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Pro's Picks For Summer Bassin'

Summer Tree Trimming for Suspending Bass W. Brent Ehrler

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Tree houses hold a special place in many of our summer memories. Trees can house many bass in the summer, as well, especially on clear lakes; but it's less about imagined pirate lairs and secret handshakes and more about the habitat preferences found in deep wood. Emergent, or fully submerged, summer bass favor flooded trees. Bassmaster Elite Series pro Brent Ehrler is partial to the deep trees found in highland reservoirs like those of the White River, where old cedars sport extensive limb structures. In any case, waterlogged wood offers luxury suite accommodations for bass. "Fish really do key on submerged trees because they create everything they want - a lot of shade, a lot of cover," Ehrler said. "It gives them an area where they can sit at whatever depth they want to be at on that piece of cover. They can be over 30-40 feet of water but only 5 feet deep. "They can be in deep water really quickly; they can be in shallow water really quickly and there's the whole food chain. You have the algae on the trees, you have the baitfish that eat the algae, and the bass eat those baitfish."

Location:

Across the board, Ehrler expects to find the fish sitting shallow during the low-light periods of morning, evening and cloudy conditions. It's basically a heat and brightness thing, so clear days see the fish sinking deeper as the clock advances. While size offers no guarantees, Ehrler gravitates toward denser trees-the ones with more structure and thereby more cover and shade. Further refining his search, he targets the trees of transition. "I'm going to look for trees that are on some sort of point or a drop or a creek channel," Ehrler said. "If there's just a forest of trees, the fish will be where there's a change on the bottom. "Sometimes the fish just filter through the trees, but isolation is a big thing. The isolated trees are the ones that are next to some break in the bottom contour line or next to a creek channel. If you see a big gap and then one single tree, they will be on that one single tree."

Lure Selection:

Ehrler likes the ability to cover the entire range of where fish might be. When fish are higher, he's not afraid to walk a Lucky Craft Gunfish right through the trees-even the emergent ones. He simply picks his lanes and works the bait across open water. Reaching deeper for suspended fish calls for a Lucky Craft Flash Pointer 100 jerkbait or a 3 1/2-inch Yamamoto swimbait on a 3/8- to 1/2-ounce BOSS swimbait head. With a swimbait, he'll cast beyond particular trees, let the bait sink to the bottom and then retrieve it on an upward angle so the bait rises across the tree's midrange. If a lot of submerged wood is too snaggy, he'll "thread the needle" by casting his swimbait closer to the target, counting the bait down to the target range and retrieving it clear of the problem zone. Ehrler might also show the suspended fish a more subtle look by dropping a wacky-rigged 5-inch Senko to their depth. "A Senko will fall slowly and stay in the strike zone longer," Ehrler said. "I'll cast to the outside edge of a tree and let it sink. If they don't bite it in the first 10 seconds, I reel up and make another cast." To reach bass at the base of trees, Ehler likes a 5-inch Thin Senko for his Texas rig, but he'll also send a drop shot with Roboworm into the shadows. With any of these bottom baits, Ehrler adjusts his presentation to the target. "If the tree has a lot of branches, I'll cast around the outside," he said. "Sometimes, they'll only bite next to the trunk, but if you drop down through the branches and a fish bites, you'll never get him out. Most of the time, they'll swim out 5-6 feet to get a bait."

Brown, David. “Summer Tree Trimming for Suspending Bass.” Wired2Fish, https://www.wired2fish.com/summer-fishing/summer-tree-trimming-for-suspending-bass/. Accessed 8 June 2016.

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Getting Down & Dirty For Big Bass

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Sometimes targeting bass is easy, they are out swimming along a flat looking for an easy meal or they are schooled up tight on every piece of cover and will hit anything that falls in front of them. But during the summer months, when the sun is high, and the water temperatures keep creeping up bass; especially big bass will bury themselves in the nastiest and thickest cover available. This is when you need to have the right gear, look for the right form of cover and prepare to get down and dirty. The reason these bass will burry themselves during the summer months is that they want to seek shelter in the shade from the direct sun overhead which puts them in prime ambush positions to pick off an easy meal.

Location:

Some heavy cover that I'll be looking for comes both in the form of vegetation and timber. In terms of timber, when I'm fishing a river system, like the Mississippi River, is I'll be looking for big logjams. These areas most likely are situated in a slough that has current, thus the logjam provides a current break for the bass to position behind. More likely than not, the current has pushed floating vegetation into them, resulting in a nice canopy for the bass to hide under.

