Jaxson's Tips for Catching Summertime Largemouths

Do you ever have trouble catching largemouth bass in the summertime? Well, The Brothers Wild and Jaxson share some tips and tactics to use to avoid this common issue!

Right now it's summer and the fish will often retreat to cooler, deeper water in the 20-30 foot depth zone to escape the heat of the day, moving to shallower water in the early morning and evening hours to feed. The bass are VERY finicky and you're going to need to follow these important rules to not only get them to bite, but to get them to the boat!

Deep Water Largemouth Bass

First, it's critical to choose the right time to fish, given the high heat of summer! Depending on where you live, this may change somewhat, but you want to be fishing spot by dawn! Even earlier to give you time to set up and get a feel for the conditions and pick your spots.

Once I've gotten my spots lined out, I like to start out by seeing if I can entice a top water bite. My typical go to lures are a buzz bait or hollow bodied frog for shallow cover (which is usually grass), and use a top water walking bait or popper for open water.

KVD Sexy Frog, one of my favorites!

Buzzbait in a great color!

If I don't get any action fairly quickly, I'll make the switch to a Texas rigged worm or wacky rigged soft stick bait in that shallow cover, casting them in between my top water retrieves. This is a really great technique to present different styles of baits to the bass who are already very finicky!

For the top water set ups I always use braided line (30 pound for walking baits and poppers, 50 pound test for the frogs and buzzbaits) because braid floats and has zero stretch so you get exceptional hook sets!

Now after you've worked these baits through mid-morning, and the afternoon sun is getting higher in the sky, along with the temperature, the fish have gone deeper and are hunkered down under and around structure. When the bite turns off, you have to move with the fish utilizing your electronics to locate the structure and types of structure. Looking for stumps, brush piles, ledges, and schools of baitfish. Once I find something I like the look of, I always mark it on my GPS so I can return to fish it again and again.

Now, there's a long list of lures and baits that you can throw at summertime deep water largemouth bass, but here's my short list of baits that always work for me!

My #1 favorite lure to use in deep water, are deep and extra deep diving crankbaits! The Strike King 5XD and 6XD crankbaits on 10-12 pound test fluorocarbon line gets to where the fish are lurking. I use a lighter line so I can get that bait deep in order to present it correctly. It's critical to use fluorocarbon line, not mono or braid, as it sinks and really gets that lure down there.

My next deep water option, especially around structures is the Carolina Rig. This rig involves a weight, typically an egg or bullet sinker, sliding on the mainline, followed by a bead and a swivel, with a leader line and a hook on the end. I prefer a heavier 20 pound test fluorocarbon as my main line and a 2 foot 12-15 pound fluorocarbon leader. Making a really long cast, allowing it to sink to the bottom. Once there, keep your rod parallel to the water's surface and slowly drag it along the bottom. When I say slow, I mean SLOW! This is a patience pays off type of rig and don't rush that retrieve. The idea is to keep that weight on the bottom while the lure moves behind it, floating and bumping along naturally in the water column.

Carolina Rig Set Up

Football Jig

Another deep water go to rig for me is the football jig! It gets this name from it's round shaped head that looks like a football. This lure, unlike most other jigs is designed for deep water. Now just like the Carolina Rig, you'll be casting it, letting it sink, and SLOWLY dragging it on the bottom. I always use a trailer, and I almost always use a soft plastic crawfish as my trailer of choice!

To round out my deep water arsenal I always have oversized Texas rigged worms in 10-12 inch lengths, shaky head rigged worms, and drop shot rigs! These all get down deep and into structure and allow you to entice a finicky bass bite!

On the really hot days of summer, especially in the deep South, night fishing is an option that should always be considered! Fishing at night I always use larger spinnerbaits, top water lures, and 10-12" Texas rigged worms.

These tactics and recommendations will get you set up to hook some great fish on these dog days of summer! As with anything you'll need to perfect them to your style of fishing and where you typically like to fish. Lure colors and presentations vary greatly from locale to locale, so it's critical to try new set ups and colors to get it really dialed in for you!

If you have specific questions, or want feedback on something I didn't cover here, please reach out and I'll get back to you as quickly as I can!

Stay tuned for more great tips and fishing action from The Brothers Wild!