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Summer time is here and the fishing is “red hot”, literally. The air is thick and the temps are on the rise. It is time to start thinking of ways to keep cool. It is also time to start thinking like a bass. What would you do to stay cool when the mercury rises? What would a bass do? You would probably find heavily shaded areas to hang out in. Maybe take a dip in the deep end of a pool, or stay close to a fan to keep cool? Wake up early to do yard work or wait until the late afternoon cooling to tackle the honey do list. These are all good ways for us to keep cool. Bass will often relate to similar things to keep cool. Here are a few tips I like to do when locating and catching bass during the heat of the summer. |
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Wake up early to do yard work or wait until the late afternoon cooling to tackle the honey do list
First thing I like to do is take advantage of cool times of the day. I will either fish early in the morning or late in the evening. Fishing during these times will keep you cool, comfortable and are times when bass are most active. Bass are considered low light feeders and will take advantage of these cooler times to fill up before the heat arrives. Anglers who target these times can often intercept actively feeding bass. Areas I like to fish are the widest parts of the bayou or river and small cuts that empty the marsh. Bass will travel in big schools to corral baitfish. Baits I like to use are spinner-baits, top-water baits, and umbrella rigs. These are all fast moving power baits and work well in open water when bass are schooling. They are designed to catch the most active bass around. You can work these lures fast and cover a lot of water maximizing the time you have when the temps are cool.
You would probably find heavily shaded areas to hang out in
Another thing I like to do when locating bass during the summer is look for shade. I’ll concentrate on docks, boat slips, cypress tree lined banks and matted grass or other vegetation. These areas are great when the sun is high during the hottest part of the day. Places that have this type of structure provide food, shelter, and most importantly shade. They attract and hold bass throughout the year. Anglers who spend the day flipping and skipping lures such as jigs, or soft plastics stand a good chance of catching both numbers and sizable bass. Here are a few tips on what I like to look for when fishing these areas. Each structure has different subtleties to them. Docks for example have the most noticeable differences. Some docks are new and some docks are old or run down. Docks that are older get the nod in my boat simply because they have thicker algae on them. This is the base of their food chain. It will attract bait-fish and bass will follow. Cypress tree lined banks are great places for shade and hold big bass. Not all cypress tree banks are the same. The type of cypress tree banks I look for are the ones on smaller feeder creeks. The feeder creeks have more bends they are narrower and they have more current. This will provide bass with deeper water, and current that will position fish in the bends of the feeder creek. This will make it easier for anglers to locate and catch them. Vegetation on the other hand is a little more complicated. Bayous, rivers or lakes can have a vast supply of grass and vegetation. This vegetation can consist of milfoil, hydrilla, coontail, alligator grass, lily pads, pond scum, eel grass, and many more. The key to picking vegetation apart is to find transition areas where two, three or four types of grass come together. Once you catch a fish in a grassy area sit still and pick that entire area apart. Areas like this can hold big numbers of bass.
Maybe take a dip in the deep end of a pool, or stay close to a fan to keep cool?
Next, I love finding an offshore bite or windblown banks to fish when the heat is on. Most bass move out deep when the summer time heat is in full swing. When I talk about fishing deep it is more or less relative to the area you are fishing. Depths can range from 8 to 10 feet down to 15 or 20 feet. It all depends on the water way and the average depth of the area. The offshore bite can be a way to catch fast and furious bass. Places I like to look for offshore bass is a main river hump, structure on a channel swing, a main river or lake point. These places can hold a big population of summer time bass, but each location will hold bass differently. Main river humps will hold suspended bass. They will hold just off the bottom and will scatter across the hump, mostly holding near one piece of structure on the hump. A channel swing will hold bass that position themselves closer to the bottom along the steepest drop in the bend. This allows them to come up shallow to feed and move back deeper to stage. A main river or lake point is the easiest of the three to find. They can be located without any electronics and will hold a lot of bass. They will also get a lot more fishing pressure than an offshore hump or channel swing. Bass will stage along either side of the point mainly on the down current side or side with structure on it. Offshore bass fishing allows me to use some of my favorite lures and techniques. Deep running crank-baits, and heavy jigs get the call when I am fishing offshore structure. You can use the crank-bait to find sweet spots on the structure by fan casting until you locate the school of bass.
After locating the school of bass you can refine your approach by concentrating on those sweet spots with a jig. Doing this will allow you to slow down and catch the bigger fish from the school. Windblown banks are great areas to fish for summer time bass. Not only will you keep cool from the breeze but you can catch a ton of bass that move into these areas to feed. The wind will blow plankton into these areas. Bait-fish will follow the plankton to feed. Bass will also migrate to windblown banks to feed on the bait-fish. Wind will clutter the surface of the water. The clutter will provide some shade for the bass keeping them cooler and it will help break up the profile of your lure. I like to slow roll big swim-baits in these areas. Swim-baits will mimic bait-fish perfectly and bass cannot pass up a big slow moving meal. Look for dark spots just under the surface and fan cast the swim-bait around them. Dark spots usually indicate schools of bait-fish that frequent these areas. Bass will be just under the schools of shad waiting for a stray or the perfect opportunity to strike.
Last but not least and probably the most important piece of information I can give you is to protect yourself. Wear a hat, glasses, long sleeves, and sunscreen. Also consider wearing light weight gloves and a performance neck gaiter. This will help cover your hands, the back of your neck and face. These areas of the body get the most abuse from the sun. Drink plenty of fluids and bring enough ice to last the entire day. The sun can be extremely harmful during the summer so protecting yourself is the most important part of summer time bass fishing. Thank you for taking the time to read this article. I hope you enjoyed it and can use this information to protect yourself and put a few more fish in the boat. Be safe on the water and good luck fishing.