In the European part of Russia lies Lake Kubenskoye. Below is a description of it.
Geographic location
A lake of glacial origin, formed among a relict forest on a swampy lowland filled with melt waters of a glacier receding to the north. Located in the upper reaches of the Northern Dvina, 30 km north of Vologda. Kubenskoye Lake is elongated in the direction from southeast to northwest, its length is 54 km, width - 12 km, area - about 370 square meters. km. Sizes fluctuate due to significant spring floods and filling the reservoir with precipitation. During the summer and autumn rains, its area can reach 410 square meters. km. Kubenskoye Lake is located at an altitude of 110 meters above sea level.
Description of the lake
The forested eastern shore slopes gently down to the water and is often flooded, there is a small hill on the western shore. The average depth of Lake Kubenskoye is 1.2-2 meters, but during the snowmelt period the water can rise up to 13 meters.
To regulate the water level and ensure navigation in 1834 on the Sukhona, 7.5 km from the source, aDam "Famous". This effectively turned Lake Kubenskoye into a reservoir with controlled flow. In winter and until the end of the spring flood on Sukhona, the base of the lock sinks to the bottom, as the surge of melt water creates a reverse flow on the river.
Lake Kubenskoye (Vologda Oblast) is fed by more than thirty rivers, its catchment area is 14,400 sq. km. The largest tributary - the Kubena River, 368 km long, flows into the reservoir from the east, forming a huge delta. The second largest river - Uftyuga (117 km) - flows into the lake from the north. Smaller tributaries: Porozovitsa (34 km) in the north and Bolshaya Elma (60 km) in the west. Another ten rivers are 10-20 km long. The flow from the lake is carried out along the Sukhona River, which flows out in two streams from the southeast.
The minimum water level in the lake is observed in March, it reaches its maximum in May, and in June it declines. During the period of the reverse flow on the Sukhona, the water in Kubenskoye Lake arrives by 30-40 cm per day. In summer, storms and storms are frequent on the lake, it freezes in late November - early December, freeing itself from ice in late April - early May.
History
The lake takes its name from the Kubena River. The ending "-ene" is probably Finno-Ugric, meaning "big water", and the meaning of the root "cube" is unknown. Presumably, it comes from the language of the disappeared tribes that lived in ancient times on the territory of the Vologda region.
In the 11th-12th centuries, the region north of Lake Kubenskoye became dependent on the Novgorod Republic, which laidtrade route along the Sheksna across the lake to Sukhona, and further along the Northern Dvina to the White Sea. The Kuben lands themselves were the possession of the Rostov-Suzdal princes, and later there were specific principalities of the Yaroslavl Rurikovichs.
In 1692, young Peter I spent two months on the lake, after experiments with the construction of ships on Lake Pereyaslavsky, he was looking for a larger reservoir. The king was impressed by the length of the lake, but was greatly disappointed by the results of sounding the depths.
In the 19th century, the lake was included in the North Dvina water system with the help of the Alexander Wirtemberg Canal (now the North Dvina Canal), dug in 1825-1829.
Comprehensive study of Lake Kubenskoye was carried out in 1972 by the Vologda-Arkhangelsk hydrographic expedition.
Flora and fauna
Lake flora is represented by 57 plant species. About 4,800 hectares are occupied by dense thickets of sedge, forming floodplain meadows at the mouth of the Kubena, at the confluence of the Uftyuga and in several other areas. Reed thickets cover an area of 540 ha, and massifs of mountaineer amphibian approach 2,000 ha in area and are also located near river mouths. Sparse thickets of pondweed cover an area of 7,000 hectares.
Fishing on Lake Kubenskoye is always rich. 19 species of fish are found in it: perch, ide, bream, ruff, roach, crucian carp, minnow, eel, chub, asp, dace, roach, sabrefish, bleak, pike, nelma, or nelmushka (a local variety of whitefish, quite rare), smelt, bream, burbot. Until now, sterlet occasionally comes across. Since the 1950smore and more pike perch appears, which had not been found in the lake before. Ten species of fish are industrial fisheries, the volume of which is steadily declining due to shallowing and pollution of the lake.
