LAKE OCONEE — About the only thing I like about dog days is that my birthday occurs right in the middle of that awful period of weather, and even that does not excite me now that I have gotten older. I had just as soon skip a few of those birthdays now, if you know what I mean.

My first recollection of dog days came when I was picking cotton as a young boy on my granddaddy’s farm in Alabama.

We started picking cotton around the first of August, and I well remember the hot and dry days I spent in the cotton fields. Granddaddy always commented about how his hound dog named Sport would act when dog days arrived. He would lie around under the house and only come out to eat. Sport was granddaddy’s barometer for determing when dog days came and went.

So for many years, I assumed that you could determine when dog days were coming on by just watching some old dog. I really thought it had something to do with canines. But later I would learn that the dog days were actually named after the star Sirius.

I never got a chance to share the truth about dog days with granddaddy before he passed away. I am not sure he would have believed me anyway.

Sirius is the brightest star in the Canis Major constellation, and that constellation looks like a big dog to the naked eye. So now you know the real dog connection to dog days. The star is brightest during the July-September period when generally the hottest, muggiest weather of the summer occurs.

In ancient days people thought that when the star Sirius was closest to the sun the two combined their heat, and this created the hottest days of the summer.    

Even now, some of the older folks still think that dog days have something to do with canines. But most everybody else now agrees that dog days don’t really have anything to do with canines, but everyone does tend to agree that the period called dog days is a most awful time of year.

Dog days are a period between early July and early September when the most humid and sultry hot weather occurs in the Northern Hemisphere. This period also ushers in a period of stagnation and inactivity for humans, plants, animals and yes, fish.

Thie weather phenomenon impacts fish and anglers alike. Few anglers will try their luck during this period because they know the fishing generally is not real good. Who wants to sit in a boat through a day of hot humid weather when the fish do not seem to be biting? Water temperatures have been in the low 90s for the last few weeks and the fish are not biting or biting real slow at best.

For the last few weeks I have shared my thoughts about late summer fishing on lakes Oconee and Sinclair and why high water temperature with low oxygen content makes conditions tough for the fish even to the point of survival.

 I had to modify my reasoning about fishing on Lake Sinclair and Lake Oconee during the period of mid-July until about mid-September. For many years I thought that most fish like largemouth bass and crappie would head for deeper water during that period to avoid the hot water temperatures and intense sunlight. That is what the fish do on lakes that stratify.

The fact is that neither Lake Oconee nor Sinclair stratifies (different layers of water with different temperatures and oxygen levels) make the fishing very tough because the fish can be pretty much located anywhere in the lakes. Wherever the fish go in the lake, they are somewhat stressed due to the high water temperatures and low oxygenated water.

So then the logical question is what do the fish do during this period?

Well first and foremost they eat, and they eat often. Due to their increased metabolism they have to eat more during the summer. However, that does not necessarily equate to more pulls on the end of your line.

This can make fishing very frustrating for anglers during the dog days period each year. Anglers have to be adaptive, anglers have to try several lures and techniques, anglers have to try many locations and anglers have to watch the water for clues. In summary, summer fishing during the height of dog days can be very tough, and boy has it been tough this year.

But better angling days are ahead. Just watch what happens once the water temperature drops a few degrees in late September. The baitfish will move in mass to shallower water in large schools and the largemouth bass, hybrid bass, striped bass, catfish and crappie will tag right alone.

But if you can’t wait for cooler weather, just remember that the fish will bite even during dog days if you can manage to locate them around schools of baitfish. Good fishing and see you next week.

Outdoor Columnist Bobby Peoples can be contacted via e-mail at brpeoples@windstream.net.