White-eye, or, as it was popularly called, sopa fish, is relatively small, therefore it does not have a special commercial value. But since it is difficult to fish for it, fishermen have a sports interest in it.
Description of appearance
Sopa belongs to the family of cyprinids, a subspecies of bream. Outwardly, she really looks like a bream, but the white-eye has a more elongated body. Its main color is silver, only on the back you can see a slightly darkish blue tint. But as soon as the sopa gets into the air, its color changes quickly. Her eyes are relatively large. The iris is light silver. Anal fin oblong, extending from pectoral fins to caudal. On the back they are shorter. On the caudal fin, a notch can be seen. According to all these signs, sopa is a fish (photo is suggested below), which differs from bream.
White-eye has a compressed body on the sides. It can grow up to 46 cm, while its weight reaches 1.5 kg. But for sopa this is a rare occurrence, therefore, individuals up to 22 cm and weighing up to 200 grams are often found.
Some people think that linen, sopa, blue-fish are one and the same breed. It’s worth saying right away that underwear are called peaceful small fishes weighing up to half a kilo (this also includes cyprinids). But bluefin and sopa fish are different species, although in appearance they are similar. White-eye has a larger scale, large eyes and lower mouth.
Habitat
White eyes are river and lake fish that try to stay away from the coast closer to the bottom. They also choose fleeting waters.
In the river basins of the Caspian and Black Seas, sopa fish is found. Where is this representative still located? White-eyes live in the basins of the Kuban, Vyatka, Dniester, Dnieper, Don, Bug, Urals and partially the Danube. It is very rare in the Kama River and its tributaries. In the Lower Volga, it is semi-aisle, and earlier the sopa was brought to the upper reaches of the river. South Caspian sopa lives in the Middle and South Caspian, but only off the coast. White-eye is a river fish, so it does not go deep into the sea.
What eats
The main diet is animal food. These can be various organisms living in water. Sopa fish love to eat amphibians, mollusks, and donkeys. But algae can also be in her diet. Young white-eyed eats zooplankton. With age, their menu is replenished with larvae of mosquitoes and other insects. Since the fish holds the bottom, its feed is mainly bottom, grabbing it, it often swallows sand and silt.
Life and habits of fish
Sopa prefers to stay in small flocks. This is a very cautious look and tries to be as deep as possible (more than three meters). Sopa is a fish (photo suggested below), which rises above this level very rarely. In the autumn, they go for wintering downstream and occupy deep troughs. In early spring, they return, climbing up the rivers where their spawning will take place. If the fish has a lack of oxygen, it tries to settle near the springs. White-eye lives on average 15 years.
White-eye reproduction
At the age of five, the sopa becomes sexually mature, while its size reaches 18-22 centimeters. During this period, the fish will weigh about 100-200 grams. But males become sexually mature earlier than females by about a year. Spawning in fish begins at a water temperature of 11-12 degrees. Usually this period falls in the middle and end of April. One-time spawning in floodplain rifts. Sopa fish spawns with a diameter of 1.7 mm, this is more than that of a bream. Usually it is swept to the rocky bottom during the course. The number of eggs always depends on the age of the female and her size. But this range is very wide. For example, fish from the Dnieper weighing 150 grams and a body length of 20 cm could sweep from 8,000 to 12,000 eggs. The white-eye from the same reservoir weighing up to 500 grams and body length up to 27 cm, the fertility ranged from 18500 to 21000. If you calculate on average, for each gram of body this fish brings about 30-80 eggs. After larvae emerge from the eggs, they remain at the bottom for some time. But unlike their closest relatives, they do not develop attachment organs.
Young of this species grows fast enough. Each year, the fish grows another five centimeters. But when the white-eye reaches puberty (about five years old), their growth rate slows down.
Catching white eyes
Sopa fish can peck both in summer and in winter. But it is worth noting that they do not specifically catch it, like the blue. When catching other fish, they come across by chance. Therefore, for white-eye bait is used very rarely. Usually she comes to bait for bream. For example, in the beginning, various trifles come to porridge. Then it is displaced by the huster and sopa. A little later, a large bream or common carp appears, who drive away their brothers. In winter, plant components are used for bait, which contain elements of animal origin.
The entire fishing period nozzles for sopa change. For spring fishing use animal bait. Usually this is a large bloodworm, which is planted in several pieces (up to five). In the summer, worms and plant lures (dough, cereals) are used. But maggots are better during this period. With the onset of autumn, the fish again begins to choose meat food, so it is better to switch to bloodworms. In winter, sopa still picks bloodworms. At the same time, she reacts sluggishly to maggots.
Hooks need to choose with noticeable barbs. It is desirable to plant bloodworms with a ringlet. Hooks should be no more than 3-4. It is worth considering that the white-eye skillfully removes bloodworms from the hook. Such mormyshki are suitable for a bait: "pellet", "chrysalis", "cone". They need to be selected with the following color combinations: brown and green, white and black, lemon and orange, lead.