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Tricks Pros Use To Catch Shallow-Water Bass When It's Really Hot

Webster’s Dictionary defines the dog days as “the period between early July and early September when the hot, sultry weather of summer usually occurs in the northern hemisphere,” and as “a period of stagnation or inactivity.”

Some believe that “period of stagnation or inactivity” definitely applies to bass fishing. However, savvy anglers know there are still plenty of active bass to be caught then, and some of those fish can be found shallow in bath-water temperatures.

“Bass are such weird, interesting creatures that are always teaching us lessons,” says veteran pro angler Penny Berryman. “A lot of times people think when it is really, really hot you have to fish deep, and sometimes the exact opposite is true.”

After the spawn, bass move out to deeper water where they rejuvenate and start feeding again. Missouri pro Rick Clunn rates the fishing as pretty good during this time, but a change occurs when the dog days arrive.

“The fish are at their deepest in early summer, and then they progressively move back up,” advises Clunn. “It’s not like people think that the hotter it gets, the deeper they go down.”

The four-time Bassmaster Classic champion suggests anglers need to change their strategy to locate bass and adjust mentally to the unbearable heat.

“That is a flat-out endurance and determination time of the year to catch fish,” claims Clunn. “You have to accept that even on your better lakes, it will be some of the lighter catches you’ll have for the year.”

While other anglers probe the deep for dog-day bass, you can catch fish in the steamy shallows by trying the following tricks of the pros.

Cranking In Current
Moving water is a key to catching bass shallow during the heat of summer.
“A lot of lakes generate power this time of year for all of our nice air-conditioning,” advises Clunn. “There will be power generation creating current, so you need to get in the areas that have the most current.”

The Missouri pro keys on some wind-blown pockets and points in the early morning, but he spends a dog-day afternoon concentrating on main-lake structures affected by the current. Shallow ledges that fall off into deeper water are Clunn’s favorite targets for late summer bass.

Clunn’s victory in the 1984 Bassmaster Classic is the best example of how his pattern works. In three days of competing on the Arkansas River in mid-August, Clunn concentrated on a ledge 3 to 4 feet deep that sharply dropped into 12 feet of water.

The first two days of the tournament he caught 24 pounds and 23 pounds of bass respectively while cranking the area with a Bomber Model 6A crankbait that featured rattles and a wide wobble. When the fishing got tougher the final day, he switched to a wooden crankbait with a more subdued wiggle and no rattles. The subtle change produced a 28-pound stringer, as Clunn won the tournament with a record-breaking catch of 75 pounds, 9 ounces.

“How many times have you noticed a subtle change will light fish up in an area that you thought was fished out?” asks Clunn.

Any crankbait that runs a maximum depth of 10 feet will catch some bass along the ledges, but Clunn believes you can catch more bass by varying crankbaits of different sizes and shapes. Studies conducted at the University of Hawaii have revealed bass can distinguish minute differences in their environment through their lateral lines (a process referred to as hydrodynamic imaging).

So Clunn suggests using a crankbait that generates a different vibration or movement than other commonly used crankbaits. The E.T.I. Series Orion Crankbait that Clunn designed for Bass Pro Shops has grooves along the side of the lure to create a unique turbulence that a bass’s lateral line detects and differentiates from the sound of other crankbaits the fish have become conditioned to ignore.

Getting to know the feel of his crankbait intimately is the key to Clunn’s retrieve.

“I try to find the wobble of a crankbait that produces the most strikes, and I get very familiar with that,” he says.

Clunn also gets a better feel for his lures by using the same rod and reel for most of his bass-fishing applications. He employs a 7-foot heavy-action Bass Pro Shops Rick Clunn Signature Series XPS casting rod and a Bass Pro Shops Rick Clunn Signature Series XPS Low-Profile baitcasting reel filled with 12- to 15-pound line.

Shallow Buzzing
Running a crankbait in the 8- to 12-foot range is Berryman’s most productive pattern for catching dog-day bass, but when she wants to have some fun in the summer sun, she ties on a buzzbait.

