What kind of fish is found in the Biyuk Karasu River. Description and photographs of the Karasu-Bashi spring in the Belogorsk region of Crimea. Where is the Biyuk-Karasu River located on the map
After the gloomy depths of the Kerch Strait and the Black Sea, I didn’t think - I didn’t guess that I would find myself at the bottom again. But you don’t need scuba diving equipment for this. The Biyuk-Karasu river in the Nizhnegorsky region, not far from its confluence with Salgir, can be jumped over in many places, and in some places you can walk along the bed - over dried clods of mud, along the river bottom that was still in the spring.
It has long been known that our steppe rivers are drying up. But many people have never seen this in their lives. Back in Soviet times, the channels of the Salgir, Biyuk-Karasu and Kuchuk-Karasu, all the Indoles and Bulganaks were regulated, blocked with dams, and ponds and creeks were created on them. There was always water. Few people even thought that scientists predicted the drying up of rivers. Let us present data on Biyuk-Karas, in local vernacular - from the most interesting book “Sunny Crimea. Physico-geographical sketch”, published in 1976. “The Bolshaya Karasevka River (Biyuk-Karasu) is the most significant tributary of the Salgir. It begins with the karst spring Karasu-Bashi on the northeastern slope of Karabi-yayla. Its length is 86 km, the basin area is 1160 square meters. km. The average long-term consumption is about 1.8 cubic meters. m/sec. The river waters are used for irrigation. In this regard, the river dries up in the summer and does not always reach Salgir.”
Then there was talk about irrigation as the reason for the low water content of the river and its drying out. But now many farms on the banks of the Biyuk-Karasu have collapsed and the problem of irrigation with water from the river is no longer so acute. There were few gardens left, and the lion's share of the water was used to water the trees. I remember that in the vicinity of the so-called “new dam” there was a water pumping station, and water was supplied through trays taller than a man’s height not only to the gardens of the Kirov collective farm, but also to other farms even in the neighboring Sovetsky district. Now there are no gardens, no trays, no water pumps. And it turned out that there was no river.
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About a hundred years ago, Karasevka was a deep river, up to 2-2.5 meters, and 3-4 meters wide. It’s like a ditch in hundred-year-old thick poplars, with whirlpool pits and clean water. And with fish. Then the channel widened due to the dams, and the floodplain increased. The depths have decreased, but the pools remain - secret fishing spots for anglers from the surrounding villages.
Photo by Vyacheslav Kharchenko
And none of them thought that much would change in just ten years. The main problem came with the destruction of the dams. First, they tore down the small dam in Novoivanovka, the lowest one on the river. At the beginning of the spring flood, local residents noticed water in their basements. Without thinking twice, we brought up a tractor with a bucket, dug a couple of times near the dam - and the pressure of water, licking the remains of the earthen embankment, rushed into Salgir. Then, due to an increase in the speed of the water flow, the embankment on the previous Uvarov dam broke. There was a bypass pipe there, through which excess water drained for decades. But someone took an eye on it for scrap metal... Then the Demyanovskaya dam, the highest one, concrete and stone, which “they also helped to break through,” broke through. The destruction of the dams resulted in rapid siltation of the river bed. Previously, silt did not accumulate like this, since it was retained by dams in the upper reaches and many kilometers of thickets of reeds along the banks (the reeds have now been burned). Clay was also dispersed throughout a large volume of water. The abundance of fish also influenced silt formation, because part of the silt was included in the food chain. And most importantly, the river flowed more slowly, held back by dams, and the banks, the clay from which made up most of this silt, were not eroded as much. Trees also played a role. “Some of the poplars here were three hundred years old,” says local fisherman Yura. “I remember exactly where they grew up.” The channel was deep, the banks were completely covered with vegetation. But now all the more or less large trees have been cut down. They live in villages along the river either for retirement or for odd jobs. So they started cutting poplars along the river - it seemed like nobody’s land.” The river quickly became shallow: “the duck is knee-deep.”
And then came the dry years. I noticed this in the mountains, where even large watercourses had dried up. It turned out that in the steppe the problem is even more acute, even on large rivers. I couldn’t resist and went to Salgir, the largest Crimean river.
