Stuffed Summer Bass

[Bassmaster2008]

As the summer rolls along, some lakes with successful spawns get a ton of fry for all bass to easily feed on whenever they want. I have found this makes bass pretty tough to find and catch. The problem is the bass are already full from fry, and lack the incentive to go after a fisherman's bait. Also they just seem harder to find. Does anybody have any effective techniques for bass in this gluttonous time of year?

[Bigbass Dez]

My advise is too get on there feeding schedule ... get on the lake at first light and just know that this is your best chance in the shallows waters ..as the day progress you must adjust .. look for the fish that are not feeding on fry .. targert some deeper water and find brush , grass ,rocks laydowns etc... when im out bassing and that sun pops out early im fishing in atleast 15-20 deep waters ..if the sun stays out i go even deeper .. dropshoting works , carolina and texas rigs work ,spinnerbaits or one of my favorites is a deep diving crank bait ...try to find what these bass are relating too and commit to those spots all over the lake ... the reason why spring is so good for us is because we get a chance to target the bigger bass laying up in the shallows , but this window is small and will soon close .. So go deep and start fishing , this time of the year when you can really see how good your bassin skills really stand ..good luck ..BBD

[Nik]

Summer bites will be reaction strikes as much as they are hunger bites. Bass are lazy by instinct, so when food is abundant their "prey circle" or the area around them that prey must enter before they will strike, grows smaller. This means you must either slow down and work the bait right up to their noses, or trigger reaction strikes by annoying or startling them. Nothing drives a bass crazy like topwater lures. A big bass holding tight to a stump probably won't budge the first time your buzzbait zooms overhead, but by the 5th or 6th time it will be driving him absolutely nuts. The same goes for burning spinnerbaits and deep diving crankbaits. make multiple casts to isolated structure, and make sure your lure bounces off of it. Also when the sun is out pitching jigs to submerged timber works great. Pitch to the shady side of the tree, get the jig as close to the trunk as you can, then bounce it up and down the trunk, simulating a bluegill or crappie feeding on the algae growing on it. Bass love nothing more than to ambush prey while it is itself feeding. As Dez states this is also the money time for your texas rigs. crawl it through sparse weed or timber flats, and bass will take it if it hops right in front of their noses. also using a large sinker to punch through thick cover will find bass buried in the weeds on sunny afternoons.

[Bassmaster2008]

Thanks for the advice. Do you guys suggest any particular bait size? I can see smaller being more effective because the bass are so full and lethargic. But bigger more annoying. I have an enormous black buzz bait that I am licking my chops to try out. I'm heading to Potholes Reservoir in 2 weeks. Sun penetration is low in the murky water there, so Bigbass, do you think the bass will not go as deep as in clearer lakes? Potholes has a lot of channels, should I search there first if I suspect they have gone to deeper water?

You guys really seem like you know your stuff in the deep water and cover fishing. I have to say I'm not up to par in the deep fishing yet. My depth finder is cheap. And I simply feel blind, I have no clue if a fish is anywhere near my lure. Hopefully I'm getting better at locating these bass in the deep situations.

[panfisher]

i like to fish the spinner baits during the summer. of course i'm mainly a shore fisher so i'm fishing cover alot. i just try to trigger the fish's sense's to attack and spinnerbaits do the best for me, plus there is nothing like seeing them strike neer the surface. anything that you can make a noise with gets them to check it out also. <')//<

[Bigbass Dez]

Bassmaster , remember this pattern , in the spring your baits are small , in summer there big , in fall go small , and winter go big ..You dont need a expensive top of the line fish finder .. just use it to get a read on how deep your sitting (thats it) as far as whats down below is all apart of covering water and feeling the bottom .. spinner baits, jigs , texas rig , carolina rig all help you feel out the bottom .. if you find stucture , slow down a fish it good (fish it real good) lol .. anyway as far as fishing murky waters .. yes those bass are going to be more shallow because of this . I thinking starting with a shallow diving crank baits and slow rolling spinner baits .. as the sun comes up move to the plastics ..i luv throwing a 8inch all black ribbon tail work rigged texas in the summer ... so there you go bassmaster if i tell you more info im going require that you take me to potholes with you ...lol jus kidding glad to be helpful .. plus on that lake its not hard to catch bass period it's loaded ...have funn bud ...BBD

[Nik]

Once again as Dez states in murky water bass will not be as deep as in clear water on sunny days. using a neutral colored lure like brown or green, lower it slowly into the water and note how far down it has to go before it disappears. That will give you a pretty good idea of the sun penetration level. As a general rule you will find suspended bass 3-4 feet below this level. so if your lure disappears 5 feet down, you would do well to start out with say an 8-10 foot diving crankbait, or look for structure in 10-12 feet of water to work plastics around.

[Bassmaster2008]

Bassmaster , remember this pattern , in the spring your baits are small , in summer there big , in fall go small , and winter go big ..

This information is pretty controversial I've heard different in some areas

Fall: Fish will go into their winter haunts soon and are looking for big meals for fat reserves for the winter.

Winter: Bass's metabolisms are very slow and big meals are not needed, their digestion is really slow compared to warmer months and small meals fit the bill a lot better.

Why do you have Fall and winter as small and big?

[bpm2000]

yea im throwing large in fall as well since they are apt to hit anything when putting on the feedbag.

[Bigbass Dez]

Bassmaster , remember this pattern , in the spring your baits are small , in summer there big , in fall go small , and winter go big ..

This information is pretty controversial I've heard different in some areas

Fall: Fish will go into their winter haunts soon and are looking for big meals for fat reserves for the winter.

Winter: Bass's metabolisms are very slow and big meals are not needed, their digestion is really slow compared to warmer months and small meals fit the bill a lot better.

Why do you have Fall and winter as small and big?

in winter bass dont eat much , there energy span in limited , so they will take down a bigger bait because it will take longer to digest through there stomach , meaning they will stay full for a longer period of time ..now smallys like smaller baits , i.e float and fly technic works good ..as for fall fishing ..rattel traps are great because they are midsize .. just try to match the hatch in that lake , all lake are different .. Im just suggesting whats been working for my over the last 10 years at this sport .. im not a pro ..yet ..lol

[Bassmaster2008]

Yea. It's just weird. Fish are just weird. Sometimes they are on patterns, sometimes the patterns change, and sometimes doing the completely wrong thing will pull in a fish. I read today about a guy caught musky on a black spinner on a bright sunny day. Bright day = bright lures and vise versa, prime example of how its just tough to follow a pattern sometimes. Yea all lakes are different as well, good point.