All right guys, I'm Kyle, Whelcher Bassmasters Elite Series Pro. We're here with bassresource.com and we're going to talk about actually one of my favorite months to bass fish. That's August.
I fish a ton of small tournaments at home. We travel around the country usually wrapping our season up in August and it's a big time at the end of the year. You know, every single August we got a couple tournaments and you better catch them in it 'cause you want to make the Classic and keep going. So I feel like those tournaments, even though points count the same all year, it feels like them them late season tournaments matter just a little bit more.
And to me, the best thing you could ever do in August is be around the baitfish. You know, I live in the Southeast and where I live it's all about the bluegill. It's bluegill dominated in August like 100%. If you can find where those bluegill beds are or the shallow docks the bluegills are using or the deep docks, wherever they seem to be, that's where you're going to have your most success.
And it's obvious bluegill love to be in the shade. I target a ton of shade in August, whether it be overhanging trees, just early in the morning, shade from. You know, the trees on the bank or docks or bridges, anything. Those fish are going to congregate. Underneath the shade because that's what bluegill like. Bluegill like to be in shallow water close to the shade.
So I'm gonna tell y'all five of my favorite lures to use and baits to use in August because I fish a lot in August. I like it whenever it's super hot and slick, calm. It's hard to get a bite, but it can be really fun and really rewarding. And typically it's grinder tournaments will kind of fit my style. But there's a couple trends I'm gonna go with.
For one I'm not gonna use anything bulky in August. Bulky to me is pre-spawn, cold water, you know, big jigs, big chunks, big vibrating jigs, that kind of stuff to me is pre-spawn. August is one of those things where you got to do everything in your power to generate a bite or two, and that means you're going to need to make them react or have something that they're, you know, going to have no problem eating. And for me, it's typically going to be more soft plastic.
So we're going to jump right into it.
The number one August bait. Everybody knows in the summer a buzzbait can be absolutely deadly now. In August, I'm not going to throw a buzzbait with a big blade on it. I'm typically going to throw one that's got like a 3/8 ounce with like a medium-sized blade on it, something that I can reel. Kind of slow, but you have to keep it moving because you want to make those fish react.
And I'm going to typically throw a smaller profile bait on the back. For the last couple years I've really been throwing a Crush City Cleanup craw in the back and it's just something that's small and subtle. And whenever they kind of react to it, they get it, you know, more times than not.
So a buzzbait is a phenomenal choice in August. I throw it on 30 LB braid, typically a 7 foot, 3 medium heavy moderate rod and then a seven to one gear ratio reel. To me, a buzz bait's just one of those things that you have to have it on the front deck. Time of year and you can catch them in the middle of the day, early in the morning or late in the evening. It seems like when they get on that bite, it's a really, really fun way to catch them.
We'll go straight into, we'll keep up with the topwater trend because August to me is it's literally topwater and then soft plastic. That's what I'm going to fish with in August. So another one is a frog. You know, I like the popping frog. I feel like when you get it up there in that shade, whatever it may be, docks anywhere there's shade and you pop it. I feel like it mimics A bluegill better than a lot of other frogs now, obviously.
We have a lot of emergent vegetation, grass mats and stuff like that. And whenever that's the case, you're not going to want to pop the frog. You're actually want like a walking frog or something that kind of comes skirts across the top of the grass a little bit better. That's what you're going to want. But I like a popping frog just around that shade and stuff.
And it's another one of those things where those big fish are up there keying on bluegill. If you can just trick one or two of them a day, it's typically going to go a long way in August, whether you're fun fishing or you're fishing tournaments.
So I like to throw a frog on a 7 foot 6 heavy. I typically throw it on 60 LB braid and the fastest reel you can get. So 8 to one gear ratio, reel color, I don't think it really matters. It's all about putting it, putting the frog close to where those fish are feeding, whether it's you know any kind of cover there is, you just got to put it in there and put it in front of enough of them to make one react to it.
So. This is obviously soft plastics is the other trend. It's kind of a polarizing time in August. You've got to go really finesse or topwater. That's my approach. But a wacky rig has been a killer. You know, pre spawn spawn all the way in the summer. We're starting to use it more and more and more.