After the Biyuk-Karasu flowed into it, beyond Novoivanovka, the main Crimean stream looked like a narrow ditch. And I didn’t even see the merger of Karasevka with Salgir. In the area of the so-called “drain” Biyuk-Karasu has dried up. A little higher up the riverbed, water remained only in large holes.
And on Salgir itself, near the bridge on the outskirts of the village of Listvennoye, there is a water measuring post. So the measuring pole flaunts its scales alone on the dry shore. The water doesn't even reach its base! The depth is more likely a ditch than a riverbed - no more than a meter.
On my trips along the rivers I didn’t see fishermen anywhere. Therefore, as soon as I saw the guy with a fishing rod, I approached him. It turned out that there was a problem with fish in the Crimean half-dry rivers. “There is a complete absence of any large fish, but here and there small fish are still biting,” shakes his head Yura, a new acquaintance. And then, as if in contrast to his words, there was a splash in the very middle of the narrow stream! To my astonished look, Yuri slowly explained: “This little puppy is hunting. There’s a lot of splashes, but it’s as big as the palm of your hand. He is a predator after all, and such are his habits. And it catches small things of perched water. Look how many there are!”
Apparently, our conversation attracted attention, or maybe because a fisherman sees a fisherman from afar.
First, a boy approached us with a homemade fishing rod with a huge reel - Roman. The fisherman's happiness immediately smiled at him - he pulled out a small redfin. And then an elderly man arrived on a moped. Also a fisherman, “all the way from Uvarovka.” But he didn’t want to meet. But he told a lot about private owners who keep ponds along the river and do not even allow worms to dig on their banks. There are also stocked rates, but fishing there is paid. “So these private owners specially caught all the big fish here with nets and brought them into their headquarters,” the man told us. And he said such fishing-salty words to the entrepreneurs... But he didn’t say anything about the dried-up Karasevka, he shrugged his shoulders - drought.
Yes, drought. But both mismanagement and human selfishness killed the river. And water, the basis of all life on the planet, is gone.
The second longest river in Crimea, Biyuk-Karasu, flows through the most picturesque places of the peninsula. Starting at the foot of Karabi-Yayla, she strives to get to Belogorsk, then, continuing on a winding path, she meets the magnificent Ak-Kaya and merges with her older sister Salgir.
At the same time, it is also an important source of water for consumption by the population and for meeting household needs. In recent years, the load on the flow has increased even more due to the need to replenish the key artificial artery of the steppe regions - the North Crimean Canal (NCC), which became shallow after the events of 2014.
The word “biyuk” in the Tatar dialect means “big”, and “karasu” means “black water”. This is what in the old days they called streams flowing from the bowels of the earth. And those that came down from the mountains were called, accordingly, “white water.” There is a Russian-language version, consonant with the main one - Karasevka.
One of the latest events related to the river is the construction of a hydraulic canal near Novoivanovka, with the help of which water from it is discharged into the SKK. The construction of the facility was completed in January 2015, and at the moment it allows supplying the Kerch Peninsula with fresh water.
Peculiarities
Flowing from the northeastern slopes of Karabi-Yayla, the river collects its waters from the mountains as a result of melting snow cover. A large share of moisture is provided by heavy spring rains, karst springs, and tributaries, the largest of which are: Tana-Su, Sary-Su and Kuchuk-Karasu (“Small Black Water”).
One of the most picturesque places where Karasevka swims is the Belogorsk region. Here you can see a magnificent natural monument - the white-walled Ak-Kaya, covered in legends and true stories. Near the city, the river spills into two reservoirs: Belogorsk and Taigan. Throughout its entire course, it supplies populated areas with drinking water and raw materials for irrigating agricultural land.
Like many other rivers of Crimea, the Biyuk-Karasu is flooded in the winter-spring period, but in a dry summer its bed can dry up even before it flows into the Salgir. Old-timers talk about the former power of the watercourse, when its depth reached 2.5 meters and width 3–4. Much has changed since the dams that held back the pressure were destroyed; and when the forest plantations along the coast were thoughtlessly cut down. Now in some places Karasevka can be jumped over or forded without getting your knees wet.
Fishing enthusiasts also complain about the meager catch, however, in numerous creeks, entrepreneurs sell paid vouchers that guarantee a rich and exciting hunt for river life.
