Fishing Into Summer: The Best Baits by Bruce Callis
Summer is officially here. While officially, summer isn’t until June 20, 2025, we all know that Memorial Day is the unofficial beginning. The pools are open and most kids have already begun their summer break. It also means that the lakes and rivers will get a lot more crowded.
But for us diehard anglers, we know that things are going to get tougher. The bass are in post spawn heading into their summer haunts. And the bite gets tougher. Don’t get me wrong, there are still going to be lots of bass that stay shallow. And that is where we really like to fish. And there will be big bass still feeding in the shallows and then pulling back into deeper water.
The perfect storm to make us keep going back to find them. For me, I love the shallow bite. But I will also be ready to move out deeper. While FFS is a great tool to find the bass, so is Side Scan and 360, for they can show us just as much, most of the time. Everything boils down to what you want to use and are comfortable with.
As we enter June, I have certain baits I will always have tied on and will keep certain baits in the tackle box for just the right time. Topwater is one of those must have baits. And we all have our favorite style. I love a frog, especially the SPRO Bronzeye Frog. There is just something about working it through the pads and around laydowns. And a walking style bait will draw bass up from anywhere. The popper is right up there as well. And you can’t forget the buzzbait. We just saw what it will do from the last Elite Tournament. Every one of them have a time and a place. The main thing is to keep it tied on and throw it all or part of the day.
My second bait is a SPRO Little John. It can be worked in the shallows out to around 5-7 feet. It covers water and entices some massive strikes. There is nothing like working it back and feeling it load up, that feeling of running into a brick wall or having them it it so hard they try to yank the rod out of your hand. And of course, you can go with MD model to get down deeper. I use 10 pound Seaguar AbrazX on my reel and can control my depth with the position of my rod.
And you can’t go wrong with a jerkbait this time of year either. I like the SPRO McStick 110 that gets down to around 5-7 feet and if I want deeper I will go with the 110+1. This is the time when you are constantly working your bait. I keep changing up my cadence from jerk jerk and a slight pause to jerk pause jerk until I find what they want to hit. Sometimes a short 1-2 second pause to more like 5-10 seconds, it is what makes them bite. I like to use Seaguar 10 pound Tatsu for my line and a medium fast action rod. This keeps me from ripping the bait out of their mouth.
And I always have a soft plastic or jig tied on. Any laydown and brush, I am going to be pitching to it. My favorite is a Missile Baits D Bomb, but I also will switch it up with a Missile DStroyer or Baby DStroyer, a Chunky D, a Magic Work or a Missile 48. All of them are proven bass catchers. And a Missile Baits Ike Mini Flip jig with a Mini Chunk or Baby DBomb trailer. Depending on what I am flipping to I will be using either 20 pound Seaguar AbrazX fluorocarbon or 50 to 65 pound Smackdown Braid. You have to be able to get them out.
There are so many baits that can and do work now. A Carolina Rig, a spinnerbait, a bladed jig, a wacky rig or a shakey head. It is all about being comfortable with them. If you want to use something new to you, you can’t take it out and throw it a couple of times. You really need to tie it on and just use it all day. Learn how it works and get confidence in using it.
Now is the time to get out and have fun on the water or on the bank. But remember that with summer comes more traffic. Make sure to follow all the rules for safe boating and respect others that are on the water. Always keep an eye out for people just out for a paddle, fishing in a kayak, and those pleasure boaters. We can’t make them behave nor can we make them follow the rules, but we can make sure we do. And wear that life jacket!
Most overlooked summer techniques by Carson Maddux
With June it already being June, summer is in full swing in the south. The party boats are out and the fish are starting to feel the pressure. The summer months can be fun but definitely test your mental game. Hot, stagnant days with no wind and enough humidity to drive a person insane make for interesting days on the water. The good news is the days are long so you have plenty of time to figure them out! I want to dive into some techniques that will help you catch more fish this summer.
