Late-summer bass strategies

By Gord Ellis

The dying days of summer leave me a bit blue. Maybe it's the diminishing daylight that does it or the robin's-egg hue of the late-August sky. Whatever the reason, the demise of summer leaves me feeling sad. It's a Billie Holiday record on a rainy day.

I think fish feel this downturn too. Few bites really explode in late August. Usually, the first cold nights of September are needed to get things going. Bass fishing, which has usually been in high gear during the hot weather, starts to get trickier as cool nights rob the water of heat. Food is still plentiful, yet the slow creep of fall also signals the end of the weed and reef smorgasbord. Bass start to change patterns, abandoning some summer haunts and venturing into more open water as the mood strikes. It's a challenging period for the bass angler, but a good time to mix a few new techniques in with the usual assortment of summer standbys.

Oddly enough, I've spent most of my late-summer days during the last decade or so fishing bass in tournaments. This is not something I'd recommend for the faint of heart. Yet, fishing intensively during this period, often with gifted partners, has helped me simplify late-summer bass strategies and catch more fish. Here are a few techniques that should help you get through the late-summer blues too.

Go shallow

There are deep bass in late summer (we'll talk about them later), but it usually pays to go shallow first. Shallow bass are active, and if the bite is on, you'll know quickly. It doesn't get any better.

When fish are on rock flats, beaches, or over low grass, lipless crankbaits are hard to beat. They cast like a bullet and cover water quickly. Most lipless crankbaits also feature a rattle that helps bass home in on them. On sand and rock, let the crank stir up a little bottom sediment to imitate a crayfish. Over weeds, give cranks a quick pop when they touch vegetation. This usually clears the snag and will trigger strikes.

Suspending jerkbaits are another option in shallow water. Retrieve them with sharp snaps of the rod. Spinnerbaits are also deadly on shallow smallmouth and largemouth. If the water is calm, try a spinnerbait with a willow-leaf blade or a safety-pin-type spinner and jig. When the water is choppy, bump up to a big white spinnerbait with a large Colorado blade and churn it just under the surface. Weed fish will jump all over a spinnerbait snaked through the grass.

Plastics can be effective on shallow late-summer bass too. Worms and grubs all work wonders when pitched along banks, weed edges, and under docks. However, a traditional 4-inch tube jig is the all-around proven killer for largemouth and smallmouth. Tubes can be hopped, swum, or dragged. Go with a light head in shallow water, and let the tube fall slowly to bottom. Bass will even suck up a tube laying still on bottom. Jig heads with large-gap hooks will increase your hook-ups.

Perhaps the most exciting way to catch shallow bass - or any bass - is on a top-water lure. Watching a 4-pound largemouth inhale a popper in 2 feet of water is about as good as it gets. There are dozens of great top-water baits, but pick one based on surface conditions. In shallow water, a subtle popping plug or spookbait will usually catch you more fish. When the wind is blowing or the fish are buried under weeds, reach for a propbait or an oversized popper. If you're going for really big bass, use a 5- to 6-inch top-water.

Don't set on a bass that's eaten a top-water bait until you feel it register on your rod. Overstimulated anglers pull many top-waters away from fish.

Also condsider a line change. My hooking percentage with both top-waters and cranks has gone up the past few years, thanks to low-stretch superlines.

The human factor and more

When fishing shallow bass, look for man-made structure. Docks, boathouses, bridge footings, and rafts will hold fish, but don't ignore berms, beaches, rocks, pilings, and especially water intakes where little clumps of rocks are often piled up. People who clear aquatic weeds in front of their cottage lots also create ambush pockets for largemouth to live in. Fallen trees and shoreline wood consistently attract late-summer bass. Shaded shorelines generally have some active fish working shallow rocks and wood. If you catch a bass, make a mental note and return there later. One bass often means many. Sooner or later all those fish will go. You'll want to be there when that happens.

Know when to switch

One of the biggest mistakes most late-summer bass anglers make is sticking in the shallows long after the bite is over. This has been my undoing in several tournaments. It's just too hard to take the top-water off after being blasted by fish all morning. Unfortunately, shallow bass will go hard for an hour or two, then retreat to drop-offs as conditions change. Cold fronts almost always put shallow fish off the bite, as do thunderstorms, heavy rain, and boat traffic. When shallow bass shut down, you must adjust or watch your fortunes slip. As the man said, "You gotta know when to hold them, and know when to fold them."

Go deep

Deep-water bass fishing is a trickier game that requires a more patient, methodical approach. I've noticed, in the northwest part of the province at least, that many of the best deep-water bass anglers are also deadly walleye stickers. The reason is simple. Walleye anglers often have to work small areas of deep water patientlty or go home empty-handed. Your average zoom-zoom-zoom bass angler just isn't wired to fish deep water effectively. Slow and steady wins this race.

Most bass anglers prefer to throw grubs and tubes for deep bass, and I'm no different. The gentle fall of a 3- or 4-inch plastic grub on a 1/4-ounce head has been the undoing of many deep-water smallmouth. In depths of 8 to 15 feet, a 1/4- to 3/8-ounce head is about perfect.

For tubes, which have more surface area and fall more slowly than grubs, I go a bit heavier, often to a 1/2-ounce head. Some specialty hooks (like the Mustad Ultra Point Power Lock Plus ) can be rigged outside the tube, and they have an adjustable weight. A tube that falls completely horizontal might trigger a bass that's seen all the other ones fall nose first. On deep humps and at the base of drop-offs, hopping and especially dragging a tube or grub is irresistible to bass.

Another classic late-summer bass presentation is the Carolina rig. Although a favourite of largemouth anglers across most of North America, it's less popular in Ontario. Yet, there's no real trick to it. It's basically a beefed-up version of a live-bait rig walleye anglers use. The difference with a Carolina rig is that the hook and sinker are generally larger and the "bait" is traditionally a 4- or 6-inch plastic lizard, craw, or worm. For most Carolina situations, use a 1/2-ounce bullet or egg sinker, a snap swivel, a 5-foot leader, a bead, and a No. 4 hook buried in the bait. The rig is generally cast and retrieved slowly, but you can also back-troll the thing along bottom or pull it with a front trolling motor. One of the nice things about slow trolling a Carolina rig is that you can work the edges of a break like you would when walleye fishing. This allows a pin-point presentation with a technique that most bass never see.

I'd be remiss not to mention jigging spoons for late-summer smallmouth in particular. When they're deep and feeding on cisco, smelt, or shiners, a 1/2-ounce silver jigging spoon is often the most efficient way to catch them. Put your boat directly over the fish zone and work the spoon with sharp snaps of your wrist. If a bass grabs the lure, you'll have no doubt what's happened. Late-summer bass fishing, like the weather in late August, is unpredictable. Yet, a simplified approach and willingness to adjust will almost always end with a successful day on the water. Nothing beats the late-summer blues like a handful of fat bass.