Brent Chapman

Most anglers dread the heat of summer, when fishing for Bass can often get to be a grind. Rather than chunking and winding, covering ground quickly as anglers do in the spring, summer often requires a more methodical approach. Slowing down your lure retrieve and saturating the area with casts will help put fish in the boat when a run and gun tactic falters.

Kansas Bass angler, Brent Chapman is quite familiar with the heat of summer. Growing up in the heartland, where summer temperatures hover close to the century mark and water temps reach the nineties, Brent had to learn how to deal with heat. Of course, like many pros he rates soft plastic lures as one of his best choices for catching both numbers and quality of fish.

Chapman was one of the first pros to utilize the Tightlines Ultimate Vision line of soft plastic lures. He explained that these baits might look the same to most anglers, but they have an ultra violet coating that makes them look more natural to a fish. The UV coating is visible to humans when placed under a black light. Apparently, all living creatures have some UV tint to them and since the Tightlines products duplicate this, they garner more bites! This is especially helpful when fishing for seemingly non aggressive summer Bass.

During summer months, Chapman keeps it simple. He always has at least two rods rigged with Tightlines UV baits, commonly a UV Beaver for shallow flipping as well as a ten inch UV Power Worm for the deeper stuff. Conditions vary from day to day and even lake to lake causing fish to move deep or shallow. Heck Chapman even finds Bass in both shallow and deep haunts in the same area. Often the only way to determine which fish will bite best is to get out there and make some casts.

“I like to fish shallow, so that’s where I usually start,” quipped Chapman. I have seen this pro push pole his boat into the nastiest, thickest junk imaginable just to get a bite or two. “Summer heat forces Bass back into those ambush points,” he explained. Thus, it takes a snag free, slow moving big target to entice them. Situations like that call for a big, bulky bait like the Beaver. Chapman rigs it with the heaviest line he can get away with in the conditions. He’ll often flip the Beaver repeatedly to the same piece of cover altering the angle just slightly, in hopes of enticing that big old Bass.

Should his shallow water fail him, Brent then heads out toward deeper water. Changing terrain often calls for changing lures. Thus, when he is casting toward more open areas this pro chooses a big ribbon tail worm. “The worm produces a lot of action and gives the fish a nice slow, visual target to ambush,” stated the Kansan. Long casts to ledges, drops or points allow the worm to be slowly crawled along the bottom staying in the strike zone longer than fast moving baits. Big worms can also be deadly when fished in and among big timber. The key here is to allow the worm to fall down the side of trees likely harboring Bass. Watching the line for slight movement is critical. Should the worm stop before it should have hit bottom, set the hook. Chapman states that once a couple Bass have been caught, it’s often a great way to determine the depth at which these fish are holding. “If you catch a couple and they were both at say six or seven foot deep (over fifteen foot water); then all you have to do is fish similar places and you’ll probably get bit” lamented Brent. Oxygen levels may be optimum at certain depths, thus a greater percentage of fish may chose that depth range to stay at. Counting down your big worm and fishing it through standing timber is an excellent method to boat lots of summer bass and also some BIG BASS as well.

Dustin Wilks
Photo credit bassmaster.com

“Typically, I seem to find that late summer Bass move out of the deeper stuff and into the shallower cover more consistently, “states Carolina pro Dustin Wilks. “It seems like I do better flipping shallow cover in the river current when I can find that,” he added. Like anything else, there are always several approaches that can yield a nice sack of fish and Wilks is onto one here. He will usually pick apart the moving water in the upper ends of a lake. Here he scans for anything that might create a current break. Objects like stumps, docks, wing dams or big rocks. Heck, even old sunken boats or cars can hide a Bass or two.

“I really like to flip a new worm that Culprit created. It’s called the Fat Max and it has a thicker body and tail than most worms,” explained Dustin. He will flip the Fat Max in and around these objects keying on the upstream side which is where the fish will normally be facing. The big worm displaces a lot of water and creates enough turbulence that fish can feel and find it even in the dingiest water. Repeated flips to the same target are often needed to entice strikes. Again, the bite may be quite subtle, so it’s critical to watch the line and have both hands on the rod to detect the lightest tick. Should the worm stop moving, Wilks advises to jerk!

“Another great place to find summer Bass is in aquatic vegetation,” instructs Dustin. Weed mats, grass beds and lily pads fields can be home to dozens of Bass. Although they may have lots of fish; these areas are not the easiest places to fish. Wilks doesn’t enter these locations without serious tackle. Heavy flipping rods and reels spooled with braided line are standard equipment. This is close quarters battle and the lure Dustin chooses most often is another Culprit product, the Creature Craw. A sort of plastic crawfish on steroids is how best to describe this lure. Culprit has enlargened the claws to really displace a lot of water and attract even lethargic Bass to bite. Wilks pairs the Creature craw with a very heavy weight in the one ounce or heavier class and a stout flipping hook. The heavy weight is needed to punch a hole in this junk for the lure to slide through. Dustin advises that strikes can be pretty violent at times.

Once the fish is hooked, the battle begins. Even a one pounder can be tough to actually boat, especially since the fish may acquire several additional pounds of weight in the form of vegetation during the battle. It’s obvious this is a great use for braided line!

One scenario that I have found to be overlooked in summer is the top water bite. Sure it doesn’t always exist and it may not be the best or most consistent method of catching Bass on that lake, but it can be the most rewarding! The same areas that Brent and Dustin chose to flip can be ideal locations to toss top water. One of the most unique baits on the market is the Topwater Shad from Culprit. A nearly snagless design makes this the premier surface bait for thick cover.

When long casts won’t work simply flip or pitch into the nasty junk and twitch it back to the boat. It works equally well on or above vegetation or near docks. Since the Topwater Shad has a permanent Texas rigged hook (with two points) it can easily be skipped under docks where fish have never encountered a topwater lure! Although low light is typically best, occasionally there is a great top water bite during midday hours, so keep this in mind!

All of these methods are excellent ways to catch Bass in the heat of the summer. Remember that there is no hard and fast rule for catching Bass. What works one day may not the next. Employ Brent and Dustin’s tricks next time you hit the water. Chances are they will likely pay off for you as well!