What are you doing differently this summer?

[PondHoppinPete]

Hi everyone, as summer is approaching down here in the South, as a new fisherman, I've been considering how I should change things up. I was curious to hear what you guys change up when the temperature starts rising, whether it be lure selection, time of day, water depth, etc. What do you do most in the spring that you stop doing in the summer? Anything new you guys are wanting to try this summer?

 

So far I know fishing during the heat means fishing in the morning and sunset are good times. The top water bite will start to pick up(I plan on buying different top waters to try out, any recommendations?) I know bass reach their metabolic peak around 85 degrees, so I was thinking of using fast moving lures to catch em while we remain under 85 degrees. And thinking of switching to slower moving baits when they feel sluggish from over heating. Am I on the right track?

[A-Jay]

1 hour ago, PondHoppinPete said:

 What do you do most in the spring that you stop doing in the summer? 

 

Once the bigger lakes become loaded up with the 'summer rental' crowds,

usually soon after Memorial Day weekend, 

I simply fish a whole lot less, at least during the day.

Just no longer have any desire to participate in the circus. 

But I'm going tomorrow !

A-Jay

[LrgmouthShad]

12 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

But I'm going tomorrow !

Best of luck to ya A-Jay ?

 

Catch some fatties 

 

 

 

This one's easy for me. Going to improve fishing offshore utilizing a buoy system. Careful graphing and boat positioning. 

[Gera]

More sunscreen.. 

 

[padon]

look and graph alot more before i start fishing.not starting on a place unless i see fish or top notch structure.

[Bankbeater]

I'll be fishing more in the vegetation.  Punching mats when I can find them.

[PhishLI]

4 hours ago, PondHoppinPete said:

I was curious to hear what you guys change up when the temperature starts rising,

There isn't a one size fits all answer. The approach is very different depending on the lake or pond. Depth, current, or lack of, cover/vegetation/pads, or lack of, baitfish species, etc. If you can describe where you think you'll be fishing most often it'll be easier to spin a few ideas your way.

[Catt]

What are you doing differently this summer?

 

Not catching! ?

 

With these extreme winds I ain't going!

[DitchPanda]

3 things

 A) improve my popper walking game

 B)wear my sun protection gear more often

 C) take care of my lower back

[PhishLI]

1 hour ago, Catt said:

With these extreme winds I ain't going!

Mother nature's in a good mood. They're only 15mph today.

 

 

[Fallser]

This will be the first year that I'll be using the ned rig and drop shotting.  I plan to do it with both my spinning gear and fly rod.  Should be an interesting summer.  Still working on the drop shot set-up for the fly rod.  Also, plan to do more fly fishing with weedless frog patterns.  I lot of the lakes I fish have lily pads and weed beds.   I might end up catching more chain pickerel than bass but it should be fun.

[GreenPig]

I upsize my baits, line, rod power, and go at night during the Summer. I don't mind the cold, wind, rain, or cold windy rain but I'm allergic to being slowly broiled. My catch rates drop but quality improves. I do all my annual reel servicing in the Summer cause I'm only using a few of my rigs.

[NavyVet1204]

Great topic. 
 

A fishing log is my new adventure this year as it comes by suggestion from so many here. I will admit that I am having trouble understanding any way to form a pattern around my success’s. 
 

99.1999% of my catches are on four lures/techniques. The T rig, Chatterbait, Jig, shakey head. I’ve recorded the last 17 catches I’ve made from those four and it’s all over the place as far as time of day and weather etc. to the point that I feel like logging anything is pointless. There is literally no discernible pattern on anything.

Maybe I’m thinking into it to much or I’m logging catches for the wrong reason or maybe my choice of techniques and lures just happen to be great producers at any time? 

[nmatthes]

4 minutes ago, NavyVet1204 said:

Great topic. 
 

A fishing log is my new adventure this year as it comes by suggestion from so many here. I will admit that I am having trouble understanding any way to form a pattern around my success’s. 
 