One of the most beloved heroes of the mountainous Crimea is Alim. This is the local version of Robin Hood, the righteous robber who ruined the moneybags and distributed the loot to the poor. Tradition says that his refuge was located precisely in the place where Biyuk-Karasu was gaining strength.
How to get there
A good solution would be to combine a trip to Karasevka with a visit to the Ak-Kaya massif.
Regular buses run from the capital of Crimea, Simferopol, to the city of Belogorsk. From here you need to get to the village of Vishennaye by minibus or taxi. Next we focus on the rock.
Crimean rivers are not very long or deep, but they play a huge role in the life of the peninsula. Among them there are record holders and faithful hard workers who regularly feed the earth and people with drinking resources. The Biyuk-Karasu River in Crimea can be classified into both categories. It is one of the longest and is important for irrigation.
Where is the Biyuk-Karasu River located on the map?
The map of Crimea shows that the river flows mostly in two regions - Nizhnegorsk and Belogorsk, and partially flows along the northwestern outskirts of Sovetsky. The sources are located a little south of the village of Karasevka, and it flows into the Salgir River (Novoivanovka village). On the river banks, in addition to those already mentioned, there are the following settlements: Belaya Skala, Vishnevoe and Melniki, Zybiny and Zhemchuzhina, Sadovoe and Zhelyabovka, Demyanovka and Uvarovka.
Spring in the mountains of Crimea: the meaning of the name and history
The sources of Biyuk-Karasu are located on the slopes. It is fed by both karst springs and rain and melted snow. The largest spring that feeds the reservoir is called. It is considered the most powerful karst spring in Crimea and flows from a grotto with the eloquent name Su-Uchkhan-Koba, which translates as “cave of flying water.”
The length of the river is 86 km, which is quite a lot for Crimea (4th place). But where the Biyuk-Karasu flows - the absolute leader in this indicator, a powerful influx plays a noticeable role in this leadership. The current - now quite calm - was not always like this. There is evidence that in the 17th century the river flood had catastrophic consequences.
Black water
More precisely - “big black water”. This is the most common translation of Biyuk-Karasu. “Black” Tatars have the habit of calling any water of “dark”, underground origin, and the river owes its existence to springs. There is also a version that it was named as such out of anger for the damage caused by the already mentioned flood of the 17th century. Another explanation links the name to the dark silt that covers the bottom. It stands out for everyone to see when the river becomes shallow in the summer heat.
But in Crimea it rarely happens that a geographical object has only one name. Biyuk-Karasu is no exception; another toponym belongs to it - Bolshaya Karasevka. There is no need to look for complex explanations here. Yes, there used to be a lot of fish in it, but it’s not about crucian carp. It’s just that the Russian-speaking population did not understand the meaning of the Tatar name and came up with their own, consonant. So “Karasu” became “Karasevka”. And it is Big because the population is aware of its significant size – by the scale of Taurida.
Folklore calls the Su-Uchkhan-Koba cave the haven of the medieval robber Dlima - the Crimean analogue of Robin Hood. In this matter, too, one cannot do without “dark” forces and all sorts of mysticism, therefore, the name of the river acquires another explanation.
Broken dams
Old-timers say that a couple of decades ago Biyuk-Karasu never dried out completely, it became shallower less, and there were more fish in it. At the same time, there was enough living moisture to irrigate numerous gardens, 
of which, after the collapse of collective farms, there were significantly fewer.
Nowadays, plants and animals are few in number here. Experts in Crimean conditions explain this by poverty and unwise management. Previously, flows were blocked by dams in several places. The result was ponds with a slow flow. It’s a paradox, but these backwaters reduced the amount of silt settling on the bottom - there was no active erosion of the banks. Fish fauna willingly settled in the ponds. The depth could exceed 2 m. On the coast of the creeks, reeds grew, where birds lived. Large old trees grew along the river.
But then some of the local residents, during a flood after a particularly snowy one, discovered their basements and cellars were flooded. Instead of taking private measures, global measures were taken - the dams on the river were taken and destroyed without thinking about the consequences. The current became faster and began to wash away the shore edges. There are also fewer fish now. The nearby reeds were mercilessly burned for the convenience of grazing livestock. Trees were cut down for firewood.
