Team USA will be competing in the World Championship taking place on the Volga River in the Ivankovo Reservoir (or in Russian: Ivankovskoye “Ivanka” Reservoir). It’s the uppermost Reservoir of the Volga River in Moscow and Tver Oblasts of Russia. The location is about 130 Km (Or 81 Miles in US Terms) from Moscow. The lake surface area is 127 square miles. Some refer to it as the Moscow Sea.

What’s on the bottom? Sand, stones, silt, minimal weeds, and homes. Yes, we said homes! The “Ivanka” was created in 1936 and its construction involved flooding a number of populated areas and those remains are still on the bottom creating some exciting structure for the fish and unusual terrain for Anglers. The lake is 1.24 Miles to 3.11 miles wide and 74.5 miles long! Max depth is 62.34 feet. However, the average depth is only 13.12 feet.

Team USA won’t be fishing the entire lake though. With over 2 hours to get from top to bottom in a standard boat with a standard motor could pose some time problems. The competition water border limits are from the power line of the Konakovo GES [hydro-electric power station ], which crosses the reservoir, to the dam outside the town of Dubna (about 23 miles).

The targeted species for the world championships are Zander (Sander lucioperca) no smaller that 40 cm, Pike (Esox lucius) no smaller than 32 cm, and Asp (Aspius aspius) no smaller than 40 cm, Volga Zander (Stizostedion volgensis = Lucioperca volgensis) no smaller than 30 cm, and European Perch (Perca fluviatilis) no smaller than 25 cm. All fish are freshwater species. Curious to know what an Asp and Zander looks like? Check out the images below.

Zander  Asp 

*** In 2017 the World Championship targeted species are pike and perch.

Many call this Reservoir “Zander Paradise”. It’s also a Moscow favorite for other species like bream, roach, bream, crucian carp, carp and other cyprinids. Fans of fishing using a spinning reel can make good catches of pike, perch, ASP, catfish, Bursch, and Walleye. But the main object of catching, and coveted trophy of anglers, is the perch! According to some catches in the “Ivanka”, The perch have been 7-8 Pounds and even up to 11-12 pounds!

One of the target species by Team USA is the Pike. Apparently, trophy Pike can be found in the flooded villages where there are still empty homes!