The Don River is the largest water artery in the Voronezh region. The river itself and its tributaries contain more than 70 species of fish that are of interest to fishermen. Fishing on the Don in the Voronezh region is especially pleasing for connoisseurs of trophies: a wide, deep river with an abundance of food allows the fish to grow to a significant size.
The winding channel and convenient approaches to the water on the left, gently sloping bank provide fishermen with excellent opportunities for fishing with a feeder, bottom or float rod. The right bank is steep almost along its entire length, in some places the height reaches 230 meters. There are many places on this side where you can go fishing with a spinning rod.
The Don in the Voronezh region provides many areas where a fisherman can comfortably settle down. But there are the most popular, favorite “secret” places.
The best solution for your first fishing trip on the Don in the Voronezh region is to team up with experienced fishermen for a joint trip. They will tell you what gear and bait are best to choose, when and where to go, and in general, fishing in the company of like-minded people is always more interesting.
Fishing on the Don in Shilovo (Voronezh region)
Fishing on the Don in the village of Shilovo
The gentle bank of the Don near the village of Shilovo is one of the most popular places among fishermen in the Voronezh region. Excellent access to the water, beautiful places and an abundance of fish easily explain the popularity of this area. Here you can meet both beginners and experienced amateurs. Fishing competitions are often held here.
It’s good to go overnight: camp in a tent and try to throw gear at different hours. This way you are guaranteed not to miss the moment of the bite. However, in good weather it can be difficult to find a good place. Therefore, those who are regulars in Shilovo arrive in advance.
Sometimes a spinning rod comes in handy, but the most popular are bottom tackle and feeder.
They fish both from the shore and from the boat, using leashes of different lengths and trying casts at different distances.
The choice of places for feeder fishing in Shilovo is rich. On both sides of the pontoon, from Gremyachiy to Malyshevo, there are quiet backwaters where a feeder weighing less than 40 grams can be used; there is a rapids where a feeder heavier than 100 grams can be dragged. When going fishing in Shilovo for the first time, stock up on a fast or medium-fast feeder, with a dough of 100-120 g. and feeders of 50-80 gr.
The choice of bait and feeding depends on the season, weather and what size prey you are interested in. If you don’t count on trophies, use a smaller fraction; if you need solid specimens, then take larger complementary foods.
Most often caught here are roach, crucian carp, rudd, bream and bream, white-eye, and saberfish. There are biryuk, silver bream, asp, carp, and catfish. Sometimes you manage to catch chub, perch, and pike. Sometimes there is no end to the bleak, which just hangs on a hook with maggots.
Types of fish in reservoirs
The reservoirs of the Voronezh region are home to about 40 species of fishes and fish belonging to the families: pike, carp, catfish, perch, burbot, goby, etc. There is no fishing in the Voronezh region, but recreational fishing is widely developed.
- The common pike
has a greenish-gray color: the back is darker, the belly is whitish. Coloring has a camouflage effect. Reaches a length of up to 1.5 meters. - Roach
is the most numerous fish in water bodies. The body is moderately elongated. The head is small. The general color is silver. The scales are large. The roach is unpretentious to its living conditions. This is an omnivorous species. Body length up to 35 cm. - The ide
has a narrow forehead and small scales. All fins are reddish or bright red. Body length up to 50 cm. - The rudd
has a bright color: a dark green back, yellowish-golden sides, and orange eyes. Body length up to 30 cm. - The asp
is distinguished by its slender body, large head and upper mouth. The scales are small. The color is light, silver. The asp is a predator. Body length up to 80 cm. - Tench
has a thick, tall body covered with mucus. The scales are very small. The back is dark green, the sides are greenish-brown. Tench is a lake fish that tolerates a lack of oxygen well. Body length up to 65 cm. - The bream
is distinguished by a tall, laterally compressed body. The body color is dark silver. Bream is an inhabitant of flowing and standing waters. Body length up to 75 cm. Body weight up to 6 kg. - perch
has a greenish-yellow body with black stripes. The scales are very dense. Perch prefers reservoirs with a high oxygen content in the water. Body length up to 50 cm. - The ruff
has strong spiny rays in its fins. The body is short. The eyes are large and protruding. The color is dark gray with dark spots. Body length is up to 25 cm. - The catfish
has a large head and a huge mouth lined with sharp teeth. The skin is bare, soft, with a large number of mucous glands. The main color is yellow-green. The underparts are white. Catfish is one of the most predatory fish. Body length up to 2 m.