As a result, the amount of water resources in the river has noticeably decreased. In any case, this is the interpretation given to the problem by environmentalists. They warned about the possible consequences of unwise management, but they were not listened to.
Garden River: fishing, relaxation, walk along the valley
But the Biyuk-Karasu still remains a fairly deep river. Even in dry years it does not dry out completely. Its waters feed two reservoirs - and are used for both irrigation and drinking. In 2014, it helped out several regions of Crimea - its flow was partially diverted to, the supply of water resources to which was suspended.
There are not many gardens in the river valley, but they do exist: in spring you can admire the lush colors. 
In general, spring will be the best time to visit the river, since in summer it becomes significantly shallower. In many places it is not difficult to find a ford or even jump to the other side.
Biyuk-Karasu is not wide, making it difficult to navigate by boat. But there are still fishing spots, mainly in the pools. It is better for the fisherman to get a friend among his local colleagues so that he can show him the ideal areas. Otherwise, finding them may be problematic. Fishermen complain that the fish are now crushed, but they still sit on the river with fishing rods.
According to reviews, the river is home to chub, perch, greenfish, roach, rudd, and savage. It's all about the worm; you can also try to catch the predator using wobblers or spinners. This is especially true for pike, which are small - 200-300 grams. – sizes sometimes end up on the hook.
In the river valley there is a state-level natural monument -. Travel to this natural attraction is in great demand; tourists come here to not only admire the fantastic landscapes opening from the height of the observation deck, but also to learn exciting legends that locals will be happy to tell.
How to get there (get there)?
So, getting to the flow of the river is not difficult. To get to the lower reaches, for example to Zhelyabovka, you can take any bus route going through Belogorsk from to Nizhnegorsk, Uvarovka, etc.
If you plan to get to the upper reaches, to Karasevka, then from Belogorsk by car you will have to go this way:
Note to tourists
- Address: Crimea, Russian Federation.
- GPS coordinates: 45.235038, 34.650599.
Full-flowing Salgir, water for Belogorsk and gardens, pleasure for fishermen - the Biyuk-Karasu River is the key to this. Crimea is grateful to her for this. Perhaps hasty economic decisions will no longer be made on its shores. In conclusion, watch a video report about off its coast.
The Bolshaya Karasevka River (Biyuk-Karasu) is the most significant tributary of the Salgir. It begins with the karst spring Karasu-Bashi on the northeastern slope of Karabi-yayla. Its length is 86 km, the basin area is 1160 km 2. The average long-term flow rate is about 1.8 m/sec. The river waters are used for irrigation. In this regard, the river dries up in the summer and does not always reach Salgir.
The species composition of fish due to the low water content of the rivers is not numerous, and some species live only in certain rivers. For example, the minnow and the endemic subspecies - shemaya inhabit only Bolshaya Karasevka. The latter is also home to other Crimean endemics: the Salgir fisherman and the river goby. The endemic Crimean barbel and about ten other species of common fish are found in Karasevka.
What was there thirty years ago no longer exists in Karasevka. Somewhere those endemics—species of animals or plants unique to it—have disappeared. Just like other fish...
As a child, precisely in the same years when the mentioned guidebook was published, I often came to Karasevka to fish. Pisces - different! — there was a lot, I didn’t return without a catch. Of course, “large animals” were not my cup of tea, but there were a lot of small things, especially those same big bulls.
And, of course, crucian carp... It seems that it was precisely because of the abundance of this tasty and tenacious fish that the Russian settlers renamed the river Biyuk-Karasu. And not because of the toponymic tracing from the Turkic “Karasu” (black water). In fact, in those years the water was quite clear, as children we swam from May to September and no one got sick - neither colds nor skin sores... And there was depth. Especially near the so-called dams. In the area of the villages of Uvarovka, Novoivanovka and Demyanovka, which is not far from Nizhnegorskoye, there were three such dams. Now they are gone...
Yuri Taganov was born on the banks of Bolshaya Karasevka. And for almost thirty years now his life has been connected with this river. She poured her waters into Yurka’s soul, established herself with fishing happiness, and was imprinted in her memory by the events associated with her... The current deputy of the village council, Yu. Taganov, an amateur fisherman and patriot of his Karasevka, can tell a lot.
