Page 15 - Lady Bass Anglers Digital Magazine July 2023
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mean that you cull the struggling fish instead of the you and the type of lake you are fishing. On your
smallest. It is better to release that fish than to get a body of water, look for deeper pockets that are near
dead fish penalty. structure of some kind. This structure can be ledges,
points,brush piles, humps, docks, dense floating
If you are targeting deep fish, knowing how to fizz vegetation and rock piles.
fish is important. If you are pulling them out of 15’ or
deeper, their swim bladder is not able to adjust and Remember, bass like to eat and summer is no
they go into what is equivalent of a scuba diver getting different. Find the bait and you find the fish! Bait-fish
the bends. This is called “hyper-buoyant”, “hyper- will roam, but they will also look for those shaded
buoyancy”, or barotrauma. This can even happen to areas to avoid birds.
fish an angler catches in less than 15’. How? Well, your
bait may be shallow, but the fish may have come up Some of the best lures for summer include spinner-
from deeper water to hit your lure, planning to dart baits, lip-less crank-baits, deeper diving crank baits,
back down to the depths. Knowing how to fizz your swim-jigs, chatter-baits, and a variety of soft plastics
fish is important and will be covered in more depth in in addition to the previously mentioned top-water
a separate article in this edition. options.
Reaction style baits are great options when targeting
shallower fish. This will include the crank-baits, top-
Summer Techniques
Summer is one of the best times to catch fish in the water baits and vibrating jigs.
early morning and late evening hours, or any time Spinner-baits and vibrating jigs are good in pretty
there are low light conditions. Though they can be
caught all day long when in the right place using the
right lure and presentation.
Morning and evenings are prime time for using top
water baits. Yes, they can be caught during the day as much any condition, though the spinner-bait offers
summer is a time when bass school up to chase shad. better opportunities for fishing at varying depths.
Walk the dog techniques, Pop R’s and prop style baits Both are good along grass lines, drop-offs and
can attract fish during those calmer water times, but bumping structure.
don’t forget to consider top-water frogs around cover.
The type of lures for summer really depends on
Crank-baits, both lip-less and billed offer the option
of targeting fish in shallow and deep water. For the lip-
less it is an adjustment of speed. For billed or lipped
crank-baits, it depend on the size and type of bill. It
is important for the bait to resemble the bait-fish for
Lady Bass Anglers Association 15
