The Don is one of the major rivers of the European portion of Russia Russia. It rises in the small reservoir of Shat, located in the Central Russian Upland near the city of Novomoskovsk 60 kilometers southeast of Tula 120 km south of Moscow. It flows generally in a southerly direction for a total distance of 1,950 kilometers, draining a basin of some 422,000 km2, before it enters the Gulf of Taganrog in the Sea of Azov. The climate of the basin is moderately continental. The river lies between the Volga River to the east and the Dnieper River to the west. From its source, the river first flows southeast to Voronezh, then southwest to its mouth. The river itself widens intermittently into small lakes; depths range from a few feet in the shores to 33 feet, with a maximum width of 1,300 feet.
In antiquity, the river was viewed as the border between Europe and Asia by some ancient Greek geographers. In the Hebrew Book of Jubilees, it is mentioned as being part of the border, beginning with its westernmost point up to its mouth, between the allotment of Japheth to the north and Shem to the south. During the times of the old Scythians it was known in Greek as the Tanais and has been a major trading route ever since. Tanais appears in ancient Greek sources as both the name of the river and of a city on it, situated in the Maeotian marshes. According to Plutarch, the Don River was also home to the legendary Amazons of Greek mythology. While the lower Don was well known to ancient geographers, its middle and upper reaches were not mapped with any accuracy before the gradual conquest of the area by Muscovy in the 16th century. The Don Cossacks, who settled the fertile valley of the river in the 16th and 17th centuries, were named after the river. Representing military estate they served in the horse guards of the Russian Empire but their everyday life and folklore are also very interesting. River tourists can learn more about that in the Cossack villages. The fort of Donkov was founded by the princes of Ryazan in the late 14th century. The fort stood on the left bank of the Don, about 34 kilometers from the modern town of Dankov, until 1568, when it was destroyed by the Crimean Tatars, but soon restored at a better fortified location. It is shown as Donko in Mercator’s Atlas (1596), Donkov was again relocated in 1618, appearing as Donkagorod in Joan Blaeu’s map of 1645.
At its easternmost point, the Don comes near the Volga, and the Volga-Don Canal (length ca. 105 kilometers), connecting both rivers, is a major waterway. The Khazar fortress of Sarkel used to dominate this point in the middle Ages. This part of the river saw Operation Uranus, one of the turning points of the Second World War. The water level of the Don in this area is raised by the Tsimlyansk Dam, forming the Tsimlyansk Reservoir. For the next 130 kilometers below the Tsimlyansk Dam, the sufficient water depth in the Don River is maintained by the sequence of three dam-and-ship-lock complexes: the Nikolayevsky Ship Lock, Konstantinovsk Ship Lock, and the best known of the three, the Kochetovsky Ship Lock. Three of the Main tributaries from source to mouth are Khopyor 1,010 kilometers, Seversky Donets 1,053 kilometers and Aidar 264 kilometers.
The navigable part of the Don is rather short, that’s why the cruises from Rostov-on-Don usually don’t last longer than a week. But a combined cruise “the Volga & the Don” is among the most lasting river voyages in Russia. A trip from Moscow to Rostov and back lasts for 3 weeks. The main city on the river is Rostov. Throughout the world the river is associated with images of the turbulent and colorful Don Cossacks-romanticized in a famous series of novels by the 20th-century Russian writer Mikhail Sholokhov-and with a series of large-scale engineering projects that have enhanced the waterway’s economic importance.
The long-term fluctuations in the water level of the Don reach about 40 feet in the upper course, 25 feet in the middle course, and 20 feet in the lower course. The highest levels are in the spring, the lowest in autumn and winter. The average rate of discharge at the mouth of the Don is about 900 m3 per second.
The river Don abounds in fish. Some species inhabit it constantly and others appear in the river only in the spawning season. Species composition is rather diverse, it amounts to 90 species.
Due to this fact, fishing on the river Don is more interesting than fishing on other Russian rivers. As for other river inhabitants, the following fish species are worth mentioning: gudgeon, bream, red-eye, roach, saber fish, pike perch, carp and Crucian. Such species as zherekh, chub, perch and pike are quite rare. If you are lucky, you might catch an eel, common carp, catfish. Taran, pike perch, Shemaya, herring and Vimba bream are mainly the species that can be caught in the spawning season. From April 1st to May 31st fishing is prohibited. This time is considered to be the spawning season. Autumn and spring are the best seasons for fishing. Other interesting fish species inhabiting the lower parts of the river Don are Peschanik, harvest fish and Syrman goby. Lower parts of the river Don abound in golden carp and Alburn. Alburn is also called “Selyava” or “Sebel” and is usually caught with a large fishing rod having a sea-line 0.1 – 0.12 mm, a cork float and a hook 2.5-3 mm. One of the favorite places for fishing on the river Don is Khutor Kalinin, as all conditions necessary for lovers of fishing are created there. They are: a charming passage to the river, peace and quiet where nothing can distract a fisherman from his favorite pastime. Recently this place has become so popular that one has to do their best to occupy a “baited” place, since the demand is quite high.
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