The biggest learning curve for me when fishing in the summer months was learning how to read my electronics. Once you begin to have confidence in what you’re looking for, it is easier to lock in and spend the time “behind the wheel”. Outside of looking for fish, your electronics can tell you a lot about what is happening on the lake. For example, if you are on the main lake and see that the thermocline is at 15 feet, you can eliminate anything deeper than that in that section. This takes a huge vast area and condensed it into something more manageable. Likewise, you may see that same thermocline further back in a creek in shallow or deeper water. Paying attention to those differences is how the best of the best maximize their efficiency.
One mistake I see a bunch of people make is misinterpreting the information that their electronics give them. Using the thermocline example, just because the thermocline is 15 feet, doesn’t mean that you need to go to shallow water near the bank. The fish will move up in the water column or vertical on a piece of structure to stay above that line.
When I am fishing shallow in the summer I typically keep it pretty simple. I like to throw topwater and a wacky/neko rigged worm. These two presentations could not vary further from each other, but both are deadly this time of year. Topwater is a pretty broad spectrum with everything from frogs to pencil poppers in play. The frog is a player all summer long that catches giants. It works well around shade lines, overhanging brush, and obviously shallow grass. The mayfly hatch and spawning panfish will keep big largemouth shallow through the entirety of the summer and into the early fall. The mayfly hatch is one of those things that every angler has heard the oldtimers talk about is almost overlooked. Sometimes the hatch can be pretty dramatic with bluegill swarming the surface and other times it happens when we are not even looking. That said, do not discredit this proven pattern this time of year.
Lastly, do not forget about boat docks in the summer. If you are like me, you avoid fishing docks unless all other plans hit the fan. Docks should not be viewed as an escape route but rather a pattern that you can get really dialed in on. Docks will hold panfish and smaller bait and most importantly an abundance of shade. With high pressure days ahead the fish will take advantage of the cooler water and shade that a dock provides. All this said, try not to overthink it this summer. Oftentimes the best way to find success on the water is not as complicated as we make it. Do what you are comfortable with and grind it out!
Summer Bass Fishing: Where Bass Go and How to Catch Them by Calvin Herndon
Summer time is a really fun time to be on the water. Especially in early summer because fish like to school up and you can catch a lot of bass quick. There are challenges in the summer because bass make major moves in the summer. It is important to understand bass movement so you can follow the fish and be effective catching summer time bass.
One of the biggest things in the summer you have to understand is that the bass have split. After the spawn one group of bass like to stay shallow and there is a group that goes deep and will hangout on offshore structure. Let’s talk about early summer bass are aggressive and willing to feed as the summer progress the bass become more lethargic. Shallow fish will stay shallow all the way up until the fall. Where to look for shallow bass? If your fishery does not have a lot of grass or vegetation in it bass will relate to any shallow cover whether that is down trees, boat docks, or anything with shade on it. Early in the morning the bass will come away from the cover and feed, but when the sun starts to peak out bass run for the shade. Let’s talk about fishery that have a lot of grass in them. The bass in this situation in the summer time cling to the thickest grass you can find. The bigger fish tend to be found on the outer edge of the grass mat or in the point of a grass mat. What about the fish that split and go deep?
If you are hunting the deep fish in the summer time you need to begin your search on the main channel of the lake. These fish really like hard bottom and structure. Highland reservoir’s we are talking about the points that divide creek arms. Lowland reservoir’s we are talking the ends of big offshore humps and humps of creek channel bends. These bass stay at these places for a long time. How do you know what humps have fish on them? Try to find humps that have different shape to it whether the hump has a rounded bottom to it or lines closer together on a map. So how do we catch these fish?
In the summer time you can catch bass in many different ways. You could be up shallow throwing a square bill crank or you can be out deep throwing a deep diving crank bait for those deeper fish. Another bait that dominates this time of year that is over looked is an underspin. Let’s not forget about everyone favorite early morning bait which is a top water bait. I prefer a popper style bait because it is more subtle. Lastly I am going to stick with a tried and true I always have tied on which is a shakey head. This is a bait I feel comfortable throwing and it just gets bites.