Currently, there is a sharp decline in the numbers of many fish species. This happened in connection with the creation of a reservoir on the Voronezh River, a sharp deterioration in the condition of reservoirs and poaching.
Fishing on the Don in the village of Krivoborye (Voronezh region)
Fishing on the river
Don Krivoborye The village of Krivoborye is located 40 km from Voronezh. Fishermen come here all year round, choosing sunny, fine days.
According to some reviews, fishing here is not much different from fishing on the Don directly near the regional center. But there are those who are sure that this is the best possible place. The main thing is to arrive and settle down before dawn, when the fish are most active. An excellent option for the summer is to arrive at night, set up a tent and be fully prepared by the first rays of the sun.
The winding channel is combined here with a strong current. This must be taken into account when choosing gear. So, a feeder rod is recommended as a medium class, a feeder - 80 g. and more.
Among the baits, local fish prefer worms and maggots (they especially like red maggots). But depending on the mood, season and weather, plant bait can also be in “demand”. As bait, it is better to use mixtures of different types of purchased additives or time-tested homemade recipes.
The most popular gear is a feeder, a float rod, and a donka.
Bleak and bream, pike perch, crucian carp, saberfish, ram, perch, silver bream, and goby are especially often caught here. You come across a catfish (it’s good to tempt it with a mole cricket), and you come across a cautious asp. Having successfully stumbled upon a hole, you can catch a gudgeon - both in a frying pan and with live bait, and then go with it to catch pike.
Fishing on the Don near the village of Medovka (Voronezh region)
Fishing on the Don near the village of Medovka
Externally similar to Krivoborye, Medovka is attractive in many respects: not far from the city, the Don makes a loop here, in a short distance there are both steep and gentle banks with a convenient approach to the water, riffles, shallow water with a current, calm depth ( after the loop).
All these advantages add up to a big minus: sometimes it seems that there are more spinners here than fish. In addition, with the opening of the swimming season, the flat area in front of the loop turns into a crowded beach. No one can fish calmly in such conditions.
Fishermen who know these places go under the cliffs, away from crowded places. There they manage to catch chub, asp, and pike perch. In winter, ice fishing gives good results for crucian carp, roach, and bleak. There are quite large pike, silver bream, bream, perch, catfish, carp and sabrefish.
It is almost impossible to predict which bait and groundbait will be most catchy on a given day. For example, in the morning a fish can greedily pounce on a “sandwich” of maggots with corn, and from lunch switch its interest exclusively to a dung worm or mollusk.
In addition to spinning, they are caught using a regular float rod, bottom gear and a feeder.
Fishing on the Don in Semiluki (Voronezh region)
Fishing on the Don in Semiluki
The surroundings of the city of Semiluki are paradise for fishermen. It is not for nothing that there are recreation centers in the area where paid fishing is organized - Melovatka, Torbovo Estate, Seventy. There are cozy houses where you can spend the night or just spend time with friends. If you are a beginner, an experienced instructor will help you master all the tricks of successful fishing.
But this is on ponds. And on the Don in Semiluki, no less exciting fishing awaits the “savages” who are ready for a minimum of civilization.
The most popular places among connoisseurs are Strelka, where the Voronezh River flows into the Don, and Semiluksky Bridge. They fish from the shore, from a bridge, on a boat, using a spinning rod, feeder, and bottom gear.
The best fishing option is with preliminary bait. Both homemade preparations and store-bought “branded” formulations are used. However, it doesn’t happen once at a time. It may happen that today you bring a rich catch, but a week later in the same place, long hours will not bring a single bite.
There is no need to despair. You just need to come again: in different weather, choosing a different hour, changing the bait. All year round they catch carp, crucian carp, pike, catfish, roach, goby, perch, bream, tench, rudd, and silver carp here all year round. The luckiest ones bring with them trophies of impressive size. For example, they say that it was in Semiluki that catfish weighing 40 or even 60 kg were caught.
Ecology of the Voronezh region
The most important environmental problem in the Voronezh region is air pollution from vehicle gases. Their “contribution” to the situation is estimated at 80% in the region and 90% in the city of Voronezh.
The quality of river waters has recently stabilized. For the largest river in the region (Don), it is characterized as “moderate pollution.”
It is alarming that today another 42 enterprises in the region discharge waste into surface water bodies without preliminary treatment.
