So, I have been looking around a bunch lately for summer techniques.  It seems that a lot of what I see has bass going shallow to shade and springholes during the hot summer months.  A lot of the articles are written about southern fisheries so I was hoping to get some info about the north.  A lot of the lakes I fish have deep water nearby, fish don't necessarily need to head to the pads to find shade, they can just head to 20+ feet.

In your experience are fish with deep water nearby more likely to head down or to the lilly pads around shore?  Do you find that deeper lakes say 40+ feet have fish that are more likely to go deep?  What of the thermocline?  

Just because there is deep water available doesn't mean that all fish will use it. My partners and I are primarily shallow, weedy water anglers and we catch fish throughout the summer, many of them on topwaters under sunny skies.

But I can't answer the questions you asked.

Nekvt,

Hey I'm not sure where you are from but I'm from NoVa. Summer months are very difficult to fish here. At least where I fish... or maybe I just don't know what I am doing.

But if you are fishing any type of deep water try deep diving crankbaits. Or a lizard... post spawn in NoVa lizards are very productive.

I agree with Marty when he said to fish the weeds topwater over sunny skys. That is very productive.

Well Good Luck to You!!!!

Thanks guys.  I am going to try to put the question in the most general terms I can.  But please check above and answer those specific questions if you want to get into more detail.  

Do you find that fish with deep water (with rocks, timber etc.) nearby are more likely to use that for summer cover or do they head for the shallow weed beds and lily pads?  

I ask because I find that articles I read are always describing the fishing on southern lakes (Texas, Alabama, Georgia) and describe fish moving into the shallows during the hot months.  I am wondering if this is the case up north as well.  I am in Vermont  but Minnesota, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Maine, New York would all be similar I think.  Or even folks that fish southern lakes that have deeper areas along with shallow weedy options would have some insight.