On the not very high Valdai Upland, among the boulders scattered by the glacier that passed here eleven thousand years ago, there is a necklace of beautiful Upper Volga lakes with clear water. Lake Volgo is recognized as the largest lake in these parts, the largest width of which is 6 km., And the length is 85 km., The depth compared to the length of the Volgo is not particularly impressive - three to four meters, but there are holes up to six meters deep.

The history of the emergence of a lake with modern geographical characteristics dates back to the 19th century, when the Beishlot dam was built to improve transport progress on the Volga River, and thus the ancient glacial lake increased in volume and formed two reservoirs connected by a channel, which were called Small and Big Volgo. Behind the dam, the Volga River continues its way across the plains of Russia, and before the dam, Lake Volgo splashes its waters with sandy shores, decorated with pine forests.

The southern shores of this reservoir are elevated and in some places you can see limestone outcrops, from which "boiling water" often beats, as springs are called, the water temperature of which is invariably six degrees. The northern shores are low-lying, cut through by small, overgrown with algae, shallow bays. During the spill, it is the northern side of the Volgo that is flooded. In the very center of the surface of the lake rises the island Bely Plav, overgrown with forest, with an amazing panorama opening from its shores, and in the warm season a large number of tourists resting violently here.

Rest on Lake Volgo

The bays here are shallow, warm up well and become a rich food base, thanks to which a huge number of all kinds of fish live in this reservoir. A rich catch is provided to fishing enthusiasts at any time of the year. Among the fishermen, the lake is recognized as a bream lake, but here you can catch a pike weighing eight kilograms and a seven-kilo pike perch and many other tasty fish, only asp is rarely caught. In winter, experienced anglers get hold of large burbots. The forest surrounding the Volga will delight tourists with an abundance of berries and mushrooms.

The lake is not only a paradise for a fisherman, but also a great place for outdoor activities. One of the most popular types of recreation, apart from fishing, is windsurfing and surfing. A comfortable and spacious surfing camp has been built here, in which both beginners and experienced athletes are offered a wide range of sports equipment. Experienced instructors will help beginners learn to stand confidently on the board. In the evenings, discos are organized in the camp, and during the day, if it doesn’t feel like water, tourists can play tennis, volleyball or take a steam bath in a small bathhouse nestled on the very shore.

Ride on the water surface on boats, water skis and yachts. Even wind allows watersports enthusiasts to achieve the desired traction in the sails. And masters of water skiing hold the championship of Russia on the lake. Canoe trips are also organized, there are several well-developed routes.

Where to stay

Many tourist bases and boarding houses are built on the picturesque shores of Lake Volgo. The recreation center "Chaika" enjoys great attention of travelers, where you can rent fishing and sports equipment. The economy class includes a complex of cottages called "At the beekeeper", and the hotel "Juniper Forest" was built in the style of a Russian wooden house, from the veranda of which a gorgeous view of the Volgo opens.

How to get to Lake Volgo

Russia, Tver region, Selizharovsky district, the village of Selizharovo.

From the Leningradsky railway station from Moscow to Ostashkov can be reached by train. Buses run from Ostashkov to the village of Selizharovo, you need to get off either in Selishchi or at the turn that leads to the Chaika base.

If you get to the lake by private vehicle, then you need to move along the Novorizhskoye highway and, having reached the turn to Rzhev, turn right and the road will lead to Selizharovo.

From stories true fishermen about fishing on Lake Volgo.

