It’s mid-summer and the weather is hot. In many areas of the Midwest, the bass fishing is pretty hot also. Some of the most consistent bass-catching of the year, for largemouth and smallmouth, can take place during the hottest period of the year if you keep a few things in mind. Here are some of those things.
Some of the best bites will take place early and late in the day. The bass will get more active and be more willing to chase baits when light levels are a little lower. Largemouth will wander farther away from cover when the sun isn’t beating down as intensely on the water, and smallmouth will move shallower on the structures they’re working during lower light. Overcast days will also encourage them to move around more.
That doesn’t mean bass won’t bite at mid-day: They will. You just have to remember that, especially largemouth in the shallows and mid-depths, will be closer to cover. In fact, they’ll probably be right in the middle of the cover. If you can find a clump of coontail or some other heavy shallow cover, you can have some outstanding action.
When the sun is directly overhead, largemouth will be tight to cover. You have a much better idea where to put your bait. If you put that bait where the fish is, it will often eat the bait. A rubber-legged jig like a Jungle Jig tipped with an Impulse Brush Beaver will be good. Use a jig heavy enough to get through the top layer of vegetation.
Smallmouth at mid-day can be very susceptible to a live-bait presentation. I have many memories of catching smallies on live-bait rigs tipped with crawlers or leeches in twelve to fifteen feet of water right on the transition where rock changes to sand. But, you’ve got to be using healthy crawlers and leeches. Keep them cool and out of the sun. Frabill’s Crawler Can does an outstanding job of keeping crawlers healthy on the hottest days.
When the light is low and the fish are wandering, you have to cover water to find them. If you can get on the water when the sun is coming up or going down, work the areas around the heavy cover or the weedline for largemouth, and try the tops of rock humps or rock points for smallmouth. Rushes near deep water can be good for either specie. Topwater baits, minnow imitating baits, swimming jigs, and spinnerbaits will fool largemouth and smallmouth. A Slurp! Jig with a white four inch Impulse Swim’N Grub is a proven bass-catcher.
There are lots of fish, especially largemouth and smallmouth bass, to be caught right now. Get on the water and find out how good this bass action can be.
Cutline: Hot weather can create hot fishing. Smallmouth and largemouth bass are especially susceptible to an angler’s presentation at this time of year.
To see the new 2013 episodes of Fishing the Midwest television on-line, go to fishingthemidwest.com. Join us at Facebook.com/fishingthemidwest By Bob Jensen