FISHING IN JULY AND AUGUST

The two months of the year that can really be tough to fish are July and August, especially on weekends with so many people on the water. Jet skiers, water skiers and pleasure boaters can make for some definite B C Powder days. But they have as much right to the water as we fisherman do and thank goodness it's only for a few months. But you can still catch some nice bass if you really apply yourself.

Early morning is usually the best fishing and I will start out with an XPS topwater bait for the first couple of hours. Once the traffic starts, I usually move out to 10 to 16 feet and try to fish secondary structure, whether it is drops, brush, stumps, rocks, etc. These two months are the best time of year to find bass really bunched up and when you find them it can be some heated action. Look for bait fish in an area, birds diving on the water, maybe a color change in water, or current, any of these conditions could produce great fishing.

I will start out usually with a Carolina rigged Zoom lure, it could be a centipede, lizard, fluke or a 10 inch - old monster worm. I'll fish this with a 3/4 to 1 oz. Lindy No-Snagg weight, three to four foot 10 to 12 lbs. test STREN line, 2/0 to 3/0 Mustad Ultra Point hook, 7 ft. Woo Daves' model XPS rod. In really super hot weather I usually will start with the 10 inch worm, if it's cooler, I will alternate the other lures.

Second, I'm going to fish a big LedgeBuster spinnerbait in 1 2 to 2 oz. size on 17 lbs. STREN, same model rod. I will just slow roll this lure over and around the structure. This is definitely my big fish lure. Also a great follow up lure on structure if you have been catching a few bass and they seem to stop biting.

Third, I'm going to fish an Old Monster ZOOM worm on 12 lbs. STREN, 4/0 Mustad flipping hook and 1/4 to 2 oz. worm weight. This is just basic structure fishing, a Texas rigged worm especially if you know there's some structure down there. In other words, if I hit something with my LedgeBuster and don't get a bite, I'll definitely throw the worm into the whatever.

One trick that very few people do when they are fishing deep is to throw a jig. I will take a 1 oz. StrikeZone jig with a Zoom trailer and throw it out and just wind it back to the boat slowly. I have caught a lot of big bass on deep structure with this technique. This is one time of year I will not throw a lure in the water that doesn't have Jack's Juice Crawfish formula on it. For some reason in hot weather, this scent really works well.

If you locate bass on a certain structure at a certain depth, spend time looking for more of the same. In other words if you caught fish in stumps 10 foot deep on a point near the main channel, look for other points with the same features. I want to thank Quik-Cull with finally coming out with a culling system with plastic clips on it. Now you don't have to worry about rusting clips or punching a hole in the fish. Great job guys for a better mousetrap.

One other neat product I've been using is a pair of waterproof socks called SealSkinz. Just throw them in the boat and if it starts raining or you get cold just slip them on. They work great.

Good luck in your fishing, wear your SOSpenders, God Bless and keep an eye out for the Woo Daves' series fishing shoes.