For anglers who come to the Volga for the first time, it is difficult to navigate in the choice of a place and methods of fishing. Especially when every day counts. Having more than one decade of fishing on this lake behind me, I will try to draw up a map of promising places in the lower lake, which is better known to me. I hope this will help readers plan their fishing trips in the vast area of ​​the lake. Whether you live in a tent on the shore or at a recreation center, the entire water area is at your disposal. Even just rowing you can get to good places, but you have to row a lot.
The section of Lake Volgo from Bely Plav Island to the village of Selishche is a stretch about 7 km long and up to 2.5 km wide. The relief is simple: the bottom gradually descends from the coast and the greatest depth rarely exceeds 6.5 m. There is no channel as such here - it "ended" in front of the island. The fact is that before, before the construction in 1843 of the Upper Volga Beishlot - the first dam on the Volga, this part of the water area was a lake. Despite the monotony of the depths, a variety of fish are successfully caught on this, the lowest, stretch. First, roach. Medium-sized, palm-sized, stands along the banks literally like a wall, and it is not difficult to catch it on anything even from the shore. This year, despite the heat, they keep a very high water level, and any fish, including good bream, began to approach the banks, to the grass. A catchy place, for example, the mouth of the Studenets stream, which is to the right of the pier on the wild beach of the Chaika base (2). In July of this year, in the afternoon, in the very heat, on a side nod, we managed to raise four bream in a row under 1.5 kg. Well, on a boat, it’s enough to find pondweed thickets at the exit from any bay or river (it has surface pink cones), feed it, but not with lumps of porridge, but with some kind of loose, and then roach will probably gather 200-250 g. Maybe someone more impressive will pull up.
There are more such places: at the mouth of the Bolshaya Dubyonka River, in the bay near the village of Bor Volgo, around the island, at the exit from the paddling pool (7) beyond the village of Zavirye and in the river flowing into the lake in front of this village. Now about predators. Pike perch is perhaps the most attractive of them. There is a lot of him in the Volgo, but this, of course, does not mean that he takes it always and everywhere. If above the island its sites are more or less local, then on the lower reach, due to more even depths, it is more difficult to find them. The lower reach is the most suitable place for circlers. Where else can you find a run several kilometers long and with a relatively flat bottom?! And there are no problems with live roach. So you can drive circles along the route from the island to Selishchi and back - depending on the direction of the wind. More likely to meet with pike perch and large pike in those parts of the lake where the depth, although not much, but still exceeds the "pseudo-conditional" one. Such a site (3) is located on the right bank opposite the Chaika base, between a high sandy cliff and the village of Bor Volgo. An even more extensive area (4) is located behind the island. A little higher than the village of Bor Volgo (5), a manor's estate has been preserved. Decent depth there comes almost to the very shore. Pike perch stays there almost always. It is not for nothing that for a long time this place has been called "Barsky Zakol" - in the old days they were only caught in the bar. In the places listed, I (A. Guskov - approx.), By the way, caught my largest pike perches and pikes on the Volga. Tolstoy Rog (6) is very interesting - this is an underwater spit located on the left bank, a kilometer below the village of Zavirye. The current of the main Volga beats into it, which cannot but attract both pike perch and good perch there.
Those who stayed at the recreation centers "Chaika" and near the village of Bor Volgo or, with tents, in the vicinity, will also be interested in the strait between the island of Bely Plav and the village of Zavirye, where the root channel of the Volga passes and all the lake ichthyofauna is found. In front of the island, on the left, there is a spit that goes to the village of Kazakovo, where there is a perch and a pike. The same spit, only with a sharper slope, is located to the right behind the island. Above the village of Zavirye there are two bays. The first one, the paddling pool (7), due to its shallow depth and intensive vegetation, is interesting at the beginning of summer and on the first ice. At the exit from it, good fishing can always happen, especially in the current hot summer.
A little higher, through a rocky cape, the Vyazovenka Bay (8) cuts into the forest - after the name of the Vyazovnya tributary. There are pebbles and depths, so you can look for a perch, and catch a scavenger float, roach and ide. In general, above the island, the bottom topography is much more interesting, in places with a sharp change in depths, when, for example, a long three-meter "lunar" landscape ends with a good drop almost into a 10-meter channel. So, practically opposite Vyazovenka, the high pine cape Gubinskoye Rylo is deeply wedged into the lake - it is here that such a deep "ditch" (9) passes, where you can fish a predator on a jig. There are even more interesting places between the villages of Polki and Yasenskoye. Here, in addition to two large pits, there are many different hillocks and ridges where you can really find any predator.
The main search for pike perch is best done on a track equipped with 2 lures, on separate leashes, for example: a twister lure, a twister - a heavy mormyshka with a worm (7-10 pcs), a lure-mormyshka. It makes no sense to describe the details of such fishing further, because the classic follows - you caught a pike perch, a buoy overboard and throw a spinning rod equipped with what it bites. With the exception of some especially doomed days, the predator is in constant motion and it is difficult to find a place to stay, so success lies in moving around the lake. At the end of July and in August, when moving, pay attention (if this happens) to the unusual behavior of gulls. If you see a flock of gulls circling over one place, then this is a "teapot", the surest sign that a large perch knocks a trifle into a pile and drives it to the surface. Here do not yawn and throw spinning on these, you know, half-kilogram (and more) perches, or you can try to catch on the "vertical line".
On the opposite bank, at the mouth of the confluence of the river Bolshaya Dubyonka, there is an extensive strand with snags, bushes, thickets and, naturally, fish. Here, ide is added to the fish, which is not as abundant as bream, but it also responds to bait and fish up to 3 kg often come across. Further, down the lake, there will be more of it, and I (A. Guskov - approx.) I will stop here, but I personally add that the fish in the lake is very clean, lively and at times comes across very large - zander up to 10-12 kg , pike up to 9-10 kg. At the very end of the lake, as its crown, is the large village of Selishche, from which, in fact, after the dam, the real Volga begins. In the rapids behind Beishlot, all fish are caught, including asp, perch, and occasionally grayling.
It has been noticed that lately the pike perch prefers the golden twister and the mormyshka with a worm at the time when the sun clings to the trees at sunset, and the yellow “wobbler” during the day. And, given the smooth, clean bottom, mugs will be indispensable, since the bait roach stands like a wall along the banks. If there is a desire to catch perch or pike, it is better to do this at depths of 1-3 m, although pike at such depths are rarely larger than a kilogram, but since the shores are quite indented by vast snarled bays with a depth of 1.5-2 meters, then this is where you can take your soul to a spinning player with a small unloaded turntable or a floating wobbler-component. This is in the summer, and in the winter it is mainly fishing for spinners. Due to problems with bloodworms, local residents actively practice catching “white” fish for dough. Catching bream in the lake does not present any problems in general, the main thing is to have a worm, bait and ropes for anchors, and the boat must be stretched, because. otherwise, with a wave, it will “walk” on the anchor “ends”, which negatively affects the shy bream with such, in general, a shallow depth.

