Where the largest rotan is found and a description of edible fish. Description of rotan fish and everything about catching it The biggest rattan fish

Today was a usual after-work evening, when suddenly I went fishing))) Unexpectedly, unexpectedly)) There were no dung worms, and therefore I quickly dug up earthen ones. And now the mormykha flies into the duckweed to lure out the rotashek. In several places, the rotans were silent. I don’t understand their behavior, why they didn’t peck, because they were there. And so I found a place and caught a few pieces.

Then the rotashki began to peck and I periodically pulled them out and threw them into a bucket.

Rotashki peck at earthen ones, not badly, because he himself earthworm much larger than a dung snake, and such a snake on a mormykha well lures a predator out of an ambush.

And so I decide to change the place and come to a place where it usually doesn’t bite very much. That's how much I catch rotan there in small quantities. And then a big earthen snake sits on a mormykha and the whole thing goes into the water, barely breaking through the duckweed.
I’m playing mormyhya and then a bite ... a bite like a small rotasha and I sat down in anticipation of swallowing an earthen snake ... by the bite it was clear that the rattan was small and now it began to raise its nod and I hooked it ... but it didn’t work to pull out the mormykha ... I thought it was a hook, but then something came at the other end of the line ... then the fish began to splash and I thought it was a good crucian, but then I saw a big rotan O_O Tin ... I slowly fold the line and pull it out by the line. and here is my record for rotan))) My largest rotan))

By the way, many say that rotans are very scary ... no rotans, on the contrary, are cool, unusual and beautiful in their own way, but it is this rotan that inspires horror O_o And if you catch 1 kg what kind of fish it will be O_o

If I didn’t know what kind of fish it was ... but I would have caught how many years ago I caught the first 2 gobies on the river, when I didn’t know what kind of fish it was ... then if I caught such a rotan, I would probably be scared))))

My rotan is 550 grams))) I'm happy)))

In principle, I caught a lot, but I did not count the fish. Very happy with the fishing

Among biologists, the rotan-firebrand has become notorious. A small fish kept as an aquarium fish was released where it had never lived before. The results were stunning: rapid adaptation to new vast spaces, complete exclusion of other fish and even newts from small stagnant water bodies.

This fish serves good example how the range of an animal during artificial resettlement can many times exceed the original one. Small swampy water bodies overgrown with aquatic plants characteristic of the Amur basin in its middle and lower reaches, as well as Primorye and adjacent regions of North and Korea - that's what happened natural area species habitat.

AQUARIUM LANDING

In 1912, the St. Petersburg naturalist I. Zalevsky, for some reason, released fish from his aquarium into a garden pond. The released rotans successfully survived the winter and in the spring gave rise to numerous offspring, marking the beginning of resettlement in nearby St. Petersburg ponds and rivers. Later, in the 1930s, rotans were sold en masse in the bird markets of Moscow and other big cities. Soviet Union. Many hobbyists then released the annoying pets into local water bodies. Now the area of ​​​​settlement of rotan-firebrand covers vast expanses of Eastern Europe, Southern Urals and south Western Siberia. Now the species is actively spreading to the west, in the countries of Europe, including the Balkan Peninsula. Extensive isolated habitats arose in the basin of the Amu-Darya and Syr-Darya (and). And in last years it was also discovered, which is highly undesirable, even in the Baikal basin!

THE OWNER OF THE WATER

Calculations show that the firebrand captures new water areas at a speed of about 10-14 km per year, mastering first of all the old rivers, floodplain reservoirs, shallow bays and lakes overgrown with reeds. In small closed reservoirs, rotan gradually crowds out other fish. This is facilitated not only by its exceptional vitality, but also by other features of biology. The protection of caviar laying, gluttony, promiscuity in nutrition increase competitive advantages species, and direct predation against juvenile fish of any species leads to a steady decrease in the number of not only other medium-sized fish, but also newts.

GOOD AND WITHOUT SUCKERS

The rotan goby is often confused with the real rotan goby. In fact, these fish belong to different families. In representatives of the family of true gobies, the ventral fins are brought together and function as a sucker, allowing the fish to gain a foothold on the bottom or underwater object. In the firebrand, like in other eleotrids, the ventral fins are very small and cannot serve as a sucker in any way.

ATTACKS FROM THE GROWTH

The rotan-heads become adults at the age of 3-4 years. Spawning begins when at the end of spring the water warms up to a temperature of +15 °C. The fecundity of the female does not exceed 1000 eggs. The laid eggs, as well as the hatched larvae, are guarded by the male, which contributes to their increased survival.

Firebrand larvae already on the second day after birth begin to feed on the smallest zooplankton: protozoa, rotifers, nauplius, etc. They grow very quickly and soon switch to feeding on planktonic crustaceans, aquatic insect larvae. Young individuals, having reached a length of about 10 mm, begin to prey, attacking fry of any species of fish and amphibian larvae. Rotan swims badly, so it lies in wait for the victim somewhere in dense thickets aquatic plants. If suitable prey approaches, he immediately attacks it in a short throw. It has been noted that the firebrand can also eat any small dead animals (even decaying ones!), acting as a food competitor for crayfish.

AT THE PRICE OF YOUR LIFE

In turn, rotan fry can be attacked by dragonfly larvae and swimming beetles, as well as water bugs. In some places they serve as prey for crested newt, swamp turtle and water snake.

In the Amur basin, the firebrand is a common prey of the common snakehead and the Far Eastern soft-bodied turtle. Pike, burbot and large perch feed on adults everywhere. From birds, they are regularly taken by all types of herons, including great and small bitterns, less often kingfishers.

The otter will neglect such a trifle, but European and American minks from time to time willingly catch them. Occasionally, black polecat, ermine and Siberian weasel are caught in the overgrown shallow waters of firebrands. In some places, rotan serves as a common food for water shrews - shrews.

IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE

The vitality of this fish is simply amazing! She can survive the complete drying up of the reservoir in the summer heat, burrowing into semi-liquid silt, and complete freezing to the bottom in winter.

