MUSKEGON, Mich. – Summer can provide excellent largemouth bass fishing on reservoirs, but you must be versatile. While bedding fish have disbursed there can still be some shallow fish, as well as deep, and lots of places in between. But with today’s modern fishing electronics and mapping, the search has become even quicker no matter where you’re looking. Here are a few tips from Whitewater B.A.S.S. tournament pro, Wesley Gore, to help you catch more reservoir bass this summer.

Find Shade Lines, Go Old School

Docks, overhanging trees and submerged brush or vegetation are all money areas in summer on reservoirs. Flipping and pitching will get you bit on baits like Texas-rigged creatures, jig & craw combos, and wacky rigs.

“When I’m fishing ‘old school’ as far as finding shade lines, the biggest thing is figuring out what stage the bass are in. For example, is there a bream spawn going on, in which case I’d be throwing bream-related baits, like a jig, Pop-R, or a ChatterBait around shade lines. Up shallow you can look at tree shade lines vs. dock shade lines and they are likely to have bream beds. That means I’m looking in the backs of coves, shallow pockets—those are the places you’re going to want to target to do that,” noted Gore.

“It’s a lot of fun to fish this way and a good way to put fish in the boat that’s more sight-oriented with less use of electronics.”

B.A.S.S. Elite angler Wesley Gore

Go Deep

Another good start for catching summer reservoir bass is investigating deeper structure where water temps are cooler and there’s plenty of oxygen. Ledges, humps, submerged roadbeds, points and creek channels between 15-30 feet can all produce, areas you can find easily with today’s mapping and fish finder technology.

“Early summer, I always go out and scan the first stopping places bass go after the spawn. I’m looking at 10- to 18-foot points that are coming out of spawning pockets. I’m also looking at the mouths of major creeks and secondary creek points that have the creek channel running by them. Places like this bass will school up and immediately feed after the spawn,” offered Gore.

“A little bit later in the summer I get more target related and look for hard bottom with stumps, brush piles, anything I can pinpoint and target. These are the kinds of areas where bass will live for a few months before they go into the fall migration.”

As far as baits, Gore added: “In these areas I’m going to crank some with a deep-diving crankbait; jig; drop shot; and I use an Ol’ Monster 10.5-inch Texas-rigged plastic worm. Those are the rigs I typically use all summer.”

Early-Morning Topwaters

Time of day can also come into effect. Early mornings often bring on a topwater bite around shallow flats, secondary points, and the backs of coves where active baitfish congregate. Running areas quickly with your trolling motor and forward-facing sonar can be a great way to target these fish – besides watching for busting bait with the naked eye.

“Depending on what kind of cover is in the reservoir, like if you have grass, you’re going to want to target the back halves of the more major creeks—ones that have water draining into them. The water there is going to be a little bit cooler and more oxygenated, and you’ll want to get back there and target the flats with a frog or a buzzbait around those areas.”

“If you’re in a reservoir with more rocky, transitional areas and less vegetation, you’re going to want to cover water with a Whopper Plopper or ‘Spook and target primary and secondary points in the reservoir creeks where bass set up to take advantage of the low-light period.”

Find Suspended Forage

Summer reservoir bass will often follow baitfish schools around the reservoir, forage that just kind of swims aimlessly around the water column. Using forward-facing electronics is the best way to tap these fish, typically with a Damiki rig or dropshot if the bait is more oriented toward bottom.

“For me, in the summertime, I notice fish hanging in the major creek channels, their usual path. I typically start finding them about a quarter of the way in and you can find them almost always to the very back, that last little bit of deep water. Obviously, wherever you find the bait, that’s where you’re going to find the bass.”

“For me, I’m using forward-facing sonar with a minnow Damiki Rig. It’s hard to beat the combo for bass feeding on suspended bait.”

Looking to catch more reservoir bass this summer? Give the advice from young ace, Wesley Gore, a shot, and you’ll probably put together a bigger bag!

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