If you were having doubts about the arrival of summer, the recent hot weather should have convinced you otherwise. Hot weather impacts both the fish and the angler but I would surmise it impacts the angler more than the fish.

While fishing during last week’s hot conditions, I witnessed very few anglers on the water. If those missing anglers thought the fish would not bite under those conditions, they were wrong.

One of my best days on the water this year occurred last Thursday. The day was extremely hot but a slight breeze helped my body endure and the fish were very cooperative. The best angling occurred between 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. when the largemouth bass went on a feeding binge.

Anglers often think they have to fish in very deep water to catch summertime fish and unfortunately they do not want to extend the effort required to catch fish in hot conditions. The fish I caught last Thursday on Lake Sinclair were in water 6-14 feet and were relatively easy to catch without much effort.

The fish bit from early morning until late afternoon but the best fishing occurred during that 2 1/2 hour period mentioned above. I used two techniques to catch those fish and those two techniques will catch fish all summer on Lake Sinclair and Lake Oconee. The two best summer lures in my estimation are crankbaits and a Caroline rig.

I did catch a few fish on jigging spoons but even those fish were in 12-14 foot of water. With water temperatures now approaching 85 degrees and air temperatures in the upper 90s, an angler has about three options. Anglers can fish at night and that certainly can be productive during hot weather. Angling results can be good at night and anglers can avoid the hot daytime temperatures.

Another option is to fish early and late in the day and attempt to avoid those hot mid day temperatures but often the angling results can be the best in the middle of the day as it was for me last week. I have just about stopped fishing at night due to safety reasons and as I have gotten older it seems like it takes more time to recover from a night on the water.

I have never been able to adhere to the idea of fishing early and late in the day. I do that sometime but when I get on the water, I have a hard time quitting if the sun is still shinning. Just ask my wife. I just find it to be to challenging to quit while there is still some daylight left.

The last option is to fish during the entire daylight hours. Just bring along a lot of water, a good hat and some sunscreen and you might be surprised at the results. Summertime is my favorite time (except for maybe during a few days in August) to fish for largemouth bass.

Over the next several weeks I will look at some of the techniques and lures that will allow anglers to catch summertime largemouth bass and some of the other fish species. There are other lures and techniques that can be used by anglers to catch those fish other than using crankbaits and Carolina rigged plastics which are just my favorite lures to use.

I will also discuss the importance of water current in the lakes. Water current is simply the most important ingredient in successful summertime fishing on Lake Sinclair and Oconee and we will look at that subject in depth. I will just mention that last week’s great catch occurred when noticeable water current was present.

Most anglers think of deep water when someone mentions summertime angling. To me deep water is anything over twenty-five foot deep and at times the largemouth bass can be caught in water deeper than twenty-five foot. However, most of the time feeding largemouth bass on Lake Sinclair and Lake Oconee will be in water much shallower than twenty-five feet even in the height of summer.

Neither Lake Sinclair nor Lake Oconee has a thermocline and I will also discuss that subject in the coming weeks and how that impacts fishing. The lack of a thermocline, the presence or absence of adequate oxygen in the water and the presence or absence of water current will determine where the summertime largemouth bass will be located and may determine whether or not the fish will bite.

Those factors will also impact other species of fish in the lake so they are important to all fish in the lake. Even though I have specifically addressed largemouth bass, anglers can catch other fish species like catfish, crappie and striped/hybrid/white bass during the summer and we will look at techniques to catch those fish species also.

Summertime is a great time to be on the water. I know it can be miserably hot at times but a little cold water and a good fish bite can help offset the hot weather. I have grandchildren coming this week so you can bet I will be on the water. Good fishing and see you next week.