Try Something Unorthodox
As spring moves on to the summertime of the year, some things change and some do not. The one big similarity of spring to summer is the all day heat leaving the water temperature to sore and oxygen to deplete in the water. This factor alone makes summer fishing extremely tough and trying to overcome this and put together a pattern that catches fish can be really tough but doing something different can sometimes be a key to success.
To me this says try something unorthodox, meaning try a favorite wintertime presentation; that being fishing a presentation that targets suspending fish, like a jerk bait. I know most of us use this bait when the water is cold but many times you get the same result in the warm water days of the summer. There is a slight difference that I try to change this time of year; meaning I go to a deeper jerk bait presentation like the SPRO McStick 95 which goes 8 to 10 ft. down the water table allowing you to fish it deeper than the traditional jerk bait presentation or try a countdown jerk bait that allows you to count it down to your desired depth. There are also jerk baits that sink quickly allowing you to count them down to even deeper depths giving you even more ability to fish suspending deep fish at the depth you see them on your Lowrance Active Target unit. I also believe as the day moves on that bass suspend along the grass lines we have on a lake like Guntersville, so fishing that jerk bait along the many grass lines can really focus in on the bass. This is also an area that you find gobs of bait balls and presenting jerk-baits through the bait balls around the suspending fish can really prove to be rewarding.
This bait you really have to be patient with, so letting it sit for several seconds in between movements can be the key to getting this to work. As I always tell my customers do what you’re suppose-to-do; what the text book information tells us then change presentations until you find one that works and of course repeat it when it does. Fishing, something different and away from the text book recommendations can be productive.