Now that nice weather has taken hold, the water temperatures have climbed and the bass are hungry and locked in to their summer patterns, here are three early summer techniques you can employ on your local lake.
#1 SHALLOW DOCKS AND LAYDOWNS
Many bass will stay in the shallows and lock themselves onto cover such as boat docks, weed clumps or laydowns, while others will be holding in deeper water along weed lines, a technique that can be used both places is a Texas-rigged soft plastic.
By changing up the size of the tungsten weight you are using, you can employ flipping a Texas-rigged soft plastic to the shallows, while still being able to pitch it into holes along a weed line. Since I’m making short flips or pitches in and around heavy cover, I’ll spool up with Seaguar Flippin Fluorocarbon line in 20-pound test. This line was designed with this technique in mind, so its performance aids in the angler’s success.
There is a wide array of plastics that can be rigged on a Texas-rig, I like to employ several different styles until the bass clue me in on what they prefer that day, my top choices include a Zoom Super Hog or Z-Craw. Using a specifically designed flippin hook aids in the hook up and landing of bass when making those short flips or pitches, the Lazer TroKar TK130 in 4/0 gets tied on the majority of the time for me.
#2 MID-DEPTH WEEDLINES AND FLATS
Some bass will transition back to their offshore haunts and hold out there for the rest of the summer months, but some bass will cruise mid-depth weedlines and flats feeding on panfish and small baitfish. A great way to target these bass is with a swim jig or medium diving crankbait, like the Rapala DT-6 or DT-10. Both allow you to locate and catch numerous bass are actively feeding.
What is great about swimming a jig is you can alter your retrieval and speed depending on the structure and activity level of the bass you are targeting. For me a ¼- or 3/8-ounce swim jig gets rigged up and the number of trailer options is countless; hence again why it is such a versatile presentation.
The three trailers that I’ll use include a Zoom UV Speed Craw, Swimmin Super Fluke Jr or Z-Craw Jr. With each of these trailer options, comes a different lure profile that can be fished differently and mimics something different in the water to the bass.
#3 VEGETATION ON HARD BOTTOM
As the bass fully locked themselves onto a weedline, a great presentation is a jig worm. This presentation puts the effective soft stick bait or plastic worm on a jig head, which allows it to sink quicker. The technique allows an open hook; so you have the ability to pop the bait out of the weeds and generate a reaction strike.
The key to these areas is to find where the vegetation and the hard bottom areas meet. To locate these areas, I’ll idle along the weedline or point and keep a keen eye on my Humminbird HELIX units with MEGA Imaging.
Depending on the water clarity and the density of the weeds you are in, you can fish this bait on two different setups. The first being a casting rod/reel combo with 15-pound Seaguar TATSU or my preferred method, which is on a Witch Doctor Tackle Shaman Spinning Rod with a Wright & McGill Reel with 20 or 30-pound Seaguar Smackdown braid as a main line, connected to a 8 or 10-pound Seaguar InvizX Fluorocarbon leader.
The key is having the ability to pop the bait free from the weeds and then keep a bass from burying in the weeds once hooked. I like to use a 1/8-ounce War Eagle Jig Head Worm with a Zoom Fluke Stick or Fluke Jr.
With summer finally here, be sure to take every advantage you can to hit up your favorite lake and put these three techniques to use, you’ll be glad you did!
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