When the heat is on, many bass anglers are inclined to go deep for fish holding in the cooler layers of water far below the surface.
These deep fish can be difficult for casual anglers to catch, but they still have some options for catching summertime bass from top to bottom in shallower zones. Various factors, such as shade, current, and forage availability, will keep some bass in shallower water even during the dog days of summer.
The touring pros know bass hang out at all depths during the summer, so they employ tactics that will trick fish in any of their comfort zones. The following four patterns will help you catch summertime bass from the top layers of the water column to the bottom.
Waking In Shade
Overhanging trees casting shade on grass beds or docks shading the water are ideal spots for Major League Fishing (MLF) pro Fred Roumbanis to wake his Ima Roumba crankbait. He enhances the action of the lure by attaching a 4- or 6-inch finesse worm to a Hitchhiker Snap-On Trailer Holder that he adds on the rear hook hanger of the crankbait.
When working his Roumba around the docks or grass lines, Roumbanis keeps his rod at the 11 o’clock position and reels slowly to keep slack in his line. Reeling too fast on a taut line will cause the lure to dive under the surface. “I like to fish it completely on the surface when I have the worm on the back of it,” says Roumbanis, who wants the bait to wake on the surface to resemble a swimming varmint. “It looks identical to a mouse.”
If waking his Roumba fails to trigger a strike, Roumbanis removes the finesse worm trailer and runs the lure just below the surface. Keeping his rod tip down, the Arkansas pro twitches and reels the Roumba with the same cadence he uses for walking a topwater lure or plastic frog.
Square Bill Cranking
"A lot of times during the dog days of summer, the deep bite will get kind of finicky," says MLF pro Todd Faircloth. "So then I can go to the very backs of creeks and target laydown logs and stumps and get on a pretty strong pattern.”
The Texas pro relies on a square-bill crankbait to catch bass 1 to 4 feet deep around shallow wood cover along the flats in major creeks. A big log on a flat can be an excellent replenishing spot for summertime bass. “You can just go back and forth on it three or four times through the course of the day and catch fish off of it every time,” Faircloth says.
The six-time MLF winner casts his crankbait to the far end of a log and employs a high-speed reel (6.1.1 gear ratio) with 17-pound line to burn the lure the entire length of the cover. He tries to bang the crankbait into limbs and keeps cranking after it deflects off the obstacle. "When it hits something and flares off to the left or right, that's usually when you trigger the bite," says Faircloth.
The tournament veteran believes this tactic is effective because it presents a different look to the fish, which are accustomed to seeing jigs or worms flipped into the wood cover rather than a crankbait banging around in the limbs.
Jigs In Weeds
On natural lakes in the North, summertime bass tend to school up in the weeds of bays.
“I look for breaks in the vegetation or vegetation lines that are either on the inside or outside weed edges or where different types of vegetation mix,” says Joe Balog, a tournament angler and guide from Michigan who relocated to Florida.
The former Lake St. Clair guide believes largemouth bass are eating large crawfish or bluegill in the weeds during the summer, so he favors pitching and flipping a large profile bait. His choice is a 7/16- or 9/16-ounce jig (green pumpkin or green pumpkin/orange) tipped with a green pumpkin Zoom Super Chunk Junior tied on 20-pound fluorocarbon.
Most of the time, Balog relies on the 7/16-ounce jig because it falls at a speed bass in the weeds seem to prefer. "When it comes to jig fishing around grass, the drop speed is more important than the jig color, trailer, retrieve, or anything else," Balog says.
Two presentations work best for Balog when probing the weeds for summer bass. He either swims his jig next to the weed edges, or he pitches directly to the weed edges or holes where the jig falls straight down. When the jig hits bottom, Balog reels it in and tries another spot.
Worming In Brush
A 10-inch plastic worm triggers strikes for two-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier Terry Butcher when he keys on suspended or bottom-hugging bass in brush piles 12 to 20 feet deep. The Oklahoma angler Texas-rigs the worm on 12- to 17-pound fluorocarbon line with a 4/0 offset worm hook and a 3/8- or 1/2-ounce tungsten worm weight.
Most of the brush piles Butcher fishes are on points, although he will also look for some piles between points. Once he finds the brush, Butcher positions his boat on the deep side of the cover and casts his worm beyond it. "I will start the lure out away from it and then try to drag the bait through the pile," Butcher says. “If the brush is really deep, I might get over the top of it and jig straight down in it.”
Lifting the worm through the branches and letting it fall back to the bottom allows Butcher to present his lure to fish suspended above the cover or on the lake’s floor. "The bite is different every day, so I start out working the worm through there fast, but if I am not getting bites, I will slow it down," Butcher says.
If deep offshore structure fishing has you stumped, try one of these four patterns to catch summertime bass from top to bottom.