“My first impression of fishing: I was three or four years old, my father was fishing and gave me a fishing rod to cast,” recalls Yuri. “I cast, but got caught on some floating branch and began to pull the line. I pull it out and see that there is a large fish on the hook. It turned out to be a roach. Of course, it seemed gigantic to me...” In the same place, opposite his home, when he was five years old, Yura was already catching crucian carp. For running away without asking to go fishing, he was punished for the first time...
As a teenager, Taganov could spend all day on the river. If anyone was looking, they looked on the river bank. Successful fishing enchanted the young man. “At the age of fourteen, I simply fell ill with crucian carp fishing! The cage was always full of small crucian carp, but the large ones had to be hunted. With specially prepared bait on our river, together with my father, I caught crucian carp up to a kilogram! It’s not much, it’s true, but I’ve never seen anything like it again in my life!”
And in 1991, Yura began fishing for carp. In a pool not far from the school, he tried to catch this fish every day. The carp kept breaking off because the fisherman could not pull him out. At first he didn’t tell his father about it, but then he finally admitted it. A few days later, using a special tackle - an elastic band - he pulled out a handsome carp weighing six and a half kilograms from the gloomy depths!
Yuri Taganov also remembered all the types of fish that were found in Karasevka at different times (counting them up to 15), and two types of crayfish, and many birds and aquatic mammals attracted by the abundance of fish stocks. While still a schoolboy, he studied the ichthyology and behavior of local fish. I wrote several essays about local fishing, but to the table... There were fewer and fewer fish... A lot of them were caught with nonsense, ruined with electric fishing rods in the wild 90s. But the main problem came with the destruction of the dams.
First, the small dam in Novoivanovka, the lowest one on the river, was torn down. Some “comrades” discovered water in their basements during the spring flood. Without thinking twice, we brought up a tractor with a bucket, dug a couple of times near the dam - and the pressure of water, licking the remains of the earthen embankment, rushed into Salgir. Then the water flow tore down the embankment on the Uvarov dam. There was a bypass pipe there, through which excess water drained. But someone looked at it for scrap metal... Then the Demyanovskaya dam, the highest one, concrete and stone, which “they also helped to break through...” broke through.
Mismanagement also played a role. “Some of the poplars here were three hundred years old,” says Taganov. “I know exactly where they grew up.” The channel was deep, but not wide, the banks were completely covered with vegetation. Now all the more or less large trees have been cut down, because, they say, they are no one’s.” He conducted a kind of research and found that about a hundred years ago Karasevka was a deep river, up to two or two and a half meters, and three to four meters wide. It’s like a channel in thick poplars, with whirlpool holes and clean water. And with fish...
“Where six years ago the water was chest-deep, now it’s knee-deep. The water flows quickly, like in a mountain river. The small fish don’t breed, and the big fish go with the flow,” laments the avid fisherman, who has become both a hydrobiologist and a hydrologist against his will.
But Yuri decided to fight for the river, which he knew and loved since childhood. Became a deputy of the Uvarovsky village council. Having studied the issue, I calculated that the restoration of one dam would require more than 125 thousand hryvnia, and funds were also needed to clean the riverbed and dredge the reservoir. Plus planting willows, willows, and poplars on the banks. Of course, the village council has no money for all this. The deputy made inquiries both to the regional water management agency and to Simferopol. There is no money to restore the dams on Karasevka.
And in this regard, the deputy remembers something extraordinary: “Just before the collapse of the dams, I was fishing off an island nicknamed Crocodile, near Novoivanovka. Suddenly, from under the overhanging bushes near the shore opposite, something huge white dives into the water. It surfaced right next to the floats, its eyes were red, it was already creepy. I took a closer look - an albino muskrat. But how healthy! She looked at me, lay on the surface - and in depth. Then I sailed by boat to the same place several more times, but did not meet the beast. I heard later that a white muskrat was killed. It seems to me that it was the spirit of the river... With her death, the river began to die.”
Alas, this is a pure memory of the past. “There is no river. There is no beauty..."
Sergei Tkachenko, "