Hot July at the Amur River - one more weekend

Mid summer in Amur is normally hot and calm.  On the sunrise the huge river looks like a mirror.  The water temperature was 25*C. 

Lots of small fish were jumping at the lake outlet.  These 10-20 cm long silver Cyprinids (mostly sawbelly) were preying upon some tiny, 1,5-2 cm long fish.  Bigger predators, probably, 0,3-1 kg skygazers were time to time making boils in the middle of the sawbelly schools.  Dog eat dog!  The water in Amur was high & murky.  In such situations the skygazer is normally aiming only the big groups of its prey, and ignoring the solitary fish (same as your fly).  I have decided to move into the lake.       

In the lake the surface temperature was 28*C!  At the outlet there were also schools of sawbelly which were hunting on little fish.  Sawbelly looks like a bleak, but you often catch it with streamers. 

 I have tried a tiny wobbler-fly on #10 hook and caught some predatory sawbellies as well.

The lake is formed by an old river channel; its widest & deepest part is a flooded sand pit. 

 In the lake there were lots of little skygazers. 

This corner looks promising - it should be inhabited by some bigger predator

 This plant is normally growing in the areas with at least 1,5-2 meters of water.

I was covering the snags and weeds at that "juicy" corner with a silver streamer and caught a snakehead.

The head of this fish is covered with scales and looks borrowed from a snake...

Hot July at the Amur River

The first part of the summer in Khabarovsk was rather cold & rainy.  Only by mid July we have got the usual hot weather - over 30*C.  The nights are also very warm. The water in the Amur River is 22*c, and in the lakes  - 24-25*C.     These days the city people are using any possibility to go the water to swim. 

On the weekend I was with my family on one of the lakes at the Bolshoi Ussuriiski Island, about 5 km from the border with China. Some of the local fish of the northern origin do not like hot weather.  On the contrary, some species had come here from the tropical waters.  Hot summer is the time when they are feeding most active.  

 These aquatic plants form thickets at the depths of over 2 meters. 

Predators love sitting in a shade, below the green ceiling. 

 I was moving in an inflatable kayak along the weed beds and reed walls.

 Amur catfish was caught with sinking line & pink-and-purple wobbler fly.  

This little snakehead was caught with typical pike tackle: floating line, steel tippet, and red wobbler fly with yellow legs, tied on #1 hook.  

Snakehead is very strong fish with sharp teeth and powerful jaws.  Amur River is the northernmost part of its range.