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Summertime Haunts and Hideouts
One of the most crucial aspects of being a successful bass angler is being able to locate fish as they move through their seasonal patterns. Once you learn these movements forward, backwards, and sideways, you can take your knowledge to any lake in the country, find fish fast, and be successful.
Summertime Haunts and Hideouts is part two of a three part seasonal outline. I have already published a lens on The Four Stages of Spring and will be adding an outline for the Fall transition as the season progresses. Hopefully you will find these outlines a little more detailed and dotted with a few more delicious tidbits than other seasonal outline articles.
Keep In Mind, Bass do not read 'how-to' articles, or books, nor do they carry a thermometer or maps. There are many factors that can effect when, where, and how bass decide to move. So remember, you will find bass in all of these areas during the Summer, but this really is an outline of the Summertime pattern.
Summertime Haunts and Hideouts is part two of a three part seasonal outline. I have already published a lens on The Four Stages of Spring and will be adding an outline for the Fall transition as the season progresses. Hopefully you will find these outlines a little more detailed and dotted with a few more delicious tidbits than other seasonal outline articles.
Keep In Mind, Bass do not read 'how-to' articles, or books, nor do they carry a thermometer or maps. There are many factors that can effect when, where, and how bass decide to move. So remember, you will find bass in all of these areas during the Summer, but this really is an outline of the Summertime pattern.
Deeper, Thicker, Current
The Mantra of Summertime Bass
Once the Post spawn has ended and water temperatures have climbed into the mid-70's to mid-90's, bass will be dispersed throughout the system. Although Summertime is the one time of the year when bass are the most spread out, there are still key areas where you will find them: deeper, thicker, and current. Say it over and over, and don't forget it since these are the three areas that bass key on during the summer: 'deeper, thicker, current - deeper, thicker, current....'.
DEEPER
Off-Shore Lunch
Bass will haunt deep, off-shore structure during the summer months for three reasons: First of all, many bait fish move out of the shallows and they are following the food source. Deeper water is also cooler water which has higher levels of dissolved oxygen - making deep water a more comfortable haunt for Summertime bass.Deep water bass will take up residence on off-shore humps, deep points, and in some lakes, cribs. These bass can be difficult to locate, but can be the most reliable biters of the three. There are many good ways to catch deep water bass: Secret Weapon Spinnerbaits, Crankbaits, Carolina rigs, and Texas-rigged worms are all great for probing the depths. I prefer to drag a Vertical Lures Jig X football jig, drop-shot or throw a deep-diving crankbait like a Bomber Fat Free Shad or a Norman DD 22.
THICKER
Salad anyone?
This is my favorite place to catch summertime bass - and the thicker the better. After pre-spawn, some bass will hang around the shallows and flats taking up residence in the thickest stuff they can find. This can be anything from vegetation to wood to brush.Bass choose these hideouts for the same reasons that others choose deep water: The heavy cover creates a canopy and cools the water while the aquatic plants oxygenate the water. These factors also attract bait fish, crayfish and other food sources.
Heavy cover can be tricky to fish, but there are a couple of techniques you can apply to catch some quality fish: Weedless, topwater frogs can produce explosive bites when dragged over the slop. You will need a heavy rod and braided line to get them out of the salad. My favorite way to catch bass in thick cover it to flip and pitch a Creature X and Vertical Lures Jig X jigs in the grass. You will need a jig or bullet weight heavy enough to make it through the jungle of grass without hanging up - 1/2oz. or 3/4oz. weights and jigs are a good place to start.
Jigs and creatures are also a great way to pick apart obvious thick cover hideouts. Flip and pitch them into fallen trees, brush piles and under docks. These types of cover are bass magnets and can be the hideout of some real monsters.
CURRENT
A Meal On the Move
Fishing current can be a very productive summertime pattern and bass will travel quite a distance to find it. Bass will search out current for the same reasons they use deeper and thicker cover/ structure: cooler water, more oxygenated water, and to have a good ambush point. The easiest place to locate current is in a river.Bass will position themselves either next to the current or behind something that breaks the current: Rocks, logs, bridge pilings are all forms of current breaks, but anything that breaks the current should not be over-looked.
One of the great things about fishing current is the bass do not have a lot of time to scrutinize your lure. Their meal is on a conveyor belt so they have to make the choice to eat or not very quickly. When fishing current, I like to fish a Texas-rigged worm or creature bait, or a crankbait. I will bounce and swim the T-rigged bait across the bottom, down eddy lines, and into pools. If you choose to fish a crankbait, make sure it runs deep enough to make contact with the bottom and any other available cover. Always make sure to present your lure either across the current or with the current since this is the natural direction their food source will travel. Lastly, keep in mind that wind and boat traffic are also forms of current and will be used by bass to corral prey.
The Next Seasonal Outline Will Cover Fall Patterns and Techniques.
I hope this article was helpful and that you will be able to successfully apply some of the information to your next fishing trip. Click here to read the third chapter of Patterning Bass: A Seasonal Outline of Tactics: Fall Feeding Frenzy. Leave Your Feedback and Comments
If you would like to read other articles full of delicious tidbits visit HardKoreFishing.com and look under The HardKore Klinix Archive.
Sean McLoughlin is a professional bass tournament angler. He is currently sponsored by:
SAC Fastener Company
Kaenon Polarized
Mountain Khakis
Vertical Lures
LaChase Baits
silvrsentinel wrote...
Love your lens - the photos really give a clearer picture of how Bass behave out of sight and around structure. If you have time feel free to visit my blog.
Fresh Water Lures/
Posted April 08, 2009
Lensmaster
Mike from Canada wrote
Thanks for sharing....please keep the info coming. It sure help to read and learn betters ways of catching bass. I mostly fish smallmouth on Rainy Lake they can be challenging to say the least. But they are great when you really get into them.
Posted October 15, 2008
LarryBass wrote...
What a great lens Sean! Thanx for sharing so much useful bassing info.
Tight lines,
lb
Posted June 15, 2008