And the thing about it is when they're up there in that shallow water on the shade, I don't want to bait that falls super, super fast. This right here is a Crush City Janitor. It falls. Slow to medium, it falls, you know, not quite as fast as a stick worm style bait like the Pig Stick, but it's a little bit slower.
And when you're throwing up air in that shade that's only a foot or two deep, it just hangs in their face a little bit longer and gives them more time to bite. And for whatever reason, when fish are feeding on bluegill, they really like to eat a wacky rig, typically green pumpkin black. I like one that's a little bit red. I don't know why, I just feels like they commit to it really good.
They went on a 7 foot 2 medium spinning rod, 12 LB Sunline Overwatch to a 12 LB leader. I'm usually fishing for trying to catch big fish, you know, close to cover. So I'm going to upsize that leader just a little bit.
But I thought actually one thing I do different on a wacky rig than a lot of people. I throw a 2/0 Gamakatsu drop shot split shot hook and I feel like I get better hookups with this hook than any other hook I've ever used. And it's a little bit smaller in finesse. So I'm a big fan of it.
But that's the first soft plastic. One that you got to have really all times of the year, but especially in August. Another really good one, you know, isolated cover docks, any of that type of stuff.
When those fish get weird dragging around a shaky head, it's been catching them for 20 years and it'll catch them for 20 more without a doubt. You know, so I typically throw a little bit lighter shaky head in August, like I'm going to throw a 3/16. The maximum I'm going to throw is actually going to be 1/4 because I want that slow fall. I want that really lethargic natural kind of slow moving action.
And I typically like a really skinny worm. This right here is another Crush City Janitor in green pumpkin. I want something really skinny because I don't want it to be intrusive at all. I just want to catch their eye and then really just not turn it down.
I don't want it to—I'm not trying to draw them from a long way with something super bulky. I just want it to be finessy enough that whenever it catches their eye, they're not going to, you know, they're not going to negatively react to it.
So shake your head. Phenomenal bait in August, isolated stumps and wood and anything mid-depth close to where those fish are in the morning and the evenings—that little 5-foot range to me in August is a big killer, is a killer place to fish.
Kind of the same setup, 7 foot 2 medium spinning reel, 12 LB Overwatch to 12 LB leader, you know, and I tighten my drag down pretty good with a shaky head. I want to set the hook really hard on to make sure that I get that hook in past the barb.
And if it's a really big one, I'll actually back my drag off while I'm fighting the fish. But that's just a kind of a way to just kind of peck around throughout the day and generate another bite or two.
So none of these baits typically in August are going to be something you can throw all day and catch a lot of fish on. It's typically where you've got to mix it up and kind of use each bait situationally throughout the day and then you can actually put together a really nice bag in August.
Another way that I—this is probably between this and the frog—these are my two favorite ways to fish. And that's the flip heavy cover, especially when it's super, super hot. It seems like the hotter it gets, some of them really big fish will move super shallow into super thick cover.
Now the deal with this is, there has to be a canopy over their head in August, whether it be grass, brush, laydown trees, viny bushes, any of that stuff. There needs to be a canopy over their head.
And so I'm typically going to flip a heavier weight in August. Like my standard is going to be 1/2. I may even go up from there, especially there's a lot of grass.
But I also want that bait—whenever I'm flipping in cover—I want to generate a reaction strike. This is a little bit different from the other two soft plastics. This one is more of a—I want to go in, fall fast, cover, and make them react to it and make them eat it.
When I'm flipping in my mind, it's a reaction strike. So this right here is a Crush City Bronco Bug. Caught a lot of really, really big ones on this, especially whenever it's really hot in the summer. And I mean that is—between this and the frog—if I could fish every single day in August, that's the two main ones that I would have.
But I like big line. You know, like I said, I'm trying to punch through canopies, whether it be wood, grass, whatever it is. I want 22 LB Sunline Shooter as a standard. If it's a lot of grass, I'll go to braid, but 22 LB Sunline Shooter.
A 7'6 heavy fast rod and an 8 to one gear ratio reel. And I mean, it's a super fun way to fish and it could be some of the most aggressive and some of the biggest bites that you catch in August are in a foot and a half of water under some, you know, dense cover.
So those are my 5 standards for August. I'm going to have them on the front deck literally every single day that I go fishing in August. If I can just get a—if I get 2 bites apiece on them, it'd be a phenomenal day.
