During the summer months, anglers can find bass just about anywhere. A large population of them stay shallow, while plenty of them also go deep and relate to offshore structure far away from the bank. Then, you have a population in the mid-depth range, some transitioning between both shallow and deep.
Major League Fishing pro Randall Tharp keeps them all honest, fishing throughout the water column to effectively target summer bass. But, some of his approaches remain the same no matter what depth he is targeting during the summer.
Shallow Cranking
One of Tharp’s favorite ways to target shallow summertime bass is with a crankbait. A favorite of his this time of year, and really all seasons, is the Rapala BX Brat square bill crankbait. When the water is warm, he looks for shade, current, or both.
“The water temperatures are the warmest they will be all year, so I look for cooler temperatures,” he said. “That could be running up rivers or looking for a bunch of shade. The cooler temps and active fish can make for some great shallow fishing this time of year.”
Like he does all season with crankbaits, he deflects into anything he can.
“Whether it is a squarebill like the Brat or a deep-diver, the deflection is what gets bit,” he said. “I want that pausing, erratic action, so I’m looking for rock banks and wood and places I can do that. Another key is varying your retrieve.”
He likes the Brat series of crankbaits since it features a balsa body inside the plastic outer shell.
“I helped to design this bait and gave them the idea since I’ve always loved the action of balsa crankbaits and how well they deflect off of cover,” he said. “They already had the idea to encapsulate the balsa bait in plastic with other baits and then they added it for the squarebill. It has the right buoyancy but is still durable, the best of both worlds.”
Going Deeper
As Tharp leaves the shallows, he keeps the same principles in mind and looks for current and places with cooler water temperatures.
“Even out in 30-feet of water, the current is huge this time of year,” he said. “A lot of things make current from rivers to wind, but the main thing is to find some moving water when the water is so warm. It gives the fish more oxygen and makes their life easier since it brings food right to them.”
Tharp keeps the same principles in mind when faced with a situation with no current such as flat calm days or on impoundments without rivers.
“If no moving water is present, I still use a crankbait this time of year and focus more on varying my retrieve speeds to trigger bites,” he added. “I’ll also look for good offshore structure like points and try to target isolate cover on those points. It could be single rocks or laydowns or something that will keep bass there.”
Once he gets away from the “squarebill zone” and gets deeper than five or six feet of water, he opts for the Rapala DT family of crankbaits.
“Once I get deeper than that, it is all DT for me,” he said. “The whole DT series indicates ‘dives to’ and really makes it dummy-proof. From the DT-4 to the DT-20, I have it all covered and can get the DT-20 even deeper than twenty feet deep on a long cast with light line.”
When fishing a specific depth, Tharp goes a little deeper for his crankbait to ensure that he reaches the bottom, plus some.
“If it is ten feet of water, I’ll go with the DT-14, and so on,” said Tharp. “I want to stay with a constant contact with the bottom and go a little deeper to make sure it stays there.”
All-Time Fave
Of all of the baits in this lineup, the Rapala DT-6 is top on his list.
“That’s probably my favorite all-time crankbait,” he said. “If I need a bite, no matter where I am or what time of year it is, I’ll tie one on. The whole series is great, though and run true at whatever retrieve speed you use; they don’t blow out and do donuts on you like some crankbaits.”
Tharp is a big fan of cranking in the summer months because it can lead to some fast action once you locate the fish.
“This time of year is so much fun because the fish stack up and you can catch them quickly,” he said. “It can be non-stop action when you find those breaks and pieces of cover with current present. It's tons of fun this time of year once you find them.”
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