As the days grow longer, temperatures get hotter, and kids start getting out of school, you know one thing is coming: Summer is officially here! This is the time that many bass anglers across the country have been waiting for. The weeds are up, and the fish have moved into their summer patterns. Deeper water is back in play, and you can catch them almost any way you want to. This is the beauty of summertime bass fishing.
Bass fishing can be as easy or difficult as you want to make it as they can be found through the entire water column. This makes them the most sought after species throughout the summertime. It’s when most anglers can go out with their families, take time off of work, and get out on the water a little more often than they would the rest of the year.
But how would you go about catching bass in the summer? What baits should you use? What sorts of cover should you target? What’s the best time of day to fish for bass in the summer? These are all questions that will be answered — as well as tips, tactics and strategies — to help you put more and bigger bass in the boat this summer. Get out there with your friends and families to experience the best of what summer has to offer.
Understanding Summertime Bass Behavior
Unlike the springtime when bass are super shallow, preparing to or are actively spawning, summertime bass act completely different. Once water temps hit that 65- to 70-degree mark, both largemouth and smallmouth bass start changing their habits. While they were probing the shallows all spring, bass behavior shifts, in pursuit of food, shelter, and comfort. First, they need to replace all the nutrients lost from spawning. Then, they look for cover to protect them from the heat and sun. They also look for the cooler water closer to the thermocline, which is one of the biggest factors in summertime bass fishing.
So, what is a thermocline? Most lakes in the summertime exhibit what’s called “summer stratification.” After the lake’s water mixes in the spring, it settles out with the warmer water rising to the surface. The cooler water, which is more dense, settles at the bottom. The fine line that separates the oxygen-rich warmer water from cooler anaerobic water is the thermocline. Because the layer of water above the thermocline holds the most oxygen during summer stratification, it will hold the baitfish and in return, hold bass of both species. Below the thermocline there is almost no oxygen at all. If you set the sensitivity high on your 2-D sonar, the thermocline will be easily visible in deeper water.
Bass can be very sensitive due to warm water during the summer. Because of the high water temps, they can be stressed out and die. This can happen especially with smallmouth in deeper water, so try and minimize fighting and handling the fish when possible.
Where to Find Bass in the Summer
Both largemouth and smallmouth bass live in many different types of habitats in the summer. Whether it’s up shallow under docks in the shade, roaming around the abyss like trout, or deep on ledges and rock, you can pretty much find bass all over the place in the summertime. This makes it hard to decide where to fish some days. Here is a breakdown of where you can find bass in the summertime, from shallow to deep, and sometimes even both species in the same spot.
Docks and Fallen Trees
After the spawn, a large portion of bass stay shallow. Largemouths in particular will sometimes stay shallow until it gets cold again, though there are some smallmouths that will stay skinny too. Docks and deadfalls will always be the first available cover as they are close to the spawning areas and they provide excellent shade. It also provides structure for various panfish species like rock bass, perch and bluegills which bass love to feed on.
Weed Beds
Of all the different types of structures that both bass species relate to, weeds are what most anglers love to fish. Weeds provide the most important environmental factor for fish survival, oxygen! Vegetation is crucial in any ecosystem and if fished right can pay off big.
Vegetation holds a lot of fish, as well as some big ones too. But understanding the different types of vegetation will get you more bites throughout the summer.
Up in shallow water, you have floating vegetation like lily pads and duckweed. These can be killer for largemouth as it provides excellent shade and cover to ambush prey. The deeper you go, you’ll find emergent vegetation, like eurasian milfoil and coontail, which are key species for both flavors of bass. Bass will sit on the edges to ambush prey. But as the summer goes on, bass will bury themselves deep in the vegetation where it’s cooler and more oxygenated.
Rock Piles and Ledges
In the summer, especially on southern Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) reservoirs and northern lakes, deep rock and ledges will hold a ton of fish. Baitfish and other forage like crayfish and gobies utilize these ledges to school and hide, and bass follow.
Keep in mind there are different sizes of rocks, like chunk rock, boulders and gravel, and fish relate to each. When fishing these areas, you want to target the transitions in between the different size substrates. Bass use these transitions as highways to ambush prey as well as travel through different areas throughout the seasons.
The Deep Clear Abyss
You might wonder why I would even include this here. But, with forward-facing sonar being adopted by more anglers, it’s hard not to ignore this potentially fruitful section. Especially in deep clear lakes like the Finger Lakes in New York, bass act a lot like trout chasing baitfish. Like trout, bass will relate to points and humps out in deep water which will hold the prey species like perch, crappies and baitfish.
The Best Times to Bass Fish In The Summer
As the daily highs start to increase throughout the summer, so does the water temperature. When the water starts to pass the 70-degree mark, a bass’s urge to feed goes way down. Expect bass to move their feeding patterns to periods of low light. This is when the water is generally cooler, as well as when the baitfish move shallow, making it easier for bass to ambush them. So try concentrating your efforts toward the morning and evening periods as that’s when the fish are mostly feeding.
