[hi steel basser]

Summer is here in the south. It's time to get this board open. For me, this time of year is all about finding good structure and fishing it as thoroughly as possible. All you really need to do is find a few points or humps, and throw 1) a big crankbait, 2) a c-rig, 3) a jig with a large trailer, and 4) a shaky head. Early in the morning, big fish may still be feeding shallow, so I'll throw a buzzer or dogwalker, running&gunning. As the sun rises, I tend to find places with big shadows, and continue the shallow water search. Usually about 10 oclock, it's time to spend the rest of the day on the spots I've described.If I'm fishing a spotted bass lake, I'll use the shaky head and a finesse jig on bluff banks almost exclusively from that point on. I know I ain't KVD, so I'll listen to yall's ideas. :cool1: Also, I need to spend more time on lakes that have alot of vegetation to see where the fish might be in them. Or I can just ask.

 

[Texas Bass Pro]

Good tips you just listed.

 

[KeithsCatch]

For us in the weed capital of Bass fishing I will fish shallow early with top waters then as the sun comes up good if the reaction bite dies off then it is time to go flipping heavy and I mean heavy cover. We are not there yet but soon. Bass are still actively feeding and roaming shallows. Once the Bream are done spawning then it is usually time to start focusing on flipping here in the deep south where our lakes are 10 feet deep or less, usually much less.

 

[fish4funinfl]

One of my favorite things to do is ' flip / pitch ' docks when it gets hot.

 

[Jared]

In SC, for me, for the most part, summer means fishing deeper, however, it also means flipping and pitching the cypress trees.

This year I will thankfully be able to fish lakes I haven't been able to fish on my own before, like wateree, murray and others, so I without doubt will be going to school this summer and learning what else summer fishing in SC means. :thumbup01:

 

[Ouachita]

Come summer our bass will relate strongly to deep water sanctuaries but close to prime feeding areas like weedbed edges. Because of the extreme angler pressure last year I settled on this approach come hot water. If I know I'm first on a weedline in the morning I'll fish it with jigs, worms, spinnerbaits as the morning heats up. When passing open water flats and main lake pockets I'll sling topwaters between weedlines. Once other boaters are being met I know the bass are already alerted and have gone into the next deepest tier below the weedlines. The most immature bass will be most hesitant to abandon forage in the weeds. On the other extreme the most mature don't hesitate at all to move to safety. At that point a choice is made. Numbers or quality. Numbers shallow, quality deep. If going deep I often switch to crankbaits or larger spinnerbaits. If meat hunting deep I switch to a C-rig. If for top quality I'll jig & pig or jig & craw. I stick to deep water very near the feeding weedlines, and humps out in the lake. Mid lake ridges and long points with a very steep side are good.

Jim

 

[oldschool]

I must be becoming brain dead and thought we had already started a summer seasonal period thread. Can't find it, must of been another life somewhere. Did find the "transitions" post and mentioned summer there, oh well.
Agree with Jim and tend to fish the day light hours starting very early at dawn near the bank on points or weed bed edges hoping to find some night roaming big bass still feeding shallow. Keep alert to activity of feeding bass as they push bait fish up against whatever and you see or hear the splashes. Target the active feeders with something that represents the prey and works in that type of cover. frogs, top water walking or chuggers,popers, buzzers, cranks, jerks, whatever you like to use that the bass will strike. Summer is smorgasbord time.
After the sun is up about 30 degrees above the horizon, I'm off shore. First I meter the major points near where I plan to fish and usually start there, because I have worked my way out of a bay or cove by then and I'm already there. It's jig time for me and various soft plastics slip shot or drop shot rigged and if brush or wood is available a Texas rigged worm. Deep running crank baits get a try along with whatever else may work or has worked inside that morning. As things slow down and they almost always do during the summer as boating activity picks up, I move outside to deep water structure and finish my day with jigs, drop shot, slip shot, spoons and maybe a deep running swim bait if I meter big bass. I'm on the trailer by noon most days and heading down the road, unless I start in the afternoon and just reverse everything and stay for some night fishing.
Tom
Ps; If I'm not too toasted and depending on how my day has gone, I might check out a heavy mat area or a few boat docks to see if anyones home under them.

 

[Jared]

Also, let's not forget that Bass are of the sunfish family (Centrarchidae) and will bask in direct sunlight right in the dead of the day.

I've heard people express the thought that because bass have no eyelids that they need to stay in shade and hate the sun. The truth of the matter is that bass have no eyelids because they live in a liquid enviroment and they have no need for eyelids like us land lubbers. We only have eye lids to keep our eyes moist.

Because of the fact stated in the first paragraph, most often I have conducted my summer large bass hunting in an area where the bass can get from deep water to shallow water in a few swishes of its tail.

 

[oldschool]

I believe it was John Murry that won the first 'mystery" Bassmasters Classic at lake Mead. John's nick name was "thin water' for his practice of fishing spinner baits in water less than a foot deep. John caught his bass in the back of lake Mead bays, in clear water with bright sunny hot days, using his spinner bait. Lake Mead doesn't have any weed cover, only rocks and the bass simply use the rocks as ambush sites. Bright sun bothers the fisherman, not the bass. The bass coloration is suited for camouflage using shadows to break up the profile. They get under mats and docks to take advantage of the dark shadows to ambush prey, not to get out of the sun light.
Tom
note; I think John used a white Zorro spinner bait with 5'6" bait caster and 17 lb Stren mono. The year was 1973?