Heavy vegetation is present on countless bodies of water and is a great place to search out big bass. The forms of heavy vegetation varies depending on where you are fishing, and may come in the form of lily pads, dense patches of milfoil or coontail, or possible a vast mat of hydrilla. Many bodies of water have an abundance of dense vegetation, so dissecting it and determining what other key features the bass are looking for is important in eliminating water in a timely fashion. Some factors to consider include the depth or other forms of cover associated with it, such as a laydowns, rocks or boat docks.

Prowling the waters that have heavy cover sometimes means being in shallow water, other times you are offshore fishing a thick milfoil patch. Either way, you want to be able to navigate around the cover with ease and in stealth like manner. My Minn Kota Fortrex 112 allows me the power to drive through vegetation. One thing I've learned is keeping your trolling motor on a constant speed creates less disturbance then doing short bursts of high power and will spook few bass. Once I find a suitable piece of cover, I'll deploy my Minn Kota Talons so I can lock in the right position. With my shallow water anchors deployed, I stay in place and can focus on making multiple casts to the fish holding cover and can concentrate on catching fish rather than running the trolling motor.

Lure Selection:

Using the correct gear is vital anytime you go head-to-head with big bass that have buried themselves in this thick cover. There isn't just one key piece of gear you'll need, rather it is the complete package of gear working together that will aid an angler in hooking up with and landing big bass out of heavy cover. Using a heavy action flipping stick will aid in increasing your hook up ratio and then help you turn the bass's head right away so they don't bury themselves in the cover. You still want to have a sensitive and lightweight rod, so you can flip all day and feel those bites. I rely on the Wright & McGill Victory Pro Carbon Jig/Big Worm rod, which is 7'4", paired up with a Wright & McGill Victory Pro Carbon baitcast reel. Use a high speed gear ratio reel is important so you can quickly bring your bait back in if you didn't get bit on the initial fall, which is many times when the bite in heavy cover will occur.

There is no need to skimp on line size in this situation, using a braided line is the only option in my opinion, for several reasons. First, there is no stretch, so when you set the hook you are getting a solid hook set and two, as you set the hook, that braided line will actually cut through the vegetation and keep that bass from tangling you up in the thick cover. I use the new Seaguar Flippin' Braid in 60lb test. This braid was specifically designed for this technique and is black in color so it's less visible in the water. When I'm flipping a Texas-rig around heavy cover I use a dedicated flipping hook with good penetrating power, as well as a stout barb to keep your plastic in place - Lazer Trokar TK130. Keeping your rig as low profile as possible will help it slide through the cover and not get hung up, so using a tungsten weight allows me to use the large weight needed to get through the cover, but keep a small profile. I'll use an Eagle Claw Lazer Sharp Tungsten weight from 1/2 and 1 1/2 oz depending on how thick the cover is I'm trying to punch through.

When it comes to bait selection, keeping it low profile again is key. So using craws or creature baits with the fewest number of appendages will keep it from getting hung up on the way through the cover and let it get down to the bottom quickly. Plastic bait options such as a Zoom Z-Hog, Super Hog or Z-Craw get my vote. When it comes to selecting the colors of my soft plastics, I keep things simple and rely on a plastic that is some combination of black/blue or green pumpkin. The other staple for flipping heavy cover is a jig. Which I chose will depend on the cover I'm flipping, the body of water and if the bass have shown a preference to one or the other. For jigs, I'll use between a 1/2 oz and 1 1/2 oz jig. They key when selecting jigs, is having a line tie that will not catch vegetation as it is brought through it. You also want to make sure the jig has a sharp and strong hook in it, so it won't bend on a hook set. Using a trailer that keeps the bait compact and low profile is again important in having a natural looking presentation.

Click Link To Shop: Bass Angler Magazine

Walker, Glenn. “Getting Down & Dirty For Big Bass.” Bass Angler Magazine, Summer 2016, pp. 88-91.

