Dog Days of Summer

The “dog days” of summer on most lakes and ponds will often drive the surface temperatures way into the high 80’s and even into the 90’s. This hot water many times does everything except make lake fishing “HOT.” In fact, the bass in most lakes during the hot summer are so tough to catch. Most fishermen look for an air-conditioned room, a cold one, and a baseball game.

I have found that the Dog Days of Summer is a very stable time to fish on most main lake areas. Here you will typically find that the water temperatures are lower than the still backwaters of lakes. You will also find it to be a time when currents and water levels are not fluctuating much either. This lower temperature accompanied by a natural current flow will produce high oxygen levels. The bass that are lucky enough to have current will usually show a higher activity level than those that will be found in most lakes during the summer months.

Dog Days of Summer is a very stable time

Rivers and river-run reservoirs are especially good in summer. They stay cooler longer and have sufficient dissolved oxygen from top to bottom. Smallmouth will be right in the current, often behind a rock or stump. Largemouth favor slack water close to some flow. Bass in river-run reservoirs often have been conditioned not to feed until the upstream dam releases water. The resulting current repositions baitfish. Once current picks up, they focus in tight groups and often move shallower to feed in small wolf packs.

Weed growth proliferates in rivers, current reservoirs, and lakes as well. This is one of the few ideas on why to start your search here. Baitfish and bass will gravitate to weedy bays and pockets, where the water is cooler and highly oxygenated. Bass position themselves near irregularities in the weed bed, such as holes, pockets and points, laydowns, and junk piles. They can be taken on the surface with a weedless Baby Buzzbait™ frog or rat. Alternatively, by flipping or pitching a plastic worm or creature bait through the grass.

The summer time on most systems offers bass an increased supply of accessible food. With the current factor, river systems offer the bass the capability to stay shallow throughout the summer. Here they take
advantage of the current and lay in heavy structure where they can ambush this ample supply of food. The supply of feed usually consists of earlier hatched fry and baitfish from the spring spawns.

Excerpts taken from Lee’s new book “Strategies for Bass“.