active summer bite is on the morning dawn. In spring, it is better to catch roach in the afternoon. Most fishing tackles use ordinary fishing rods with a thin line. Large roach is caught in wiring, in the wild from the coast or from a boat.