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Great Summer Topwater Fishing with Denny Brauer

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Topwater fishing is a major player throughout the summer months. The metabolic rates of bass are through the roof and they have no choice but to feed heavily in order to survive the oppressive water temperatures. Couple this with a myriad of forage options and you have a perfect storm for outstanding topwater action. When the mercury rises, Legendary angler Denny Brauer keeps multiple topwater lures rigged and ready. If you can keep an open mind and locate some of his favorite summertime targets, he believes you'll have some unforgettable days on the water. Summer bass fishing has a reputation for being tough and uncomfortable. But Brauer doesn't quite buy it; a lot of positive things are likely happening on your favorite fishery as you read this article. "In most bodies of water right now, you have three major events going on," Brauer said. "The shad are starting to congregate into large schools, the frog activity is ramping up due to the increased vegetation growth and the bluegill are infiltrating the shallows. All of this is a perfect scenario for your favorite topwater lure." In addition to the virtual smorgasbord of available forage options, it's also important to consider the biological needs of summertime bass. "Think of it in human terms," Brauer said. "When we work out, our metabolism kicks into high gear and we're able to eat more without getting fat. The same thing is happening with bass right now. Their metabolism is as high as it's going to be all year, so they're voraciously hunting for more feeding opportunities. It's purely a matter of survival, so they won't hesitate to crush a strategically placed topwater plug."

Topwater Lure Selection:

Topwater lures are similar to a mechanic's tools: Each one has a specific job. Understanding the various applications of your favorite topwaters will allow you to be much more efficient as you're searching for the next big bite.

Big poppers:

"Normal-sized poppers are going to catch a lot of fish in the summer, but I like targeting big fish," Brauer said. "By simply increasing the size of your popper, you'll often find yourself catching better quality fish. These lures seems to be best when the bass are coming off the spawn and begin to set up on secondary points. Isolated cover is a big-time target because a popper can create a lot of commotion while staying in a very small strike zone."

Walking lures:

When the water temperatures begin flirting with the 80-degree mark, Brauer turns to walking topwaters. He keeps one rigged and ready to cast because whenever he sees a shad flicker on the surface, he'll fire a cast past the disturbance and work it through the area. These small shad flickers can be similar to an iceberg; you may only see a small amount of activity, but there could be much more action right below the surface that you can't quite see with the naked eye.

Hollow body frogs:

"If you fish a lake with a lot of vegetation and overhanging trees, there's probably an awesome frog bite happening somewhere," Brauer said. "Frogs are the four-wheel drive of topwater baits; they're nearly impossible to snag. Throw 'em in the thickest cover you can find - which is where the darkest shade will be for the bass - and hang on. I've had some of my best frogging days on the hottest, most miserable days of the year."

Buzzbaits:

"There's something incredibly special about a buzzbait in the summer months," Brauer said. "I don't know if it's the added commotion or its ability to cover water so efficiently, but big bass are absolute suckers for it. If I'm looking for a really big bite, I'll be throwing a buzzbait."

Topwater Fishing Location:

Points:

Just as pre-spawn bass will use primary and secondary points as routine stopping points en route to their eventual spawning grounds, post-spawn bass will also utilize these same areas as they migrate to their deeper summer haunts; it's essentially the same process, but reversed. "Points are great places to find large concentrations of topwater bass right now," Brauer said. "But don't just run every point you see because you'll waste a lot of time. When you get your first few bites, it's essential to analyze everything about the point. Is it rock, gravel or clay? Is it a flat point? Is it a deep point? These are the things you need to pay attention to. There's always a reason for every bite and there's a lot to be learned every time a topwater fish shows itself."

Boat docks:

Post-spawn summer bass are notorious for suspending underneath boat docks. For those who like to pitch and flip jigs and soft plastics, this can be an obnoxious problem to overcome. But if you can break the mold and target these docks with topwater lures, you can catch a lot of the fish other anglers are leaving behind. "If a bass is suspended under a dock, it only has to move about a foot vertically to attack your lure," Brauer said. "They're opportunistic feeders, so if a big bass sees what it thinks is an easy meal hovering right above its head, it's going to eat it. This is also an easy bite to pattern. A lot of the times, your bites will happen in very similar areas whether it's the outside shady corner, the wind-blown side or something similar. So start by fishing every part of the docks and after a few blowups, you'll quickly be able to zero in on specific areas and cover water very quickly."

Vegetation:

In this case, we're referring to vegetation in its sparser terms such as isolated shore grass and smaller lily pad patches. These areas can concentrate bass and allow the savvy angler to quickly determine a productive pattern. "Irregularities are absolutely key when you're fishing this type of cover," Brauer said. "They create a strategic ambush point for bass, so I'm looking for small points or pockets and I'll cast my topwater past the target and work it through these spots. This is also another easy-to-pattern deal; over the course of a few hours, you'll start to notice that your bites are coming from very specific areas in that shoreline vegetation."

