The sun was having its effect; the tops of my feet were beginning to turn pink. Flip-flops are a poor choice in UV protection.
As I tried to position myself so my “piggies” might find protection in my shadow, I noticed the depth reading on the sonar unit I was trying to step around: 104-feet.
Yikes! Who fishes in 104-feet of water unless they’re after giant tuna?
Believe it or not – for spotted bass – it works; I don’t enjoy doing it, but, I repeat, it works…at least it works better than any other middle-of-the-day summertime pattern I have discovered.
Most of the serious bass anglers I know have spent endless hours trying to pry lock-jawed bass out of deep brush piles once the summer sun fully clears the tree line. From 10 a.m. until about 4 p.m. we all wonder what it takes to catch the bass we know are hunkered-down in the oak tree we skillfully sank in 27-feet of water last week.
Why won’t they bite?
We only pause from our fits of anger and self-pity to turn and look at those splashes we hear out in the deepest part of the lake. You know what I’m talking about: some crazy fish, out in the middle-of-nowhere, feeding like they haven’t eaten in a week.
So we turn our momentary focus away from those annoying splashes way-out-yonder and rededicate ourselves to catching a fish out of our brush pile.
Yeah…you’ve got the picture. So did I…until a couple of years ago pure frustration/anger drove me to run out to where I was seeing and hearing those splashes; to turn off my engine and drift a while.
And guess what I learned?
Those fish included spotted bass…and they can be caught…and they are usually good-sized fish because small bass get eaten by the stripers that are in the area.
That discovery changed my midday summertime fishing tactics 180-degrees. No more trying to force fish in brush piles (fish who were determined to stop eating) to bite. Henceforth, I would float and bob where crazed fish were feasting on forage in deep, deep water; easier said than done, however.
It has been an ongoing learning process, with a lot more still to be learned. Nonetheless, here is what I am doing at present.
First, it works best during the week when boat traffic is minimal. Mainly because it is easier on the fisherman; the fish have no trouble with 3-foot boat wakes, but fishermen do. So try this on a Wednesday like I did this week.
I went to one of those places where I always see fish busting bait in deep water. On Wednesday I was at the onetime junction of the Chestatee and Chattahoochee Rivers. I started my day fishing shallow but around 9 o’clock, as the shallow bite began to disappear, I went to the spot where my GPS said the two rivers mixed…well over 100-feet deep…and shut off my engine.
I could see before going out there that fish were sporadically feeding on the surface as the sun climbed in the sky. A gentle east wind was slowly pushing my boat towards the dam. I began to blindly fan cast a Super Spook in various directions.
This is critical: have a second rod at your feet, ready to cast in an instant. Have something tied to it that you can throw a long way. Most of your bites will come on this rod, as bass surface suddenly in places other than where you have cast…so be ready to cast into the middle of them.
Between 9:30 and 11:30 I caught four solid keepers (1.5 to 2.5 pounds) and lost a huge spot near the boat. I could see that some of the feeding fish were big spots – they would come completely out of the water as they fed – but I was only able to hook one; I know that they are there.
Be patient. Keep casting because the surface activity your Super Spook or Sammy or Gun Fish creates, I believe, keeps fish located nearby in a feeding mood…and on occasion you will draw a fish to your bait as an added bonus.
Use sunscreen; wear high SPF-rated clothing; drink LOTS of water; stay patient; keep your eyes and ears open, be ready to grab that rod at your feet; keep fan casting to simulate a feeding environment. (About as many rules as executing the perfect golf shot…also no-easy accomplishment.)
It is hard work. It is hard work under a brutal sun…but right now it’s one of the best patterns going.
