By Scott Norton
S ummertime heat is warming the waters, and bass are splitting up into two groups. One group stays shallow and the other goes deep. No one knows why this happens. The group that stays shallow will be in the shade line because bass do not have eyelids. The other group goes deep to also hide from sun exposure in drop offs and in the color line. You will hear that bass go on a journey back to the main lake and that does happen to some fish but not all. There are lots of attractive places where there is a current or some nice vegetation to hang around on.
If you want to target this shallow bass look for docks, lay-downs, Lilly pads, and grass. The deep bass will find structure or suspend deep enough to where the sun penetrate at that depth. This is the only thing to give bass a personality.
Now is the time to catch them with any bait because their metabolisms are at their peak. The problem with this is that the smaller bass are faster and nimbler than the larger sized bass. You will have to deal with catching smaller ones with seldom catches of the larger size. The anglers offset this by using big baits. Now you are targeting just larger bass. Remember to go with natural colors in clear water and brighter colors the dirtier the water is.
You can also use nature to tell you where signs of life are like birds on the banks trying to eat fish. The comeback of the bald eagle is another way to track life in the deeper water. Vegetation is one of those as well. Learn to be aware of your surroundings and things start to make sense.
The further of time from the spawn you will notice the fishing pressure starts shutting things down. One of the best ways to catch bass is at night on a full moon. Fish at this point will start to pattern the angler and will go nocturnal. This is the element of surprise by changing your pattern. They do get smarter so you will need to try different game plans. Some anglers will try using baits bass have never seen to trigger a feed response.
The shad and bluegill spawn is something to look forward too. Knowing that this is happening can get you the catches of your life. Once they key in on this forage the bass will lay out if you imitate what they are feeding on. Bass will school up and push these fish up shallow. This makes it easy for them to take turns feeding. This a great time to fish. Enjoy.