..... at least in these parts of the world. I stayed home for the weekend to watch the Giro d'Italia and see Tom Dumoulin win, but that meant I surely had to go out today. The forecast predicted over 30 degrees in the afternoon, but in the morning I reckoned fishing would be quite doable still. At six I put the boat in the water and went out to look for some new spots. The Humminbird indicates a water surface temperature of almost 23 degrees right from the start. And perhaps it's the temperature or I am not as focused as normal but fishing is slow. Absolutely nothing happens. I try some spots on the river and I enter a few little harbors. At 10:30 I decide to go back to my home water in order to catch at least one fish. Perhaps it's not 30 degrees yet, but with no wind at all it's absolutely getting very hot in the boat. When I arrive at the lake I see that the spot that rendered lots of fish the last weeks is occupied by some dredging boats.... great. Over to the other side then, I try to concentrate.... but actually it is of no interest. Nothing bites.
One last try and then I call it a day and just before I lift the shad I feel a small zander take the lure. He doesn't save the day but at least I don't stay fishless. I start wrapping up, but then I spot not far from the boat some activity on the surface. I am not sure if it's predators hunting, but with a lot of sun and no wind this might be the perfect time to try and cast a popper. I always carry them with me, but never find the opportunity to use them. Lack of faith! At the first cast I already see something try to take the lure..... or did I just reel in over a sunbathing fish? I cast again and quickly a new fish takes a chance at my lure, and this time there's no doubt about it. It's not a sunbathing carp or the like, but an asp that grabbed the popper. And though it's not a big fish, it gives a spectacular fight.
After a quick release I cast a few times on the same spot but it stays quiet now. I move the boat a little further and again I see fish hunting. Quickly I cast in the middle of the action and immediately the lure is taken very hard. Unfortunately the fish doesn't stay on. The fish move towards the boat now and I see 6 or 7 big asps hunting just below the surface in front of me. As I try to cast quickly between them my lure tangles up (don't know how I managed to do that), but when I finally have everything straightened out again the fish are gone. I cast a few times more, but it stays quiet. Time to go home, the extremely slow day ended not so bad after all.
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