 

[Ouachita]

Last summer I had two brothers in law with me. We'd spent the morning finding dinks and lots of pike. About noon one hollered out he was hungry and needed to make a deposit on the bank, so I found a nice cove sand flat to beach on. I was standing on the bow with "big boy" there too ready to hit the beach when right there in the clear water no more than 1 foot deep was at least a 8# largemouth. She bolted under the bow and ripped through some matted hydrilla, big boy falling in the water. "Did you see that?" He was besides himself muttering "It was a MONSTER". If only I'd cast in there before beaching. Yes, definitely they will sun themselves, but it isn't likely you'll chance on them like that. It's just amazing how they can so melt in and not be noticed until they move. And move she did.

Jim

 

[hi steel basser]

Well, I did catch a 7-8 lber on a spinnerbait in about 2' of water a few years ago. I was just slow rollin' a 3/16 oz spinner and got bit less than 15' from the bank. I forgot boat docks, too. Most of the lakes around here either dont have them or don't have fish stacked on them. The one exception, Lanier, is too busy for me to put in at when the water is warm. BTW, old school, there is a place here where the bass eat lunch. I don't know why. All I know is that I have been ready to pack it in more than once on this lake, only to find the fish eating anything that moves from about 12-1 oclock. :dunno:

 

[oldschool]

I have caught a lot of bass during mid day, just can't afford to get any more high noon sun and try to avoid that time of day now. My skin is very thin now and must wear long sleeve shirts. SPF 55 helioplex sunblock and special hats just to go out on the water. Everyone should take great care of their skin that fishes. I didn't know any better years ago and paying the price today.
Tom
note; cast up onto the bank in clear shallow water and retrieve your lure, it works greatwhen they are up tight.

 

[Ouachita]

The Lake Ouachita record LMB was caught around noon, and so have many contenders. I'm in Tom's boat about the skin situation, so instead of fishing high noon I fish nights a lot beginning around June, getting off the lake by 10 am, back on around 6 pm. I suspect the timing for big bass works around angler pressure hours. Mid day pressure is light compared to mornings and evenings. The ramps clear out by about 11 am, leaving a few die-hard sun bather anglers and recreational boaters. I believe bass sense the departures and resume their favorite haunts. It's the same for deer hunting. I got most of my deer staying put through mid day while listening to trucks driving away before noon. Right then the deer come out feeding. But, occasionally I'm compelled to fish mid day between thunderstorm fronts or when someone else comes around wanting to go. I lather up with Blue Lizard 50 SPF every 2 hours, wear a broad rimmed cotton hat with a tight weave (no ball caps after 10 am), and for a long sleeved shirt I now wear one of these at http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10151&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&partNumber=45603&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=SearchResults

When the dog days hit and there is no wind and air temp hits 100 by noon I bring out a 12 volt trucker's fan day and night. It clamps to the windshield, plugs into the power socket. That thing was made possible by installing the All Charge, running off a trolling backup battery used for electronics. I fire up a little 1 quart misting bottle that makes a cloud of invisible vapor that drives air temp down a good 15 degrees. Put behind the fan it cools even more.

Jim

 

[LuckyBassTurd]

a cheap recommendation, is to buy a long sleeve jersey shirt like the one in the 2 pix below, it is $6 at walmart(90*cotton 10* poly, but not bad with a cotton tank top under it) and i bet it is 4X's as good as shirtless , no guarantees on the sunblocking perposes but it's cheap....i do own the Columbia 50SPF shirt now but only use it to fish, the jersey is now my lawn and out door work shirt... and a must for me!

yep it's the same shirt IN BOTH striper pix but a year apart, the first pic I'm barely in a shirt and have on quick dry short cuz i just took a nice dip before the sun went behind the trees, but i know my long shorts and shirt are in the canoe, as i need the long shorts to stop me from having bad "CANOEKNEE" and "per-ma sandals" (sunburnt knee= canoeknee ...per-ma sandals are the tan/burn you git on you feet that looks like you have sandals on after you take them off. lol) i almost always wear the quick drie shorts under longer shorts or pants..just in case i need to cool off!

it's reel nice to find the narrow water way that does face north south with trees on the east west side for better shade when the sun starts to set( i would look for these places on the map on the hottest days ) notice in the first pix the shade is climbing the bank from the opposite side of the river...owe it feels good to be wet and shaded!
hat is a must, but i try to take mine off for 10 minutes every now and again to blend in a tan...same for the sunglasses, i hate ratcoon eyes....
i use 50SPF on my face and neck but it still doesn't cover my ******* or help it turn white again.....
i hope this saves some of you time and pain!

 

[LuckyBassTurd]

I fire up a little 1 quart misting bottle that makes a cloud of invisible vapor that drives air temp down a good 15 degrees. Put behind the fan it cools even more.

Jim

LOL , on one of the hottest days here, i was going to a lake about a hour away, temp 112+ with i think 40percent humidity one of the worst heat waves we got, and it tries to happen once a year like that normally, but 112 and no humidity feels nice!, not really, but way better in the shade and with out the humidity... anywho....i had a pump up mister with me, with ice in it...i don't think i would of got to the lake if i didn't have it... no ac in the truck, only means you wont die when you git out in that temp...if i was in the my jeep i would of been frozen by the time i got there, opened the door, put a foot down on the asphalt then jumped in again and went home....
the worst thing about driving the truck with a mister was the steering wheel was wet and slippery at times, but i really didn't care at that point...stay cool or die!

i can drink some water, i know if i have a camp trip on the river and it's hot, i will drink so much water the night/day before it isnt funny,& when it is that hot you don't pea! you sweat! water and lots of it before a trip, then maintain!