Cast Shallow, Reel Em to The Deep!

July 8, 2021

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June & July Fishing Can Be Better Than Spring

At different lakes, the bass act a little different as far as when they move out and how far they move out. Just assume that they’re going to move to the first deeper water outside of a spawning area. Some lakes, they don’t get real deep. Some places, they get 20 or 25 feet deep.

Don’t be scared to fish deep. People tend to stay a little too shallow. You may catch some fish on a topwater early in the morning, but they’re going to be moving out. About 80 percent of the fish will be in deep water.

You’re looking for some kind of cover or structure that’s out on a sharp break, where the water drops pretty quickly off the end of a flat. Normally, the best places are going to have wood on them — not brush piles, which are better in the fall, but mostly stumps on rocky bottoms, hard bottoms. The key is finding out what kinds of places they’re on, where they’re ganging up, catching them, and then trying to find other spots that are the same kinds of places. The sharp break is the most-important part, however.

Bright is Right!

One thing to understand is that most bass fishermen think they can catch fish better in low-light conditions like early morning and late afternoon. But if you’re fishing deep structure, you want a bright, sunny day. I have caught a lot more fish over the years in the middle of the day and the afternoon when the sun has been out a while. They bite better on structure when the sun is out.

An interesting note. When you get on a nice gang of fish that are out there, a lot of times you catch the biggest bass first. And a lot of times, you catch a bunch of 3-pounders, then all the sudden you catch a 6-pounder. There is no rhyme or reason. But sometimes it works like that.

So get to your favorite lake and spend some time out away from the bank. The big fish are out in deep water, and that’s where you have to target them.

The other thing to key on this time of year is current. In a lot of manmade reservoirs the water is used to generate electricity. When they are generating power, the current is pulling shad and bait across those points and the bass will lock in on that. Bass will continue to key on these areas until they start going into their fall pattern.

Depending on how cold the spring was, start looking at points in the back of pockets. The colder the spring, the farther back in those pockets the bass will be. Start on those secondary points and work your way toward the main lake.

The big key here is to look at a lake map and find where the creek or river channel bumps into the point of hump. That’s the ticket right there, because those channels are the main highway for bass. Wherever the channel bumps into long, flat points that’s where the fish will be. There may be 20 fish at each of these. You might only be able to catch four or five at a time, but they will be there!

Keying on the points and humps during the summer transition can put a lot of fish in the boat and allow everyone on board to get in on some of the furious fishing action to be had this time of year. Start with the maps and find your spots and work them with these three baits and you’ll find schools sometimes really big schools and have a head start on everyone else who’s looking for big bass.