30 replies to this topic

[Coosa]

Went fishing yesterday at this decent sized pond (roughly 4,000 sq. ft). It's a clean pond (light-greenish clear color), but it was hot as hades out there 100 degrees. The bass are in there, but with an hour and a half of fishing, only 1 was caught.

Is it unlikely for bass to be active in these conditions?

[logan9209]

Inactive? Yes. Uncatchable? No. You have to treat it like winter. Locating them will be a little harder. Usually, not always, they will be deeper. The trick is to get them to react out of instinct rather than hunger. That's the part I haven't really mastered yet. Mainly because I've been staying in from 10am till around 8pm. I just can't take the triple digit heat like I used to.

[sean_steiner]

your best bet is to fish at night, after the sun has been down for a few hours.

[Grizzn N Bassin]

IF you find some cover throw a frog over it. You will probably get 1 or 2 strikes but thats it soo make sure you get the hook set or they won't touch it again

[AK-NJ1986]

I've notice that lately the fishing has slowed down when it is extremely hot out. I usually fish around the end of the day but still haven't been catching them like I use to in my backyard pond

[logan9209]

The last few days it's been in the low 100's till around 9pm -10pm, and the bite has tremendously slowed because of it. It's been hot so long, I think the bass have readjusted their routes and times and failed to send me a memo.

[Nitrofreak]

Inactive? Yes. Uncatchable? No. You have to treat it like winter. Locating them will be a little harder. Usually, not always, they will be deeper. The trick is to get them to react out of instinct rather than hunger. That's the part I haven't really mastered yet. Mainly because I've been staying in from 10am till around 8pm. I just can't take the triple digit heat like I used to.

Nice !!!

Slow way down, the pond or lake may not have the o2 level and cooler water it needs to keep the fish active enough for every other one to bite, so the fish become a little more dosile and won't expend the energy to grab a meal, it's tough to be out there in the heat of the day, even tougher to fish and hold your mentality together long enough to get the fish to react to a bait.

[sean_steiner]

I've notice that lately the fishing has slowed down when it is extremely hot out. I usually fish around the end of the day but still haven't been catching them like I use to in my backyard pond

try night. they have to eat sometime, and I discovered a while back that during the heat of summer they all come out at night close to shore, including the big females.

[Broke bass fisherman]

I've been having luck dropping senkos, and other weightless plastics on top of their heads. They will strike but only if I put it on top of them. That said I haven't had luck with spinners, frogs, or anything that I can't literally put on top of them. Bite is hard but I did manage 8 in the midday sun a couple days ago.

[AK-NJ1986]

try night. they have to eat sometime, and I discovered a while back that during the heat of summer they all come out at night close to shore, including the big females.

I am going out to fish at 11 hopefully you are right

[gar-tracker]

Iv caught fish at high noon in the middle of August on top water, there's no rules etched in stone.

Actually the 9 1/2 on the left I'm holding was caught on a toad in 90+ degree weather.


However as a rule of thumb I would look for some deeper water holes in the pond or some hydrila to flip.

[Wayne P.]

Went fishing yesterday at this decent sized pond (roughly 4,000 sq. ft). It's a clean pond (light-greenish clear color), but it was hot as hades out there 100 degrees. The bass are in there, but with an hour and a half of fishing, only 1 was caught.

Is it unlikely for bass to be active in these conditions?

4,000 square feet is "decent sized"? That is less than 1/3 the size of an Olympic swimming pool.
Are your other fishing spots mud holes?

[mikey5string]

Ive posted this video before but its worth a watch.

Bass feed when they can see the best, during the hours with the most light. Thats from 10-2ish. They ambush their prey from cover/structure. They dont need low light to hunt.
In the video, the guy mentions that if you ask someone what time of day it was when they caught their biggest bass, the answer is frequently from 10-4. The time when popular beliefs are that fishing is slow. The fishermen might be slow and uncomfortable but that dosent mean the fish are. It is dramatically cooler just a few feet down in the water. Look for areas with shade or shallows that have quick access to deep water. Dont be afraid to throw a top water either. Some of the best TW fishing I have is midday...


Watch this:

[mikey5string]

and for our own survey, what time of day was your PB caught?

I only just ordered a scale so Im going by estimate but my best fish were caught at around 4pm and around 7pm. BUT the majority of my total fish caught were caught between 10-4.

[Dave P]

I caught my biggest one on August the 3rd at 1.30 in the afternoon on a spinnerbait in 4-5 feet of water.