A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF

Class: ray-finned fish.
Squad: perch-like.
Family: firebrands, or eleotrovye.
Genus: rotan.
Type: rotan-head.
Latin name: Perccottus gleni.
Colour: variable, often greenish-brown, with stripes and spots of irregular shape.
Size: body length adult usually does not exceed 7-14 cm, but in exceptional cases it can reach 25 cm.
The life span of the rotan firebrand: does not exceed 4-7 years.

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Or rotan, or firebrand, or grass (lat. Perccottus glenii) is a fish of the firebrand family, a representative of the firebrand genus lat. Perccottus or lat. Eleotris.
In the second half of the 20th century, rotan was often called the Amur goby among aquarists.
Erroneous Latin specific names in the literature (orth. var.): glehni, glenhi. The erroneous genus name Percottus is also used.

"For the first time it was discovered by Benedict Dybovsky, a participant in the uprising of 1863 in Poland, exiled by the tsarist secret police to the distant Amur region," writes M. Dmitriev. would have been free to travel around the Amur region and, even more so, to publish the results of research, if it were not for the patronage of the then governor of this region, a man of very progressive views, Colonel Alexander Glen. colonel was immortalized in the species name Perccottus gleni Dybowski, in which the author reflected a curious combination of features of perch - Reps and goby (Cottus)."

In rotan, the shape of the body is bull-shaped. The body is dense, short, covered with dull scales of medium size. The color is changeable, gray-green and dirty brown tones predominate, with small spots and irregular stripes. The color of the belly is usually grayish. During the mating season, rotan becomes black. The head is covered with scales up to the middle of the forehead, the sides of the head are also covered with scales. There are no seismosensory canals and pores on the head, but there are three rows of infraorbital neuromasts. The head is large, flattened, its length fits no more than 3 times in the length of the body, the large mouth is seated with small sharp teeth in several rows. The lower jaw protrudes forward, the upper jaw reaches the posterior margin of the eye. There are teeth on the vomer, on the jaws they are bristle-like and somewhat curved, there are no canine-shaped teeth. The gill covers have a backward-pointing spine characteristic of perciformes, but in rotan it is soft. The fins are soft, without sharp spines. There are two dorsal fins, of which the back is longer. The anal fin is short. Pectoral fins large, rounded. The caudal fin is rounded. In general, rotan resembles representatives of goby fish. A characteristic difference is the pelvic fins: in rotan they are paired, close to the head and disproportionately small, while in gobies the pelvic fins grow together into one and resemble a sucker. In males, the dorsal fins are closer together, higher and brighter colored than in females. dorsal fins without thorns. There is a swim bladder.

In length, rotan can reach 14-25 cm, depending on habitat conditions, however, fish of record sizes are not common. Life expectancy - up to 7 years, usually 4-5 years. By the end of the first year, it reaches 3-4 cm and weighs 0.8 g, the second year - 6-7 cm and 4 g, the third year - 9-11 cm and 11-12 g, the fourth year - 12 -13 cm and 13-15 g. comfortable conditions Habitat large rotan reaches a weight of up to 800 grams, but such specimens are very rare, its usual weight is 250-300 grams. Sexual maturity occurs at the age of two. Portion spawning occurs in May-July at a water temperature of 15-20°C. Fertility is about 1 thousand eggs. It lays eggs on bottom objects (rhizomes of plants, snags, stones), on the lower surface of objects floating in water and on leaves of aquatic vegetation. The male guards the clutch and juveniles. Elongated caviar, size 3.8 x 1.3 mm. Like other goby-shaped fish, at one end of the egg there are sticky villi with which it sticks to the substrate. Eggs are laid in a single row, usually near the surface of the water. The hatched larvae are 5.5 mm in size. The swim bladder is filled with air even in the embryos in the shell, which prevents the larvae from sinking to the bottom, in unfavorable oxygen conditions. The larvae initially lead a pelagic lifestyle. They begin active feeding on the second day after hatching, consuming the smallest planktonic organisms, and then larger invertebrates.

Rotan feels best in stagnant reservoirs with well-developed higher aquatic vegetation. It is very unpretentious to environmental conditions, especially to oxygen deficiency in water. Rotan withstands partial drying of the reservoir, burrowing into silt, and complete freezing to the bottom in winter. Inhabits ponds, small, overgrown and swampy lakes, oxbow lakes. Leads sedentary life, hunts as a typical ambush predator, hiding in dense thickets of underwater plants.
Rotan is a predator. Initially, the fry feed on zooplankton, then small invertebrates, benthos. Despite its small size, rotan is very voracious and almost omnivorous.
Adult rotans eat eggs and fry of fish, leeches, newts, amphibian larvae. Favorite food in early summer are tadpoles.
In rotan, cannibalism is widespread - eating smaller individuals of its own species. During fishing, rotan often swallows bait deeply.

There is an opinion that in small reservoirs, rotan completely exterminates other representatives of fish. But time shows that this is not the case. In many small ponds where rotan lives, for more than a dozen years, varieties such as crucian carp and carp feel quite comfortable. The problem of small ponds, where there are a lot of crucian carp, has always been its degeneration. In the absence of predators, there were a lot of fish and there was not enough food for it. Over time, it began to degenerate and become very small. Rotan successfully thinning out livestock carp, regulates its population and stimulates its growth. Accordingly, on a good food base, the rotan itself reaches a fairly decent size, which makes anglers very happy. In large reservoirs natural enemies act pike, zander and especially perch. Its number in such conditions is usually very small, and in its size it most often reaches up to 200 grams.
Rotan is a weedy fish that crowds out other species or reduces their numbers.

Rotan - non-commercial species, earlier in places natural habitat it was caught for dog food. In urban and suburban water bodies of the European part of Russia, rotan is often the only object of recreational fishing, its numbers are increasing here, and its range is expanding.
In pond farming, rotan harms fish farming by eating fry of valuable fish species.
Large rotan bites well on earthworm and pieces raw meat or bacon, as well as various mormyshkas and medium-sized spinners, it is enough to attach a bunch of red threads to the hook. Being caught in a pond, rotan well withstands transportation in a bucket of water to another body of water, where it can be used as live bait for catching predatory fish, which, however, can contribute to its resettlement.
If you just want to quickly and easily catch some (or a lot) of fish, then yes, rotan is well suited for such events. But if we talk about sports fishing, when the meaning is not so much in fish as in the very process of fishing, that is, hunting for fish, then rotan turns out to be not a very interesting object - not shy, not fastidious, eats everything. Fish is only for children or lazy people who are too lazy to bother with fishing tactics and bait.

