The International Union For The Conservation Of Nature (IUCN) records the Asp Aspius aspius as a red list endangered species. It is also protected by the Bern Convention of endangered species and habitats. Judging by the number of times I've been asked what an Asp is, my guess is that not a lot of people know that. And if the toxic sludge that burst its way free of it's containment wall in Hungary the very day I returned from my eastern European Asp quest ever finds its way into the Danube, then that endangered status may well have to be cranked up a couple of notches at the very least. So, for those who think that an Asp is the snake used by Cleopatra to kill herself, let me say that it is in fact a predatory member of the Cyprinid family that includes the Roach and the Chub, which in terms of general appearance, it rather looks like a hybrid of. Until that is you get to the mouth, which is huge, slightly up pointing, and interestingly for such an aggressive predator, totally devoid of teeth. In a way it reminded me of a Tarpon's mouth, and judging by the way they totally engulfed the lures we were using, it also appears to feed like a Tarpon too by coming up to its prey from below and quickly sucking it right in right to the back of its throat.

In terms of distribution and life style, Asp prefer the bigger, faster rivers of Eastern Europe, though I understand that they can be found as far west as northern Germany, particularly the in River Elbe. One of the biggest rivers in Europe is the Danube, which from its origin in Germany's Black Forest, flows through nine other European countries before eventually discharging into the Black Sea close to the Romanian city of Sulina. And based on local information, it was the stretch where the river actually marks the border between Romania and Bulgaria, around 50 Km to the east of the city of Ruse (Pyce) that we had ear marked to fish. Bulgarian anglers Andrey Parvanov and Pavel Pavlov picked me up en route from Sofia to Ruse via Nesebar where I was staying for a combined attempt at catching and learning about this mysterious freshwater predator, which incidentally none of us had even seen before let alone actually caught. A trip we had planned over the Internet for many weeks, which was finally getting under-way.

From our research, we knew that the further east we fished, the better our chances, particularly if we chose a large, deep, fast flowing stretch which was an almost tailor-made definition of much of the lower Danube. At almost 2,900 Km long, fringed by large industrial towns and cities right through to Austria, and navigated by huge merchant ships, it is the main arterial route for this corner of Europe. But that still left a lot of potential water to be tried. So Andrey and Pavel sought advice from some of the local angling talent in and around Ruse who told of a potentially productive stretch of the river way out of the city where the river actually looks more like a river should, particularly if you have Asp on your mind. We were to find a specific track leading down through the surrounding forest to a water pumping station, downstream of which we should look for fast water glides within casting range where the bigger Asp are known to do some of their feeding, particularly early mornings and evenings, which in the dark and with no prior knowledge took some finding. But at around day break on the first morning, bingo, we had found 'X' marks the spot.

So what exactly is a big Asp. Well, there have been authenticated reports of specimens topping 10 Kg, though we were told to expect a more typical good fish average of around 1 to 2 Kg. By that stage Asp should have become lone hunters, usually out in the deeper water. Smaller Asp however tend to be pack hunters. So find one and you could be in for a bit more regular action which we were later to find was a very accurate piece of advice. The thing about Asp is that while they are potentially big fish with biggish mouths, unlike predators such as Pike which have enormous mouths, they require much smaller lures, particularly for the smaller pack fish. Another problem is that they like their lures cranked back in at almost break neck speed, which, unless the lure is carrying a fair bit of weight is going to bring it up quite high in the water column, which if it's deep, or if say it's carrying a bit of colour after heavy rain, can present problems getting small lures down deep enough while coming in fast enough to be in with a chance. So wit that in mind, Henk Simonsz has put together a range of Asp specific lures of different body weight and colours which I must admit I had not seen before, but which I dare say I will be using again for other small to average fish, both in freshwater and at sea. They were absolutely excellent and amongst the best and most innovative lures I have used in a very long time.

With the sun now fully up in the sky, we stopped off at the first fast water stretch we came across and all started pitching in lures at long range, the reward for which was a very early portion of success in the form of what would turn out to be our best Asp at around 1½ Kg to Pavel's rod. He described the hit as hard and sudden. A fish with plenty of power and no easy push over to get in to the net. Unfortunately, despite being suddenly enthused by Pav's fish, for the next hour or so we drew a complete blank, unless you count a couple of spirited, but abortive hits by small Pike just as the lure was about to be lifted from the water. It was at this point that Andrey wandered back a couple of hundred metres upstream to where a fallen tree was somehow being held out both across and into the water flow, and started trying a few risky throws with the lure in an attempt to get as close to it as possible without actually getting hung up, which unfortunately did eventually claim a few lures over the day, though the payback for the gamble proved to be more than worth it.

Protruding branches from the log eventually took lures from all of us. But it also gave each of us at least one Asp. Granted, they were all small fish, which fits in very neatly with the juvenile shoaling instinct we were told about. But that probably isn't the only reason why we took a total of four Asp from just in front of its influence. As it was protruding above the water line, it clearly also had a lot of water flowing underneath it too, as evidenced by the swirls of disturbed water being thrown upon on the downstream side. Just the kind of stuff Asp love. But again, that may not have been all. Because those parts of the tree submerged nearest to the bank where the water was both quieter and shallower, would also provide a nice stretch of sheltered haven for any small prey fish in the area. And as these Asp were probably only just at or into the start of their fish feeding phase, if it were so, then it could only be a good thing.

What amazed me about those smaller fish taken just in front of the long was the amount of aggression they showed for their size when attacking the lures. Very obviously, even by that stage, instinctive full on predators, which put together with Pavels account of the earlier bigger fish, left me wondering just what it might be like if one of us were to hook up something into double figures, which I'm sure are there for a couple of good reasons. The first is that Asp have a preference for the lower reaches of big rivers, though we were around 300 Km from the Black Sea, which while that might a long way, is nothing when you consider the total length of the Danube. But more important still, the local anglers, of which there are literally hundreds each evening along every available stretch of river bank in and around Ruse city centre, for the most part have absolutely no interest whatsoever in the things. Not that they would have much of a chance of catching them anyway as most fishing with bait. The reason being that bread and maggots catch Roach, Bream and Catfish which you can eat, whereas Asp, certainly from the English speakers I bumped into, are not well regarded as table fish, which in light of their endangered status is perhaps as well.

As I said, angling along the Bulgarian stretch of the Danube is a national passion. Everyone was at it from the crews of boats tied up to the customs officers. And virtually without fail, every fish caught was on a one way ticket out of the place. Being a sea angler, I'm used to seeing fish taken. But there is something about plastic bags containing Bream which doesn't quite work in the English anglers psyche, not too mention going in to fish shops and seeing Carp, Pike, Zander and all the rest on the slab. We on the other hand put all our fish back, including a couple of small Pike. Pavel also lost a Zander as it leapt clear of the water shaking the lure free. Six Asp, five of which were by any standards small might not sound like an overriding success, but for us, never having even seen one between us, and with each of us catching, was nothing short of a triumph under the circumstances. It's just a pity that the wind made accurate casting difficult, and the sporadic heavy down pours made filming all but impossible. But we managed to grab some video footage plus a few photographs here and there, and for Andrey and Pavel, I'm sure it won't be their last Asp encounter, particularly as Andrey is looking to establish a freshwater guiding service for European visitors to the country wanting to fish for the full range of what Bulgaria's freshwater lakes, rivers and dams have to offer, which I am told is a lot.

Andrey can be contacted at www.blowfish-bg.com

SEE THE VIDEO VAULT –Danube Asp Fishing