Here in Missouri the dog days of summer get very hot, sticky, and humid. I see fisherman fish the same way at that time that they do in the spring, rapid casting spinnerbaits, and lipless baits to the banks. I don't see them catching much more than a few small fish. A tackle shop owner told me years ago that the main reason some guys can't catch bass at this time is simple. Their fishing too fast. I think this is 100% true. I like plastic worms for much of my bass fishing, and over the years I've tried to train myself to slow down, sometimes way down. It's takes some self discipline and practice to work a plastic worm super slow. If I'm casting into a deep hole, I let the worm sink to bottom, then deadstick it for a bit. I can put my index finger under my line in front of the reel and tug on the line lightly, then give the worm a slow lazy lift, and repeat. Sometimes it may take me several minutes to fish a plastic worm through the cover this way, but I know from my logs that it has helped me hook more fish and some better size ones too. It takes all the patience I have to fish like this. Many trophy hunters who fish for the biggest bass are advocates of a super slow retrieve. Do you fish slowly like this? Has it worked well for you? It's one of my favorite ways to fish. With all the fast paced run and gun fishing styles in bass fishing now days, I wonder how many folks fish with a super slow retrieve? It takes patience, but can work very well.