Matted vegetation:

"I put this in its own category because it's an entirely different ball game," Brauer said. "You're limited to a topwater frog you're coming over the cover; not through it. It may look impenetrable from the surface, but there are actually small tunnels underneath the bass will use for travel." When you're surrounded by matted vegetation, it can be tough to pick it apart efficiently because it all looks so attractive. This is why it's important to pay close attention to every little factor you can find. "When you find good matted vegetation, it's not because the bass magically appeared in that spot," Brauer said. "They're there because of its location and bottom composition. Key areas to focus on this summer include sides of points, points adjacent to deep water and hard bottoms."

Shade pockets:

Although we've already mentioned shade pockets, they're simply too productive to not mention again. Because these areas are often diminutive in size, Brauer prefers to use lures he can keep in the area for an extended period of time such as big poppers and frogs. "It's difficult to get too specific on this because literally anything that creates shade is a potential hiding spot for a big summertime bass," Brauer said. "It can be the shade from a single dock piling, a small willow tree or a boat lift. As long as it's shade, it deserves a few casts with a topwater lure." When the hot summer temperatures arrive in your area this season, tie on a few of your favorite topwater lures and look for these areas. Between the 5 options, you'll be able to determine a pattern and catch a lot of quality bass.

Smith, Walker. “5 Targets for Great Summer Topwater Fishing.” Wired2Fish, https://www.wired2fish.com/summer-fishing/5-targets-for-great-summer-topwater-fishing/. Accessed 13 June 2016.

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Ledge Fishing With Jeff Kreit

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Jeff Kriet loves a good ledge bite in bass fishing, but he knows that making the most of his opportunities requires much more than persistent casting. Ledges require as much head work, as rod work. Kriet is an ol' dragger from way back, but he's learned to be more diverse to have more consistent catches across the country while fishing deep in the summer for bass on creek and river channel edges. For starters, Kriet knows he can catch ledge fish on various lures, but the Bassmaster Elite Series pro from Oklahoma holds a crystal-clear perspective on where each one stands in the process. Heavy on strategy and time-management, Kriet's plan for prioritizing ledge baits divides his arsenal into "fish finders" and "big-bite" baits. Using the former like infantry, he'll sweep through promising areas to locate schools of fish, but once he does, Kriet shifts gears from the quantity-oriented baits and pulls out those that catch the bigger fish. Like sending in the sniper, he'd rather pick off the high-value targets than burn a lot of time weeding through smaller fish-often at the risk of fragmenting the school and losing the big-fish opportunities.

Kriet's Approach To Ledge Fishing:

Kriet typically begins his ledge assault with a Carolina-rigged lizard. A 3/4- to 1-ounce weight allows him to rumble across the target area and feel those hard spots, stumps and other irregularities we know as bass magnets. "With that big weight, I can reel it pretty fast and that rig gets a lot of bites," Kriet said. "Equally, I think a football head gets a lot of bites as well." Now, among his search bait squad, Kriet said he typically expects his biggest results from a Texas-rigged 10-inch worm. The worm often puts a bonus kicker in his well, and the Carolina rig and football jig occasionally do the same. He won't let himself be lulled into a massive time suck with the pace these techniques require. "I'm going with the law of averages," Kriet said. "I know that in ledge tournaments, the biggest sacks I've weighed in - I'm talking 23-30 pounds - are just about always on a big moving bait. Typically, you're going to catch a bigger fish on something you're winding."

So, Step 1 is to locate a school, Step 2, get 'em fired up enough to catch a couple in short succession. Then comes Step 3 - send in the big full back. "Once I catch a couple in a row, I'm going to immediately pick up a big crankbait, a swimbait, a hair jig or even a big spoon," he said. "I want something large moving down there. "And the reason I do it quickly is that I don't want to catch 10 and then switch. The bigger fish are typically going to be the first couple fish that will bite in a school. When you get them fired up, if you keep throwing a football jig, a Carolina rig or a big worm in there, the 2-pounder is going to get it." So, switching to larger, more aggressive baits will help you weed out the smaller fish and, ideally, nab something boast-worthy. Can't argue with that straightforward truth - but the logic goes deeper. "You want to catch the biggest fish in that school immediately because every time you catch a bass off a school, you're repositioning that school," Kriet said.

