its hot out there!!!

and its only goin to get hotter – the water is warming up and there is more food out there for the fish – summer is normally a difficult time to find the bass – does anyone have any tips on how to find bass in the heat

I’ve had success in heat with two things:

1) Go strictly artificial.

2) Drop your offering right on their nose!

I’ve been able to see them different times hiding under docks and such and they won’t come out. But weed cover and deadfalls have been good places for flushing them out of hiding. I typically use a weedless set up and I try to find something that focuses on irritating the fish. Use spinners or rattles or something with a lot of splash. I think bass are territorial so they’ll come after something that’s disturbing their peace. “You know, you might scare off my next meal so here, talk this!” One strange thing I’ve noticed on one of my favorite bass waters is on hot days, the morning bite is good, but the mid-afternnoon bite seems to be a good strike zone too. By evening, many times, the bite was done. I’m going to stick to my guns on this one and tell you to hit your normal areas, but try a large variety of things and see what “irritates” your bass into a bite. I nail a bunch on Rooster Tails and Mepps Killer combos. Poppers and such have produced bite but I’ve had to work that technique a lot harder for equal results. Good Fishin’!

I agree with the pup to the degree that the morning bite does seem to be better then the evening bite these days. As I fish with artificals anyway I can’t say that switching to them does better. I think river fish are not as affected as lake fish to the change in temp. My opinion is that they are more affected by the flow so look for places where there is better water movement. I think the fish become conditioned to look for food to come by them and will move to areas where the opportunities are greater. On the river I still use tubes and shad raps for great success until midday, and am off the water by 2:00.

If you really want to get on the smallmouth when the heat turns up, head to smaller rivers and streams!

With the water levels dropping and the temperature increasing, the smallies get turned on and tuned in to feeding hard!!

This is a tad different and sometimes easier than fishing the “Miss”! This time of year can be the most action packed fun you can find, wading and casting for smallmouths! Top water can be explosive, while spinners like the 1/8 and 1/6 oz Rooster tail can double your catch!!! If things are slow on the “Mighty Mississippi” for smallmouth, Head to the Root River or the nearest smally stream/river!! Good luck and keep the rods bendin’!!! Jim W