In my last column I said that this time we’d talk about the mindset of a true trophy hunter. But, given the weather lately I think we should talk about hot weather hawgs. I know a lot of guys struggle at this time of the year, especially if they’re looking for big fish. We’ll talk about the mindset thing later.
How you approach July and August is largely about where you’re fishing and how much grass is growing in the water. We’ll start with lakes that have little or no grass.
The first thing about grass-less lakes is that you’re going to have to either fish deep or at night. Fishing deep almost always means you’re offshore. In turn, that means you have to know how to use your electronics. If you don’t, take the time to learn. You must find deep structure to find the bigger fish.
What kind of structure depends upon what’s available. Look for drops, channels, channel swings, shell beds or anything else that changes the topography of the bottom. That’s where they’ll most likely be found.
Once you find your spot, dig out your biggest worms, jigs and creature baits. Fish them from different angles and vary your speed a little bit. Make sure you cover everything.
I know cranking ledges is popular right now. There’s no doubt that’ll catch bass. But, if you want the real giants, as opposed to a high number of good fish, I still say go with worms, jigs and creature baits.
If deep is not your thing — and I know it isn’t for a lot of anglers — try fishing a couple of hours before and after sunrise, right before dark or at night. The bigger bass have a tendency to come up a little shallower when there’s little or no light. Topwater baits are my thing for this.
A River2Sea Rover (walking stick), a Phat Frog or a big black buzzbait will usually get their attention. Fish these baits right over the tops of the deep structure you found with your electronics.
On lakes with a lot of grass, your choices are more limited but easier to find. Fish the heaviest and thickest grass in the lake, and fish it all day long. Don’t worry about anything else. Thick and nasty vegetation is all that matters — oxygen, shade, cover, food.
The easiest way to get down into it is with a heavy weight (1 to 2 ounces) and a punch skirt. That combo will come through the grass better than a jig, and you have more color choices and combinations with a weight and a skirt. That makes it easier to match the hatch.
Fish your grass baits with 65-pound-test Maxima braid. Anything lighter is like bringing a knife to a gunfight. Anything heavier will cause more problems than it solves.
They’ll also bite topwater baits over grass during the day — sometimes. Fish the same lures I recommended for night fishing over grass-less, deep structure.
There are a couple of other things you should keep in mind when you’re looking for a trophy in the middle of summer. First, no matter what you’ve heard, the metabolism of big fish is slow at this time of the year. Work your baits carefully. Give her plenty of time to decide to attack and give her plenty of time to find her target.
The other thing is the role of water clarity with topwater lures. Bass will move up farther than you think to grab something on top. If the water’s clear, they’ll come 25 feet or more if they want it. And, even if the water’s dingy, they’ll come up 10 feet. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking topwater is only for shallow fish. It isn’t.
Don’t let the heat get the better of you this summer. The big ones are still around. You can catch them.