Rotan takes willingly for spinning. Of all the variety of spinning lures generously thrown onto the market by many manufacturers, rubber lures are best suited for catching bigmouth. All kinds of twisters, silicone worms or rubber bloodworms, all this perfectly attracts rotan, but catching rotan on spinning becomes more effective if the so-called "edible rubber" is used, because rotan in hunting, more than most other fish, relies on taste buds.
Silicone bait is chosen based on the size of the intended prey, that is, it makes no sense to put pike twisters here, because they often exceed the size of many rotans. Best of all in our case would be microjig. Silicones can simply be hooked without a load, or loaded with a small pellet.

Fishing is mainly carried out in windows, among aquatic vegetation and resembles vertical winter lure, that is, they lowered the bait into the hole, chatted for 10-15 seconds, and if there is no bite, then we go to the next place. In such places, a short and plump silicone worm works well - if it is not loaded, it slowly sinks and moves seductively, attracting the attention of the fish.
In addition to fishing in coastal windows, you can also fish in windows further away, which is even more interesting, because you need to throw a bait with not the best flight characteristics into a plate-sized window. After casting, we let the bait sink, sometimes during the dive it is worth twitching the tip of the rod, somewhat reviving the bait. If the size of the window allows, then the bait, after diving, can be raised to the surface again and lowered again, but usually rattan, if any, bites immediately. After that, we pull the bait out of the grass, and throw it into a new window.

To cast the bait, it is better to move from the shore. That is, first the near glades, then the far ones, because on the way back, when the bait is often dragged right through the bushes, the fish get scared, and by catching from the near "hole" to the far ones, this can be avoided, that is, the bait will be dragged where you are already caught, and not where you are going.
Sometimes rotan is also caught in "deserts", that is, in completely clean, small places, which are often viewed to the very bottom. If you do not see rotan in such places, this does not mean at all that it is not there. It is worth throwing a worm there, at least alive, at least rubber, and you can notice how a shadow casts on it, or vice versa, something bright. This is the back, or the belly of the rotan - the mimicry of this fish is surprisingly well developed, and, merging with the background, it becomes almost invisible.
In such open places for fishing, 3-5 cm, slowly floating, minnow wobblers are good for fishing. Although the rotan does not take them so confidently: you can often see how the rotan, following the wobbler, suddenly stops a few centimeters from it, as if thinking. If at such a moment you pull the wobbler, then the rotan can simply wash off, but if you give the wobbler a few more seconds to hang out without moving, then the rotan will most often take it, even though the wobbler hangs motionless like a knot - it just remembers that not so long ago it something showed signs of life and decides to taste it just in case.

Spinners (both spinners and spoons) for catching rotan are not the best solution. It will probably be funny to talk about playing rotan. Rotans rarely reach at least 200-300 grams of weight. Such a trifle can be dragged as you like - rotan rarely breaks. His mouth is huge, allowing you to securely capture the bait, the greed of the rotan also plays a significant role in this, and strong lips allow you not to be afraid that the fish will break.
Almost any rod can be used for catching rotans. It is better to have a 3-meter ultra-light spinning rod. It can be shorter, or longer, but with a shorter one, it is more difficult to catch coastal windows, and with the fact that it is more authentic, it is not so easy to get into small clearings. So 3 meters is the golden mean.
Any ultralight reel is suitable for such fishing, and instead of fishing line it is better to put a braided cord, because, despite the small size of the rotan, strength is still needed, since you often have to drag heaps of underwater grass on the bait.
In general, catching rotan on spinning is a rather exciting task - the fishing itself is active and not boring, you don’t have to wave spinning for half a day for the sake of a single bite, but in the absence of fish, as they say ... and rotan is a fish.
In the reservoir, rotan is located on the shallows, near aquatic vegetation, blockages, shrubs, more often at a depth of 1.5-2.0 m. But in winter it is periodically caught not only from the bottom, where it is usually searched for, but also in the water, and directly under the ice. This happens when the atmospheric pressure during prolonged thaws. The principle of searching for rotan is exactly the same as for perch.

If there is fish, the bite will not keep you waiting, so you don’t need to sit on one hole for a long time and grind out mormyshka or lure: 3-5 minutes are enough to decide on fishing in a particular place and move on.
Ideally, in a new place, you need to make about a dozen holes that go, as it were, from the shore to a depth. I immediately make a row of four holes along the shore, the holes are at a distance of 2-3 meters from each other, and the distance between the rows is 2 meters. As a result, I get 4-5 rows, i.e. 16-20 holes. As a rule, this is enough. Rotan is a schooling fish, moreover, in winter it is grouped, so you can catch a sufficient amount of this delicious fish from one hole. If you caught a small rotan, do not rush to throw it away: remember that rotan is perfectly caught on the meat of its relatives. They don’t stand on ceremony with playing the rattan, if he pecked, it’s reliable.
Often rotan fishing becomes the first winter fishing, because shallow ponds with stagnant water, where it is full, usually freeze first. And the depth here, as a rule, is such that, having failed due to too thin ice cover, it is difficult to drown. All this makes for many the threshold of the first ice the time of rotan fishing. At other times, winter roads do not catch them.

During the day, rotans peck from morning until late evening.
Bloodworms in winter are the simplest and most successful bait. But more affordable and cheaper - beef meat is used more often. A small piece is enough for the whole fishing trip. Rotans peck at the same nozzle until it loses its “meaty” appearance and turns white. Only then you need to plant a new piece.
Pieces of raw fish meat, including gobies themselves, are also quite effective. But it is more difficult to work with sharp fish in the cold. It is necessary to ensure that not meat is planted on the sting, but the skin, otherwise the bait will quickly go astray.
In winter, rotan reacts only to protein bait. However, often the angler feeds the fish with breadcrumbs and oatmeal, hoping to attract other fish.
Some use regular beef. After freezing it in the refrigerator, the fishermen lower into the water at the place of fishing a stone with a piece of meat cut into small ribbons. Such bait holds rattan reliably, and you can catch it here in kilograms.
With a winter rod, rotan is caught on small mormyshkas, usually from a depth of no more than 2 m and, as a rule, in places with clay or sandy soil.

