|
Myth #1:
Bass stop feeding in hot weather
This is
the most common misunderstanding concerning fish behavior, and
it may also be the easiest to
logically explain away. Bass, being a fish, are cold-blooded
creatures of nature. As such, they tend to
adjust their body temperatures to that of their surroundings.
Their bodies have certain upper and lower
temperature ranges, within which life can be sustained.
Temperature has one major effect on the bass and
that is that it regulates the speed of his bodily processes
(i.e., metabolic rate). For example, the rate at
which energy is expended in a bass as with the temperature of
his surroundings (and, therefore, his body)
increase, thus requiring more and more food to digest and
convert to that energy. This single fact shows
that it is a physical impossibility for a fish to cease to feed
during hot weather. In fact, a bass should feed
more during the Summer months than at any other time.
Myth #2:
In hot weather, bass always go to deep water.
While
this statement may seem logical at first, it is actually a
double falsehood. First, understand that
`deep' is a relative term. On exceptionally clear bodies of
water, bass will always position themselves at
greater depths than in a stained water impoundment. Clear water
bass may normally spend their time at
depths of 20-45 feet. Therefore, `deep' water would be somewhere
below those depths. The majority of
largemouth bass on a typical southern or mid-western reservoir
might tend to spend their days and nights
at a depth range of 10-18 feet, with occasional excursions to
the shallow cover areas and food shelves to
feed. Bass do not normally go deeper than this during the Summer
months. And, 10-18 feet is not normally
considered to be `deep' water. The fact is, the deepest the
majority of bass will ever be found is during the
coldest part of the Winter, when the depths are actually warmer
than the mid-range and shallow zones!!
What
`tricks' us fishermen into thinking that the bass have gone
exceptionally deep is actually a result
of the recent seasonal change. To get into Summer, the bass had
to pass through the Spring season.
Spring, with its ritual of the spawn, had most of the bass clan
up in exceptionally shallow water, where they
were easy to find and catch. When they suddenly disappeared from
the shallow cover, we unwittingly use
the excuse that they must have fled to the deep zones. Actually,
most of the Summer bass can be found
beneath where your boat was sitting during the Spring fishing.
Second,
escaping from the heat is no problem for a bass and really
doesn't enter into a Summer fishing
scenario. Studies (please refer to the accompanying chart) have
shown that when the surface temperature
of a lake is in the high 80's and low 90's, the water at the
10-12 foot level will be in the low 70's. You can
easily prove this to yourself by jumping off a boat dock and
noticing how cold that water is down deep. No
more needs to be said about that misunderstanding.
Temperature
Reading By Depth; Still and Moving Waters
|
Temp
|
Current
|
No Current
|
|
surface
|
83
|
89
|
|
6
|
74
|
77
|
|
10
|
72
|
76
|
|
15
|
71
|
70
|
|
20
|
70
|
64
|
NOTE: Data
complied on Lake Guntersville, Alabama, July 1984.
Myth #3.
Bass have certain temperature preferences and will always adhere
to them.
Other
than a specific temperature range to provide for incubation and
hatch of the spawn, a bass usually
seems to disregard temperature factors in favor of staying near
a food supply. In fact, certain scientific
study reports in my possession indicate that the largemouth bass
makes the most efficient use of his food
at a temperature range of 78-85 degrees (F). This efficiency
factor is based on the percentage of digested
food left over for body growth after fulfilling the basic
requirements to sustain life.
In fact,
the peak efficiency point was noted to be approximately 82
degrees (F). What this tends to
indicate is that bass should be quite comfortable in what we
anglers tend to describe as `warm' water. And,
in referring to the earlier chart, we could surmise that he can
easily tolerate shallow zones during the
Summer period.
What
actually may be the case, regarding the Summer depth of a bass,
is that the food supply
(normally threadfin shad and crayfish) does not handle warm
water well, and prefers the cooler depths.
Accordingly, the bass follows the food source as the waters warm
and it moves away from the shallow
zones.
