Tackle.net Logo

Q&A AI

What areas of a lake are best to target with swimbaits in summer?

Absolutely, targeting the right areas with swimbaits during the summer months can make a huge difference in your bass fishing success. Based on the video context provided, here are some key areas to focus on:

  1. Deep Water Structures: As mentioned in multiple videos, bass often move to deeper water during the summer. Look for structures such as humps, ridges, ledges, drop-offs, and creek channels. These areas provide the cooler, oxygen-rich environments that bass seek out in the heat.

  2. Main Lake Points: Early in the morning, bass might be found on main lake points, docks, and pockets close to deep water. These areas are prime spots for bass that are feeding before the sun gets too high.

  3. Vegetation: If your lake has a lot of vegetation like hydrilla, milfoil, coontail, or lily pads, these can be excellent spots. The vegetation provides shade, oxygen, and cover, attracting both baitfish and bass. You can use swimbaits to mimic the baitfish that bass are hunting in these areas.

  4. Marinas and Floating Structures: In lakes with clear water and limited offshore structure, marinas, houseboats, and floating campsites can be hotspots. These structures provide shade and attract baitfish, making them ideal places to target with swimbaits.

  5. Schooling Areas: During the summer, bass often school up and chase shad or other baitfish. Using electronics to locate these schools in deeper water (around the 20-foot range) can be very effective. Once you find a school, a compact, heavy-weight swimbait can trigger reaction bites.

Techniques and Gear:

  • Swimbait Size and Rigging: A 3.3 to 5-inch paddle tail swimbait rigged on a jig head (3/8 to 3/4 ounce) is recommended. The heavier jig head helps in achieving a reaction bite and allows for both slow and fast retrieves, depending on the fish's activity level.
  • Retrieve Speed: Adjust your retrieve speed based on the fish's behavior. A slow roll can be effective in deeper water, while a faster retrieve might work better if the fish are more active or near the surface.
  • Line and Rod Setup: Use a medium-heavy rod with a suitable line strength (10-16 pound fluorocarbon) depending on the cover and structure you're fishing around. A high gear ratio reel can help in quickly adjusting your retrieve speed.

By focusing on these areas and using the right techniques, you'll increase your chances of catching bass with swimbaits during the summer months. If you have any more specific questions or need further clarification, feel free to ask!

