Summer Flipping Season

I get a lot of emails from anglers who struggle to catch Florida bass in the summer.  I received two this morning, so I thought I would post my input on this forum.   August and September are brutally hot here in Florida.  Anglers ride all over the lake staring into their fish finders looking for offshore structure. While there are a few productive offshore shell beds on the Chain, most of the big fish I catch in the summer are caught flipping.   You can't pull up to any weed line and catch bass in Florida in the summer.  You must find "deep heavy" cover.  Deep here is five feet or more at the weed edge.  You can fish miles of featureless shallow grass here without a bite.  Find one with deep water close by and grass that you must fish tiny pockets to get through.  If there is a downed tree, old wood pilings, a dock or multiple weed types in that area, you are in the right place.  Once you catch a fish, stay there and fish the area thoroughly. Try it at different times of the day.  This is slow fishing.  You may only get a handful of bites in a day.  I use 25 pound big Game Mono, and 5/16 oz. pegged weight.  Any dark colored plastic bait will work.  Some of the biggest bass I have caught have been caught in August and September fishing this way.  If you are not into flipping, fishing bridge pilings can be productive.  I remember when Paul Elias discovered Kneel'n and Reel'n under the Howey Bridge.  It still works. 

Cooler weather will be here in the next few weeks. Fishing will pick up right after the first cold front when spinnerbait and rattle trap fishing will start.