So it's that time of year again. We're in triple digits here in central MS and the bass have moved into deeper water. Started going thru some tackle tieing on my favorite deep water baits. For me it's a Carolina rig, drop shot, deep diving crank and jig. What are your go to deep water baits for summer bass?

LOL! This is my first summer fishing for bass and I have yet found anything solid that I can say is a "go to" lure. They have me befuddled. One day it's a tube, the next a stick worm (cheap version of Senko), the next it's something else. I can't get a handle on them. Even worse, I can't get to the actual deep part of the lake (bank bound) so I'm forced to look for shallow bass, but even in the 6am-9am period they seem to not really want to take my offerings. So far, I have roughly figured out every season except summer. Unfortunately I still have 3 official months to do it.

Pretty much all I do when they go deep is throw jigs, 8-18 arky style anything deeper football heads only reason I don't use football head jigs is in md the lakes I fish have heavy veggies pretty deep and the football head is a nightmare

BassinMD, I found that out the hard way. I bought 2 football jigs with the spring lock and every cast I would pull up so much salad. Now I'm wondering why I bought them. I've been trying to figure out a good way to reach the deeper regions of my lake, which only go max 25' deep, but being bank bound I have yet to figure it out. Even if I could cast to it I am certain that I would only have about 10-20 feet (horizontally) to work in before getting back into heavy vegetation.

Jigs, T rig, dd 22, Shaky head. That is pretty much all I throw this time of year.

Football jigs and shaky heads, the waters I fish don't have good oxygen levels past 18' and it isn't until September that they begin to school when the deep crank comes into play.

Football jigs and shaky heads, the waters I fish don't have good oxygen levels past 18' and it isn't until September that they begin to school when the deep crank comes into play.

Same here, shakeyheads first, then football jigs. I've been trying to get deep crankers to work but just have very sporadic success with them. Some of our lakes get good weed cover shallow or have lots of docks so I never have to go deep thankfully.

big snakes, 13 inch worms

A t-rigged Zoom Old Monster in Watermelon seed.

Football jig, shakey head worm and a spoon.

Serious question, instead of dragging a plastic/jig through the deep weeds has anyone had personal success using Weedless ROF 12 Huds during the middle of the day?

I mostly concentrate on the mornings and evenings, we are in triple digits here too and generally in the 90 - 98 degree range from mid june to early september. Deep diving cranks, carolina rigs and split shot rigs are my go to's.

Use a grass jig, not a football jig. Or just use a shakey head with a craw/creature on it. Other things I find useful for summer bass from shore:

Carolina Rigs with floating worms about 18" behind the sinker dragged along the bottom/through grass....

Spinnerbaits pulled through submerged grass (they dont get hung up as much as you might think)

weightless tex-rigged flukes/senkos/brush hogs/anything. Just let it fall. twitch.fall. twitch....

and dont be afraid to throw a buzzbait or spook mid-day. Ive gotten some of my best fish in coves at around noon with topwater baits...

Also. Google the name of your local lake along with "aquatic vegetation" or something like that. I have found contour maps with depths for all my local lakes. They came from a study on aquatic vegetation. This allows me to fish points/drop offs and see depth changes around the entire lake.

and a video that might get you to brave those blistering afternoons.....

Great advice on the google search and great video

Trigged soft plastics.

I usually through a 3/4 oz. jig or a big t-rigged plastic. This year I have started using more deep cranks.

Drop shot with a two foot distance between hook and weight for starters.