Carp is a commercial fish, large and very valuable, it is rightfully considered one of the oldest fish on the planet. Its natural habitat extends from the Amur to southern China. River fish carp (pictured) prefers to settle in backwaters, lakes and rivers. It stagnates mainly in reedy waters, under bushes and trees, and also lives in pools and bays. He can be content with a small amount of oxygen in the water. Polluted sewage does not bring him any significant harm.
Carp: description of the fish
Has an elongated and in some cases high body, covered with large dark gold scales. The back of the fish has a bluish dark shade of scales, and the abdomen is mostly light. The long dorsal fin has a slight notch. The anal fin is short. Both have a jagged beam.
Carp length and weight
The carp fish, the photo and description of which is provided above, lives on average up to thirty years and during this time it is able to grow up to one meter in length, its masswith this size it can be thirty-five or more kilograms. On average, it can weigh from three to four kilograms. This fast-growing fish is capable of growing up to ten centimeters in length at the end of its first year of life. At the same time, the weight of such a fry is about thirty grams. But he does not always add so quickly. The peak of the increase in its mass occurs at the age of seven. After that, intensive growth stops, of course, the fish and then grows, but very slowly.
A standard carp averages about half a meter in size and weighs up to six kilograms. It gives a lot of offspring and quickly develops new territories. The female is able to lay almost two million small eggs during the spawning period. Of course, provided that it is a good large individual. Females become sexually mature at the fifth year of life, and males at the fourth.
How it appears and grows
The female lays her eggs on heated lawns flooded with water. After about 3-6 days, tiny larvae appear from them. They hang, entrenched in blades of grass. These larvae stay in such a helpless state for a very short amount of time - before switching to external feeding. At first, their diet consists of very small invertebrates - rotifers, ciliates, cyclops, etc. Only a small part of the eggs turns into large carp. The main part, after the water falls, dies, drying out in the sun. Many fry do not have time to swim away, remaining to die in small pits on land.
What prevails in the diet of carp
Carp not at allfussy about food. Fry use all kinds of plankton, benthos for food. The grown carp begins to eat everything that comes in its path: young, tender shoots of plants growing in reservoirs, small and medium-sized insects and their larvae, mollusks and various crustaceans. He does not disdain young fish of his own kind.
How it reproduces and grows
Mature carp advances to spawn in May or June, depending on the water temperature. The most comfortable temperature for its reproduction is twenty degrees. At fifteen degrees Celsius, before opening spawning, the carp fish is experiencing an intense period of the so-called "zhora". This phenomenon can often proceed completely unnoticed, and the fish are able to survive until the spawning period almost starving.
Behavior depending on water temperature and season
This type of fish simply loves a warm environment, therefore, the closer to the southern latitudes, the larger and more fun carp. With the onset of the autumn-winter period, its shoals find deeper areas and fall into "hibernation" there. At the end of winter, carp fish does not look the best, since it spends all the time of sleep almost hungry. By spring, the mass is very much reduced thanks to such a diet.
Carp fish in ponds is a carp
Carp is the so-called "domesticated" fish. It was bred many centuries ago in China. Carp differs from carp in habits, habitat and appearance. This is a bony fish with golden-green scales, it prefers pondsand closed ponds with lots of algae and grass.
Now the carps grown in private reservoirs are gaining popularity again. Anyone can buy live carp for their own purposes, of the age and size they require.
Features of the carp family
Carp live in large flocks-families. In each such flock there is always an old and strong, smart leader. This head of the family is obliged to monitor everything related to the safety of his pack. Sensing a threat, he is immediately able to make certain sounds that his entire flock will hear and be warned, which means that most of the fish will be safe. The sound made in such situations resembles the crackling of branches. A photo of carp fish living in a pond is provided for your attention below.
Catch from fishing
A few days after the end of spawning, carp fishing opens. To catch a lot of this fish, you need to look at the thermometer. When the air temperature reaches +20 ° C, fishing can begin. Even more carp can be caught on hot days, when the thermometer rises to + 25 … + 29 ° С. In the first autumn months, the biting fades, as the temperature invariably drops and cooling begins.
Any experienced fisherman knows how to calculate the location of this fish in a pond. His flocks easily give themselves away by champing and splashing of water, characteristic only for him, in reed thickets and creeks overgrown with herbs. In the morning silence, in addition to the slaps on the water created by playing fish, you canto see how the carp in person suddenly "jumps" high up from the reservoir. At this interesting moment, the fish is able to look around the surroundings in a split second and see, or even hear, the danger. In rivers, it is worth looking for it near the riverbed and under steep banks, the gentle flow of water flows and the bottom with a predominance of silt also attract this type of fish.
For a more successful bite, you need to bait this fish with mashed meat or various cakes. Carp uses his sense of smell and touch to find food, and his eyes also help him in this. Taste buds are very developed, so the gourmet, grabbing some kind of food, first enjoys its taste and tries not to swallow it. If during "savoring" something did not go according to plan, he spits out food with lightning speed. It is worth keeping this in mind when baiting him for fishing. He also hears well, and if it is somehow atypically noisy for the place where he is, the smart carp will immediately leave him or lie down on the bottom.
Only a very persistent fisherman with excellent stamina can catch a carp with a bait. The ideal time for catching this fish is in the morning, it is also well caught at dusk. By the way, during the day there is also an opportunity to fish out a carp, only the day for this should be cloudy and quiet. While catching this cunning freshwater inhabitant, the fisherman must practically merge with the bushes, banks and trees surrounding him. In addition, he must also be very quiet, so as not to arouse suspicion in the fish and not completely spoil the whole fishing.
Evening catch
At the momentwhen darkness descends on a pond, the carp loses its vigilance and can seize profit without precautions. But it's hard to wait for this enchanting moment. Sometimes, if the fisherman is not very calm and restless, he, after spending a lot of time in one place and making sure that the fish does not bite, changes his place of deployment, and this is a big mistake. After all, carp fish had just begun to lose caution and was ready to take the bait. Having changed the place, the fisherman brings confusion to the ranks of the carp, and he again begins to get nervous and take a closer look at the surroundings. Small air bubbles floating up from the bottom of a muddy reservoir are a sign that a carp will peck here. A chain of such bubbles rising from the bottom can show in which direction the school of this fish is currently moving.