Now, that doesn’t mean that they won’t bite during the day, but there are periods when they will bite better. These times are dictated by weather. The days you have some wind or cloud cover, the fish bite significantly better. Why? The wind creates a surface commotion. Cloud cover definitely makes things a little cooler for the fish by limiting sunlight. I know there are a lot of anglers out there that don’t like fishing on cloudy days because they think it “scatters the fish,” but that’s not 100 percent true. Fish will still be around the cover, just not glued directly on it.
Night Fishing
The summertime is also when a lot of anglers start venturing out at night, and it can be straight up magical. It can be difficult, but when the stars align (no pun intended) nighttime can offer some incredible fishing. When I say difficult, I’m referring to the lack of visibility. When you can’t see what’s going on around you, it can be quite challenging. When venturing out at night, make sure you have the proper lighting and navigation equipment to stay safe. The last thing you want is to not be seen and have a bad situation happen on the water.
When fishing at night, you may see some fish deep, but 95 percent of your fishing will be up on the bank, as fish move shallower as the sun goes down to feed.
Proven Summer Techniques
Summertime is a period where you can catch them just about however you want. You want to go cranking out deep? You can catch a ton. Want to go flip around some heavy grass? That can put some big ones in the boat. Want to shake a minnow around on Livescope? It’s a great way to fish in the summer. Basically you can put fish in the boat with anything you want to catch them on in the summertime.
Here are some ways that a lot of anglers, including myself, love to fish during the summer. These are proven summer tactics across the country, whether it’s the Deep South, the dry West or the cooler North Country, these techniques flat out catch them during the summer.
Flipping and Pitching
This is a technique that some anglers wait all season for. Break out the long rods, heavy line, big weights, stout hooks and shotgun hooksets. This can be defined as combat fishing; getting up close and personal with the fish in thick cover and wrenching them out. Getting that bite when your bait is dropped into cover, watching the line jump and setting the hook hard is one of the most exhilarating ways to bass fish.
Flipping and pitching is pretty simple. Pick apart the thick vegetation or wood with either a heavy Texas rig, skirted jig or punch skirt. Choosing the right color can be challenging. I tend to stick with two main sets of colors, natural (like green pumpkin, black/blue, or watermelon) and bright colors (white and chartreuse). Don’t overthink color selection. If your bass are feeding on craws and bluegills in the grass, fish natural colors. If they are feeding more on baitfish, use brighter colors. It’s as simple as that.
My go-to setups for flipping and pitching are a one-two punch. I have a 7-foot, 10-inch heavy power, moderate fast action FX Rods Xtacy series rod paired with a Daiwa Fuego 8.1:1 casting reel spooled with 20 pound fluorocarbon. This is my Texas rig flipping setup. The longer rod allows me to make longer pitches and extend my reach, which is ideal for use with a Texas rig as it will come through grass cleaner allowing me to flip further. Second, a 7-foot, 6-inch heavy-power fast-action Shimano Curado casting rod paired with a Shimano Curado 200 M casting reel (8.1:1) also spooled with 20-pound fluorocarbon serves as my main jig setup. Normally I’m not much of a jig flipper, but I always have one set up ready to go just in case. I love to flip a Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver and a T’s Tackle Flipping Jig. Both come through vegetation and wood extremely well and are true fish catchers.
Topwater
Tis’ the season of fish exploding on baitfish or munching on creatures swimming across the surface! I think everyone loves going out watching that explosion; that’s what makes topwater fishing so visual. Usually you would fish topwater baits around shallow flats or structures in the early morning, or late evening trying to pick off what fish are still feeding. While that’s true, fishing topwaters over deep water, especially for smallmouth, can be a great technique. Not many anglers think that a fish would come up out of deep water to hit a bait on the surface, but they will. Especially big smallmouth. Fish always feed up, even if they see a bait on the surface in 20 feet of water, they will come and take a swipe at it.
I run a 6-foot, 10-inch medium-power moderate-action Dobyns Kaden series casting rod with a Daiwa Tatula CT casting reel (6.3:1) spooled with 10-pound Berkley Big Game monofilament line. Remember that mono floats and fluorocarbon sinks. You need a floating line to keep the baits running true on top as fluoro will make them sink. Braid works too, but the no-stretch factor and treble hooks don’t normally mix well. As far as baits go, my number one topwater is the Storm Chug Bug. It’s almost like a pencil-style topwater that spits water well as well as walks when worked aggressively. It’s accounted for some of my biggest largemouth every summer and the way they slurp it is unmatched.
Deep Diving Crankbaits
If there’s one technique that I love most in the summer, it’s deep cranking. There’s just something about taking a big lipped plug on a long casting rod and tossing it a country mile to then be dragged across some deep rock, only to get slack lined by a big bass. Deep crankbaits are a great way to cover water and figure out how deep the fish are sitting. Whatever the depth, there’s a crankbait with the right bill size to get down to them. The key to deep cranking is having a rod that is long enough to make a super long cast. The longer the cast, the deeper the bait will dive and longer it will stay in the fish’s strike zone.
