One day just after noon in August at Ringwood State Park’s Shepherd Lake, my son and I bass fished an even handed
way—weightless Chompers worms 17 feet down along a weedline edge, the breeze
light enough for control. We heard a whoop and watched an angler catch a good-size bass back in the weeds. I had been watching the two of them chuck
topwater plugs. Another good bass struck. I looked at the sky to notice the sun
had dimmed as clouds thickened, and understood, feeling distinctly one-upped by
someone else taking an odd approach.
Largemouth and smallmouth bass
serve an interesting academic research subject for an obvious reason: anglers
want to know. A single fact never entirely explains a complex behavior, such as
why bass feed early and late during summer, but sometimes a single cause seems
to illuminate just what the fish are doing unexpectedly. The eye structure of
both largemouth and smallmouth advantages them over forage fish in changing
light. Bass see forage early, late—and with thickening or weakening clouds
mid-day—better than forage see them. They have no tapetum lucidum, which gives walleye
their namesake and advantages them over prey in very low light or turbulent
water, not particularly changing light. But bass and walleye may hug bottom for
the same reason. Exceptions exist. Walleye suspend over oxygen depleted depths,
and bass sometimes cruise slowly in mid-column or near the surface right out in
the open under intense sun.
Usually then they won’t hit because they are not staging to prey. They don’t seem to notice you just a few yards away because less aware than normal, as if in suspended animation. When feeding, bass usually stage under cover to ambush prey, or else they prowl the bottom—particularly among aquatic vegetation, rocks, or timber—with their eyes directed upward.
Usually then they won’t hit because they are not staging to prey. They don’t seem to notice you just a few yards away because less aware than normal, as if in suspended animation. When feeding, bass usually stage under cover to ambush prey, or else they prowl the bottom—particularly among aquatic vegetation, rocks, or timber—with their eyes directed upward.
Forage fish tend to swim near to
the surface in order to evade predators on the bottom, with little choice but
to create safety in numbers. Not only do bass see them better than they can see bass given equal light, it’s
darker near bottom where bass camouflage. Against light at the surface, forage
make distinct silhouettes.
For relatively shallow water—as
deep as 12 feet if clear—nothing beats a surface lure as long as warm water
season lasts when light is changing. Bass have the advantage, are looking
skyward for a mouthful, and catch sight of commotion above. You can just imagine
the trigger response. So many strikes leave no doubt that bass put their all
into the sheer thrill—whatever this is for a bass—of demolishing the target.
From eye socket to spinal column—it’s a very short fuse and a hot detonation.
The typical opinion states that
calm water is best for topwaters. I don’t disagree, but it’s not always true.
This past May I arrived at Round Valley Reservoir on a lunch break without my
lure bag, but I had a rod and my license. As soon as I parked, I reached into
the glove compartment to find a big white buzzbait. The sky was clouding. The
wind drove the surface like buffalo herds.
Unlikely? I thought so. But not
only did I catch three bass in 45 minutes fishing the shoreline at Lot 2, one
was a smallmouth that struck from at least eight feet of water. I knew the
breakline adjacent to a shallow flat indicated prime locale, but would a bass really
come up with that much wave action above it? Perhaps it was crucial the lure was a big buzzbait.
For chopped surface, try to beat
the commotion. You may not be able to do it with a musky plug, but choose
larger lures and the type that creates the most commotion like buzzbaits, Crazy
Crawlers, Jitterbugs, and the Devil’s Horse.
For a calm, mid-day surface, my
preference may be smaller plugs, and I especially like the clear plastic
versions of Hedden’s Tiny Torpedo and the smallest Zara Spooks. Whether they
make a difference or not, I’m curious about these choices and have caught bass on them.
Summer is the time to think about
big bass in the thickest vegetation available. Often lunker bass are not at the
outside edge of weeds along the deep open water, but just inside where thickest
vegetation begins, and even further back in it as if they intend to hide from
you. Try Money Frogs, Boohah Baits, or Phatrats. If you get a strike it will
blow weeds wide open. Now that fall is here, the weeds begin to recede as bass
tend to come out along the inside edges. Look for changes in light intensity and
put a plug up top where a bass can see it.
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