To be honest, the Ishim River is not as popular as, say, the Volga, Yenisei, Lena or other large water arteries. But, nevertheless, the local population can no longer imagine their life without this most important geographical feature. Among other things, fishing on the Ishim River has long been the most popular pastime for both adults and children living in the neighborhood.
This article aims to introduce readers to this waterway of the country, while indicating its main characteristics. It will also talk about where the Ishim River flows, how it is affected by seasonal weather changes and what should be taken into account when relaxing on its banks.
Section 1. General Information
The Ishim River, which flows simultaneously in Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation, is the left and longest tributary of the Irtysh, which, in turn, belongs to the Ob River basin, which subsequently flows into the Kara Sea.
In Russia, this water artery flows within the Tyumen and Omsk regions, in Kazakhstan - in the Akmola and North Kazakhstan regions.
Actually, Ishim doesn't have muchmany full-flowing tributaries. The most famous of them are Terisakkan, Koluton, Imanburlyk, Zhabay and Akan-Burluk.
Besides, there are two reservoirs on the river, Sergeevskoe and Vyacheslavskoe. Both are of great economic importance, i.e. their water is widely used both for water supply to the local population and for irrigation of fields and household plots.
Section 2. What is the geography?
The Ishim River starts in the Niyaz Mountains, where it flows mainly to the west in a narrow valley and between fairly rocky banks.
It should be noted that below Astana the river valley expands significantly, after Derzhavinsk the water flow turns to the northeast, descends a little lower and enters the West Siberian Plain, where the rest of the time it flows along the flat Ishim steppe in a wide floodplain, in the lower reaches it flows right through the swamps.
By the way, not everyone knows that the Ishim River is navigable 270 km up from Petropavlovsk and from Vikulovo to the mouth.
The river bed is quite winding, its width in some places reaches up to 200 m. The bottom is mostly sandy. The total length is 2450 km. Thus, the Ishim is the longest second-order tributary on earth.
The floodplain is wide, has a large number of lakes. That is why fishing on the Ishim River is considered excellent among professionals.
Section 3. Hydrology of Ishim
Ishim is a river fed exclusively by snow, it receives more than 80% of its annual flow from snow. in the spring,around April 10-12, there is a significant increase in water content. The recession of the flood occurs around mid-July. Summer-autumn low water lasts until mid-October. Due to the flat nature of the watershed, many closed depressions, small slopes of the riverbed, there is almost no rise in water level due to summer-autumn rains.
In addition, the source of the Ishim River and its branches are fed by groundwater and water loss from the floodplain. This proves to be sufficient to maintain a constant flow of water.
The average long-term value (calculated over a hundred years) of the river flow per year is 76.0 cubic meters. m/sec. Freeze usually occurs in the second half of November and lasts an average of 5 months. The catchment area is 177 thousand square meters. km.
Section 4. Flora of coastal areas
Any city on the Ishim River can be considered a priori beautiful and picturesque. Tourists traveling in this area, as a rule, open up completely different pictures. In spring, the banks of this river look like an emerald carpet of grasses with bright flowers, and in summer they look more like a sea of silvery feather grass.
True, towards the end of summer the picture becomes more dull - the boundless steppe, burned by dry winds, but in places it is decorated with whole fields of golden wheat. Of course, man managed to change the nature of this region greatly, and now the cultivated field occupies a larger part of the local territory than the steppe or relict forests.
It should be noted that the local pines are quite short, thick bark, so the forest looks sparse, haspoor undergrowth and grass cover. But the few forests and hills still play an important role - they protect crops from summer dry winds, and in winter they contribute to the accumulation of snow.
In its lower reaches, Ishim looks more like a taiga river, which flows slowly in low wooded banks. The closer to the north, the less often fields are encountered on the traveler's path and more often beautiful white-trunked birch groves appear, which turn into mixed forests. Many firs, pines grow here, and in some places there are even larches, cedars, and firs. Then in some places the trees begin to recede into the background, one can see swamps with rare and thin fir trees, slender birch trees. There have always been many meadows on the banks of the Ishim, local residents annually harvest hay here, graze cattle and simply enjoy the enchanting nature of this region.
Section 5. Features of the local fauna
Any city on the Ishim River is also attractive for travelers due to the rich world of fauna, which includes various representatives of the class of amphibians, fish, birds and, of course, mammals.
Loach, gudgeon, dace, roach, ruff, pike perch, bream, burbot, pike, perch and loach are found both in small rivers and in numerous oxbow lakes, where they swim during the Ishim flood.
Lakes and sections of rivers freezing to the very bottom are rich in crucians and minnows.
Unfortunately, rare fish listed in the Red Book are not found in these reservoirs. As well as endangered species.
To warmtime of year here you can often meet various kinds of invertebrates. These are, as a rule, beautiful and colorful butterflies, worms, earthen cockroaches, dragonflies, caddisflies, mayflies, arachnids, molluscs, bedbugs, beetles and stoneflies. In spring and summer, locals are advised to be extremely careful on vacation due to the special activity of ticks.
Section 6. Is it worth fishing on Ishim?
Most of the locals happily spend time on the Ishim River, fishing and hoping to surprise with their catch.
And you can catch both small and rather large fish here, so you can safely engage in such quiet hunting. Although it is worth noting that large specimens are quite rare here.
Here you can easily catch a perch, and in some places a pretty decent zander. However, many fishermen complain that pike have not been seen here for a long time. Due to constant barriers, construction debris and the construction of dams, such fish has become a real rarity on Ishim.