Run & Gun:

And to the point on moving schools, Kriet warns against losing yourself in the rush of bent rods. Enjoy it while it lasts, but discipline yourself to recognize the decline. "A common mistake I see anglers make is staying entirely too long," he said. "If I have an offshore spot, I might hit it five or six times a day. "I won't sit on a spot for a long time. Generally, if I sit there for an hour, there are good things happening." Of course, even the hottest streak eventually cools. So, if Kriet's whacking the big heads with a big-bait rotation, you can bet he's keeping close watch on whether he's moving up or down the quality scale. "Once I notice my size going down, I immediately leave," he said. "I'll come back two hours later and the school is right back where they're supposed to be. They move right back to the sweet spot. "What happens is when you're fighting one fish, two or three more are swimming with him and pretty soon, they're off the spot. Then, more fish move off the school and eventually, they're all out in no-man's land."

Brown, David. “Choosing the Right Lure for Ledge Fishing.” Wired2Fish, https://www.wired2fish.com/fishing-tips/choosing-the-right-lure-for-ledge-fishing/. Accessed 15 June 2016.

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Stay Shallow in Summer with Bill Lowen

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You can tell a lot about Chesapeake Bay from its measurements. It's almost 4,500 square miles, meaning there are many places to fish, though not all are hospitable to largemouth bass. Its average depth is 21 feet, so most of it is shallow. They also help describe Bill Lowen's favorite fishing style. The Brookville, Ind., angler fished the estuary that splits Virginia and Maryland during the Huk Performance Fishing Bassmaster Elite Series event last August. While he found four or five spots, a shallow flat at the mouth of a creek made one better than the rest. "It was a 'perfect storm,'" he said. "It was the most perfect spot you would draw up." It allowed him to fish through the tide cycle, pulling bass from laydowns when it was low and aquatic grass when it was high. On the last day he caught 18 pounds and 5 ounces, enough to secure second place.

When the weather and water temperature turn hot, many anglers head to deep offshore spots, where they drag Carolina rigs, pump spoons and grind crankbaits off underwater ledges and around humps for bass. That's a good way to catch them but fishing skinny water near the bank can pay off, too. "There is always going to be shallow bass," Lowen said. "[Shallow water] can be really good because it doesn't get as much pressure as offshore spots." The 10-year pro has pulled bass from shallow water his entire life. It's a skill you learn quickly when your training ground is the always tough and muddy Ohio River. Fishing the shallows in summer works across the country, from the steamy South to the cool Northern waters ruled by smallmouth. Lowen found them on shallow rock piles scattered around Wisconsin's Sturgeon Bay, where the Elite Series wrapped its 2015 season late in the summer. They might not have been as large as the ones pulled from deep water, he said, but they were big enough and ready to bite. Shane Lineberger will pack his summer shallow water tactics when he hits the road for the 2016 Bassmaster Elite Series, his rookie season. And he expects to give them a workout on the diverse waters he'll fish in 10 states. "I believe the entire season is going to be predominately shallow [fishing] because of where and when we are going," he said.

Location:

Whether it's a river, reservoir or natural lake, Lowen starts his summer searches as far as he can motor up an incoming river or creek. He's not necessarily there for the current. "That way you always have fresh water," he said, and that gives the bass better water quality compared to the main lake. He concentrates on water that's "4 feet to nothing" and wants deep water nearby. But what qualifies as deep is relative. It might be a creek channel that's only a foot or two deeper. That was the case at the Bassmaster Elite Series tournament on Tennessee's Old Hickory Lake in late June 2008. Many of the competitors fished the river ledges, but Lowen went to the headwaters of creeks, pitching soft plastic lures to stumps and laydowns adjacent to the channel. He finished second, and the eventual winner, longtime pro Kevin Wirth from Kentucky, used a similar shallow-water pattern. Bass you find shallow in summer are resident fish, Lowen said. They stay there year-round and are oblivious to the existence of deep-water haunts. They are opportunistic, using any available pieces of cover, which can be as simple as an old tire or single stump or as complex as several branchy laydowns or a bed of aquatic grass. Many shallow bass take the opportunity to feast on spawning bream. It's a pattern that Lineberger has fished on lakes such as Norman, High Rock and Wylie near his home in Lincolnton, N.C. He said it's productive from May through August, but it revs up during each full moon. Like bass, bream don't spawn everywhere. He said their beds are usually found on a hard bottom in less than 3 feet of water. Keep running those types of coves and pockets, he said, till you figure where they are spawning that month.