Related videos
Transcript
17:17
20:17
Video
Where Do Bass Go During Summer? (And How To Catch Them) by TacticalBassin on what you want or what you're fishing but some kind of of four and a half to five inch swim bait rigged on a swim bait head is money you know these fish are actively feeding they're they're schooled up they're chasing bait they're trying to trying to eat right and they are machines so some kind another blow up getting distracted some kind of swim bait now all of these techniques that i'm talking about here in the near near future matt and i will do completely in-depth uh videos on the swim baits the crank baits the square bills the deep cranks the swing the pivot point football heads all of it we'll do in-depth videos but just wanted to get you guys kind of a a video kind of thinking about summertime out here we're kind of in that transition but get get yourself thinking about summertime get the baits ahead of time the gear you're gonna need because it is coming so deep bait kind of kind of going off track here um if i'm gonna slow down and finesse fish i i keep it fairly simple like i said before these fish are all about grass but more importantly they're all about cover so if you're fishing a highland reservoir or a lowland reservoir that has semi-clear water there's not a lot of offshore structure look at your marinas your houseboats your floating campsites that sort of stuff
Transcript
07:08
09:42
Video
Bass Fishing in Extreme Summer Heat! (Best Baits & Locations) by LakeForkGuy throw that at all depths and kind of hit that same thing with the swim bait really I've got a deep diving jig head in here I've got a three quarter ounce right now but you know a swim bait like this you can you can slow roll it deep you can cast it out if they're kind of busting near the surface and just reel it this is typically for a little better water Clarity but these are some moving bait options that I like to have tied on the spinner bait can be good but I like that more like early morning or if there's a Shad spawn happening or if I'm gotta fish that around some cover some brush and things like that then then I'll pick up this better bait but typically this time of year fish are more out in those deeper spots more open water and these selections right here are pretty good for your moving baits but there's a million moving baits and there's a thousand different ways you can catch fish so this is just my personal preferences on things for most of the Lakes I fish the other thing you must have must have in your selections is some sort of soft plastic dragger baby you gotta have something to crawl around down there with your Plastics whether that be a Shaky Head on a spinning setup or a big worm setup like I have here
Transcript
01:07
02:13
Video
Summer Bass Fishing Tips | Bass Fishing by Bass Fishing Tips & Techniques by BassResource Now where do I target, I target deep water. In the springtime I talked about fishing shallow 12 foot or less. In the summertime I'll do shallow stuff in the mornings and then move straight out to the deep stuff. Because in the morning time those fish will again will be up this main lake points, up on docks and pockets but towards on the main lake. Those fish wanna be relating close to that deep water or those river channels that are in the lake. Some of the baits I like to throw in the morning again a buzz bait, I use it in the spring I also use in the summer. Your first hour or so in the morning in the summer time a bass bait can be deadly. A walking bait again is very awesome. Those are the type baits that you wanna fish in the summertime. Then once the sun gets up water temperature starts to rise I like to go a little bit deeper. And what I like to do with that is go with the shaky head like we have here and get out a little bit deeper with the shaky head or even a big football jig like you have here. A big football jig works great. And another thing deep diving crankbaits, deep diving crankbaits in the summer is way to catch a lot of fish. Because those fish will get out there in that open water and they will school up.
Transcript
00:00
02:31
Video
Swimbaits For Summer Bass Fishing | Bass Fishing by Bass Fishing Tips & Techniques by BassResource At the summertime, I'm using that kind of paddle tail bait. Do you know why? It's they go in deep water, and chasing shad a lot. Also, they are make a schooling especially summertime. So, before fishing deep water, we gotta using the electronics, to found the school. That's most important. Then you gotta choose a little bit compact, small heavyweight swimbait I'm using. I'm using the 3/8 jighead right here with Keitech single impact 3.3. It's a little bit smaller, but they are looking for the little bitty shad. They sometime eating big shad, but I recommend to the 3.3 because it's easy to eat for them. So, that's why I'm using the little bitty swimbait with the tiny, tiny 3/8th jig head. But basically, in the summertime the fish going, it's pretty close to the 20-foot range, so it's okay the quarter ounce, but it take a time... Also, I want to make a kind of reaction bite. So, the heavy-weight jig head make a reaction bite, and make a slow retrieve, and sometimes faster retrieve, and it depends on where the fish are. Then also I'm using the Shimano Zodias 7'2" medium heavy and 14-pound Fluorocarbon Line. But the line, it depends on where you fishing. If you fishing close to the timber, I recommend the 16, yeah, 14, 16. Then if we don't have anything around your fish, I chose the 10, 12-pound fishing line for the baitcasting reel. Then I'm using the Shimano Metanium HG, which is a little high gear ratio.
Transcript
05:49
07:24
Video
Summer Paddletail Swimbaits…Size/Rigging/Technique Secrets by Intuitive Angling With Randy Blaukat go here um here's my the three that i use the five inch the four inch and the three inch spark chad whatever swim bait that you prefer to use swim baits the one the reasons that they're so productive in the summertime is they're very subtle a lot of people out there in the summer time they're fishing big deep diving crank baits they're fishing those big giant flutter spoons they're bombing a three-quarter ounce football head jig or a 10-inch worm out there they telegraph itself but you can come back through those areas with a real silent diminutive approach on a swim bait and just mop up any fish that are left there so don't miss out on the guys a lot of people think swim baits are pre-spawn winter time deals but they catch fish 12 months out of the year so hope that helps you catch a few more this summer and we'll check in with you guys later
Transcript
01:17
02:39
Video
Summer Bass Fishing Techniques and Tips | Bass Fishing by Bass Fishing Tips & Techniques by BassResource So let's start off with, with the shallow fish. What I like to do is, is I like to find lakes that have a lot of vegetation in them. If there's a lot of hydrilla, a lot of milfoil, coontail, lily pads, any kind of like this got a lot of vegetation like that. Those weeds create a lot of oxygen, a lot of shade, lot of shelter and lot of cover. Bait fish naturally go in there, and insects also feed and live in there. That's naturally gonna attract the bass. So those are areas to hit if your lake has a lot of weeds and stuff, focus on those areas during the summertime, you'd be really surprised how many fish are in there. It just depends on the kind of weeds you have, whether you can hit it with, you know, you get a go punching with jigs and punch through that matted vegetation or if it's just under the surface, you might be able to bring a spinnerbait over the top of them or shallow diving crankbait, something like that. But that's the areas I would target if that's the majority of the cover available on the lake. Now if your lake doesn't have a lot of vegetation, older reservoirs sometimes don't have that. Now you got to focus more on structure. And what I mean by structure, that's any kind of contour change on the bottom. You're looking for humps, ridges, ledges, drop-offs, creek channels, long tapering points, things like that is what you want to look for, for structure.

More Swimbait Answers

Loading...
© 2024 Tackle.net