By Ronnie Parris
Hey folks I hope you’re all doing well and cooing with the heat. This can be a stressful time of year especially if you’re wanting to get on the lake a catch a good mess of fish. The fish you were catching just weeks ago have abandoned the shallow hiding spots and all your well placed casts are coming back empty.
The key to success now depends on 2 things first finding the thermocline and second finding sections of the lake with the highest concentration of bait. Finding the thermocline is easy just up the sensitivity on your fish finder till you see the staticky band of water on the screen. On my Lowrance, it’s a staticky blue band, and right now it’s 35 to 50 ft deep depending on the lake and the weather. This is gonna be the band of water with the most oxygen and best temperature for the fish you’re after.
The next thing is your gonna have to find the bait fish. This can take some time watching your fish finder and knowing what you’re seeing is priceless but also watching the surface for breaking fish or pods of minnows as well as watching for birds or other wildlife that feed on these minnows is a clue. If you come to an area and see kingfishers or otters or eagles and ospreys, it’s a good bet you’re in the right spot Also think back to previous years and likely you have found bait and fish in the same areas in the past. Match the hatch so to speak if you’re seeing threadfin shad and they are an inch long, don’t fish a 5 inch bait. It’s a lot easier to get a bite when you’re using what they are eating now.
Another good tip is to fish early or late midday may be easier on you and your sleeping pattern but the fish usually aren’t active midday unless you have a front moving in This is a great time of year for trolling with downriggers hitting fish suspended in that thermocline and it’s also a great time to take family and kids out on the water to build memories that will last a lifetime.
So, get out of that bed early load up the ones you love a go have some fun enjoying what god has given us an as always take a kid fishing.