Some bass are forced shallow because of an environmental condition that can occur on lakes and reservoirs during the hottest months. Mark Fowlkes, a biologist with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, said dissolved oxygen stratification happens when the sun heats surface water to a point where it floats on cooler, denser deeper water. "Once stratification occurs, a lot of the productivity is in this upper lighter layer," he said. As biological matter, such as plankton, dies, it sinks, depleting dissolved oxygen from deeper depths as it decomposes. Bass are then forced to the shallows, where there is more dissolved oxygen. It doesn't happen in every lake. "The bigger lakes aren't as affected as the smaller ones," said Scott Lamprecht, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Region 4 freshwater fisheries coordinator. Shallow lakes, such as Lake Moultrie, which is one half of Santee Cooper, his home state's famous fish factory, are easily agitated by the wind and don't stratify. Lakes are more likely to stratify if inflows are low. In small ponds, he said, it's typical to find all the fish in the top 4 feet.

Lure Selection:

While there are many reasons bass stay shallow in summer, there is a best way to catch them: power fishing. Lowen mostly throws his signature IMA square bill crankbait or flips soft plastics and jigs. Color and size of the latter depend on water clarity and cover density, but they are all outfitted with a skirt he tied. "I've always been a tinkerer," he said. During the Chesapeake tournament, he pitched a creature bait and cast the same model of small spinnerbait that he has fished since he was 8 years old. "There are days when you have to downsize and finesse them, too," he said. Lineberger chooses lures to do one thing. "I always try to imitate a bream," he said. Most of the time that means working prop baits over and hopping jigs through their beds. But when clouds fill the sky, he picks up a buzzbait and puts the trolling motor down. "It's the best [lure] to cover more water," he said.

Lowen said it's rare to run into a school of bass in the shallows during summer. Instead, expect to run and gun spots that produce a bass or two. Those spots might be in one general area or spread across the body of water. But just because you'll be frequently cranking the outboard to move quickly between spots doesn't mean you'll fish that way, too. After a cold front, for example, you might have to dead stick your soft plastic lure next to a piece of cover to generate strikes. Boat control is paramount when fishing for single bass from specific pieces of cover. Letting your boat float or running your trolling motor too close can spook them, so Lowen and Lineberger rely heavily on their shallow-water anchors. "If you know where [the bream beds] are, you can pole down and stay back," Lineberger said. "A lot of times, [that lets you] catch multiple bass from one bream bed." If you're without these anchors, use a traditional anchor, or approach each spot from its downwind side. That way, if you have to stop and re-rig, your boat will drift away from the bass.

Click Link To Shop: Bass Angler Magazine

Anderson, Pete. “Stay Shallow in The Summer.” Bass Angler Magazine, Summer 2016, pp. 12-15.

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Think Outside The Weedline

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When we get to the summer months where do you fish for bass? Some guys head towards the shallows fishing the slop trying with one of my favorites a Spro Bronzeye Frog. This is a thrilling way to go toe to toe with the bass, but much of it is hit and miss. You will find days that the bass are dialed in and your frog it's gone with a flush of a toilet. Then there are the days that all they like to do is swat at your frog and just try to get it out of their area, which is usually tournament day.

Location:

Enter the flats - when the bass are done spawning, some bass will leave the shallows and move to the flats to recoup from the rigors of spawning. Some of these bass will spend their summer months out on the flats while others will head towards the weedy slop and some bass will head to the deeper water. These deeper bass are what I set my sights on when the summer months hit the calendar. I turn my attention to what lives in the deeper water of my lakes, these bass are many times the biggest bass in the system.

Over the years I figured out the relationship of bass and rocks together. Yes, there are crawfish in the rocks that the bass may be keying in on as a food source, but I know now that the attraction of the bass in these rocky spots is because schools of bluegill occupy them during the summer months. This bite really takes off in the Northern part of the country around the start of July and lasts through the end of September. Down South this change will start in May and last until the end of October. Big schools of bluegill will leave the weeds to concentrate on offshore food sources bringing them to these rock areas. During the summer months when the food gets there the bass will follow and, in the fall, when the water temps start to drop the gills will make a move back towards the shallows to get ready for the coming change in water and weather, and at this time the bass will follow also.

One of the easiest ways to find these areas that the summertime bass move to will be with your electronics. For me Humminbird's Side Imaging is the way to go, no questions asked. I can cover water and look for offshore rock areas then go to work and find the top spots or what is called the spot on the spot. Most times you can see these areas with your electronics and other times you may have to get in-front of your boat and go to work. Having worked this pattern for many years I can pretty much tell on my Onix where the spot on the spot will be, but there are still some areas that will need a little more work and attention before I lay down a couple of waypoints.

