By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Summer fishing
fishing.png

If approached differently, fishing during the months of June and July, can be some of the most enjoyable times of the year to fish. The first thing that comes to my mind when someone talks about fishing in the summer is the heat. When I was younger, I wouldn’t care how hot it was, I would fish the whole day. Fishing in the heat isn’t the smartest idea, and rarely does it ever pay off. Usually during the heat of the day, the fish seek cooler places, and many anglers will agree with me that the bite for the most part shuts down. Rarely during the summer do I fish past noon. During the summer, I’m usually one of the first ones on the water and I’m usually heading home right before all the groups of pleasure boaters arrive. 

If I want to fish the evening, I usually leave my house between 4 p.m. and 5p.m. and get off the water around 10 p.m. Once again, I’m avoiding the crowds. All of those that were on the water during the day will already been home, by the time I start heading home. My summer fishing schedule has been great, it puts me on the water while the fish are biting and keeps me home when they’re not. 

The Lakes

Pic-1.png
Just about all species of fish can be caught during the summer in our local lakes. If you’re just looking to catch a fish. There are many bluegills and smaller baitfish to be caught around docks, brush piles or any other type of cover/structure. It’s tough beating a simple redworm fished under a small bobber for bluegill. For bass, they usually are up shallow during the morning and head deeper during the day. During the morning I’d be throwing some type of topwater bait until the bite stops. After the topwater bite dies down, I usually tie on a Frenzy Baits Nail with a Roboworm on it and move off the bank. I’m usually looking for areas that are off the bank that are in deeper cooler water. By this time of day, there usually is a lot of boat traffic, making fishing offshore a good choice. Things that I look for offshore is underwater island tops, rock piles and bait. Summertime fishing on our lakes is also a great time to target Kokanee. Kokanee are plentiful in most of lakes and are easy to catch when they’re schooling up. The key to catching them is being on the water early and knowing how to find the schools. Once finding the schools there are a variety of Kokanee lures that can be trolled for them. Kokanee are very scent driven, so it’s important to scent your baits, and prefer a slow-moving bait. Anglers often troll at .5mph.  

The Delta

Pic-2.png
Summertime on the Delta can be brutal. When temperatures top 100 degrees, combined with a low tide, I’m ready to go home. But once the tide turns and the temperatures start dropping, it’s time to start fishing. Like the lakes, if you’re not fishing a topwater lure during the morning or evening hours, you’re missing out. Unlike the lakes, on the delta the bass don’t really have a deep-water option during the day, so they seek the next best thing, current and shade. Both of those things provide food, cooler water, shade and oxygenated water. Summer is not the time to fish dead end sloughs, or areas that are void of current. As the water temperatures rise, bass feed more. For numbers of bass, a rattle trap in a shad pattern is a good choice. For bigger fish, it’s tough beating a Whopper Plopper or a Snagproof Frog. Once the sun is high and the topwater bite has died down, many anglers prefer to flip the grass. Areas where you may have missed a fish or two on a topwater lure in the morning are good areas to go back to and flip. Depending on how thick the grass is, you may have to go to heavier weights to penetrate the grass. There are many creature baits out there that you can use. Some of my favorites are Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver or a Yamamoto Sanshouo.