Did you ever wish you could get out of the heat in the summer? So does the Bronzeback. Shallow water means warmer water, and as a rule, warmer water in the summer is not where you are likely to find your limit. Then again, rules are made to be broken. To find them in the shallows you will need to find some moving the water; current from a river, water being released or water being drawn in, such as at a power plant, or whatever creates a current. Also, the shallows may be good on cloudy days which brings baitfish up. Baitfish bring smallmouths with them and usually in schools. For these, use topwaters or soft plastic jerkbaits. Two of the best all-around smallmouth are soft plastic tubes and grubs. But the majority of the time, you are going to be looking deep, and deeper. Maybe 30 feet deep or more. Look for main points near a river channel. Scour the sides of deep rocky points, bluff points, sharp drop offs and shady bluffs using Carolina-rigged soft plastics (french fries and centipedes), crankbaits and drop-shot rigs (tubes). If you aren't catching them, change locations. They can bunch up in the summer, often schooling by size and suspending themselves in deep water. Oh, they're out there in the summer. You just need to find them. Most of the time you will need to think deep and deeper. |
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