Lure Selection & Presentation:

A Carolina rig is my bait of choice for tearing spots apart and is a favorite of the bass during the summer months. For me you cannot beat a 1oz tungsten weight to tell you just how the bottom is laid out. Make your cast and let the weight settle to the bottom, now start to drag the bait. You should be feeling rocks as you drag your sinker along the bottom, if you have an easy time getting the sinker to come through the rocks keep moving, but once it becomes harder to get the sinker through the rocks slow down, you have found an area that need more attention. I have found through the years that the biggest bass of these schools are attracted to the nastiest rock areas every time. Once I have found these key areas I start to dropping waypoints, these are the areas that I consider to be the spot on the spot.

When it comes to fishing time, many times on my first pass I will throw a crankbait. The crankbait allows me to see what mood the bass are in and just how they are positioned on the rocks today. The crankbait allows me to catch the active bass out of the school first. When it comes to crankbait choices I use a Spro Little John DD and a Fat Papa 70 as my primary deep baits and I also throw in a Strike King 6XD into the mix from time to time. I fish my crankbaits on a 7'10" MH cranking rod by Lew's and match that with a Lew's BB-1 5.1 gear ratio reel spooled with Sunline 10lb Super Fluorocarbon line. With this combo I can reach 15ft to 16ft every cast if I need to get another foot or two I have downsized my line to Sunline 8lb Super Fluorocarbon from time to time to get the job done. When fishing open water I have the confidence to make this move to reach the added depth needed.

Once I have a made a few passes with the crankbait it is time to fire up the Carolina rig and truly see what is there. For this I always use a 1oz tungsten weight as my weight source. I fish my Carolina rig on a 7'6" Lew's Flipping Stick, teamed with a Lew's 6:3-1 gear ratio reel that is spooled with Sunline 16lb Sniper as my main line, for my hook line of my rig I will use Sunline 12lb Super Natural mono line. The reason for using mono as my hook line is it will float and not sink, I want to keep my bait up off of the bottom so it has a more natural action and two, the bass can see it better. If I use fluorocarbon line as my hook line it will have a tendency to sink and stay on or close to the bottom. Just a little line note that will pay big dividends by the end of your fishing day. Now on the business end of my hook line I tie a 4/0 Gamakatsu EWG worm hook. On my hook I use a 6" Big Bite Lizard Pumpkin w/chanteuse tail. If I am looking for more attraction from my lizard I will upsize to a Big Bite 8" Kreit Tail Lizard. The reason for the lizard bait choice lizard's are a natural enemy to the bass, my thought here is that the bass may even strike the bait out of spite earning me a few extra bites each day. If I am looking to change it up a little I have been using a 6" Big Bite Trick Stick, this has been my go to bait to throw before I leave an area, and I can say that many times this bait has attracted some of my biggest bites of the tournament.

Click Link To Shop: Bass Angler Magazine

Peterson, Scott. “Think Outside The Weedline.” Bass Angler Magazine, Summer 2016, pp. 42-44.

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Worms For Reluctant Summer Smallies

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In northern tier states, it's not difficult to catch smallmouth bass during the spring and again in the fall on a variety of lure presentations. But trying to engage smallmouths during daytime hours in the latter part of summer can be very challenging on most clear-water northern lakes. The chance of hooking bodacious bronzebacks on a typical summer day with bright sun, blue skies, and no wind can be frustrating when slinging the usual array of hard-vibrating, flashy, glitzy and fast-moving hardware. So when the bite gets tough, I downsize, slow down and pick up a worm. Actually, I employ three different small worm presentations: shaky worm, drop-shot worm and Slider Worm. Of course, the plastic worm isn't imitating a real worm in these instances. Instead, the worm likely represents a slender baitfish to finicky small jaws. Even the bottom dragging shaky worm probably appears to a bass as a minnow pecking along the lake bottom. Then again, the bass could mistake these worms for something entirely different. No one knows for sure. But as long as the smallie accepts it as food, it really doesn't matter.