99.1999% of my catches are on four lures/techniques. The T rig, Chatterbait, Jig, shakey head. I’ve recorded the last 17 catches I’ve made from those four and it’s all over the place as far as time of day and weather etc. to the point that I feel like logging anything is pointless. There is literally no discernible pattern on anything.

Maybe I’m thinking into it to much or I’m logging catches for the wrong reason or maybe my choice of techniques and lures just happen to be great producers at any time? 

I would say start with location. Can you answer - Why you are catching fish, where you are catching them at that time of the day/season? Where are the fish doing at a certain point in the day? 

 

Once you can answer that, then start to look for finer details. 

[flyfisher]

I fish rivers more often and lakes usually only at night.  So really same as normal....

[NavyVet1204]

14 minutes ago, nmatthes said:

I would say start with location. Can you answer - Why you are catching fish, where you are catching them at that time of the day/season? Where are the fish doing at a certain point in the day? 

 

Once you can answer that, then start to look for finer details. 

Thanks for the advice my friend and Since you put it that way….

 

What do you mean by finer details? So far I’m recording time of day, temp, shade/cover, technique and color, location.

 

I honestly feel like I’m unintentionally making this more complicated than it needs to be so please bear with me. I’m catching nearly the same size fish all hours of the day in multiple different locations with varying geography. If you were to look at my fishing log I feel like you would think that I’m purposely writing random details rather than trying to establish a pattern to anything.

[Bird]

Go early and start with top water then fish deep cover in the afternoon, works every summer.

[TriStateBassin106]

More topwater, more specifically buzzbait fishing. 

[nmatthes]

14 hours ago, NavyVet1204 said:

Thanks for the advice my friend and Since you put it that way….

 

What do you mean by finer details? So far I’m recording time of day, temp, shade/cover, technique and color, location.

 

I honestly feel like I’m unintentionally making this more complicated than it needs to be so please bear with me. I’m catching nearly the same size fish all hours of the day in multiple different locations with varying geography. If you were to look at my fishing log I feel like you would think that I’m purposely writing random details rather than trying to establish a pattern to anything.

Feels to me as you are junk fishing, I could be wrong though. Throwing differing baits depending on the environment you are immediately faced with in front of you and there is nothing wrong with that. If you are fishing from shore this is probably your most productive strategy and trying to pattern fish may not be the most helpful. 

 

Patterning fish could look a million different ways. Here is an example: You show up to a lake and know fish will be chasing bait fish early morning and you chose to throw topwater baits along your most most productive shore lines. Choosing specific shore lines based on past experiences and trip logs that you know have active fish on them. If the sun is out, this particular lake has standing timber and you have figured out the fish chase bait in the standing timber in 20 ft of water, so you choose specific spots with standing timber and 20ft of water. If cloudy you know the fish will stay a little shallower and hand out of hard spots and rock, chasing these fish with crank baits is most productive. 

 

Patterning = Planning ahead in my mind. If I get on a pattern then I know exactly the next 3-5 spots I am going to fish if I am at a lake I know well. Versus the opposite which is free wheeling it and saying ohhh this spot looks good lets see if it is productive.

[PondHoppinPete]

19 hours ago, PhishLI said:

There isn't a one size fits all answer. The approach is very different depending on the lake or pond. Depth, current, or lack of, cover/vegetation/pads, or lack of, baitfish species, etc. If you can describe where you think you'll be fishing most often it'll be easier to spin a few ideas your way.

I haven't ventured out into lakes yet, so currently just fishing ponds. Most of them are open (little to no cover) water that have up to 8-10ft of depth. Each pond has some water foundations though. Can't seem to figure out the forage at these ponds yet, how do you tell if you don't see them near the surface? 

16 hours ago, Fallser said:

This will be the first year that I'll be using the ned rig and drop shotting.  I plan to do it with both my spinning gear and fly rod.  Should be an interesting summer.  Still working on the drop shot set-up for the fly rod.  Also, plan to do more fly fishing with weedless frog patterns.  I lot of the lakes I fish have lily pads and weed beds.   I might end up catching more chain pickerel than bass but it should be fun.

