Summer Time Bass Patterns
By John Harper
Reproduced with permission from Bass Anglers Guide
Throughout most of the country fishing for bass in the summer time can be very challenging. The heat can make it uncomfortable on the angler but even worse it can put the bass in a neutral state. The only thing worse than not catching fish is being miserable and not catching fish.
Here in the West we are spoiled. We certainly have our share of hot days, but due to the diversity of our fisheries we still can experience some amazing summertime fishing. We have all kinds of fisheries here, everything from shallow water like the California Delta, to deep water impoundments like Lake Oroville
When considering how to pattern summertime bass in a typical western lake you have to take into account the entire water column. What I mean by this is that you can catch fish from 0-60 feet at almost anytime during the day.
Most of us who have been fishing for any time at all know that in the summer time the morning bite is usually best. There are many reasons for that. In a lake where baitfish like shad or pond smelt are the main forage these baitfish will begin to work their way to the surface during the night. As the sun comes up in the morning the bait will still be in the top of the water column. It’s as simple as the bass following the bait to the shallows.
Bass will tend to move more over the course of the day in the summertime than any other time of the year. There’s a pretty good chance that the fish you catch in the morning don’t live where you’re catching them. It’s much more probable that they are using the location as a feeding area.
Due to the falling water levels during the summer, I will spend most of the morning hours on main lake points. My favorite bait to start a summer morning with is a Zara Spook. I like to throw my Spook on a Dobyns 734C casting rod matched with a Daiwa baitcaster and 15lb test P-Line CXX mono. The most important tip I can give on Spook fishing is to change your stock hooks with Owner Stinger Trebles. Just for clarification, I’m not sponsored by Owner, but I believe they have the stickiest hook ever made. Summertime bass tend to be binge feeders and in the excitement of their morning feeding they will not always have the best aim. These hooks can catch a lot of fish that don’t have the bait completely in their mouths.
As you begin to catch fish make sure you are paying attention to the slightest of details. Angles can be everything. When I approach a point I will start on one side and work all the around to the opposite side making multiple casts. You may find that the fish want the bait crossing the point in order to get them to react.
Retrieve can be just as important as angle. As a general rule the lower the light the faster my retrieve. This really is something that will need to be experimented with. Speed and cadence are going to be critical to your early morning topwater success.
As the sun begins to come up and hit the water I will move my topwater presentation to north facing bluffs or rock walls. These banks will have shade on them and can keep the top water bite going for you a little longer.
One of my favorite things to fish is short shadows. This is when the sun continues to rise and there are only a couple feet of shade against the bank. I have had some of the best summertime fishing of my life in these short shadows. In addition to the Spook, I also like to toss a 1 ounce Bladerunner buzzbait in the short shadows. The heft is a benefit for long cast and the head design planes quickly. At times its like the shadow is moving, pulling back against the bank and it’s scooping up all the fish and compressing them in this tiny bit of shade. It’s not uncommon for the bite to get better as the shadows get shorter. Some of your most aggressive topwater bites will come in this little narrow band of water.
When these shadows disappear I will back out off the bank and begin to look for the fish
that have moved to deep water. What I will typically look for is a point on the side of a small cut or creek channel that the predominate wind blows into. As the wind blows into these places the bait will begin to show up in large numbers. The key here is the presence of baitfish.
During the summer you will find fish doing different things in different parts of the lake. There are times when you can just follow your morning fish out off the bank. There will also be fish that will never go to the bank. This is not uncommon on a body of water that gets a lot recreational boat traffic.
Later into the summer the lakes get drawn down more and more. The fish will begin to stay off the bank all day and some cases all night. Obviously your graph is going to be your main tool when chasing these fish. I keep it pretty simple when fishing off the bank. If I can see the fish well on the graph I will dropshot a small shad pattern worm. My preference is Mother’s Finest hand pour worms. Sometimes, fish seem to disappear off the graph, even though I successfully graphed them a moment earlier. More often than not, they have lain down on the bottom and your graph, no matter how good it is, will not pick them up. At this point I will go to a 6 inch worm on a darthead in a green or oxblood color. I will stay with a 3/16oz out to 30 feet and then go to 1/4oz below that. For worming, I use a Dobyns spinning rod, model 704 matched with a Daiwa spinning reel and 6lb test P-Line Fluorocarbon. Always look at the bellies of these deep fish when you get them in the boat. What you often see is mud on their bellies. Another way to know if there are fish hiding on the bottom is to watch the graph when fishing vertical. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen a single fish directly below the boat, dropped down on it, hooked it and watched the bottom rise up with 10 other marks that chase the hooked fish off the bottom. When you see this, a darthead slowly dragged on a long line is the most effective way to get these mud bellies to eat.
For the longest time, I questioned whether I should use a darthead, a dropshot or even how long to make the dropshot leader. I was convinced that bass just related to the bottom and the only thing to be concerned with was whether they were mud bellies or 12 inches off the bottom. This all changed a few years back when I was invited to go fishing with a guy named Robert Marxmiller. He had been winning a bunch of money at Lake Don Pedro and was one of the first guys in Northern California to really figure out the swimbait bite.
If you have ever been to Don Pedro in the summer you know how tough it can be. Brutal doesn’t even begin to describe the bite there. We launched the boat and ran down the lake stopping about a quarter mile off a point. The first thing out of my mouth was, “Dude, it’s 150 feet deep here”. Robert just laughed and jumped to the front of the boat and put the trolling motor in the water. About a minute later he asked me to come up front and look at the graph with him. Suspended in the middle of the water column were some of the biggest marks I have ever seen on a graph. Robert proceeded to teach me the lesson of a lifetime- not all bass are relating to the bottom, especially the big trout eaters.
Just a few of John’s many accomplishments: Won Bass 5 fish weight record holder 37.82, 2005 Angers Choice Pro-Am Angler of the year, 2005 Angers Choice Pro-Am Delta Champion, 3 times West Coast Classic Qualifier
John is sponsored by: Dobyns Rods, Daiwa, P-Line, Basstrix USA
Osprey Lure, Mothers Finest Worms
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