Try to keep cool while fishing in hot weather

When I went out the other morning around 6 a.m., the temperature was right at 80 degrees and it was humid. And as the day wore on, the temp rose and the humidity stayed right up there as well.

Today the heat index is supposed to get somewhere between 110 and 115 degrees. Not a fun day to be out working, but what about the fishing? Well, my motto is to fish when you can, as often as you can. Hot weather means you fish early or late or at night. All three work.

Lendy, a good friend of mine, would start fishing at the crack of dawn and continue until 10 or 11 a.m., and then he was done.

When it got hot he would head home, take care of his catch and then enjoy some coffee and a nap. He always seemed to be able to catch a mess of fish.

Probably my favorite time when it's hot is to head to the lake in early to midafternoon. I find that the golden time for me is those couple of hours just before dark. I've loaded my boat a number of times in the dark. That's why I used to have fog lights on the back bumper of my old Toyota. I could flip the switch and it was close to daylight as I loaded my boat.

The water in the summer begins to heat up considerably. Surface temperatures can get up enough that the water feels warm to the touch. In shallow ponds and such, this rise in temps can cause problems with oxygen levels. Deeper or bigger lakes aren't affected as much.

One thing the rise in water temperature causes the fish to do is seek out structure and also cooler, deeper water. As the surface water temp rises, the oxygen level gets lower at the surface, but deeper in the lake the oxygen level stays up.

There will be a band of oxygen-rich water somewhere, maybe 10 feet deep or even deeper. You can buy equipment to search out this band or you can use a fish finder or graph. Notice where the majority of fish appear to be.

In the summer, I normally fish for bass, crappie or bluegill. When I fish for bass, I usually use plastic worms and fish fairly deep. Most of the time, I cast shallow and then drag back into deep water. I like the purple colors. I rig my worm to be weedless and I fish really slowly. If I know there are sunken trees or brush or stumps, I fish them first of all. Then I'll fish other areas searching for other cover.

As the sun sinks, many times larger bass will come up on shallow flats or into shallow water to chase small minnows or bluegill. Some of the biggest bass I have caught were just before sundown in shallow water, especially shallow flats that run out into deeper water. You can use shallow crankbaits or surface plugs. I still use plastic worms.

Crappie tend to school in deeper water around cover. Crappie will also suspend deeper in that band of oxygen rich water. They may be down 10 or 20 feet. If you have a breeze, you can drift through them dragging jigs or small crankbaits or minnows. You can use your trolling motor as well.

Bluegill most likely will be right on the bottom in cover of some kind. I've caught them in five feet of water and in 20 feet as well. I normally will use a No. 8 or No. 6 hook and either a cricket or a red wiggler. I add some weight and fish right on the bottom. I lose a lot of weights and hooks where I fish right in cover. You can also use 1/16 oz. or 1/32 oz. or even 1/48 oz. jigs. One brand of jig I've carried for 30-plus years is Southern Pro jigs, made in America. They work.

One bait a bluegill or even a crappie can hardly turn down is a cricket that is still wiggling. Get a tube of crickets and head to the lake. Try them with a bobber or right on the bottom. You will catch some fish.

If you go fishing when it's hot, be careful. Know when it's time to head for some cool. I work outside during the summer, but when I get hot I head for some shade and a cool drink. Many times in the summer I'll rig up a fan in the shade to get some air moving.

Good luck as you go fishing.

Until next time.