Summer fishing on area reservoirs and any reservoir in the south can be tough during the hot weather. Hot weather has arrived, and we can expect the hot weather to get even worse as the summer progresses. However, if you target largemouth bass during the summer you can have success by choosing certain lures, by understanding water conditions like current and temperature and by understanding the importance of the shad baitfish.

Lake Oconee and Lake Sinclair do not have much if any thermocline so basically we have a situation where the water temperature in these lakes is about the same from top to bottom. That is due to the daily mixing of the water by the pump-back operation at the Wallace Dam.

With no thermocline it can make for tough fishing, but one thing remains and that is the location of the baitfish. The largemouth bass feed on shad all summer and especially when current is present caused by the pushing and pulling of the water between the two lakes.

The presence of current makes baitfish more active and moves the baitfish to locations like humps, ledges, points and flats near creek or river channels. It does not seem to matter which way the current is flowing between the two lakes just so the water is moving.

Summer fishing can be tough, and many anglers will resort to fishing early and late in the day or they opt to fish strictly at night or they just quit fishing all together. Some can’t take the summer heat and others consider the fishing to be just too slow during the middle part of the day.

When I am asked about what time of day I catch most of my fish during the summer, my answer is I almost always I catch fish throughout the entire day. On some summer days, the best fishing can be at high noon during the most unpleasant and hot conditions of the day. The fish are not aware that you are about to succumb to the heat.

They will and can feed at just about anytime of the day. Factors that impact the timing of the largemouth bass bite are clouds or sun, feeding times based on moon phases, wind, rain and most of all the presence of water current that I mentioned earlier.

Studies indicate that largemouth bass and most game fish feed more during the summer months and that their feeding can occur at anytime of the day. The fish use up more energy during the hot weather and need to eat more. However, as the summer progresses and if the water lacks sufficient oxygen, the fish can become stressed and may in fact eat and move less.

I think what scares anglers away from summertime fishing is the thought that the fish just will not bite when it is hot. If you can get past the personal discomfort of the heat with a wide brim hat, a pair of sunglasses and some cold drinks, you can catch summer largemouth bass even on the hottest days.

Secondly some anglers think they cannot locate the fish because all they hear is that anglers have to fish in deep water to catch summer fish and deep water fishing is just too difficult. True the largemouth bass are not usually found in the same easy to fish locations that provided you with success in the spring and early summer. Also true is that a large number of the fish have moved away from the shoreline to deeper water. One exception is in the early morning hours before the sun is out the largemouth bass can be caught shallow. Good rule in summer is to spend a little time in shallow water and then move to deeper locations.

In Lake Sinclair and Lake Oconee, deepwater fishing during the summer may only mean 8 to 30 feet of water. I seldom catch fish deeper than 22 feet in either reservoir. If you fish out of a 20 foot boat, the length of your boat is about as deep as most summer largemouth bass will go in these two reservoirs. Looking at the length of your boat might change how you view deep water.

The reason largemouth bass in Lake Sinclair and Lake Oconee do not go into really deep water during the summer months is the lack of dissolved oxygen in deeper water. Neither reservoir stratifies like many reservoirs so therefore there is not a thermocline that forms in the water column. Lacking a thermocline spreads the fish out in the water column but it also reduces the area in the water column where the largemouth bass can find adequate dissolved oxygen.

During the summer months on our two local reservoirs, the most dissolved oxygen is found at the surface of the reservoirs, especially if wind is present but largemouth bass will react to the sunlight by going deeper as long as there is adequate oxygen. The water temperature is not important on our two local reservoirs since the water temperature tends to become about the same throughout the water column during the summer months.

Next week I will look at some summertime lures including crankbaits, the Carolina rig and football jigs which can all produce largemouth bass even on the hottest days of summer.

Good fishing and see you next week.