Rotanya winter fishing in the country is gaining immense popularity. Not only has this fish populated almost all water bodies (in this regard, we can agree that rotan is a weedy fish), it has excellent survival, quickly gains weight, literally feeds on everything that only moves. Hence the conclusion that catching rotan is quite simple, both in summer and in winter. Often you can observe rotans frozen into the ice. This is observed on those lakes and ponds that completely freeze through in winter. But if any other fish would end their life path, for rotan - this is just a period to survive the frost. If you don’t believe me, you can take home rattan from ice yourself, it will thaw, and you will see how this fish will come to life in an incredible way. By the way, most often rotans freeze into the ice in a colony of a certain number of fish, single specimens are rather rare.
The fact is noticed that in some reservoirs the adult rotan does not exceed 5-10 centimeters in length, although the food supply seems to be excellent. In other lakes, the size of this fish is pleasing, especially when you drag the rotan from the ice, and it keeps pecking and pecking.
Advice
Rotan is very fond of the red and white float. For some reason, it is he who attracts the attention of a small nimble fish.

As with any fish from rotan, you can cook a lot of different dishes. Starting from the usual fried or dried fish, ending with more complex dishes, such as cutlets or bage. Many have the opinion that this fish is weedy and therefore not tasty. I would like to remind you that rotan is a predator and has nothing to do with weed varieties. Skillfully cooked rotan can compete in taste with the most exquisite dishes. It is worth noting that the calorie content of rotan fish differs quite a bit. low level, so 100 g of fish meat contains no more than 88 kcal.
Worthy consumer and taste qualities of rotan fish are supplemented by a number of useful properties. What is primarily due to chemical composition fish meat, the individual components of which ensure the normal functioning of a living organism. For example, it includes a huge amount of vitamin PP, as well as minerals and elements such as zinc, sulfur, molybdenum, fluorine, chlorine, nickel and chromium.
The most popular are dried and stewed rotan, their taste is incomparable.

Soup from rotans
This soup tastes soft, fragrant, especially on the second day. First in cold water put diced potatoes, carrots, peppers, Bay leaf, parsley, celery. Then 12-15 small gobies with heads (without gills) are lowered into the boiling broth. Boil 20 minutes. The fish boils quickly, the meat is white, reminiscent of sturgeon and only slightly inferior to it in taste. Vegetable oil, sour cream and herbs can be added to soup bowls.
Soup with cereal
A spiced decoction is boiled from fish heads, bones and tails, then filtered. Pieces of rotan and groats (preferably pearl barley, but in general - any) are lowered into the boiled broth. For more flavor, fish pieces can be pre-fried in vegetable oil.
Fish soup with garlic
400 g of fish, 2 potatoes, 6 large cloves of garlic, onion, “carrots, half a tablespoon of sour cream, dill.
Put finely chopped onions, carrots, grated on a coarse grater, potatoes in a saucepan. Add garlic. Fill everything with water and salt. Put the fish in the pot and boil. Sour cream and herbs are placed in plates.

Soup dumplings with small pieces of fish
Filling for dumplings: 200 g minced bull, 50 g minced chicken, 1 onion, pepper, salt. In addition to dumplings, put in the soup: 200 g of fish, onion, 2 potatoes, large carrots, 2-3 bay leaves, greens.
Dumplings are first dipped in boiling water for 20-30 seconds, then transferred to fish broth. At the end of cooking add salt and pepper.
Rassolnik
Pieces of fish or fish meatballs, pickles and roots are added to the fish broth. After laying the chopped cucumbers and potatoes, the soup is boiled until tender. Served with sour cream, herbs, dill.
fish soup
Peel, rinse, put rotanov in a saucepan with cold water along with roots, onion, pepper and bay leaf. Salt. When the water boils, add coarsely chopped potatoes. Cook over low heat. Serve the finished fish soup with chopped parsley or dill.
Solyanka fish
Take 400 g of fish, 4 onions, 2 pickles, 40 g of butter, 80 g of olives, 4 tablespoons of tomato puree, one and a half liters of fish broth, 4 lemon slices. Cleaned fish, browned onions, tomato puree, cucumbers are placed in a bowl and poured with fish broth. Cook for 15 minutes, then add spices and salt, and after 3 minutes turn off the fire. Shortly before serving, put olives, a circle of peeled lemon on the table and sprinkle with finely chopped greens (olives, lemon and greens can be served separately).

Fish soup with egg mash
Cook soup from rotans. At the end of cooking, in a thin stream, stirring constantly, pour in the mash of well-beaten eggs. In plates fish soup season with sour cream, dill and coarsely chopped boiled egg. Products: 350 g of fish, 1 potato, 2 carrots, 1 parsley root, 6 eggs (three of them for mash), sour cream, dill, salt.
Goby under the marinade
Cleaned, decapitated and well-washed fish (300-400 g) are dipped in salted boiling water. An onion head, carrots and spices are added to it: peppercorns, parsley, celery, dill. Cook for 45-60 minutes. Then throw it all into a colander. The broth can be used for fish soup. The fish is dismantled, freed from bones and placed in a porcelain or ceramic dish, poured with marinade.
The marinade is prepared as follows: 1-2 carrots are chopped on a coarse grater. Stew in a small amount of water (carrot mass should be only slightly covered with water) for 10-15 minutes. Then fry finely chopped onion in a frying pan and. add fried carrots. Here they also put 3 tablespoons of tomato paste, a tablespoon of vinegar, 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, salt and sugar - to taste. Marinated fish is soaked for several hours. Before serving, you can decorate with herbs.

