4 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Seems much of the population spends a good part of the season suspended and or 'roaming',

so fishing for them feels more like a 'chase' rather than a 'hunt'.

 

   Amen!  ?            jj

My pattern is pretty simple.  Early morning/Sunrise - Topwater.  Little later in the morning....work some brushpiles and structure both deep and shallow with appropriate lures.

From about 10:30 on?  Frog.  Work those heavy mats and if they have spots of shade, even better.  

2-4pm. (Depending on frog bite)  Realize I'm dying and need to get out of the sun.

for me, this time of the year, deeper (15-20 fow) is more reliable. my waters are now predominantly spotted bass lakes with some occasional largemouths. the water is clearer, but not gin clear, maybe 3’ visibility. thermal stratification usually occurs sometimes around August into early-mid fall, and that changes things quite a bit. but for now, i have a milk run of locations that usually produce for me on a regular basis. some are structure, some are brush piles, some are both. and if they have a decent breeze blowing across them it’s even better. no matter what type of waters we all fish, no matter the species, fish want to be where the food is. find those places or create your own if you have the resources.

5 hours ago, scaleface said:

How did he get them to run that deep ? I use them in about ten foot of water .

He was using light line, and bomb casting them, and sticking his rod tip as far into the water as he could without submerging the reel and grinding as hard as he could. This was in the days when most of us had flashers on the bow as our depth finders, so possibly the depth was a bit off.

This thread goes hand in hand with A-Jays thread on heat stroke. Drink A LOT of liquids. Cover exposed areas of your skin also. I usually try to start drinking water one or two days before I go fishing. A salty snack might help also, and may make you more thirsty, which is good. We can catch some good fish in the heat, both deep and shallow, but the heat can wear you out quick if your not prepared. Good replies by all here.

I generally get on the water around 5 AM, it gets light around 4:45. Fish  using top water poppers near the bank (when the top water shuts off it is done for the day until around 8PM), then I move to 15-20 feet and use a Texas rigged Brush Hog. Off the water by 10:30-11:00, by then it is already 100+.

 

Been pretty successful the last couple of weeks doing this ..and... I this way I also avoid the wake boaters and jet skiers and their blasting music ?

When it gets over 90  I fish at night or stay at home and read Bass resource .

15 hours ago, scaleface said:

How did he get them to run that deep ? I use them in about ten foot of water .

Carolina rig. Use a very buoyant bait. At least a 3’ leader. Experiment with weight. Use just enough to get to the required depth. A three way rig with a short dropper works just as well, and makes it easier to experiment with weighting. 

ill usually start deeper. im not a great deep water fisherman so i work on it . when the sun gets high i head for the thick grass, flipping stick and heavy sinker in hand . not alot of guys do that here and while i think the population of fish in there is smaller they dont see baits very often. you may fish for 2 or 3 hours and not get a bite but then hit that magic little spot and catch 4 in 4 casts.( flips actually)

 

I'm night fishing currently until the Atchafalaya Basin gets down to a fishable level.

 

The Basin is influenced by the tides so I pretty much time my trips to when the water is moving and there is a current. It doesn't matter what time of day it is. If the water is moving you can catch fish regardless of how hot it is.