Just wondering what lures you guys throw the most during summer months.. For me its top water and crankbaits.

Not my most productive, but I always throw top-water early morning and evening during the summer. My favorite summer bait is a Culprit 10" ribbon-tail worm.

Just got back from fishing, lures that worked today; jig w/black-brown skirt with GYCB twin tail 4" grub #221.

I fished swimbaits, bluegill wake bait, crankbaits, top water poppers, soft plastic worms 4 1/2"-9" and got into a good jig bite.

Be versatile the bass have lots of prey choices during the summer.

Tom

Rightly or wrongly, I tend to abandon the middle of the water column mid-summer. Topwaters and bottom-draggers/hoppers:  poppers, propbaits, and toads (plastic body rigged weedless) over and around pads and other emergent vegetation. Or a big texas-rigged worm on the bottom. 

 

But my real goal is to not have any more go-to lures. Or rather, to get to a point where everything is a go-to lure depending on location and situation.

 

There are some lures and rigs I have had persistent difficulty with for a long time. Buzzbaits and jigs (of all things), for instance. I've also had a hard time getting the hang of dropshot. And I almost never know when I should be using a deep-running crankbait, if at all. So I've been trying to find ways to use these more.

Your sonar is your friend to help solve what depth to fish.

Tom

Your sonar is your friend to help solve what depth to fish.

Tom

I do not doubt sonar would be a great friend, if I had one!

Latley it's been a frog worked fast through any cover early, a white and blue spook worked along the edge's of any cover, also worked very fast and a purple with red 10" worm the rest of the day

Mike

Topwater and a Rage Craw have produced pretty well for me. Shakeyhead for numbers. Swimming a Rage Craw t-rigged with a 1/4 oz. weight has gotten me the bigger bites. Same with a  Cut'R worm. 

Big Bite Trick Stick on a C Rig in 12-18 feet has been my ticket to bigger fish in the last two weeks. My "new" boat only has sonar but I'm fishing all the main lake cuts which are easy to see and I'm working those ditches out toward the main channel.

This year it has been a jig. I start with a 3/8 and go up or down in size depending on the bite.

Senkos and shallow cranks

During the Mid-summer period for me the smallies will eat top water early, late & at night.  After that it's almost all deep drop shot fishing.

 

The LMB can be taken shallow but you have to be willing to go DEEP into the cover - It's real hand to hand combat fishing.

 Jigs, punch rigs & big worms work well.

 

A-Jay

My favorite 4-letter word.   FROG. 

For me it's been 10" or 7" gambler curly tail worm or a bream colored slither type rig with a zoom z craw as a trailer.

summer time = big worm time

10 inch worms.

Buzz baits , Texas rigs , Carolina rigs, shallow / med / deep cranks and a 1/4 ounce spinnerbait    dark or bluegill colored with a single #4 gold willow leaf blade .

It's been hot here lately and my best producer has been a Culprit Fat Max in black or watermelon.

 

Tom

10" Rage Tail Thumper, T-rigged.

 

Rage Structure Bug, Jika rigged.

 

 

 

 

Topwaters early and late. I like frogs if it's weedy or scummy. Poppers if in open water.

 

T-rigged craw, Rat-L-Trap, wacky rig, anything else I can think of if these won't produce.

 

I recently bought a swimbait, so I'm trying that a little every trip as well as several different frogs.