Bite, little Tashmore fish — and no small one

Say "Tashmore" and at once you seem to hear the light rustle of the waves, to see the aquamarine distance, and somewhere out there, on the horizon, the sea merges with the sky. In reality it is all different, though for Uzbekistan the size of Tashmore is quite large. And, most importantly, our little Tashkent Sea is capable of winning the heart of any angler, since its waters are home to snakehead, carp, catfish and many other fish. And also shrimp, which in principle should not be there. Just like the jellyfish, which likewise swam in without asking permission. Isn't that a raider's takeover? Yet by their very existence they all confirm the Tuyabuguz reservoir's full and inviolable right to sea status. Add a shark here (forgive my sinful soul) and you could launch liners and seiners. By the way, just ten years ago Tashmore was not on the list of promising places to take guests. And for avid anglers it was not particularly significant, though they had heard there was snakehead there and even tried to find it in the shallow bays in early spring. But rumours of anything big of this fish, caught at least by poachers, went unconfirmed. And the small fry — who cared for it? Besides, the snakehead is not a target fish for this reservoir. They caught pike-perch, carp, crucian, but this "beauty"! Time has passed, and today it is no exaggeration to say that snakehead of considerable size lives in Tashmore. The depths here are great and the water is fairly cold. And yet nature has ordained that this "fright-fish", with its delicious and tender taste when served at table, is caught — and a very big one at that. There is one more wonder-fish in Tashmore — the catfish. By all accounts he is a very respectable fellow, sometimes reaching over 100 kg. Some anglers travel specially for Tashmore catfish and bring back a dozen at a kilo or two each. They catch them on a bunch of worms. And when the water begins to recede, the local children crawl over the clay with sacks, gathering small catfish. A union of the pleasant with the useful: sport, recreation, and honest business of the purest kind. And, surprisingly, this kind of recreation, on a par with sport, likewise goes unnoticed by our tourism companies. Yet the recreation zones along the Tashmore shore do a great deal today for the development of fishing. They rent tackle to anglers and hire out boats. And, for instance, at the "Briz" recreation zone, if a lucky catcher so wishes, they will even cook his catch so well that he will lick his fingers and ask to both fish and fry again. What could be more wonderful than the combination of a favourite pastime, comfort, tasty food, and the sense of pride that the magic delicacy served to you was caught by you personally? And all of this can be experienced at Tashmore, in a recreation zone with such a telling name — "Briz".