What do smallmouth bass eat in the summer?
Summer foods Smallmouth bass are not picky eaters, which means they will eat pretty much whatever is available at the moment. This could be crayfish, baitfish, insects, leeches or any other food that might be present.
What is the best bait to use for smallmouth bass?
Smallmouth Bass Fishing Baits Some of the most productive lures for stream smallmouth fishing are 1/4-ounce spinnerbaits and buzz baits. Soft plastic lures, such as spider-style plastic grubs (rigged on 1/8- to 1/4-ounce jigheads), tube baits, jerk baits and 6-inch plastic worms are also popular.
How do you catch smallmouth bass in July?
Most clients want to fish Chequamegon Bay, and he’s more than happy to comply. “July is one of two things: Deep weedbeds or wood in 12 feet of water or deeper,” he reports. “Forget shallow wood at this time. In deeper water, you find old troughs from the logging days around the deep wood in Chequamegon Bay.
What are smallmouth bass attracted to?
They are sometimes attracted to deeper aquatic vegetation beds if minnows are present as well as some form of current caused by inflows, wind, or dam turbine releases. Reeds and cattails along the shoreline are excellent areas to find shallow-water smallmouth, especially when aquatic insects are hatching nearby.
What is the best time of day to catch smallmouth bass?
The best time of day for smallmouth bass fishing is either first thing in the morning from dawn until a few hours past sunrise or in the late afternoon a few hours before sunrise until dusk.
How do you catch smallmouth in hot weather?
On natural lakes, summertime smallmouth usually retreat to deeper, cooler water during the hottest part of the day. Look for them on points, break lines, saddles, and offshore humps. The best spots will also have rocks, scattered grass, or manmade cover like fish cribs and brush.
Can you catch smallmouth at night?
Jim Duckworth, one of Tennessee’s most recognized fishing guides, puts it in even simpler terms: “Smallmouth turn on when the sun goes down.” These experts know that during the summer from New England to Arkansas, smallmouth become creatures of the night on many lakes.
What do smallmouth bass do in the summer?
Summertime smallmouth hold many different patterns in any given body of water. Some are roamers, feeding on pelagic baitfish; others remain shallow, and the rest, well, they are the fish that hold on breaklines and other key structural elements.
How to find the best fishing spots for smallmouth bass?
Look for points with deep water access. These points should consist of a firm bottom with scattered rocks, boulders and sparse weed growth. Shelves, ridges, etc. all will hold fish as long as some access to deep water is available. The more pronounced the changes in depth, the more potential a spot may have.
What’s the best smallmouth bait for the summer?
5 smallmouth baits for summer fishing. 1 1. Drop shot. If you’ve ever been smallmouth fishing before, chances are you’ve used a drop shot. That’s for good reason. It is probably the most 2 2. Ned rig. 3 3. Topwater walker. 4 4. Swimbaits. 5 5. Jerkbait.
What kind of spinnerbait to use for smallmouth bass?
Summer smallmouth can be extremely aggressive and these finesse tactics may just not fit the bill. Think big. Half ounce spinnerbaits in chartreuse/chartreuse combinations or clear with green fleck skirt and blades with Tandem or double willow combinations usually fit the ticket nicely.