Salad
Gut small rotans without peeling the scales, stew in a tightly closed frying pan for 15 minutes. Separate the meat from the bones, mash it with a fork, add finely chopped onion or green onion, some green peas, as well as mayonnaise.
Salad with egg and cucumber

You will need 500 g of fish, onion, pickled cucumber, two hard-boiled eggs, 3 tablespoons of mustard, the same amount of vegetable oil, vinegar, salt, pepper.
Stew rotana, remove skin and bones, cut into small pieces. Chop onion, cucumber, eggs. Mix everything. Pour seasoning.
Rattan cutlets
To prepare minced meat you will need: - 1 kg of gutted fish (the head and fins are removed); - 2 onions; - 2 hard-boiled eggs. Pass all this 2 times through a meat grinder, then add one a raw egg and 2 tablespoons of semolina. Salt and spices to taste. Blinded cutlets are best rolled in cornmeal and fried in sunflower oil.
Cutlets can be consumed immediately after frying, but it is better to prepare a separate sauce and stew them in it for about 15 minutes.
Sauce: - 2 fried onions; - 6 tablespoons of tomato paste; - 1 glass of water; - 1 teaspoon of sugar. - salt and spices to taste. The dish is very tasty and original.

Stewed rotan
To prepare this simple dish, you need to gut the carcasses. Separate the heads from them and, in a deep frying pan, shift them with layers of carrots, tomatoes and onions. Add bay leaf, salt and spices to taste. Simmer everything until the bones soften. The dish is easy to prepare and the taste is incomparable.
Bage
To prepare this original dish, you must use rotan large sizes. Cut 600 grams of rotan fillet into pieces and fry in sunflower oil, after rolling them in breadcrumbs.
The finished product is laid out on a plate and poured with sauce. The dish is ready.
Sauce: - 3-4 cloves of garlic; - 150 gr of walnuts; - 2 tablespoons of wine vinegar; - herbs and spices to taste. Nuts and garlic are passed through a meat grinder, bred boiled water and vinegar, herbs and spices are added to them.
Rotan fried
Clean the fish, gut, decapitate, rinse in three waters. Roll in flour (preferably dark), mixed with salt (1.5 teaspoons of salt per 3 tablespoons of flour), and put in a heated pan with vegetable oil. When ready, the gobies are turned over. To keep the fish crispy, cover the pan with a lid for no more than 5 minutes. Then the fish is laid out on a dish and decorated with sprigs of greens. The most fried firebrands are the most delicious, they are eaten with bones, tails and fins. For frying, of course, it is better to take small fish.

Fish under the "scales"
We need large rotans, potatoes, onions, hard-boiled eggs, sour cream, salt, black pepper, greens.
Gut the fish, clean, separate the meat from the bones, roll in flour mixed with salt, fry on both sides. Potatoes also need to be fried on both sides, pre-cut into circles. Cut the onion into circles, roll in flour, fry, salt. Eggs are also cut into circles.
A layer of potatoes is placed on a baking sheet, a layer of fish is placed on it, potatoes, onions, and eggs are placed on the “scaled” fish. Salt and pepper to taste, pour sour cream and bake in the oven until golden brown. Sprinkle with finely chopped parsley before serving.
firebrand balls
500 g large rotan meat, 600 g potatoes, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon butter, pepper, salt, flour for breading, fat for frying. If rotan is small, you can take half doses.
Peel the boiled fish from the skin, remove the bones and mash with a fork (can be passed through a meat grinder). Mix with boiled potatoes or mashed potatoes, add the egg and melted butter, season with salt and pepper and form balls from the resulting mass. Then roll the balls in flour and fry in a pan. Serve them with tomato sauce or horseradish sauce.

Fish at home
Home-style fish is prepared from large rotans.
Clean, remove gills, rinse. Put in salted milk for 20-30 minutes, remove, dry slightly on a napkin. Grate the rotans inside and out with pepper, sprinkle with sugar and salt, breaded in flour and fry until half cooked. Then put the fish in a deep frying pan, pour sour cream and put in a heated oven. After 10 minutes, you need to put finely chopped onions in the pan, put it back in the oven and simmer until tender. Fish is served with boiled or baked potatoes.
Dumplings with fish
Prepare minced meat. Add onion, salt, pepper, cream or milk, stir. The dough is prepared, as for any dumplings. Cook for 15-20 minutes. Serve with butter, sour cream or mayonnaise.
Vareniki with fish and fresh cabbage
300 g of rotan without heads and fins, 400 g of cabbage, butter, onion, pepper.

Chop the cabbage, salt, sprinkle with sugar, mix, let stand to get the juice out, squeeze and fry in oil (butter or vegetable) along with chopped onion. Add boiled or fried fish passed through a meat grinder, ground black pepper. Mix well. Make dumplings and boil in salted water.
Fresh cabbage can be replaced with salted.

Ears with fish and mushrooms
300 g of rotan meat, 1.5 cups of mushrooms, 2 onions, butter, cumin, salt.
Ushki are Belarusian dumplings. Boiled fish without bones is passed through a meat grinder with fried onions and boiled mushrooms, pepper is added. Dumplings are made so that each resembles an ear. When serving, pour over with melted butter, sprinkle with crushed cumin seeds. Fresh tomatoes are served with the ears.
Fish dumplings
300 g rotan meat, 1 onion, 0.5 beetroot, 50 g oil, parsley root, garlic clove, piece white bread, bay leaf, salt, pepper.
The meat is passed through a meat grinder twice along with onions and white bread soaked in milk. Minced meat is seasoned with an egg, crushed garlic, salt, pepper. Boil finely chopped vegetables: beets, onions, carrots, parsley root and mix with minced meat. Dumplings are formed, boiled for about an hour. Usually served with cold beetroot juice and horseradish.

Ratan omelette

400 g of large rattan meat, 4 eggs, 8 tablespoons of milk, 4 tablespoons of butter, 1 tablespoon of flour, herbs, salt.

Bread the fish in flour, fry, cut into small pieces. Beat the eggs, add milk, salt, finely chopped greens and pour this mixture over the fish. The omelette is fried over low heat so that the fat is distributed evenly in the pan.

