NEBasser101 Posted August 16, 2016 Posted August 16, 2016 What should I be fishing right now? The water is 83 degrees Fahrenheit. It's overcast with the sun trying to come out. We have been trying to fish jigs in deeper water but it's not working. What should we do? 1 Quote
Super User Gundog Posted August 16, 2016 Super User Posted August 16, 2016 My opinion is not what but where. Deep weed edges, ambush points, holes in heavy matted weeds and any cover that would give bass cooler water and a place to grab food. Remember bass only think about 2 things. Eating and reproducing and they eat every day. 3 Quote
NEBasser101 Posted August 16, 2016 Author Posted August 16, 2016 1 minute ago, Gundog said: My opinion is not what but where. Deep weed edges, ambush points, holes in heavy matted weeds and any cover that would give bass cooler water and a place to grab food. Remember bass only think about 2 things. Eating and reproducing and they eat every day. Thank you Quote
Turtle135 Posted August 16, 2016 Posted August 16, 2016 Assuming you are targeting largemouth, when the water temperatures are at their highest of the season I reach for 10" and 12" plastic worms (usually ribbontails) before I go to the jig (and I do love to fish the jig). Just seems to generate more and better bites for me this time of year. 2 Quote
S. Sass Posted August 16, 2016 Posted August 16, 2016 If the bigger worms aren't producing drop down to a 7 to 8" variety. I prefer T rigged unpegged. More than likely your catch will be smaller on average but it can produce some nice size bass as well. Quote
Red Bear Posted August 16, 2016 Posted August 16, 2016 2 hours ago, NEBasser101 said: What should I be fishing right now? The water is 83 degrees Fahrenheit. It's overcast with the sun trying to come out. We have been trying to fish jigs in deeper water but it's not working. What should we do? really depends on what deeper water is to you in your lake. is there a thermocline? if so, you could be fishing too deep while the bass are suspended above the thermocline. while i wont offer a specific bait, i will say try fishing something that you can cover all or atleast several layers of the water column at once until you figure out where they are... Quote
Super User WRB Posted August 16, 2016 Super User Posted August 16, 2016 Anywhere but the internet. Try night fishing. Tom 4 Quote
Global Moderator Bluebasser86 Posted August 17, 2016 Global Moderator Posted August 17, 2016 When the water and air temps soar, the bass bite way better at night. Quote
Super User Catt Posted August 17, 2016 Super User Posted August 17, 2016 17 hours ago, NEBasser101 said: What should I be fishing right now? Moon light. 2 Quote
Super User Catt Posted August 17, 2016 Super User Posted August 17, 2016 18 hours ago, NEBasser101 said: What should I be fishing right now? The water is 83 degrees Fahrenheit. It's overcast with the sun trying to come out. We have been trying to fish jigs in deeper water but it's not working. What should we do? Actually your weather conditions are somewhat ideal. If I'm fishing daylight during the dog days of summer I prefer overcast skies & so do the bass. You'll read a lot about "theromocline" & you should pay attention to it. You'll also read a lot about what techniques to use for catching bass suspended over deep water above the "thermocline". This is when the where becomes more important the with what! Let's say I find the bass suspended at 22' over deeper water. Instead of trying to fish the suspended bass I move to structure that bottoms out at 22'! 5 Quote
"hamma" Posted August 17, 2016 Posted August 17, 2016 What Catt said, especially for New Englands dog days,.. be it small or largemouth 2 Quote
Nice_Bass Posted August 17, 2016 Posted August 17, 2016 83 is not all that warm and with similar temps around here this is how it stands. If you want to catch the biggest fish and it can be a good or bad day. Stick to fishing deep. If you want to catch more fish, fish shallow. Quote
"hamma" Posted August 18, 2016 Posted August 18, 2016 21 hours ago, Nice_Bass said: 83 is not all that warm and with similar temps around here this is how it stands. If you want to catch the biggest fish and it can be a good or bad day. Stick to fishing deep. If you want to catch more fish, fish shallow. I agree, but to an extent,...this train of thought would apply in many lakes that are somewhat void of shallow water cover adjacent to deeper water structure, Maybe where Nice_Bass lives,...Im not sure, But I digress,.... In many New England lakes and ponds (which is where the op is from) some of their shallow water cover abutts Catts "22 foot thermocline" situation, and you can find the biggest bass in the lake in 2 feet of