Been wanting to try out both of those! But instead of a traditional Ned rig, the weedless version called the tiny child rig

[LrgmouthShad]

14 hours ago, TriStateBassin106 said:

More topwater, more specifically buzzbait fishing

[PondHoppinPete]

34 minutes ago, nmatthes said:

Feels to me as you are junk fishing, I could be wrong though. Throwing differing baits depending on the environment you are immediately faced with in front of you and there is nothing wrong with that. If you are fishing from shore this is probably your most productive strategy and trying to pattern fish may not be the most helpful. 

 

Patterning fish could look a million different ways. Here is an example: You show up to a lake and know fish will be chasing bait fish early morning and you chose to throw topwater baits along your most most productive shore lines. Choosing specific shore lines based on past experiences and trip logs that you know have active fish on them. If the sun is out, this particular lake has standing timber and you have figured out the fish chase bait in the standing timber in 20 ft of water, so you choose specific spots with standing timber and 20ft of water. If cloudy you know the fish will stay a little shallower and hand out of hard spots and rock, chasing these fish with crank baits is most productive. 

 

Patterning = Planning ahead in my mind. If I get on a pattern then I know exactly the next 3-5 spots I am going to fish if I am at a lake I know well. Versus the opposite which is free wheeling it and saying ohhh this spot looks good lets see if it is productive.

Thank you for sharing your insight. The concept of patterning makes more sense to me now. I've definitely been junk fishing, ie just throwing whatever feels right to me. Is it possible to pattern big ponds? I haven't gotten out to lakes yet (no boat) but i still want to build skills that will transfer over to lake fishing 

[Bankc]

9 minutes ago, PondHoppinPete said:

Thank you for sharing your insight. The concept of patterning makes more sense to me now. I've definitely been junk fishing, ie just throwing whatever feels right to me. Is it possible to pattern big ponds? I haven't gotten out to lakes yet (no boat) but i still want to build skills that will transfer over to lake fishing 

I think it's not only possible, but it's easier.  The smaller the body of water, the quicker you can learn it and its patterns.  For me, bigger lakes are harder to pattern, as they can often act more like a bunch of ponds tied together than one big lake.  Sometimes a pattern working on the north end will be completely at odds with the pattern working on the south end.  In a pond, it's usually just one pattern for the whole pond.  

 

For me, this summer, I'm going to work on my deep water game more.  I've never done well in deep, stained water.  And this year, I'm going to change that.  I might end up catching fewer fish this year, but I'm betting I'll land more fish in the long run by working on my weaknesses, rather than relying on my strengths.  

[PondHoppinPete]

2 minutes ago, Bankc said:

I think it's not only possible, but it's easier.  The smaller the body of water, the quicker you can learn it and its patterns.  For me, bigger lakes are harder to pattern, as they can often act more like a bunch of ponds tied together than one big lake.  Sometimes a pattern working on the north end will be completely at odds with the pattern working on the south end.  In a pond, it's usually just one pattern for the whole pond.  

 

For me, this summer, I'm going to work on my deep water game more.  I've never done well in deep, stained water.  And this year, I'm going to change that.  I might end up catching fewer fish this year, but I'm betting I'll land more fish in the long run by working on my weaknesses, rather than relying on my strengths.  

Thanks BankC, I'll try to pattern these ponds. I like the mindset you have, same thing I've been telling myself everytime I try out new lures and completely skunk out that day 

[PhishLI]

1 hour ago, PondHoppinPete said:

Can't seem to figure out the forage at these ponds yet, how do you tell if you don't see them near the surface? 

Spend a day at a spot with two spinning rods. One setup using a split shot rig. Rig half an earth worm on the hook. The other setup will be a light crappie jig with a mealworm rigged on and fished under a bobber. Good chance you'll find out exactly what's living in there and where. The "where" will change over the season. Don't be surprised if you catch your PB while looking for which types of baitfish a pond is holding.