Photographs by Brendan Handy, Josh Rouse
With the mercury expected to rise into the triple digits this weekend and hover in the upper 90s for some time, fishing at this time of the year isn’t for the faint of heart.
However, for those who can stand the heat, it can be a productive time of the year for crappie and bass.
However, for those who can stand the heat, it can be a productive time of the year for crappie and bass.
With the mercury expected to rise into the triple digits this weekend and hover in the upper 90s for some time, fishing at this time of the year isn’t for the faint of heart.
However, for those who can stand the heat, it can be a productive time of the year for crappie and bass.
In the early summer, one method of crappie angling that can work particularly well is throwing or trolling crankbaits. Crappie and bass are predatory fish and become more aggressive as the temperature rises.
During the spring months, crappie can be found bunched tightly together near brush piles and other structure that they can relate to. But during the summer, they spread out more, so slow-trolling small cranks in 10-20 feet of water can help anglers cover a lot of water from the boat. Crappie will typically be suspending near dropoffs rather than sitting on the bottom, which also makes crankbaits efficient as they come in different running depths that can make targeting suspending fish easier.
Another plus to crankbaits is that you don’t need a hard hookset to hook a fish, which is good as crappie are notorious for having paper-thin mouths. Most of the time, the hook will set during the strike while you’re retrieving and you can just keep reeling while keeping pressure on the fish.
It can be effective for bank anglers, as well, as my fishing buddy Brendan Handy and I noted during a recent fishing trip on a hot, humid day that had us both drenched in sweat. Brendan got to the spot about 45 minutes before me, and when I arrived he’d already caught three crappie on a small Rapala BX Brat crankbait tossed from the dock — one of which was an absolute bruiser.
I started the day throwing soft plastics for bass and transitioned to live worms under a bobber as a bunch of nice channel cats and bluegills came in to surface feed, but I put a Storm Arashi Square crankbait with a 3-foot running depth on my baitcaster as it got dark and tossed it out while watching my bobber on the other pole. My thought was that I might get a bite from one of the big catfish by slowly retrieving it, and after about 10 casts I felt a solid hit on the line.
At first, I thought it was a largemouth by the way it hit the bait, but as I fought it through the shallows I saw the light reflecting off its side and knew it was a nice crappie.
I pulled the 12-inch slab onto the dock and threw it on the stringer with some good-sized bull bluegills I had caught for dinner. They were a nice little treat, but paled in comparison to the delicious saugeye I had cooked a few days prior. I had caught that fish, a mix between a walleye and sauger, back in September and froze it in a Ziploc bag filled halfway with water. To my surprise, the nine-month-old frozen saugeye tasted 10 times better than the fresh crappie and bluegill. They say cold-water fish tastes better, and now I believe it.
As a side note, be sure to stay hydrated and wear light-colored clothing if you’re out fishing in this heat, and pay attention to the heat index. It may only be 87 degrees out in the morning, but the humidity and direct sunlight can make it feel like 97. Wear sunscreen and sunglasses, as well, as the sunshine coming off the water only intensifies the amount of UV light hitting your skin and eyes.
However, for those who can stand the heat, it can be a productive time of the year for crappie and bass.
In the early summer, one method of crappie angling that can work particularly well is throwing or trolling crankbaits. Crappie and bass are predatory fish and become more aggressive as the temperature rises.
During the spring months, crappie can be found bunched tightly together near brush piles and other structure that they can relate to. But during the summer, they spread out more, so slow-trolling small cranks in 10-20 feet of water can help anglers cover a lot of water from the boat. Crappie will typically be suspending near dropoffs rather than sitting on the bottom, which also makes crankbaits efficient as they come in different running depths that can make targeting suspending fish easier.
Another plus to crankbaits is that you don’t need a hard hookset to hook a fish, which is good as crappie are notorious for having paper-thin mouths. Most of the time, the hook will set during the strike while you’re retrieving and you can just keep reeling while keeping pressure on the fish.
It can be effective for bank anglers, as well, as my fishing buddy Brendan Handy and I noted during a recent fishing trip on a hot, humid day that had us both drenched in sweat. Brendan got to the spot about 45 minutes before me, and when I arrived he’d already caught three crappie on a small Rapala BX Brat crankbait tossed from the dock — one of which was an absolute bruiser.
I started the day throwing soft plastics for bass and transitioned to live worms under a bobber as a bunch of nice channel cats and bluegills came in to surface feed, but I put a Storm Arashi Square crankbait with a 3-foot running depth on my baitcaster as it got dark and tossed it out while watching my bobber on the other pole. My thought was that I might get a bite from one of the big catfish by slowly retrieving it, and after about 10 casts I felt a solid hit on the line.
At first, I thought it was a largemouth by the way it hit the bait, but as I fought it through the shallows I saw the light reflecting off its side and knew it was a nice crappie.
I pulled the 12-inch slab onto the dock and threw it on the stringer with some good-sized bull bluegills I had caught for dinner. They were a nice little treat, but paled in comparison to the delicious saugeye I had cooked a few days prior. I had caught that fish, a mix between a walleye and sauger, back in September and froze it in a Ziploc bag filled halfway with water. To my surprise, the nine-month-old frozen saugeye tasted 10 times better than the fresh crappie and bluegill. They say cold-water fish tastes better, and now I believe it.
As a side note, be sure to stay hydrated and wear light-colored clothing if you’re out fishing in this heat, and pay attention to the heat index. It may only be 87 degrees out in the morning, but the humidity and direct sunlight can make it feel like 97. Wear sunscreen and sunglasses, as well, as the sunshine coming off the water only intensifies the amount of UV light hitting your skin and eyes.
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