Dealing with the summer heat can be draining to ones body and confidence. Not only do you have to figure out what the fish want and how to catch them but also you need to deal with your body. You have to keep hydrated, cool and keep your engergy up to catch all those bass.  On a day I know the sun is going to be high and the temperatures in the upper 90's to 100 degrees I start my day with plenty of liquids and energy bars.  I will usually have several bottles of water already drank before I even launch the boat.  In my cooler I will have water and a sports type drink like Gator-Aid and covered with ice.  I will also keep several energy bars and some fruit in the cooler. Remember, NO Bananas in the boat. Not that I am supersticious but you can never be too careful.  Another way you can beat the heat is to fish at night. Contrary to popular belief bass will bite at night even when the water temps are 55 degrees or 90 degrees.  Many of the same lures you use during the day can be used at night. For purpose of this post I will concentrate on day fishing.

Now that I have taken care of my body I can concentrate on catching some fish.  The 1st thing I do is determine the amount of cloud cover I am going to have during the day.  This helps me determine where and how the fish might be positioned.  I will typically look for drops or ledges off the main channel or sharp drops off one side of a point. I look specifically for stair step type ledges.  Such as 6ft  deep on the top step down to maybe 12ft and then down to 18ft to 20ft deep.  Early morning or cloudy days will often hold the fish on the top ledge from 6 feet to 12 feet deep.  As the sun comes up or skies clear the fish tend to move deeper to the lowest level of the ledge.  A general rule of thumb I use is cloudy windy days use reaction baits such as spinnerbaits, crankbaits and other reaction type baits. On clear and calm days I tend to switch to plastics and jigs.  As we all know a bass does not always follow the rules.  Be prepared to throw the opposite that you believe is the right thing to throw.
I usually start with a Secret Weapons Lures spinnerbait in a 1/2 double willow leaf in a baby bass pattern on the top of the ledge and work it pretty quickly to get the reaction bite.  I will work each level of the ledge with the SWL spinnerbait.  This helps me find the fish quickly and see at what depth they are active.  The bass will typically be on each level of the ledge but which level are the bass active.  Once I determine the proper level the fish are active then I will slow down and use a couple different lures.  I will typically use Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver in a corn dog pattern on a 3/16 oz mushroom head jig and a standard jig usually in a 1/4 oz up to 1/2 oz depending on the wind and water conditions.  If the wind is really up and I am having a hard time feeling the bottom or the ledge drops I will pull out a DT16 and work it nearly as fast as I can down the ledge on a 6:3 reel.  

The next time the air and water temps are up give some of the things a try. I just bet you will catch some fish.  Once you find that ledge that holds fish be prepared to catch them there all summer long.  Get a good lake map and I bet you can find more then one ledge that looks like the one you are catching fish on. I have a milk run of ledges I use in the summer.  Most of the time I can count on a couple of them holding fish. 

        

 

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