Bass fishing and, in fact, fishing in general this year has been a bit of a challenge. High and often muddy water, combined with high temperatures, has made some fishing trips more challenging.
I think I began to realize the effects of the warmer temperatures a few weeks ago when my wife and I struck out on a lake in search of crappies. In mid-summer, we fish deep, 10-20 feet of water, and locate schools of crappies, then drop small jigs into the schools, but few fish are interested in taking our offerings. Normally, we would do very well with this approach, but I believe the warmer water temperatures slowed the bite considerably.
A couple of weeks ago, my brother and I had a similar experience on the same lake; we fished deep, but strikes were few and far between.
That slow bite for crappies, however, didn’t end our fishing trip; we moved into about 4-6 feet of water with wood and rock structure and began fishing for bass. In a short time, we picked up a good number of largemouths and one smallmouth. Apparently, bass are a little more tolerant of warmer temperatures than the crappies.
When it comes to temperatures, bass, especially largemouths, seldom eat at water temperatures below 50 degrees. At temperatures between 68 degrees and 80 degrees, bass will feed heavily, but as temperatures go above the 80-degree mark, feeding declines. Largemouths tend to be more tolerant of warmer water than the smallmouths.
Don’t let the warmer summer temperatures keep you from pursuing some bass fishing, however, but you may want to make some adjustments in times and presentations. To be honest, if I’m going after some largemouths in mid to late summer, I like to fish late in the day and even into the evening hours, or I would prefer an overcast day without the sun heating the water.
Some of my best largemouth bass fishing has been after sunset and into the evening hours, and a favorite presentation is some kind of surface lure. The good old Jitterbug is still a great choice, and when a bass smashes it wobbling across a glass smooth surface, I guarantee it will get your attention.
Other good surface lures are propbaits with props at one or both ends. Other good picks are chuggers with the concave face that creates a surface disturbance when popped. The stickbait with no lips and no props, when worked with a “walk the dog” technique or a right, left movement as it is worked across the surface, can also generate some exciting surface action. Even the floating type minnow lures like the Rebels and Rapalas, when left to sit a bit, then wiggled and then retrieved in a stop and go fashion, will imitate a wounded minnow, bringing strikes.
Usually, when you’re after smallmouths, it’s likely to be in moving water where the oxygen levels are probably higher and the water temperatures possibly lower than in most lakes. Those same lures just mentioned will work here as well, usually in the quieter, deeper pools in rivers.
You may even want to work faster water that has rock or some type of structure that provides some protection from the fast currents, but here I’m likely to go to an assortment of soft plastic rigs. Carolina rigs, Texas rigs, and other soft plastics combined with leadhead jigs and tubes, grubs, and lizards are good choices. A Ned-rig worked slowly on the bottom is also a wise choice.
Even though the water temperatures and levels haven’t been the most cooperative, under the right conditions and with the right presentation, some great bass fishing can still be had.
