Deep vs. Shallow in the Summer

[ttb31183]

Yesterday I made it out to a local lake north of Spokane and caught fish many different ways. I was able to catch some in less than 2 feet of water and also as deep as 35ft on a Neko rig. This made me think about the best way to catch big ones during the summer. What do you think is the best approach?

I know some fish will stay shallow long after the spawn and would really never leave as long as they have some food present. This was evident with the bass shown below that I caught near lily pads where bluegill were swimming all over. I fished a bluegill colored swimbait in two feet of water and caught this one burning it along the pad lines.



Out deeper, I targeted deep docks that ended in 30 feet of water with a Neko rig. Again, I saw tons of activity on the screen of my Lowrance that looked like baitfish. I also had a bunch of "peck,peck,peck" type bites that felt like perch or bluegill. So it made sense for the bass to be out deep.



I guess it comes down to your preference and whether or not you like to fish shallow. I like doing both, so for me, it just comes down to what is getting the most bites at the time.

[WRB]

Dee Thomas will tell you shallow bass are biting bass and proved it!
The late Dick Trask won lots summer bass tournaments targeting deep structure bass.
Both anglers are right and both anglers tuned their fishing skills to catch bass during the dog days of summer.
Dissolved oxygen levels are important to the shallow hot water angler and the thermocline is important to the deep structure anglers. Understanding basic bass behavior is the key to being consistantly successful, shallow or deep.
Tom

[Larry Hemphill]

In a typical lake with a typical summer, the water is usually fairly clear except on a Monday after weekend boating activity. If you can fish on a cloudy day, the rewards can be amazing. One of my home lakes is Oroville, in Northern Calif. This has happened more than once, but we had a totally cloudy day, and the bite was off the charts - even topwater mid-day! I have had this experience with clients and when fun fishing several times. I am not talking about summer fog - that often has the opposite effect since it is moist, cold air.