The most ideal crankbait setup that I’ve found is a Dobyns Champion XP 805CB paired with a Daiwa Tatula CT with a 5.5:1 gear ratio and 10-pound fluorocarbon line. The 8-foot rod is key for getting those extra long casts to get that bait as far away from the boat as possible. And the slow gear ratio reel is to make sure you don’t overwork the bait. When you reel a crankbait too fast, it tends to “blow out” and not look anything like a baitfish swimming.
Of all the crankbaits on the market, the one deep crankbait that’s stood the test of time is a Rapala DT. This series of baits has accounted for hundreds of thousands of fish and in my opinion runs the truest of any mass-produced bait on the market. A close second would have to be a Norman DD series. Norman lures have been around for decades and run true without having to tune the bait.
A Jighead-Minnow Combination
An article about summer bass fishing wouldn’t be complete without a mention of the reliable “shaking minnow.” Utilizing forward-facing sonar and intercepting a fish’s path is one of the most effective techniques available today. There are a lot of people that call this style of fishing cheating, but it is a useful tool that can help generate many strikes from both species of bass. One of the keys to getting bit is the lifelike soft plastic baits that quiver even when not being moved, triggering strikes from even lethargic fish.
There are so many different rod and reel combinations on the market that make minnow shaking effortless, but I do so much of it throughout the summer that I custom-built a rod just for it. It’s a St. Croix Rods SCVIII 7-foot blank that I cut down to 6 feet, 7 inches, removing material from the butt section. This rod has the perfect blend of power to make it the ultimate minnow shaking rod. It’s light enough to feel the bites and soft enough to absorb the hookset and get fish in the boat. Paired with a 2500-size Shimano Miravel spinning reel and 5-pound-test Cortland Masterbraid, it’s a smallmouth or largemouth’s worst nightmare. For baits, I keep things very very simple. My go to baits are a Strike King Z-Too or Baby Z-Too paired with a Northland Smeltinator jighead. This is such a deadly combo and has accounted for hundreds of bass caught in my boat over the last few years.
Common Mistakes to Avoid and Ways to Fix Them
Summertime can be a time of fun for not just anglers. This is a time period for all others to enjoy the water bodies we love to fish, including waterskiing, boating, jet skiing, etc. We all need to respect each other on the water as we all want to enjoy our days out there. Here are a few mistakes that you may run into this summer and how you can fix them on the water.
- Boat ramps are busy in the summertime. Don’t be “that guy” trying to get around everyone to launch or retrieve. Wait your turn. Not everyone is experienced as you and may need help. When launching, try to dock away from the main launch/loading area as it’s important we give everyone the space they need.
- Obey all navigation signs and rules. Some lakes have speed limits during summer hours so please pay attention to those and boat safely.
- When navigating through weed choked areas, trim your motor up as you don’t want to clog your intake and have your motor overheat.
- Respect all homeowners on the lake and don’t interfere if they are trying to recreate on their dock. Simply move on, even if it’s your favorite dock to fish.
- If you’re fishing a tournament, please bring your fish back out into the main lake to release them. Releasing bass at the launch does not give them the best chance at survival. The water around boat ramps on busy summer days gets all stirred up and can be stressful for fish being released there, and many will not survive.
- If you keep bass in your livewell and intend to release them, make sure you have adequate aeration as they will not survive in hot livewells all day.
- If fishing at night, have a plan of action if something goes wrong. Fishing at night is a totally different ball game and lakes can be a lot more disorienting.
- Remember, everyone is trying to have fun on the lake. Don’t interfere with others recreating in other ways just because you want to catch a few fish.
Advanced Tips and Techniques
Now that we’ve broken down the basics on how we can catch fish in the summertime, here are some advanced tips and techniques that you can use to get a few more bites and figure out the fish just a little bit faster.
- Fish can be super pressured from all the boats out fishing in the summer. Try downsizing your techniques to potentially pick up some more bites from pressured fish.
- When fishing moving baits, vary up your retrieve speeds and actions to get the most out of your baits and get a few extra fish in the boat.
- Pay attention to bait modifications that others in your area are doing. Trim the skirt on that jig, tune that crankbait, change out the hooks on those hard baits. Mess around and find any little trick that can give your baits the edge they need to get more bites.
- Watch the barometer and moon phases very closely. Both will tell you when there could be active feeding windows as well as when bite windows will shut down.
- Always be willing to adapt to the scenarios at hand. Don’t try to force bass into biting something they don’t want to bite. Just because you want to catch bass on a certain bait, doesn’t mean that they will always bite it.
- Don’t be scared of the wind! I can’t stress this one enough. I know it’s nice to fish when there’s no wind, but the fish don’t usually bite really well when there is no wind.
- Keep a positive mental attitude if you can. I know times can be tough on the water, but don’t get in your head. Just get out there and have fun!
Overall, the summertime can be one of the best times of year to get on the water and catch fish any way you want to. There’s a plethora of techniques that work consistently throughout the summer, but like any other time, you have to put in the work to get rewarded. It’s a fun time of year, but it can be challenging. Stick with it and you’ll find yourself with a boat load of big bass this summer.