One
great truism of bass angling notes that "Catching fish is
easy; finding them is the hard part." The
wisdom of this statement holds regardless of the season, the
waters fished, the angler, and all the fine
equipment in the World. However, it holds more significance for
understanding as we try to overcome the
ingrained misconceptions we have harbored for years regarding
hot weather fishing.
Finding
bass in the Summer is, like other times of year, a matter of
understanding the world of the bass
and how he reacts to his surroundings. With the water
temperature up and their body metabolism high, the
bass are very active, moving a lot, and feeding heavily. You may
come upon a good structure feature, cast
a lure, and catch two or three fish quickly. But, just as
suddenly, it will be all over. And, the next time you
try the location, it may well be void of any fish. Well, here is
what is probably happening.
Summer
bass school strongly and nearly always relate to structure. (The
only exception may be when
the bait fish schools move into open water over the deeper zones
and the bass follow. We usually note this
condition by the presence of surface feeding activity). The
Summer school will be active and somewhat
loose and dispersed, as all are trying to feed on a
nearly-continual basis. The structure being used,
therefore, must be fairly large in order to support the
dispersion of the entire group. This is a very key point
in locating schools of hot weather bass on a consistent basis.
We can still find singles and small groups
on smaller structures and cover features. But, for lots of bass,
we normally need large structure. The angler
must recognize that, if a few bass are taken and the action
stops, the remainder of the school may be
dispersed across or along the remainder of the structure.
The most
ideal Summer structure is a creek or river channel drop, as it
meets three primary
requirements. First, it is near deep water, always a major
factor in bass positioning. Second, it is a large
feature that allows a school to disperse along its course. And,
finally, channels normally have some degree
of current flow, either natural or induced by the winds. Current
is important in hot weather bassin', in that it
prevents stratification by temperature and oxygen levels, lends
some cooling effect, and adds oxygen to the
water.
Other
good locations are large submerged islands, long underwater
points, and roadbeds. Again, we
would be searching for a feature near deep water and with
sufficient size to support a large, widely
dispersed school of actively feeding bass. Those readers who
have fished tidal waters or flowing rivers with
some degree of regularity readily recognize the benefits of
current flow. The mixing of the continually moving
waters precludes temperature stratification to the degree that
there is little seasonal depth variance in the
location of bass.
On
shallow, weed-infested waters, some Summer bass will relate to
structure, if the water happens to
be deep enough. However, the dense aquatic growth may indicate
where the majority will be. (Florida
biologists report that fish sampling has shown about two-thirds
of the bass will be in the dense cover zones and the remaining
one-third in open water. This can be considered a normal
condition, IF the aquatic growth is alive and thriving. Dead
vegetation actually uses up oxygen as a part of the decay
process.)
The
heavy cover, even in the shallows, is comfortable due to the
shade and the rich oxygen output of the
plant life. A by-product of the photosynthesis of oxygen is a
cooling effect, which may well make the
shallow vegetation zones cooler than deeper, open water. When
searching for bass in these shallow
waters, the two key ingredients are, by priority: the most dense
cover and the deepest water available.
Recalling that the warm waters result in a high metabolic rate
in the bass and an increased requirement
for food, we would suspect that the competition for food would
be high during the Summer months.
Consequently, we would logically choose an active lure to
attract the active fish. This basically describes a
diving, lipped crank plug pulled with a fast retrieve. In fact,
this type lure has proven to be the most effective
method for taking large quantities of largemouth bass during the
heat of mid-Summer. The only requirement
is that the angler get in down to the fish.
Selecting the
lure with the express purpose of operating it at a certain
depth, as dictated by the structure
to be fished, is the most important criteria for the angler's
decision process. If the depth to be fished is
beyond that at which a crank plug can be accurately presented
and controlled, a plastic worm is acceptable, but should be
fished rapidly and erratically. Remember, during hot weather, a
rapidly-fished lure
is always vastly more productive than one presented slowly.
Plus, we will be able to make more casts
during the day. Every cast is a potential ten-pounder!
So, just
because the weather is a bit uncomfortable, don't stay home
under the air conditioner and sulk. The bass are on their most
active feed during the hot Summer period.
Go feed them.
|
|