If you pass the city of Ostashkov and turn aside near the village of Sorokino on the road to Rzhev, then very soon you can find yourself at this most picturesque Russian lake. From its fabulous shores, all the beauties of the Valdai Upland open up to the gaze.

In comparison with the majestic Seliger, the Volgo undoubtedly has an undeniable advantage: due to the lack of large areas of reeds, it is possible to fish from the shore almost anywhere. Therefore, in the open water season, it is absolutely not necessary to load yourself with a rubber boat while hiking on the Volga.

From all sides the lake is surrounded by dense forest. The regional center of green paradise is called Selizharovo. In fact, Lake Volgo is actually the Volga River, dammed above the city and stretching along flooded ravines for tens of kilometers. The forests around the Volga are a real pantry of natural gifts. Lovers of berries and mushrooms in the season from there and by the ears can not be pulled out. And with the opening of the hunting season, a whole army of people armed with double-barreled guns rushes to the vicinity of the lake. But the most important thing here, of course, is fishing.

Fishing on the Volga is fantastic. From the end of October until the end of the freeze-up, it is perfectly pecking at ordinary supplies here. With a nozzle, you don’t have to stand on ceremony, because in the Volgo it doesn’t matter whether you treat him with a whole roach or just a slice of it. Moreover, often even the largest representatives of the cod fish family come across even on sliced ​​\u200b\u200bpieces of small fish. How delicious is their liver!

