A Few Summer Time Bass Tips

There is no doubt that summer time fishing can be a mystery, the bass that were seemingly every where have all of a sudden become hard to find and frustration sets in. What can you do? Where did the fish go and how can I catch them? Let me first say that there is no fool proof answer but there are some common threads that can help!Recently I had my motor on my boat checked and the mechanic told me that nearly 50% of the hours on the motor were spent idling; in this information lies the key to summer time fishing. I have spent endless hours in the last month looking for fish on my Lowrance Structure Scan. Scanning the bottom for fish grouping up on the ledges and drops and to me this is the biggest tip I can give.

The bass group up in the heat of the summer and they have some common tendencies as the water warms up; scanning the bottom looking for those common threads can be the key to good days and bad in the heat! Over the years I have developed some inner sense as to what this all looks like on my Lowrance Structure Scan and how to actually tell the difference in what bass look like on the bottom as compared to other types of fish. I wish I could actually get into detail on what this all is but it would take me days to describe every formation I see. I can tell you though that you can also learn this with enough time scanning the bottom.

The biggest key to scanning and determining the fish is formation; each species of fish seems group up in different ways. Some are solid and in big balls, others appear to be elongated on the bottom or suspending. Some appear to be loners and then some fish are in small groups directly over structure. What you see does tell you in the most part whether they are bass or not and you can determine them with some dedicated time scanning the ledges in the heat of the summer!