Kulebyaka fish
For the dough: a glass of wheat flour, 2 eggs, salt.
For filling: minced fish, onions, carrots, ground black pepper, a tablespoon of butter, salt.
Flour is poured onto the table, a hole is made, eggs, water are poured into it, salt is added and the dough is mixed until it stops sticking to the hands. The dough is left to lie down in a bowl for an hour, from this it becomes more tender. For the filling, finely chop onions, carrots and mix with minced meat. Add salt, pepper, stir. The dough is rolled out into a thin sheet. Put minced meat on it and pinch the edges. Bake in the oven, brushing with butter.

Fish juicers
The dough is prepared in a steamless way (you can find the recipe in any cookbook). Divide it into pieces of 70 g, roll into balls. Let stand 5 minutes. Put minced rotan in the middle of the tortilla. If the minced meat was cooked with bones, pass it through a meat grinder twice. Add raw onion and salt. Bake in the oven.
Belyashi with fish
The dough is prepared as usual, rich. For minced rotan meat, pass through a meat grinder. Put browned flour, onion, spices. For one belyash - 50 g of dough and 40 g of minced meat.
Pie with fish and vegetables The dough is prepared with the usual yeast. Having rolled out the sheet, they put mugs of potatoes on it, on them pieces of fish, chopped onion rings. Watered with vegetable oil. Pinch the edges. Bake, pre-lubricated with oil.
Sprats
The fins and entrails are removed, the scales are not removed. Wash the fish, put in rows in an enamel pan. Slices of onion and 2-3 bay leaves are placed between the rows of rotan. Each row is lightly salted and watered with two tablespoons of table vinegar and a spoonful of sunflower oil. Usually the pan is reported to the top, then oil and vinegar are added and put on low heat. Cook for 5 hours under the lid, then the scales and bones will completely dissolve. When the fish has cooled, put it in glass jars and refrigerate.

According to scientists, while fishing, the pulse decreases by 5-7 beats per minute. Pulmonary ventilation increases by 12-15%, fresh air makes the person take a deep breath. The stagnation of blood in the lower parts of the lungs is eliminated, which increases efficiency, preventing diseases of the cardiovascular system. And silence restores the autonomic nervous system.

Catching rotan is characterized by incredible excitement, a sense of adrenaline and requires the fisherman not only certain knowledge, but also quick wits. Rotan is prominent representative family of firebrands and belongs to a variety of ray-finned fish. In addition to the main name, the fish is also called grass, firebrand, Amur goby.

The appearance of a predator, and rotan is such, is quite remarkable, it is easy to remember. The fish has a small dense body covered with dark scales. Body color may vary depending on habitat conditions, most often individuals are gray - green and dark - Brown, with small spots and stripes.

The abdomen has a grayish tint. When the fish is preparing for the mating season, its color changes to black. The head of a predator is large enough for its size, in the mouth, which, like the head, is quite huge, there are many small and sharp teeth. On the gill covers one can see the distinctive soft spine inherent in the perciformes.

The soft fins of the Amur goby are devoid of thorns. Two fins are visualized on the back, where the posterior fin is somewhat longer than the first. The fin near the anus is the shortest. The pectoral fins are rounded and large. The tail fin is also rounded.

Outwardly, the firebrand is very similar to the goby, but has characteristic difference- small paired ventral fins located closer to the head.

Grass really deserves special attention fisherman, although it is recognized as a weed inhabitant of the reservoir.

Puberty in the Amur bull occurs at 2 years of age.. The spawning period begins in May and lasts until July. The number of eggs can reach 1 thousand pieces. As a spawning ground, the grasshopper prefers to choose either plants or underwater objects.

Upon completion of spawning, the male remains to protect the eggs, although cases of cannibalism are known. The most favorable conditions for the habitation of firebrands are reservoirs with stagnant water and with fairly dense aquatic vegetation.

Habitat

Initially, the firebrand family lived in the Amur River basin, in the Russian Far East, North Korea, and northeast China.

In the 20th century, a voracious predator was already seen in the Baikal basin Experts explain this phenomenon as biological pollution.

The predator got into the reservoirs of St. Petersburg in 1916. Later it could already be found in Northern Eurasia, in the territory Russian Federation and in most European countries.

To date, a predator from the firebrand family is found in the basin of the Volga, Dnieper, Don, Dniester, Danube, Irtysh, Ural, Styr, and Ob rivers.

Rotan fish - dimensions

Grass, like other representatives of aquatic inhabitants, can be of different sizes. The maximum size of an adult specimen is 30 cm, small fish - 14 cm.

The life expectancy of rotan is about 5 years, but there are specimens that live up to 7 years.

Rotan lifestyle

Main Feature a predator is considered to be its incredible vitality, it can easily survive in water bodies dried up and frozen to the very bottom. Fish are able to adapt to all living conditions., of particular importance for it is the presence of a nutrient base in a particular water area.

Here you will find information about the lifestyle of fish.

Rotan fish - how to catch?

Rotan, by virtue of its nature, moves through the reservoir very slowly, setting up an ambush in dense vegetation. The predator has incredible patience, can watch moving objects for quite a long time.

It is possible to provoke him to attack only with an attractive bait that plays an active game and emits a specific smell.

For a successful hunt, in addition to the right bait, you will also need to prepare the right tackle. Most often, anglers use a short fishing rod equipped with a strong fishing line with a diameter of 0.3 mm, sharp hook No. 7 and a pellet.

If a worm is used, it must be put on the hook in such a way that neither the hook itself nor its sting is visible. The bait is lowered into the water to the bottom and the rod is pulled up with smooth movements. The undercut must be done strongly and confidently. When fighting, there should be no unnecessary movements, everything is done neatly and quickly.

If hunting is done from a swimming facility, then you need to be careful here: when the fish is pulled to the surface, it must be immediately taken under the gills, otherwise the prey will open its mouth and the hook may simply fall out of its mouth. It's so easy to be left without a catch.

How to catch more fish?

I have been active fishing for quite some time and have found many ways to improve the bite. And here are the most effective ones:

1. . Attracts fish in cold and warm water with the help of pheromones included in the composition and stimulates her appetite. It is a pity that Rosprirodnadzor wants to ban its sale.
2. More sensitive gear. Reviews and instructions for other types of gear you can find on the pages of my site.
3. Lures using pheromones.