Pike, pike perch, bream, roach - all these fish are constantly present in catches on the Volga. With bream, unfortunately, things will not work out to the end: this fish has not yet recovered from the tapeworm, although it bites just fine, especially at depths of 4 to 5 meters. (By the way, these are the usual average depths of Lake Volgo.) Each bream caught has to be checked and gutted. But more and more recently, healthy specimens have begun to come across. Looks like things are on the mend.

Circles often manage to catch quite decent zander. The best live bait in autumn will be the roach, which can be easily caught at a depth of 1.5–2 m somewhere near the shore. Imported carp is also good. It remains in the kana for a long time. Pike, in addition to the named fish, will gobble up perch with appetite; in the Volga, okushats scurry about in flocks near algae.

Lake Volgo Tver region recreation center Chaika

When our company arrives on the Volga, we usually stop at the Chaika base. Quite a decent base - two-story, made of bricks, with a hotel, kitchen, heating, amenities - you can live. It is not necessary to bring dishes with you. The local administration treats our brother fisherman with great care. From the base to the lake just a few minutes walk.

Where to fish on Lake Volgo

In the shallow grassy bays of the Volga, hordes of toothy predators hide in the thickets. But to catch a pike, perch or zander, even in such a fertile place for them, you also need to be able to. Much depends on the knowledge of the specific habitats of the toothy ones. Therefore, do not be shy if you are on this lake for the first time. Ask the local fishermen about this, they are friendly people, willingly suggest fishing spots. Most likely, you will be advised to go to the Upper Volga dam itself, where a whole squadron of predators gathers for a huge amount of fry dumped along with water.

I (hereinafter the story will be led by one of the authors) often recalls a wonderful incident that happened to my friend Viktor on a fishing trip a year ago on the Volga. In two boats, we slowly crept up to one of the many shallow pools. The weather was wonderful, although in the evening the sky on the horizon was covered with gray clouds. The thunderstorm, most likely, could break out only towards the night, so we were in no hurry to the base, despite the fact that we had left our raincoats in the car.

We anchored side by side, turning our backs to each other, and immediately began to catch patches of water along the grass. I teased the predator with a long silver “Long”, while Victor, for some reason, chose the usual domestic “moskovskoy” type “oscillator”.

At first, the advantage was clearly on my side: a couple of kilogram pikes were already bucking at the bottom of the beat-up Omega. And just as I was about to call out to Victor to brag about my catch, before lowering the pike into the cage, I suddenly heard behind me, in the distance, a sonorous and biting slap on the water. I turned around. The first thing I saw was the finely quivering tip of my friend's spinning rod pressed against the water itself. And then I noticed how Victor's mighty back tensed up. My comrade, a strong man, straightens the bent ice ax with a slight movement of his hands. But then! .. I was scared for Victor, realizing that at the other end of the fishing line a real monster was hiding under the water. If Victor, before leaving for the evening dawn, had not put a super-strong fishing line with a diameter of 0.3 mm on his spinning rod, which made me laugh, then most likely there would have been no one to keep on the fishing line now.

This time, the friction clutch did not creak, as usual, but simply squealed, probably from delight in front of the power of the enemy. No matter how hard Victor, who was sweating in an instant, tried to raise the spinning rod above the water, there was little sense from his efforts. The clutch brake continued to screech, the line stretched into a string was ready to break at any moment. And then a miracle happened.

At first, the tip of the rod slowly but surely crawled up to the sky, which was frowning before a thunderstorm. Then my friend, who was confused in the unequal struggle, began to raise the spinning higher and higher, pumping out the fish. Even at a distance, I felt Victor sigh in relief. There was no doubt that now he could handle this monster.

Strangely, the fish moved towards our boats almost without a fight. And if I myself had not seen how swiftly a minute ago the fishing line was slipping into the depths of the water, one would think that a log raised from the bottom was moving towards us. I had long ago put aside my old Abu and silently watched what was happening.

