Passengers of trains running along Lake Baikal observe a curious picture in winter. On the ice shell covering the lake’s waters, face-down, many people are dressed in warm overalls and jackets with hoods. Sometimes one of them jumps up, as if comes to life and begins to wave its arms. These are ice-fishermen. Some of them were lucky, and the Baikal omul was caught on the hook - a wonderful fish from the Salmon family, which has been part of the Siberian traditional cuisine from time immemorial. Fishermen lie on ice because they observe what events occur under it. Baikal water is so transparent that it allows you to view the most hidden depths of the lake and observe the life of its inhabitants.
Features of winter fishing
Men lying on ice, transparent as glass, came not only from the surrounding places, but also from various regions of the country, and even from abroad. Inveterate anglers know all the features of winter fishing on Lake Baikal. They know in which reserve the Baikal omul will be available for fishing and where you can buy a ticket to it. Having received permission to fish, they lie for hours on their stomachs, laying cardboard or tarps under themselves, and are holding gear in their hands. Seeing a fish in the water column, they begin to oscillate the fishing line so that the nozzle attracts its attention. As soon as the Baikal omul is hooked, the fisherman jumps up and, quickly fingering, pulls the fishing line with the fish onto the ice. The most dexterous pierce not one, but two wide holes in the ice at once and place two fishing rods in them. Moreover, each of them has a different fishing line length, designed to ensure that the bait is not at the same depth. When biting on one of the fishing rods, a successful fisherman quickly lays aside the other. He does this very disparagingly and dexterously, trying not to let their fishing lines get entangled with each other. Then he quickly starts to get omul deceived by artificial flies.
Fishing oddities
Curious stories happen to fishermen who find it difficult to watch hours at the holes. Having poured plenty of bait, they leave a lot of fishing rods and leave to bask in the hut in the hope that the omul will catch himself. It happens that one of the fish, once caught on a hook, begins to resist and entangles among itself all the neighboring fishing lines. Then she swims away, taking all the fishing rods with her.
Experienced anglers, in order not to lose their gear irrevocably, intensely fasten them to the ice, hoping that the Baikal omul caught on the hook will not pull them under the ice anymore. Upon returning, although they find fishing rods in place, the fishing lines in the water turn out to be confused in a huge lump. This happened because during their absence a fish caught on one hook. Trying to free herself, she began to walk in circles and grab all the fishing lines in the neighboring holes. It takes a lot of time for men to unravel them. But they patiently stand in the Siberian frost and untie this ball in order to find out exactly which of them was lucky to catch this fish.
Ear of omul on ice
Another good reason that increases the activity of anglers on ice is the case when someone hooks on a hook a large individual weighing 5-7 kg. It is difficult to get a giant hanging from a water on a thin fishing line. Despite the fact that the Baikal omul caught on the hook never resists and does not fight, but just hangs, it is impossible to pull it out without the help of neighbors. Thin fishing line may break. Therefore, those who catch a valuable load and those who comment on the event run to help. An ear is made from caught fish here on ice. The abdomen is broken, it is gutted. Cut into pieces together with the scales, placed in a cast iron, pour the purest Baikal water scooped directly from the hole, add spices and cook on the fire of a blowtorch. As a result of cooking, the scales settle to the bottom, and the healing broth and tasty meat warm the frozen men.
Autumn spawning
Unlike other racigidae that live in the Arctic Ocean and only spawn in river waters, the Baikal omul never comes out of fresh water. In autumn, she also rises into the river in three streams. But after spawning comes back.
- The Angarsk omul swims to the upper reaches of the Angara, enters Kichera and Barguzin.
- Selenginsky and embassy subspecies rise in the rivers of the east coast. They are the largest and most delicious.
- Another population spawns in the waters of Chivyrkuya.
The fish will stay in the rivers until the freezing, and returning to Lake Baikal, they will go down to a depth of more than three hundred meters, where they will eat crustaceans and juveniles, relax in the warmest water layers. In the depths, flocks spread throughout Baikal. The fish is beautiful in appearance and very tasty. Some large whitefish reach a weight of 7 kg. Intensive industrial fishing in the past years has significantly reduced populations, so today the catch is strictly regulated. With the onset of spring, the fish rises from the depths and goes into shallow water.
Wise nature
If in winter the Baikal omul itself goes deep, then in the summer in calm weather it rises to the sun to get its energy. Its flocks are located for a long time at the very surface of the water in shallow water. This is the period when the Baikal omul is the most vulnerable; The photo attached to this article shows how easy it can be to catch it at that time. It is amazing how nature takes care of him. Indeed, a fish "sunbathing" in the sun could become an easy prey for many gulls living in these places. But this does not happen. Some kind of higher power lifts birds from the water surface and directs them in whole flocks far, far beyond the forests into the steppes burnt by the sun. Here thousands of white birds walk on scorched earth, shout loudly and hammer it with hooked beaks, looking for half-dead grasshoppers, while a tasty omul frolics in the water. At that time, only weak, sick gulls, who have no strength to fly, remain on Baikal. Only they can gain strength by eating valuable fish from the Salmon family.
