How petty people can be... ;)

*You will live long, All!* Newspaper "FISHERMAN FISHERMAN" No. 29, __2001 V. Dorofeev ICE RIDER Almost all anglers are skeptical about this small freshwater fish. Small fry is small fry, except that it is a first-class baitfish when fishing perch But for me personally, this fish is interesting, especially in winter. VERKHOVKA (Leucaspius delineatus) fish is really small, rare reaching a length of 8-9 centimeters. It is quite widespread, from Baltic to Black Seas. Inhabits both rivers and ponds. Kept in upper layers or at mid-water. My acquaintance with her took place on one of the ponds near Moscow at the end of 80s. I was just starting to master ice fishing, and my prey was mostly sailor perches. But on that December day this “glutton”, wonderful pecked a week before, did not want to take any of the ones I offered baits on the jig hook - no bloodworms, no pieces of worm, not even Chernobyl. The depth was shallow, and by darkening the hole, one could clearly see that takes place in the underwater world. There, at a shallow pond depth, were visible minke whales lazily moving their fins. But this peace was disturbed the movement of some small silver fish in the middle layers of water. I decided to take off jig and equip the fishing rod with a small hook and shot 10 centimeters abovehim. I put one Chernobyl larva on the hook. I started lowering the bait, and half a meter later a bite followed. I pull a fish out onto the ice - verkhovka 5 centimeters long. Having caught a couple of dozen, I decided the next day return to the pond, but more prepared. The next morning I set my mind exclusively on catching verkhovka - I took Chernobyl and dry milk. The milk justified the feeding task assigned to it. Since there was no current in the reservoir, one teaspoon of milk powder thrown into the hole, for 10-15 minutes it left a cloud of turbidity, which strongly attracted the verkhovka. Instead of hook with a shot, I tied a tiny jig about 0.09 g to the fishing line, because there were a lot of problems with the previous equipment. Verkhovka began to take here same. From the lower edge of the ice, the jig with Chernobyl had time to descend only by ten to fifteen centimeters, as the bite followed. I caught several hundred of them that day. In subsequent years, when it's a long way to go I had no desire, I continued from the ice to engage in this exciting, sports catching The reader will ask - what to do with them? I know two options that since then I have been using these fish (also bleak) for cooking, which are distinguished by their delicate and fatty meat. The first recipe is verkhovka “a la snetok”. Mix the caught fish with salt and put in a plastic bag for 5-6 hours. Then, after rinsing lightly, spread inin a cool, dry place (for example, a glazed balcony) newspapers on which Arrange the fish in an even single layer. As soon as the fish begins to secrete fat and the newspaper becomes saturated with it, it should be changed. And so on until ready. Usually when In this type of drying, the fish is ready no later than in a week. The second recipe is verkhovka “a la spiced sprat”. Per kilogram of Verkhovka you will need 100-150 g of salt, 5-6 bay leaves, 25-30 black peppercorns, a couple of pinches of red pepper. The fish is laid out in layers in an enamel bowl, salting and adding peppercorns, bay leaves, sprinkling a little red pepper Leave to stand for 5-6 hours at room temperature, covered lid, and then take the container out onto the balcony for a day, after which the fish is ready for consumption. /That’s all, All, what follows is only the truth.../