Attractions
Besides the natural beauties, the main attraction is the Spaso-Stone Monastery, one of the oldest in the Russian north, erected by vow in 1260 by Prince Gleb Vasilkovich Belozersky, who escaped during a severe storm. In 1528, Grand Duke Vasily III visited him. In Soviet times, it was abolished, and the premises were given to the fish factory. The Transfiguration Cathedral was blown up in the late 1930s and restored by 2009. In the largest coastal village of Ustye, there is an old church-chapel, a museum of local lore, and nearby the Lysogorsky Monastery.
Fishing
The fish stocks of the lake are gradually depleted, the volume of industrial catch has been falling for several decades: from 616 tons in 1938 to 285 in 1953, only 72 tons in 2013. In the 1990s, a huge amount of fish was caught by poachers (It is estimated that the total annual catch may exceed 900 tons). The fish population is negatively affected by the shallowing of the lake, as a result of which traditional spawning grounds are not covered with water, as well as abnormally high temperatures for several years, which especially affected the number of ruff.
Industrial pollution also plays a significant role: on the banks of the reservoir there are more than 180 agricultural farms, two pig farms and variousproduction facilities. Hopes for the recovery of fish populations are linked to flow control projects along the Sukhona, which could raise the average water level from the current 1.2 meters to the previous two meters.
Because of the extreme shallowness, recreational fishing in the summer is possible only from boats, which are available in abundance from local residents who rent them out to tourists. In order to protect the nelma, fishing is prohibited on its spawning grounds near the mouth of the Kubena and the confluence of the Pelma and Neiga, at a distance of three kilometers inland. In the rest of the lake, this fish, excluded from the Red Book in 1999, is allowed to be caught.
Unlike tourists, who mostly arrive by passenger water transport, amateur fishermen often complain about the lack of convenient access roads to the lake, but equipped fishing bases have been created on it.
The main object of fishing for amateurs is perch, which is found in large quantities, although on average its weight does not exceed 100-250 grams. The forecast for biting on Lake Kubensky is always good, except for the flood period. The bite reaches its peak towards the end of the summer-autumn season.
Winter fishing
Winter fishing on Kubenskoye Lake is very popular. Local fishermen are well aware of the winter accumulation of perch on the shallows near the mouths of the rivers. A week after the freeze-up, the most active biting begins, lasting until the end of January. February and especially March is the least successful period for winter fishing. When the ice begins to melt, the fish begin to bite again. Experienced anglers catch perch from ice floes, which are reached by boat. Catch in the winter on a balancer, mormyshka and winter lure. With a good bite from one hole, you can get 30 kg of fish. White fish in winter are more difficult to catch than perch. Only just before the ice breaks, roach and bream peck well.
Reviews about Lake Kubensky
Tourists say there is something to see here. You can have a good time on the beach, swim on a hot summer day. All visitors try to visit the Spaso-Stone Monastery on an island right in the middle of the lake. Also, travelers speak positively about the recreation centers located in the vicinity of the lake, where you can stay. Most of the bases are located along the Kubena River, there is a camp site near the mouth. At some distance from the lake there is a cozy "Morino Estate", and on the banks of the Big Elma there is a mini-hotel "Omogaevsky". Especially a lot of rave reviews about the base for the whole family "Exopark Vysokovskoye", where ostriches, peacocks, pheasants and representatives of the local predatory fauna live. It is located upstream of the Kubena.
You can also hear the responses of hunters who come to Lake Kubenskoye for game. The waterfowl hunting season opens in the spring, but there is little prey. Moose, bears and wild boars are found in the surrounding forests, which are hunted in autumn and winter.
Amateur fishermen, sharing their impressions of fishing on this lake, talk about a good bite and always a big catch.
