Many primitive peoples worshiped and prayed to the sun. Every sensible person likes nice weather and sunshine, just not us, anglers. We only like bad weather. Whatever, if only not sunny! My crown witness, that anglers hate the sun is the old master Rudolf Sack. He once said: “When the sun is shining in the sky, I go for a walk with my family, for on such a day he takes nothing anyway. The worse the weather, the better the results in catching fish. " Actually, the sun almost always bothers anglers. If it is lit from the front or side, it blinds you. If it lights on the back, it is the shadow of the angler falling on the water that scares the fish away. If it is at its zenith, even the angler is at risk of having a stroke. In bright sunlight, the water becomes clearer, and the fish are more careful. Inhabitants of the underwater world then hide in the dark depths, they look for shade under tree branches or bridges.
Carps sunbathing
The only exception in this regard is carp. Sometimes it gets an impression, that these fish enjoy sunbathing. They then stand at high noon just below the water surface and, completely motionless, expose their thick ridges to the sunlight. Carps sunbathing do not react to any bait. Anglers are then completely helpless and when standing on the shore they experience a real shock, that such big fish live in their lake. But sometimes the sun helps anglers. For example, at the end of the season (in December) pike take well only then, when a pale sun appears in the sky. You can count on the first bites only around eleven o'clock, when it is a little brighter. In addition, predatory fish most often take in changing weather, mostly then, when the sun hides or comes out from behind the clouds. I often catch zander in the Elbe River with my friend Harald. If the weather is changeable, Harald always comes to me with the following proposition: "Look, the sun is coming soon, you bet, that he will take a zander in three casts?"I'm not just betting because, that the stake my friend is proposing is simply too high for regular fun. The same applies to fishing for quiet feeding – hardly the sun comes out from behind the clouds, The float disappears under the water immediately.
Fish avoid bright light
In most cases, however, bright sunlight scares the fish away. I got to know it especially well while fishing for cod from the pier in Grena on the eastern coast of Denmark. Evening. Still burning red sun mercilessly and not a single bite. The red ball slowly begins to set, however, there is still not a single bite. At the time, when the last millimeters of the "death star" disappeared below the horizon, the rod tip bent as if on command. He took the first cod on the drill; from now on I have take after take. Every evening the whole ritual was repeated exactly to the minute. But I do wonder, what is the point of discussing light and shadow, sun and rain. Most anglers only go fishing then, when he has free time, completely regardless of the weather. The weather is not chosen, you have to take it like that, how it is. The only thing that matters, it is "inner” weather, the so-called serenity. If we have the sun in our heart, the weather while fishing – it is completely irrelevant.