Location:

Looking at the big picture in northern natural lakes, late summer smallmouths are typically relating to deeper parts of main lake points, and hard bottom slopes of offshore humps. Smallies may be suspended slightly above structure, or very near the bottom holding by exposed rock rubble or submerged objects. On clear natural lakes, the deep grass serves as host to an abundance of prey, so shallower smallmouths often relate to weed edges ? perhaps competing with largemouths. From here smallies may penetrate weedbeds via hard bottom corridors or hang in open pockets of gravel within the vegetation. Finesse worm presentations are well suited to each of these scenarios. Spinning outfit with light line is how I like to tackle smallmouth. For all three presentations, I use six-pound Gamma Edge fluorocarbon line.

Finesse Worm Lure Selection:

Shaky Worm:

Northern bass fishermen were using a form of shaky worm presentation for smallmouth years before it received an upgrade and new name. Back then we simply called it a jig worm. Admittedly several of the specialty designed shaky heads have contributed to a more effective presentation. For smallmouth, I use shaky heads with a light-wire hook. Furthermore, I like to rig my worm straight on the hook shank with point fully exposed rather than Texas-style with a screw-lock feature. You will likely find my shaky worm on a VMC Finesse Half Moon Jig, Jewel's Squirrel Shakey Head or Kalin's Spot Shaker Head, which features a single wire guard. As for a worm, I'll usually have a Lunker City four and a half inch Ribster or a Larew five-inch Salt Head Shaky Worm on the jighead. There are plenty of five-to-six-inch shaky worms to choose from.

Drops Shot Worm:

Drop-shotting is more versatile than shaky head fishing, and often more effective. First, the bait flutters enticingly without direct control of a jighead or nose weight. Second, the bait-above-the-weight presentation can put the soft plastic offering at any distance off the bottom. It's common during the summer for smallmouths to suspend a couple feet above an object or structure break. When hoovering fish marks appearing on sonar are suspected bass, drop-shotting would be the preferred approach. While typical leader distance between weight and bait ranges from 18 to 24 inches, increasing it to three feet or more is possible. Next, drop-shotting can be effective in deeper water than a normal shaky head. Simply upgrading the sinker to 3/8, 1/2 or even 3/4-ounce you can reach suspected smallmouth in depths greater than 25 feet. While going deep with drop shot is usually considered, do not overlook going shallower. Drop-shotting is also effective around grass beds, a presentation strongly endorsed by longtime fishing buddy and pro bass angler Dave Lefebre.

"While sonar is effective in picking out deepwater fish, sonar signals are lost amid shallow vegetation. If I've been catching smallies along a weedline but the bite turns sour and they don't want a jig, then I switch to light weight drop-shot rig with a small worm. I'll pitch beside weed clumps or target openings within the grass bed. Simply shake the worm, let it rest and shake it again. If no bites, reel in and hit the next opening." Dave favors a size #1 dropshot hook and a Yamamoto 4-inch Senko. I'm all in with #1 hook, but prefer the Lunker City 3.5 inch Ribster or Yamamoto 3.5-inch Shad Shaped Worm. Dave shakes his worm around weeds, but when fished away from vegetation you have the option to drag the sinker similar to fishing a Carolina rig. Some pros insist on dropping a drop shot only when an isolated target appeared on the sonar screen and shaking the worm in place. But truth be told, most anglers I know catch more bass by slowly dragging the drop shot rig to cover territory, stopping to shake it only when an obstacle is encountered.

Slider Worm:

Often overlooked in today's bassin' circles, the Charlie Brewer Slider remains a staple in my light tackle arsenal. Although the Slider Lure Company now offers a variety of heads, the flat-bottom Original Slider Head provides unique moves for a worm. Start with a 1/4-ounce Slider Head, trimming it to reduce weight if desired. Rigged with a four-inch worm, the Original Slider Head will spiral downward on a slackline drop, giving bass a look that is far different from the fall of a regular round or football jighead. Or keep a tight line on the bait on the fall and jighead glides towards the bottom; flattening the head with pliers creates slower descent. Both are great presentations for exciting suspected suspended smallmouths. The flat head design also produces a very subtle wobble when slowly retrieved like a crankbait along outside edges of visible grass line or for checking weed clumps on a flat. Rig the worm Tex-posed, cast, count it down to desired depth and then begin the retrieve. Although the straight tail 4" Slider Worm works perfectly on the Slider Head for a do-nothing retrieve, you may want to experiment with other worms up to five inches.

Click Link To Shop: Bass Angler Magazine

Black, Darl. “Worms for Reluctant Summer Smallies.” Bass Angler Magazine, Summer 2016, pp. 54-56.

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