The hottest summer tactics for walleye, bass, trout, pike & muskies

BASS

There’s a reason most bass anglers would rather catch only one fish on a topwater lure than three or four on a subsurface bait—it’s just so darn exciting. So, what if they could catch dozens on top? It’s possible during the brief summer peak, when both largemouth and smallmouth bass are often bunched up together. The key is to find basketball-sized boulders interspersed with weeds in shallow water.

A week or two after the peak, especially in large lakes, smallmouth will often vacate these transitory areas in favour of deeper, cooler main-lake environs, leaving the lush shallows to their largemouth cousins. During the brief summer peak, however, you will often catch a largemouth on one cast and a smallmouth on the next. The turn-on for both is typically a noisy, spluttering, tail-spinning lure such as the Whopper Plopper.

Early mornings and late afternoons, when the action is often outrageous, are unquestionably the best times to fish during the peak. Don’t discount midday, however, and don’t avoid slightly choppier water—I prefer a little too much breeze to too little, in fact. I think it entices the bass that have spent the previous month or so dieting while they protected their nests, eggs and fry. Now, it’s their time to gorge—even on a few wayward offspring—before the summer period sets in.

The other interesting thing about fishing Plopper-type baits during the summer peak period is that there’s always a sweet speed that produces best. It’s usually fast, so you want to use a 7:1 ratio or quicker reel spooled with 15- to 20-pound monofilament, or braided line with a similar diameter. I love the fact, too, that these noisy topwater baits typically call in the biggest bass on the block for a fight. I’ve actually watched smallmouth race 40 feet across the top of a shoal to crush my bait as I picked up the pace to entice it to bite.

As for the size of the Whopper Plopper, opt for the model 130 if you’re catching mostly largemouths. If smallmouths are the predominate catch, however, I usually select the smaller model 90 Plopper. Having said that, I’m always amazed how the feisty brown bass will go gaga during the summer peak for much larger baits meant for their big-mouth cousins—and that’s just one more attraction of fishing during the open-water season’s hottest bite.