It doesn’t really matter where you are in the country, July is hot. From South Florida clear up into upper New York state, the temps are anywhere from 80 to 100 degrees in July. But, do not let this reality get you down. There are still plenty of fish to catch, you just got to know when, where and what to throw. That’s where we come in. Here’s what lures we’re throwing in July.
The South
I live in central Alabama, right smack dab in the middle of the South. So, I’ll take this region for us and hopefully help you shorten the learning curve up a bit. July is hot here right now. The rare day when the highs don’t break 90 is as close as we’ll get to a breath of fresh air in July. But, make no mistake, the bass are still biting. Here’s what I’m throwing.
Big Baits During the Day
Bluegill and other bream are bedding full force currently. And, while you can certainly catch these fish on small poppers, twin prop baits and wacky rigs, July is one of the best times of the year to get a bite on a big bait. Swimbaits, wake baits and glide baits can be used to mimic injured or feeding bream — the perfect temptation for a largemouth lurking nearby. Throwing these baits around shallow docks, brush, grass lines and sea walls will give you a great chance to intersect some bream beds.
Focus most of your attention on the back third of pockets and sloughs. The bream like to bed in these shallow, flat areas. But try to cast to where you think the beds are before you get your boat close enough to actually see them with your eyes — these bass are often spooky and won’t bite once you see them/they see you. I’ve really been enjoying these three baits the last couple summers: Savage Gear Live 3D Bluegill Line-Thru Swimbait, SPRO Chad Shad and Clutch Wake Gill.
Night Time is the Right Time
July is a great month for targeting bass at night. The days are so hot that they can be downright unbearable at times. But, you can go out for those last couple of hours of daylight and throw topwaters, and then transition over to fishing with black spinnerbaits, buzzbaits and worms in the dark. Keep in mind that the bream are bedding this time of year and fish these staples through the same areas where you’d expect the bass to be during the day.
You can also target fish around dock lights if there are any present on your local fishery. Bugs, minnows, bream, crappie and bass are all drawn to these lights at night. Crankbaits, swimbaits, shaky heads and jigs all work well in these scenarios. Whether the lights are underwater or the bulbs are 10 feet above, if you find one, it’ll almost always have a bass on it — if not multiples.
Go With the Flow
Current is another big thing to look for in July. Any current is impactful, from a small branch trickling into a lake to the turbulent waters generated by hydroelectric dams. Current brings with it several things. For starters, the water is usually cooler, often as much as 20 degrees cooler when flowing through a dam. Current also brings bait with it and washes the bait right to bass that position behind current breaks. And the water typically has higher oxygen levels, as the waves and ripples aerate the water.
Starting with something shad-related is usually your best best in current. While there are some instances when bass would bite a jig or a worm in current — like when fishing ledges downstream — by and large these bass are going to be relating to baitfish. Topwaters and swimbaits are both excellent options. And then I’ve really found a few of the newfangled baits to work well around dams the last couple of years. I caught a lot of fish on the Berkley KREJ 100 and the Lunkerhunt Impact Agent Spybait last summer.
Trey McKinney’s Tackle Box for Illinois
There are two patterns: You can either fish edges of grass — punching and frogging — catching those fish that are still up there eating bluegill. Or you can fish that 10- to 20-foot range, any kind of isolated hard spot, piece of cover, stump — anything that could hold a fish right now is what I would target to catch my bigger ones. Look for something that’s kind of off the beaten path, not on a contour. Or something that’s kind of out by itself, that kind of structure has two or three fish on it, and doesn’t get played with as much. Most of the time, the fish there will be good ones.
Most of the time I like a 3/4- or a 1/2-ounce jig for isolated pieces of cover. And then if that doesn’t work, you turn to either a Neko rig or a drop shot.
A line-through swimbait can be very good, depending on water level and how clear it is. I really like those when I have a hard edge to work. Anytime you’re throwing a big bait, it’s important that the bass feel like they have the advantage when they’re trying to ambush it. So look for any kind of hardline of cover that they feel like they can push bait up against, where it can’t get away from them — it’s a huge opportunity to be able to catch him on big bites. When it’s on, you can’t beat it. But when it’s off, it’ll burn you.
Bob Downey’s July Minnesota Go-Tos
You can’t really leave the bank without a Texas rig in Minnesota in July. I’d say a Crush City Bronco Bug is a good option. For the most part we’re done with the spawn, and so a lot of times those fish will start to really group up on grass lines. Wherever there’s either isolated clumps of grass or if you get a little gravel or a rock area that butts up into the grass line is usually best. A Texas rig is just a really efficient way to fish those areas because you’re generally dealing with some vegetation and it just comes through that stuff really well.
A Rapala DT 10 to a DT 16 would be good. In fact, that’s probably what I would start with on those schools that are on gravel and rock. I crank those areas first and then go back through with the Texas rig. Obviously there’s way more than just two of them for largemouth, but I’d say most of our lakes, you could go out with a crankbait and Texas rig and do pretty well.
For smallmouth, a Ned rig is always good. The Crush City Ned BLT with a 3/16-ounce head is good because that would allow you to cover a lot of depth ranges. We have some lakes that smallmouth tend to live shallow most of the year, so you want to fish in that 2- to 8-foot range. And then you get some lakes where they’re set up offshore. And you can fish both those areas with a Ned rig pretty effectively. You can go down the bank on a sand flat and pick off cruisers with that, and you can also drag it around on offshore structure, bars and reefs.
Morning and evening for sure are always good topwater times for smallmouths on shallower rock and sand flats. If there’s maybe some grass involved you can catch them on that too. But one kind of sneaky time to throw one is on a slick calm, sunny day. The Rapala Jowler throws a lot of water, but you can kind of work it at a gentler, medium to slow pace, on those sunny calm days in 0 to 10 foot of water and they’ll come up and blast that thing.