water hiding in expanse weedbeds. Consider a main lake point with a weed filled cove on either side,. typical summer pattern, right???.. At least it is up here. The bass will relate to the points "22 foot structure",.. but that slightly cooler shallow water cover nearby, laden with forage, will draw that pig in. And with that deep water right there, is very attractive for a big fish due to its availability of nearby safety, opportunity for roaming forage to be ambushed, and ability to react to condition changes without expending much energy. (Big fish are generally lazy) So I guess to sum up what Im telling NEBasser10 is: after finding the thermocline, look for the main lake points with that depth available, and if there are weeds in their adjacent coves dont overlook them because they are getting pounded by winds,... that can be the key to a personal best. Note I said "CAN" I'd start fishing the thermoclines depth, and work my way in to the very back of the cove. You "should" hookup, id be surprised if you dont at least get one small bass. Sometimes you wont get even a nibble. Sometimes you will stumble onto the best fishing you've ever had. Figure out the pattern of a lifetime, and eventually catch the lakes great great grandma !!! The best pattern of all time is?????? ,..... the fish are,..in the water. keep your line wet 1 Quote
thomas15 Posted August 20, 2016 Posted August 20, 2016 On 8/16/2016 at 2:18 PM, Turtle135 said: Assuming you are targeting largemouth, when the water temperatures are at their highest of the season I reach for 10" and 12" plastic worms (usually ribbontails) before I go to the jig (and I do love to fish the jig). Just seems to generate more and better bites for me this time of year. This has been a horrible season for me. Mostly because I've had a lot of issues with my outboard. Well I stuck to it and finally two weeks ago got it all sorted out. I've been out but not for strictly fishing but just to gain a bit of confidence in my motor. Today I went out just to fish. Went to a place on my lake where I generally have the best results. The water is a bit muddy and the temp about 86deg., quite sunny, about 4PM, not the best conditions for fishing. As I pull into my spot I remembered this comment above and put on the biggest worm I had at arms length, a Berkely 5.5" Rib Snake in pumpkinseed on a drop shot. On my second cast brought in a approx. 3 pounder. Vey happy about this and appreciate the tip. 1 Quote
aprestonSEK Posted August 20, 2016 Posted August 20, 2016 10.5" zoom plum ol' monster or a drop shot Quote
Super User scaleface Posted August 20, 2016 Super User Posted August 20, 2016 On 8/16/2016 at 0:20 PM, NEBasser101 said: What should I be fishing right now? The water is 83 degrees Fahrenheit. It's overcast with the sun trying to come out. We have been trying to fish jigs in deeper water but it's not working. What should we do? Youre fishing deep water but are you fishing structure like long extended points or humps , or have just backed away from the bank. This has been a good year for me for numbers using t-rigged plastic worms and crankbaits . Norman Deep Little N for water 8 to 10 foot deep . Rapala Crankin Rap CRR14 for 10 to 12 foot . Strike King 6XD fof 12 to 18 foot and worms at all depths . . Quote
timsford Posted August 20, 2016 Posted August 20, 2016 If it is that hot concentrate on shade, around any current or cooler water coming into the lake or pond, or deeper structure like Creek channels, points and humps. About any lure you normally use shallow will work, but I find that most of the time I catch more when it's hot either working plastics SLOW, or using cranks or other reaction baits and hitting cover or moving erratically and making fish bite. In the deeper water the main thing is to find bait on your graph. The fish will usually be around baitfish. Jigs work good but sometimes try stroking the jig (ripping it up off the bottom a few feet, almost like setting the hook). A lot of times this will cause reaction strikes even when they aren't feeding and won't hit a jig dragged on the bottom. Other deep baits I like to use are magnum cranks like the 10xd, Carolina rigs, Texas rigged 10 inch worms, 8-10 inch worms on shaky heads or swinging football heads, large 1 oz plus spinner baits slow rolled near the bottom (I use a single willow blade so it doesn't lift), swimbaits on heavy jigheads both slow rolled and stroked off bottom, and magnum spoons or large white colored hair jigs, stroked like the rubber or silicone jig. If you don't have a graph to find baitfish, then you just have to hope you are fishing the right spot and try to cover water til you find the fish Quote
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