“For sheer delight and fun, my all-time favorite bait at that time is a buzzbait,” says Berryman. “You can cover a lot of shallow water going out to deep water with this lure.”

The Arkansas pro prefers running a buzzbait along laydowns or grass in off-color shallow water. The most productive shallow spots usually have deep water in close proximity.

The buzzbait serves as an ideal search tool for Berryman, who uses the lure even during the hottest part of the day to find bass in the shallows.

“A lot of times I will fish it in practice without any hooks just to generate strikes,” she says. “There is just something about that bait that makes the fish mad.”

Baitfish activity determines how Berryman presents her buzzbait.

“If I see minnows and fish are busting the minnows or the baitfish act scared, I usually move it pretty quick,” she says. “But as a general rule when I am searching, I try to work a buzzbait as slow as I possibly can, even if I am using a high-speed reel.”

Berryman’s buzzer is a homemade model consisting of body parts from different name-brand buzzbaits. She usually starts with a 1/4- or 3/8-ounce body and attaches a blade that she modifies by punching the blade’s hole with a square roofing nail.

“When I reassemble it, I have a round blade arm clinking against a square hole, which makes it very squeaky and also allows it to wobble a little bit funky and move a little slower,” says Berryman. “So there is a method to my madness.”

If you want to make a squeakier buzzbait without making these modifications, Berryman suggests wearing down a blade by hanging the buzzer in the air while running the boat or hanging it out the window of your vehicle as you drive to the lake.

“I truly believe buzzbaits need mileage on them,” she suggests. “They are really the best right before the blade is ready to break. The worn hole catches the water differently and slows the blade. Many times when the fish aren’t super aggressive, the slower a buzzbait goes, the better it is.”

Other tactics you can try to slow the pace of a buzzbait include increasing its buoyancy with a plastic grub trailer (the curly tail pointed downward to catch the water better) or attaching a second skirt to its body.

“Do whatever you can to beef up the buzzbait and slow it down,” Berryman advises.

Her buzzbait tackle consists of a 6 1/2-foot medium-heavy Quantum Tour Edition fiberglass rod and a high-speed baitcasting reel filled with heavy line.

Flipping And Pitching
Three-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier Mark Tucker believes summertime boat traffic stirs up the water and generates oxygen in the shallows, so he targets main-lake bluff ends, boat docks, riprap or any other shoreline cover he can find for dog-day bass.

“That time of the year there is a lot of depleted oxygen, so most of the oxygen will be anywhere from 8 feet deep on up to the bank,” he suggests.

He also catches some shallow fish in weeds or bushes during late summer when baitfish move to the backs of creeks. The Missouri pro’s presentation depends on the mood of the fish.

“If it seems like the fish are aggressive, I can swim a jig more, but if they are not so aggressive, then I work the lure in the cover more,” explains Tucker.

For his swimming tactics, Tucker pitches either a Team Supreme Swimming Jig (1/4 or 3/8 ounce), Ultimate Rascal Jig (3/8 ounce) or a Rascal Jig (1/4 ounce) in white with purple tinsel or green pumpkin hues. He tips the green pumpkin Ultimate Rascal or Swimming Jig with a green pumpkin or cinnamon purple twin-tail plastic grub and matches the white jig with a white Uncle Josh Pork Frog. The best trailers for his Ultimate Rascal Jigs include a Zoom Super Chunk Jr. or a plastic craw.

“This time of year the fish are basically feeding on shad, so I am going to try to keep the white jig on my line more than any other color,” says Tucker.

He sometimes resorts to a black-and-blue jig and trailer in dirty-water situations to flip to bass holding tight in heavy cover.

For his pitching and flipping techniques, the tournament competitor depends on a 7-foot heavy-action casting rod and a baitcasting reel with a 6.3-to-1 gear ratio that’s spooled with 17-pound test line. The high-speed reel allows him to keep his line fairly taut while he swims and hops the jig at a quick pace.

The dog days can be an oppressive time to fish, but the touring pros are proving that you can still have hot fun in the summertime catching bass in the shallows.