Finding those Summer Bass

For us western anglers the Summertime is here, which means its time to be finding the Summer Bass that are moving out. With consistently warmer temps, these bass will be moving out from the creeks and shallows out to their summer homes. With that being said, some people still like to fish shallow and some bass will stay shallow year round. You can still burn the bank with a buzz bait or any other reaction and still get those resident bass that don’t tend to leave the shallows. The problem with that is you are targeting a smaller population of fish. Depending on what time of the Summer it is some good areas to look for these bass on the move will be secondary points leaving the spawning areas, bluff walls, ledges and drop offs, under water islands and main lake points. When searching these ares try to find some structure that these bass will hold too. Most of these Summer areas will have schools that replenish all year until they start moving back into the creeks chasing shad in the fall.

Once you have used your electronics to find the schools you have to figure out what to throw. A great tip I learned watching a video from Gerald Swindle that holds true each year is ” When the sweat starts dripping down your back, it’s time to start deep cranking.” It is great advice and I have had a lot of success with it. You need to pay attention to the conditions though to see which pattern will be the best. When you are bass fishing at Lake Pleasant the crank probably wouldn’t be my first choice unless you found some good schools up river or near any ledges in the creeks that have dirtier water. When you are in dirtier water I would start with these presentations in this order.

• Deep Cranks ( dirtier water ) Strike King 10 XD Crankbait
• Drop shot and Shakey Head. ( number one option for Lake Pleasant in the clear water ). Arizona Custom Baits
• 10 Inch Power Worm & Football Jig – 10 inch Powerworm
• Frog – Blitz Poppin Frog
• Spoon – Nichols Flutter Spoon

When you are deep cranking make sure you are using the correct line to get your lure to hit the bottom. Those bass will strike it once that crank starts hitting the bottom. I like to use 12lb Sniper from Sunline and use Mustad Triple Grips to change out my hooks. Changing out your hooks on these crank baits is very important as most of them do not come with good stock hooks. Once you have changed them out make sure to keep checking them because all that wear and tear on the bottom rocks and trees will dull your hooks fairly quick. When throwing the dropshot I like to use 15lb braid with a 7lb Sniper leader and always use Arizona Custom Baits for my plastics. When you get into throwing magnum spoons you are opening the door to catch a real giant. Its also a great way to target some big Lake Pleasant Stripers. Remember, Summer is all about location, location, location and once you find a few good schools its just a matter of spending time on the water and fishing those spots.

Most of those schools will stay there throughout the summer and new fish will group up on those same spots all Summer long. So find a few groups to go back and forth with and get ready to have a fun filled summer with some great catches. When fishing cleat water at Lake Pleasant make sure to slow down with your drop shot or other finesse presentation. We hope you enjoy and if you would like to book a trip with one of our Arizona Fishing Guides check us out at FishIn48 and BOOK YOUR TRIP TODAY!