Fishing on the Don near the village of Kostenki (Voronezh region)
Fishing on the Don near the village of Kostenki
Kostenki is a village on the right bank of the Don, 40 km south of Voronezh. Next to it there is an archaeological museum-reserve. Excavations showed that people lived here already 45 thousand years ago. Perhaps they also caught Don inhabitants for dinner.
The Don bends behind the village, and fishermen have plenty of places to roam: you can find deep holes, rapids with rapids, and backwaters near coastal bushes. You can fish from the gently sloping shore, or you can fish from the opposite almost vertical “walls”.
The obvious advantage of this place is the well-worn road along the Don. It is not at all necessary to use an SUV to find a place and drive to the river even after the rain. In the area of the former ferry crossing, the shore is concreted all the way to the water and an entrance for fire trucks has been equipped. Fishermen enjoy this convenience.
They fish with a float rod, donka, feeder and spinning rod. Crawling, dung and water worms, maggots, and bloodworms are used as bait. The equipment is chosen according to the specific place where they decided to try their fishing luck.
I would like to warn fans of “non-sport” fishing: by placing nets here, you risk losing them forever. Honest fishermen, having cut off their gear on them, will certainly spoil your “property”, and they will be absolutely right: fight poaching!
It's difficult to leave without a catch. Generous feeding and appetizing bait chosen for the season attract biruk, chub, bream and bream, silver bream, ide, roach, goby, crucian carp, perch, and saberfish. There are catfish and asp, pike perch and silver carp, carp and mirror carp.
Fishing on the Voronezh River in the Lipetsk region
There are a lot of reservoirs in the Lipetsk region that are of interest not only to local fishermen, but also to fishermen from other regions. A feature of local fishing is the fairly strict restrictions regarding fishing in public waters of the region. It is prohibited to catch fish here during the spawning period, even in cases where only one rod is used at a time. Quite strict rules have also been introduced regarding the catching of freshwater crayfish. It is forbidden to catch them during winter and spring. But despite such strict prohibitions regarding fishing, fishing in the Lipetsk region seems to be one of the most adored and popular activities.
Fishing on the Voronezh River in the Lipetsk region is especially famous, as it can give the fisherman an active fishing process and its excellent results. This river is rightfully considered the second most important, after the legendary Don, as a result of which many fishermen can always be found on its banks. In order for such fishing to go well and the catch to be large, it is necessary to take into account the specifics of the reservoir in which the fish are supposed to be fished.
To begin with, it should be noted that the Voronezh River seems to be one of the countless tributaries of the Don, which determines the rather strong similarity of these two bodies of water in terms of the species composition of fish. Voronezh seems to be a very large river, whose length reaches about three hundred and forty kilometers and flows through the territories of several regions of our country. The banks of the reservoir suitable for fishing should be especially mentioned, since their relief is flat, which is very convenient for shore fishing with a long rod. Coastal vegetation is poorly represented here, however, some areas of the coast are occupied by dense forest.
The banks of the river are quite heavily populated, as there are a number of villages on them where fishermen can replenish their supplies. When choosing a place for fishing, you should pay attention to the Lipetsk Dam, which locals quite often call a lake. In this area, due to hydrological features, ideal conditions have been created for fish habitat, and therefore the biting intensity here is slightly higher than in other areas. When choosing a fishing area, you should give preference to areas remote from cities, since the water in them is less susceptible to pollution. In general, according to statistical data, fishing on the Voronezh River in the Lipetsk region involves fishing in fairly polluted water, which is why it is of more sporting interest than commercial interest. Recently, the environmental performance of the reservoir has begun to improve significantly, which is explained by the cessation of waste dumping into the river by industrial enterprises.
The objects of fishing on this wonderful river can be a wide range of fish, including very valuable ones. The main catch of local fishermen is crucian carp and bream, however, pike, pike perch, silver bream, roach and many other significant varieties of fish are found here. Large specimens, so-called trophy ones, are not uncommon here, so you must properly prepare your fishing equipment.
It is better to choose a rod that is long enough so that there are no problems with fishing coastal areas. In this case, it is best to use braided fishing line, as it is noticeably stronger than monofilament analogues. To prevent the sharp teeth of a predatory fish from damaging it, you should use a leash. An important element is the spinning reel. Even the simplest specimens are quite suitable for catching large fish, however, they must be durable and reliable. Fishing in the Lipetsk region on the Voronezh River will delight you with huge trophies and a good mood.