You can get the rest of the secrets of successful fishing for free by reading my other materials on the site.

What does rotan peck at?

Catching baits on a firebrand are:

• earthworm;
• fly, grasshopper;
• bread;
• cutting fresh meat, fat;
• bloodworm, maggot;
• cutting fish;
• chicken skin;
• all kinds of mormyshki;
• small baubles;
• a bunch of red thread, a red rag.

The meat emits a specific smell, which has a very strong effect on the predator, provoking him to active actions - the capture of the bait. If the intended object of fishing is large, then it is advisable to cut the meat in the form of strips. Chicken skin is also cut into strips, falling into the water, they begin to move randomly and resemble small fish.

Not a single predator will pass by such an attractive bait.

When is the best time to catch rotan?

Rotan is a unique specimen that remains active throughout the year. Firebrand fishing is considered the most productive in the summer; in the hot season, the fish greedily grabs the bait and gains weight. With a decrease in water temperature in a particular reservoir, the activity of the Amur goby noticeably worsens.

A predator from the firebrand family is the first spring joy of the Amur fishermen.

Unlike crucian carp, which becomes active with bird cherry blossoms, and other types of aquatic inhabitants that begin to peck after the river is cleared of ice, the grass that lives in shallow lakes, where the ice crust melts a whole decade earlier, is the first to open the spring season.

The beginning of catching a predator falls on the last decade of April and lasts almost the entire hot period of the year, even until the autumn month of November, when the water in the reservoir begins to freeze.

Large individuals peck well from the earliest spring until July, until the period when water lilies, chilim and moss algae begin to grow intensively in shallow lakes. Medium and small Amur gobies actively feed throughout the summer season.

After the winter awakening, the appetite of rotan increases sharply, rushes to any kind of bait. To catch him, you can use all types of float and bottom fishing rods.

As for the time of day, it is most effective to go hunting in the early morning, active biting lasts up to 9 hours. In principle, rotan shows interest in baits equally both day and night. What is convenient for such fishing is that you do not need to adapt to the time factor of the object of fishing, and the choice of bait is not fundamental here.

Rotan is a worthy rival and a desirable trophy for every angler.

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What gear is needed for rotan?

Among the effective gear for the Amur bull, spinning is distinguished. To catch a predator, it is recommended to use a spinning tackle for bottom fish (drop-shot). The tool is equipped with a sinker, which is mounted on the end of the fishing thread with a carabiner. A hook without a leash is attached a little higher from it.

Wiring: stepped, high-amplitude swinging of the tool, quick oscillations of the tip, swinging movements of the end of the tackle.

Other catchy types of fishing are:

• micro jig, where a piece of foam rubber or rubber loaded with a pellet is used. After casting the device, the bait is carried 15 cm higher from the location of the fish, in waves.
• Rig Waki where an edible silicone worm is used as bait. The main condition is that the bait must be hooked in the middle. A bite should be expected when it is immersed.
• float rod. In this case, the fishing tool for rotan is not much different from the float tackle for crucian carp, roach. Here, the main thing is to use nozzles of animal origin (chopped worm, pieces of meat). Hunting takes place 20 cm from the bottom surface. An active game of the bait is important for a predator, twitches are carried out by the tip of the rod.
• Fishing rod with a nod. Taking into account the peculiarities of the firebrand habitats (pits, depressions, fallen trees), it is worth using the summer version of the mormyshka and a fishing rod with a length of 5 - 8 m. You can put the gatehouse, mounting it at a right angle. For convenience, it is better to use a large and long hook.
• Also gives good results fishing rod with a little nod, equipped with a spinner and bait (artificial or natural). This option is especially relevant for catching even the most capricious predator, the bait can be easily moved in different layers of water, standing in one place.
• Winter fishing rod equipped with a spinner or mormyshka. Going hunting on the first ice with miniature gear in the form of devils, small mormyshkas is inefficient and inconvenient. It is rather problematic to get such tackle from the mouth of a voracious predator.

As for the shape and color of the gear, there are no special priorities here, it all depends on the fishing conditions, the nature of the reservoir, the weather, the time of day and other factors.

For such fishing, it is advisable to take several options for fishing rods with different equipment, experimenting already on the spot, you can pick up a catchy tackle.

Features of fishing

It is necessary to hunt for rotan in reservoirs with stagnant water, where it lives mainly peaceful fish. If there are other predators in the reservoir, in particular pike, the firebrand itself can become prey for another predator.

It will not be difficult to lure a grasshopper to a specific place, the main thing is to take care of the bait, it must be attractive, and its game is quite active.

After the first cast, you should not expect real bites, first you need to play with the bait, throwing it as close as possible to the location of the desired trophy.

If an artificial bait is used, required condition– taste and attractive smell.

Rotan fish - reviews of fishermen

There is an opinion among the fishing community that fish rotan really has incredible vitality, can be too capricious and be dependent on weather changes. The most successful time for hunting firebrand, judging by the reviews of experienced anglers, is the end of May. Already closer to mid-July, the bite is much worse.

Rotan is a worthy contender for true fans of fishing.

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Rotan fish is better known to the inhabitants of the Far East, which is its homeland and where it was brought from. In Russia, or rather, in its European part, this species appeared relatively recently - at the beginning of the twentieth century. There is a version that rotan was delivered to Petrograd as aquarium fish. He is unpretentious to food and very tenacious, and watching his behavior in the aquarium was very entertaining. After some time, rotans were released into a local reservoir, after which they spread throughout Eastern Europe, including Ukraine and Belarus, where a huge number of this predator can be found. Before this species fish lived in lakes, swamps and rivers of the Amur basin and was not found anywhere else in the world. It is believed that rotan is a weedy fish and the increase in its population in new territories has dealt a strong blow to the number of other, more useful and valuable species of ichthyofauna.

Rotan belongs to the perch-like order of the firebrand family. In addition to its classic name, it has a number of others, such as grass, firebrand, rotan firebrand, etc.

