Yellowfish or Elopichthys bambusa is a very swift and strong predator that belongs to the carp family and is considered its largest representative. Distributed in the waters of the Amur, in eastern China, in the Ussuri and Sungari rivers, somewhat less common in Lake Khanka. Prefers spacious deep-sea reservoirs with clear water.
Yellowcheek is considered quite a valuable fish and a real success for amateur anglers. The population has declined significantly, the species is listed in the Red Book of Russia and is under the threat of extinction.
Appearance
What kind of fish is the Amur yellow-cheek, and how it looks, can be partially understood based on the name. Representatives of this species have gill covers painted in a clearly visible golden yellow color.
The elongated body is covered with small silvery scales. The sides are also cast in a golden hue, and the back is painted in gray-green. The dorsal fin, like the tail,dark color, the rest of the fins are lighter.
Given good living conditions and enough food, the yellow-cheek can grow to a very impressive size. Often, adult specimens reach 1.5 meters in length, and in some cases grow up to 2 meters. The weight of the fish is sometimes 40 kg.
The average lifespan of this species is up to 20 years. The fish has delicious fatty meat of a soft pink color.
Food
Since the Amur yellow-cheek is a predator, its diet consists entirely of smaller inhabitants of its native waters. Most often, its victims are crucian carp, minnows, smelt and wasp. Yellow-cheeked is not picky and is ready to feast on any supra-bottom and pelagic fish that gets in his way.
Due to the fact that the predator does not have the habit of going down to the bottom and lives in the water column, he prefers to hunt in bright deep waters, where he can easily detect and catch prey. Spotting a potential prey, the yellowling slowly approaches and catches it with one quick and well-aimed throw.
In some cases, the hunt is not limited to an accurate strike and ends in a chase, in which the predator almost always becomes the winner. After all, he is quite hardy and swift, so the chance to hide from the fish is extremely low.
Reproduction
Puberty in representatives of the species occurs at 6 years of age. Usually, at this point, the body length of the fish is approximately 60 cm. The beginning of spawningoccurs in the first months of summer, when the water temperature reaches 18-20 ° C, and continues until August. Yellow-cheeked caviar is very large, its size is about 6 mm in diameter.
Eggs float freely for 3-4 days, after which transparent larvae appear from them, the body length of which does not exceed 7 mm. After about 10 days, they become like goggle-eyed fry and by the end of summer they manage to reach 7-10 cm in length. Up to this point, the new generation of yellow cheeks tries to avoid large waters and lives in spacious floods and lakes.
In the description of yellow-cheeked fish, it should be noted that the fastest growth rate of young animals occurs in the first 8 years of life. One-year-old specimens grow up to 20 cm, by the age of three their body length approaches half a meter, and their weight is approximately 1 kg. A six-year-old fish reaches 75 cm in length and weighs about 4 kg. Closer to 8-9 years, the yellow-cheek is already considered an adult, its size reaches 90 cm, and its weight is 8 kg. Further, the predator grows much more slowly, but continues to gain weight well.
Catching Methods
Catching this handsome man is the dream of any fisherman, which is far from being realized by everyone. Not only is it quite rare to meet him, but to defeat him is not an easy task. Large specimens, such as the yellow-cheeked fish in the photo, having fallen for the bait, are able to fight for their freedom for up to half an hour.
For an amateur fisherman, it will be a real success if he manages to catch this predator. It is betterjust use spinning for this. Live bait in the form of small carp and other fish is suitable as bait. Sometimes a yellow-cheek can be caught on a wobbler.
But most often he prefers to ignore both natural and artificial lures, which is the reason for such a rare catch by amateurs. It is unlikely that a beginner will be able to cope with this strong and dodgy predator. This requires experience.
Poachers and fishing artels use nets exclusively. Fishing is most effective before the autumn freeze-up in October and November, when yellow-cheeked fish gather in large flocks.