Victor was sitting in the boat now almost sideways to me, turning towards the open water. I saw how the fishing line smoothly filled the recess remaining on the spool. The clutch occasionally creaked, but now it is weak and rare. The last meters remained. As soon as the outlines of a predator began to emerge under the surface of the water, Victor reached for the landing net, but soon realized that he did not need it - the fish simply would not fit into it.

It was a real monster 1.5 m long: a dark, almost black back, a huge head. The distance between man and fish has become critical. Both stopped. The ellipse of the rod with a formidable stretched bow froze against the background of the blue forest. Those few seconds, while the opponents silently studied each other, seemed like an eternity to me. Bagorik would at that moment! But, firstly, we didn’t have a hook with us, and secondly, the pike would hardly have agreed to move at least a few centimeters closer to the boat.

The fish was the first to come to its senses: an unexpectedly swift turn for such a hulk, a powerful blow with its tail, an explosion of spray that doused my friend from head to toe - and again the painfully familiar nasty song of the friction of the exhausted reel.

The pike torpedoed past my Omega, then suddenly changed direction abruptly, jumping out of the water almost half torso, shook its terrible huge head in the air, freeing itself from the lure of gleaming steel, then angrily flopped into its element and disappeared forever. I will not talk about the state of mind of my friend. I can only say that for some reason he does not like to remember about that fishing.

These are the things that sometimes happen to our brother the fisherman. And where - not in the lower reaches of the Volga, not in the Siberian wilderness, and not so far from Moscow! Eh, you always have to be prepared for an unexpected meeting. Here you inadvertently ask yourself the question: “Maybe the Volga begins with the Volga?”

We caught mainly pike and perch on spinning, we also caught two small zander. It’s hard to describe how pleasant it is to drag a pecked prey - you have to try it! When you feel how the fish is kicking at the end of the fishing line, how it tries to spit out the wobbler, writing out the “candle” up, how it goes into the grass (bushes), from where it is more difficult to get it, and the final stage (if this time you are more lucky) - when you put a fish in a landing net and lift it into the boat.

Fishing on Lake Volgo has become more difficult in recent years. It is difficult to say for what reason, but she pecks much worse. To catch each specimen, you have to reel kilometers of run (swimming) on ​​the oars, look for it in the grass, constantly making hooks. The more you experience joyful feelings when you catch each fish.

Large specimens are rare, mostly pike 0.8 - 1.5 kg. Here is our average catch for three people for morning fishing on Lake Volgo for spinning from ordinary rubber boats on oars.

Increasingly, there are “advanced” fishermen on the water who use outboard electric motors - quiet and economical in operation, but we wind kilometers on oars in the old fashioned way. There is a lot of boating and it’s hard for the “back seat” of the fisherman, so we soften the wooden seats in the boats (easy “tuning” of the boat 🙂) by attaching soft construction insulating material to them with tape

In addition to fishing itself, communication with fishermen is also pleasing - discussion of interesting moments, stories of tales, exchange of experience. And we have someone to learn from!

Alexey Ukhanov is our chief fisherman and trip organizer, a fan of fishing. Previously, he fished in the sea on large ships, now he fished in rivers and lakes by boat and from the shore. We learn from him to determine the weather for tomorrow by sunset (90% probability), to use new baits and gear. And his hands are golden! This time it turned out that in the process of fighting a caught pike (it is also visible in the photo in the boat), our other companion Alexei cut the boat with a tee and it began to lower. We were fishing nearby and when we heard the “SOS signal”, the “in distress” Aleksey moved to my boat, and our chief fisherman Aleksey offered to seal the boat right on the spot using instant glue (he had) and a piece of material from the OZK raincoat, which we take a boat in case of rain. The whole process of repairing the boat took less than half an hour and the fishing continued.

And this is our parking lot on the shore - in a wonderful pine forest

This time I caught all the pike on one YO-ZURI 3D MINNOW 70 wobbler

The trip went well. The main thing that we brought from it was good impressions with a slight feeling of fatigue from early rises and physical activity, a week-long unshaven…