It is customary to rank it among the gobies known to fishermen, but this is erroneous, since both species belong to completely different families. It is very easy for a beginner to confuse them, since outwardly both species are quite similar, and an inexperienced eye can be mistaken if several significant differences are not taken into account. If you know the description of rotan, you can’t confuse it with other types of fish, since it has signs that are unique to it.

Having figured out what one and the second look looks like, a significant difference will become visible. Rotan and goby differ in color, size, shape of the head and body, size and shape of the fins. For example, in the first, the head takes on a practical third of the entire body, while in the second, this indicator is more modest. The main feature that allows you to accurately determine the type of fish is the number and shape of the ventral fins. Unlike the one that looks like a sucker ventral fin, which is available in a goby, rotan has two small fins.

The size of the rotan mainly varies from 10 to 15 cm, but sometimes there are large rotan, the length of which reaches 25 cm, and weighing 500-600 g. In very rare cases, a huge rotan weighing up to a kilogram falls on the hook.

Photo 1. Rotan weighing more than 300 grams is considered large.

The color varies between gray-green and dirty brown. Firebrand fish can change tones depending on the characteristics of the reservoir, namely the color and pollution of water, light, bottom characteristics, etc. During the mating season, males darken, females remain lighter in color.

Sexual maturity occurs at the age of two years. The total lifespan averages about 5 years, but some individuals live up to 7–8 years.

There are opponents to this opinion. In some cases, with the help of this species, on the contrary, it is possible to correctly balance the number of individuals of valuable breeds relative to the volume of their food. For example, if in a reservoir it exceeds the allowable indicator, then there will not be enough food for all of them. In such cases Weight Limit, to which crucian carp can grow, will be very small. Rotans, eating fry, destroy unnecessary food contenders, so that each individual of crucian carp feeds fully, and as a result, it grows up to large sizes. Therefore, there are also reservoirs where rotan is allowed to be found.

Photo 2. Catching rotans.

Rotan nutrition

If you learn everything about rotans, then we can conclude that this is not a weedy fish, but rather an active predator that can feed on almost everything that the environment rewarded it with.

The fry cannot boast of a variety in the diet, the food for them is zooplankton, but what the adult rotan eats is much more interesting. In the process of development, it begins to feed on caviar, fry and medium-sized fish species, leeches, newts, and amphibian larvae. He also does not disdain his fellows, and a relatively large rotan can attack a representative of its own species, which does not differ much from it in size.

Rotan breeds very quickly and if its population is not kept under control, then in a very short time it can completely exterminate other valuable fish species. To prevent this, other predators are launched into the reservoir, for which rotan will already be a real delicacy.

For hunting, rotans gather in flocks and jointly attack shoals of other fish species. Eating its prey one after another, the predator is quickly satiated and goes to the bottom of the reservoir, where it lives until the food eaten is digested.

Thanks to the powerful jaw and large mouth, rotan easily swallows prey, which is not much smaller in size. Gradual swallowing does not interfere with his breathing in any way.

Despite the presence of many floating prey species, rotans feed on insects from the surface of the water and extract various larvae from the muddy bottom of the reservoir.

Behavior at different times of the year

In the period from May to June, rotan spawns, and one female produces huge offspring - up to one thousand eggs. It is constantly protected from other fish by males. Of course, it is possible to protect caviar only from those predators that rotan can defeat. But, for example, with a perch, which may appear near the offspring, he should not even try to fight.

They catch rotan throughout all seasons of the year. He is gluttonous and bites perfectly in any weather. Even experienced fishermen can catch good volumes of this fish.

The behavior of a predator in winter is not the same as that of other species, which, during a particularly cold period, huddle in flocks and look for warmer areas. Rotans do not do this and prefer to hunt and feed alone.

Photo 3. Rotan is well caught from the ice.

The only thing that can make them form packs is very coldy at which the reservoir freezes completely. At this time, the predator feels a lack of oxygen and a decrease in temperature, which makes it huddle in groups for the sake of survival.

Even if the water column freezes completely, and the reservoir turns into one continuous ice floe, unfrozen areas remain around flocks of rotans. This is due to the fact that riba releases substances that do not allow the temperature of the water to drop to an indicator that is less than necessary for normal life. Before the onset of heat, the predator is in suspended animation, and when the temperature rises, it comes to life again and can appear in its usual places.

There are no more tenacious fish in local reservoirs. Even crucian carp, which can live in very limited and extreme conditions, cannot be compared with rotan.

Ways to catch rotan

You can catch this fish day and night, there will always be bites. The only difference is that at night the catch may be slightly smaller. Her bites will seem phlegmatic to many, but you should not hesitate here, and when the first signs appear, you need to cut. If you miss the moment, the rotan can swallow the bait so deeply that it will not work to pull it out with your hands.

Excellent results are obtained with a light fishing rod, or a float. The thickness of the fishing line is not of fundamental importance, since rotans usually do not pay attention to this. To protect yourself from losing tackle, it is better to equip the fishing rod with a fishing line with a diameter of 0.15 mm to 0.2 mm.

It also allows you to catch a lot of fish if it is interested in the bait. Tackle should be thrown a little further than the intended location of the predator, and then perform wave-like wiring. Usually a bite follows after the second or third cast. Rubber baits should be used flavored. Their rotan takes more willingly.

Many practice fishing using spinning using the drop-shot method. In this version, a sinker clings to the end of the fishing line, and closer, at a distance of about 50 cm, there is a hook with a bait.

Winter fishing is carried out using equipped with a nod or float.

Lures for rotan

Since this species of fish is predatory, then it takes better baits of animal origin. For catching firebrands, rotan is used, dung worms

Photo 4. Meat on a mormyshka for rotan.

Fish of other species, or rather, its meat, are effectively used for catching rotan. The predator does not disdain the meat of its fellows. Many experienced anglers note that the largest specimen was caught by them on a bloodworm. If other animal baits allow you to regularly catch fish of 200-300 grams, then the bloodworm often brings a record 500-gram catch.

Lures plant origin attract a predator less, especially if he has a choice between a piece of meat and corn, then the predator living in the reservoir will most likely not take the latter.

Moving jigs and wobblers also give good results when fishing. Thanks to this, spinningists can always boast of a good catch.