Just took an asp on a size 10 chernobyl-ant-kind-of-thing last week on a small overgrown river with a lot of weeds. I have seen them taking small polybeetle and other small flies. But ALL these were skated on the surface and I think they were recognized by the asp as small fish.
They eat one special kind of mayfly on the river Tisza for one week per year (they hatch only once a year) and these mayflies are bigger than most streamers Paul has in his flybox. https://vimeo.com/28855502
On big rivers and lakes 99 percent of the asp's diet is fish, mostly one single species: bleak (according to 300 000 Hungarian fishermen and some hundred-thousands in Croatia, Serbia, Slovakia etc. :p )
After the mission asp in Balaton on buzzers is accomplished I have a couple of new project-suggestions :666: :
Bluefin tuna on emergers
Mako shark on Klinkhammer
GT on CDC F-fly
"who knows absolutely everything about everything"
It may help to think of Buzzers as being the freshwater equivalent of crabs, Akos! I've caught trout, bream, carp, barbel, perch, roach and even a few pike on buzzers (you have to be lucky to hook them in the scissors with pike). Of course it's quite possible that Asp never eat buzzers, but Jesus, something down there has to be eating them. Amazing hatches. As good as anything I've seen anywhere.
you must be fishing with kinda big buzzahs, paul...
There are quite a few species what eat buzzers in the balaton. roach, carp, bream, bleak, and all of the younger generations of other species - even "baby asps"...but what size of asps do you target, ma'man?!
The key is IMHO, that the balaton is a water full of baitfish, and big asp just have to open it's mouth to pack it's belly in a short time. bleak must be more tasty than those green buzzers, I guess. Occasionally, and theoretically you could catch asp in the balaton with a buzzer, but you'll have to cast a few months and catch not a single asp while they are bombing baitfish around you.
The other thing is the size of the water, as the behaviour of the asp is quite different than in smaller rivers and creeks...not as territorial, more of a free moving fish following baitfish and the changing currents caused by the wind and wter temperature...you have to get their attention.
On the other hand yesterday I saw a few packs of carps feeding heavily in and in front of the reeds and in the weeds.
I missed one take on a seal-fur wasp-like monster-whatever- fly. I more and more excited about catching those carps...(I've caught on a chartreuse wb before)...
Got a dozen perches on a small gurgler, tho...
There is a great fishing potential on the balaton, but asp on buzzers is not really a part of it...
...of course if you tie a #2 buzzer and strip it like hell...who knows...
(my fishing was mainly fishing for asps on the balaton in the last 5-smthing years...)
Peter "...fish like a demon with a mission"-Sudesh
It's all speculation on my part, Peter. All I know is given the right wind, I can make an 80km drift over water often no more than 2 metres deep, amongst some of the best buzzer hatches on the planet. It has to be done..
Incidentally saw some really big freshwater crays. Do people eat these? Food for big carp?
He actually feeds on buzzers. It is very rare but occasionally happens on river Sava. At that time asp up to 2 kilos takes on dead drift dry. Not necessarily on buzzer imitation. Any small insect look dry works.
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