The Bite Report: Are they biting during a heat wave?5 minute read

Fishing The Heat Wave.

So now that the summer heat has hit most of the south like a Mac truck, has the bite slowed down or picked up in your area?

How would you fish the heatwave? Would you go out at the end of the day as the air temps slowly drop and the sunsets, or go in the morning before the heat of the day?

These are questions that I have been asked lately.

I personally think, anytime!

Morning and late evening: Topwater (you could try this all day depending on cloud cover and temp).

Extreme heat and cloudless skies (even after a front): Slow and small. You don’t HAVE to fish deep, but it’s a good chance the big ones will be deep. If you stay shallow (3 to 8 ft) look for grass. Wacky rigging over grass is killer in the heat, so is pulling t-rigs though (although you’re going to pull up a lot of salad. Just keep bringing it in and recasting). Sometimes if you give it a quick jerk, you can pull the salad off and keep fishing. The small profile of smaller baits tends to go weedless better than big bulky baits.

If the water temps are dropping after extreme heat, I like to clip the tops of grass with a floating crank. Once you feel the grass, stop cranking and let it float up, then repeat.

I have lately been fishing around the banks of my favorite fishing spots. I look for shaded areas that are provided by overhanging trees and old or new structures like docks or bridges.

The go-to lures I’ve been using lately are Rebel frog. I toss it parallel with the bank and just walk smoothly across the water and usually I get a good hit with this technique.

I have also used a Strike King KVD Jig that is pumpkin color. Also parallel to the bank or just a little further out underneath any brush I can find, I use a flick and pop motion and a slow retrieve. Usually, this gets a lot of strikes and bass cannot resist.

So that is all for this week’s Bite Report.

Thank you all and remember keep on Fishing.