I reckon God must be getting old. Old folks often feel the chill a little and like to turn the central heating up and that certainly seems to be happening here. The weather people say we are experiencing a little heat wave which should pass in a few days. Maybe. I figure it is just God twiddling the dials that adjust the thermostat.
On Saturday morning I collected Leo from a friend´s house in Fuengirola and took him to the river to see if the fish were up and about. They were, but they were sluggish, as was Leo himself after a night on the beer and just a few hours of sleep.
We didn´t stay long – just long enough to decide that the barbel would have nothing to do with us and to admire some fine carp cruising in the Río Grande. These fish can be seen clearly from an elevated vantage point but they could not be persuaded to take our flies.
On Sunday evening I delayed heading out until around 6.00pm. Even then it was sweltering. The thermometer in the car said 37oC. When I got home later I saw that Steve Lawler went bass fishing on Zahara and posted a picture on Facebook of temperature reading on his dashboard – 42 oC!
Inevitably in such heat the fish would be expected to be sluggish. Even a half an hour after starting yesterday evening I had sweat dripping into my eyes as I removed a nymph the fish were showing no interest in and replaced it with something a little smaller which, as it happened, they showed no interest in either!
I decided to fish a broad shallow pool and cast to barbel as they moved around the tree-lined margins not because it was likely to be productive (it wasn´t!) but because standing in the river was very refreshing.
In the end, with the sting taken from the heat, the fish began to respond a little more and I managed to catch three.
Two things were noteworthy. The first was the presence of another fly fisherman spotted briefly walking upstream. I have never seen another fly fisherman here apart from Leo and fishing friends.
The second was the behaviour of the barbel. In the evening they seem to spread out from the pools and shallow runs occupied during the day. I wonder whether they do most of their feeding now at night under the cover of darkness when the temperature might be more to their liking?
I got there in the end!
When it is very hot the most comfortable place to be is in the river. You can get quite close to the fish but they can be very uncooperative!
fishydreams 
Hi Paul
It’s still scorchio over there then. We were lucky for our week in Galicia and Asturias, just a nice 20 odd degrees. You probably won’t have a river left when we get there in September, but it would be good to meet up at the embalses.
Although we haven’t got the heat we do have a distinct lack of rain and it’s not worth going after the Salmon, as there’s no water for them to run up from the estuary.
Just started my carp fishing and had a couple at the weekend.
We should get our heads together and plan a trip to the north – it looked amazing.
Take care and see you in September
Good thinking Sir. I will make some enquiries. I think our river will shrink and shrink as it does most summers so September it will be at its skinniest. It is still worth fishing though. And of course the embalses are good then. Are you around in Leeds at the end of July? I am launching a book at the CLA game fair on 31st. If you are planning on going to this thing we could meet up for a pint.