5 Tricks for Catching Fish When It's Hot

During the summer, anglers are completely unleashed. The long days and warm, comfortable nights allow for plenty of fishing time, and most of us practically sprint down to the water any chance we get. It can be a time of plenty. Nearly every fish species, frompanfishandbasstotroutandwalleye, are active and hungry throughout the entire season—for the most part.

During the mid to late summer months, many anglers experience what’s referred to as “the summer doldrums.” It occurs when long periods of bright sun and warm water temperatures turn a hot summer bite downright cold. Fish become finicky and sluggish during the day andheavy pressure from anglersmakes it seem like they won’t eat anything.

Thankfully, there are a few tricks and strategies you can use to avoid getting skunked during the summer

Fish Early and Late

While fishing during the afternoon may be effective during thewinter, it’s not always the best strategy during the summer. This is especially true when you’re targeting cold and cool water species liketroutandpikeor crepuscular and nocturnal species likeburbotandwalleye. To make the most out of your summer fishing, you need to be out when the sun is off the water, and that means going fishing early and staying out late.

The half-hour before sunrise and the half-hour before sunset are absolute prime times. This is especially true if you’re targeting larger, more predatory species likebass,muskie, orstripers. These predators tend to be less active during the middle of the day and spend most of their time in deeper water, but in the early morning and early evening, they push into the shallows to hunt. This makes it a great time to fish larger lures and flies and eventopwater lures, as these small feeding windows can make fish especially aggressive.

Night fishingcan also be extremely productive during the summer, especially if you’re willing to go all night. When it’s extremely hot during the day, different species of fish will “turn on” to feed at different intervals throughout the night, giving you opportunities for sundown to sunup action as long as you’re willing to keep your lines wet through the entire night.

Generally, you’ll want to fish in shallower water along gravel and sand bars, wide bays, and off the points of islands and points that have significantly deeper water close by. Fish these shallows near drop-offs where both schools of fishlike walleyeor lonepredatory species like catfishcan move into and out of as they feed periodically throughout the night.

Tap the Brakes

Almost every angler out there fishes fast during the summer. We go out into the bright sun and stand hip-deep in the water where we cast, rip, and slash withbig flashy luresorbig gaudy flies. It’s often a better idea to take a page out of the tortoise’s book and remember that slow and steady wins the race.

During the summer heat, water temperatures rise significantly, causing the oxygen levels in the water to drop. These low oxygen levels in warm summer waters make fish sluggish. Take the same approach as the fish and go slow if you want to tempt them.

When you’re fishing with lures in hot water, instead of crankingjerkbaitsandspoons, try fishing withsmall jigsandsoft plasticsthat you have to float and flutter along the bottom.

If you’re fly fishing, tryswinging streamersinstead of stripping them ordrifting nymphsinstead of splashing and popping withdry flies, and it’s almost guaranteed you’ll get better warm-water results.

It should be noted that when fishing during these conditions, cold-water species liketroutandsalmonoften won’t survive the experience of being caught. This can makecatching and releasingthese species extremely challenging and even illegal in many waterways. However, if you’re planning on harvesting thesefish for the dinner table, mid-summer is an excellent time to do it.

Shrink It Down

Everyone believes thatbig baits catch big fish.But when everyone and their mother takes the same approach during summer, fish become hesitant to strike the big stuff. This makes midsummer an excellent time to downsize your presentations.

Not only do fish face heavy pressure during the middle of the summer, but they typically feed on smaller prey.Minnows, dace, and shiners, make small, mid-summer lures and flies doubly effective. You’re essentially “matching the hatch” when you use them.

If you’re a lure angler, put aside the big buzz baits and crankbaits you associate with catching bass and pike and try using smallerinline trout spinnerslike thePanther MartinandRooster Tail.

Bait anglers can do the same thing by using small pinhead minnows and shiners when targeting larger fish likestripers,catfish, and evenmuskie. Like pigs inhaling acorns, these larger fish inhale dozens of smaller baits at a time. This makes them much more apt to take one rather than the usual livesuckersandcut baityou might normally use.

Fly anglers should downsize their presentation too. You might associate smaller insects likemidgesandcaddiswith spring andfall trout fishing, but these smaller flies can be surprisingly effective for the fish during the summer. Fishing small streamers like the Black Nose Dace, Woolly Bugger, and Clouser Minnow can also be extremely effective for summer trout and evenbassandpanfish, since the larger streamers fish can spook pressured fish.

Find the Current

Whether it’s an inlet where stream water flows into a lake, alarger river, a rapid, or a fall in the middle of a slower-moving river, these faster currents can be real hotspots during the summer because they're more oxygen-saturated than stagnant areas.

You can fish these inlets and areas of fast current to target the fish that stack up around them. These are great places to drift presentations by nymphing, fishing baits under bobbers, or casting to with lures.

When casting lures, make sure you cast upstream and retrieve your lures downstream rather than retrieving them against the current. In the low-oxygenated water, fish will be less apt to chase a lure or fly that’s fighting against the current, because it looks unnatural and because they don’t want to work that hard. However, it’s hard for fish to resist a bait swimming or drifting with the current.

Cool It Down

The simplest way to find and catch fish in the summer is to find cooler water. Of course, this is easier said than done. You can hike to fish inhigh mountain streamsor troll blindly in extremely deep water. However, there are cooler water spots that are easy to find and fish on almost every waterway on the planet.

Shade is the first and most obvious spot, especially if you’re targeting ambush predators likebass,crappie, andtrout. Look for spots along banks with overhanging brush or rock edges, boat docks and piers, exposed and dense weed beds, and even lily pad patches. These are all ideal areas for summer fish, and they could be 10 degrees cooler than the surrounding water.

The second most likely areas to find cooler water are in and beneath thermoclines. These thin but distinct layers of cooler water can change rapidly with water depth and act as a boundary between warmer surface water and colder deeper water.

Thermoclines are fantastic gathering areas for schooling fish likewalleye,yellow perch, and evenlake troutduring the summer and are ideal fishing spots so long as you can find them. This is a fairly easy task if you’re fishing from a boat equipped withelectronics.Otherwise it can be extremely challenging.

Most thermoclines are found between eight and 40 feet depending on the clarity and size of the water body in question. Generally, cooler and highly oxygenated water will be within five to 10 feet of the thermocline. This is where most fish will gather. As long as you can get your lures or baits within the thermocline ballpark, you should find success.

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