Summer water depth

[DitchPanda]

So I am now and pretty much always have been a shore angler. When the water gets hot all I hear about is offshore fishing: deep cranking, dragging worms and football jigs, dropshot..etc. My question is how many of you guys/gals stay shallow even in super hot weather and water temps? What are you throwing? Lately I've been catching some on a shallow kvd crank..a few on a buzzbait ...a few on frog...my best producer has been a weightless trick worm.

[BubbaBassin’]

13 minutes ago, DitchPanda said:

So I am now and pretty much always have been a shore angler. When the water gets hot all I hear about is offshore fishing: deep cranking, dragging worms and football jigs, dropshot..etc. My question is how many of you guys/gals stay shallow even in super hot weather and water temps? What are you throwing? Lately I've been catching some on a shallow kvd crank..a few on a buzzbait ...a few on frog...my best producer has been a weightless trick worm.

Flipping the thick stuff with a big worm has produced well this year.

[Smokinal]

Funny you mention this because I had a day last Sunday where I was catching them cast after cast in 14-18 ft on a paddletail. When I wore them out there, I looked over to the shore and there was a good stretch of pads so I paddled over (kayak) and continued to wack the bejeeses outta them on a t-rigged worm.

 

I've always known there are no rules in fishing and this day proved it.  It was blue, clear skies, hot, humid and calm and I went from 16 fow to less than a foot and they were biting in both locations minutes apart.

 

Are there some general suggestions given time of year, weather, water temp etc?...sure; but nothing set in stone.

[jimmyjoe]

   For hot summer weather from shore, there has only been one rule I've followed, regardless of depth: Fish anytime from dusk to dawn. Although many people claim that this time is topwater time (it is) that's not the only technique that catches well from dusk 'til dawn. Spinnerbaits absolutely slay them then, too. 

   This works in lakes and ponds that aren't weedy, and it works along the dams in the rivers.

   I only have one place I fish that has weeds. And yes, I've tried to catch bass there during the heat of the day. I found out that the only thing that caught their attention was a frog. (That's how I found out that you can go froggin' with a fiberglass rod.)

   Don't know whether this helped or not, but ..... good luck!   ?   jj

[Cdn Angler]

Kayak and no electronics. I stay close-ish to shore, especially for large mouth. 

 

I'll fish deeper if there is any way to discern where the fish are out deep, but still stick to less than 30 feet of water. That's mostly in crystal clear water for smallmouth where I can see rock/boulders, off a point but deeper, large deep flats etc. 

 

We have less clear lakes that are weedy absolutely everywhere and visibly there is nothing to distinguish one spot from another. There's also no way to "cover water" horizontally deep due to weeds - it has to be vertical. I mostly don't bother as even if I catch something it feels completely random and is like finding a needle in a haystack. And I can usually find fish shallow.

 

It is annoying when the fish aren't shallow at all and I have few ways to target deeper locations. I'm sure eventually I'll get a fish finder for this reason. 

[Bankbeater]

I have been catching largemouth 4 to 5 feet deep.  They have been under vegetation mats that are on the surface.  There is also a creek bed that runs through the area.  I've been using a spook in the morning and when it is cloudy out.  After the sun gets high I switch over to a jig or a senko.

[12poundbass]

Water temp was 89 yesterday and Saturday. We were pitching craws around brush and isolated patches of Lilly pads in 2-4’ of water. We didn’t do too bad. 
 

 

[SeaCrow]

Been pulling them out of the shallows on a drop shot worm