Bass Tip for Shoreline Shallows: Catch Summer Largemouths all Day

Trees hanging over a shoreline with steeply dropping depths are ideal for shadowline fishing.

Shadowline Bass

By Bruce Litton

Breaking the rules feels good when results justify. Here in the Northeast, by sometime in June most of us who catch largemouths start talking about early and late, but this isn’t the only time of day to fish after the post-spawn period we’re in the midst of now. Sunrise and sunset only marks the time when we may think we need to be on the water to catch bass once weather really heats up, but May is the month to begin tweaking tactics, anticipating when bass slow in summer. They don’t stop eating.

Like a lot of things, it’s a half-truth that summer bass can’t be caught during the day. Once the May and early June post-spawn adjustment period starts settling into the first summer dog days, bass slow their pace, but their metabolic processes race. The higher the water temperature, the more calories burned, so it may seem odd they don’t swim about at top speed, and yet their sensory alertness is on the increase now, which doesn’t necessarily mean bass get motivated to lunge and strike a plug or spinnerbait, but does mean they eat a lot. What they eat should concern us.

Rather than burn more calories by going on the chase after fish forage, once water temperatures move beyond the high end of optimal—somewhere in the 70’s—bass begin to take whatever easy meal drops their way. Maybe a tadpole, a grasshopper or leech. Bass even feed on nematodes and subaquatic insect larva. Why not easily flex those vacuum jaws? Alert to the copious critters in warm water, contrary to popular wisdom, bass feed all day during summer, and I’ve caught plenty at high noon with temperatures in the middle 90’s by fishing the edge between shadow and sunlight.

For years I’ve begun my approach to summer the first week in May, pitchin’ and castin’ weightless plastic worms. I look for sticks, brush, timber in the water often where branches surround me, too. On the banks of ponds and small lakes from 12 to 40 acres. Bank fishing lets me take stealthy approaches to bass lairs, although I’ve enjoyed plenty of success at the shadowline in lakes as large as 2685 acres from a boat. Since May means bass guard beds, I try to ignore the bucks I notice, and look for deeper water. I like a sunny afternoon best because it creates that edge I mentioned.

Inches beyond the line between sunlit water and shade, this target zone I call the shadowline is more important than sticks—not all lakes and ponds feature wood in the water—but if shaded brush combines with emerging weeds, all the better. Depth may be three to 12 feet. Females—the bigger bass—spawn quickly and let the bucks—worthy of being left alone—guard the newly arrived bass in shallows. Females hang further out, as if they can’t quite forget their young. From now on through July, you’ll find plenty in these semi-shallows, and even though August can get especially tough in the middle of the day, many afternoon catches happen in these spots.

I suggest forgetting the use of Senkos for the shadowline method. They sink twice as fast as slim traditional-type worms. If you target cover, use a 2/0 worm hook and bury the point in a seven to eight-inch worm. Rig an 18-inch, 15-pound test monofilament leader and tie it to 15-pound test quality braid by a uni-to-uni splice. Otherwise, scale down to a size 2 plain shank if you fish spots without cover. Even a micro swivel is too much weight, and fluorocarbon sinks while mono doesn’t. Twister-tail worms I find too “noisy.” Bass may respond best to a quiet, slow approach.

Pitch or cast that worm to the sunlit side of the shadowline; a bass in the shade sees in high definition a tantalizingly slow-sinking treat accessible by an easy swim. You can catch plenty if you don’t care to fish before breakfast or after dinner.  



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