We are headed into the heat of the summer, a time of year where we will see water temperatures well into the 90’s. The questions are, where do the fish go and what do you as a bass fisherman do to find them? The answers may not be exactly what you might think! 

The trump card in the answer has a lot to do with oxygen in the water, deep water is not the only answer and in fact when the water temperatures and air temperatures hit their highest points there is actually more oxygen in shallow water than in the deep. Shallow water many times has the highest concentration of oxygen level that may in fact speed up the bass metabolism, causing them to feed more than in deep water. If you doubt this just take the best fishing techniques for many pro anglers in the heat of the summer the one technique common too many of them is drop shot. This allows you to fish suspending fish, reason being the mid range water is many times where the fish move to gain oxygen, and many times as the heat increases the bass move to the most shallow places to find the oxygen levels needed to feed. The difference is cover, most lakes the shade in only on the banks where over hanging trees and boat houses shade the water, or in the case of Guntersville it is the grass that covers the lake and causes the shade, while creating the water oxygen level needed for them to be active. 

Another proof of this comes in many of the winning stringers in the hottest parts of the country; in many tournaments fisherman pitching the shallowest water with heavy weighted baits produce the best results. Just look at the results in Florida the shallowest water is producing the biggest stringers; the reason the cover, the shade and the oxygen level is enhancing the feeding activity of the bigger fish. 

Point being, don’t be myopic when looking for those big stringers of bass in the heat of the day as they might very well be in the shallowest of water!

To Fish with Captain Mike Gerry on Lake Guntersville 

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