Late Summer Patterns (What's working for YOU!)

[Capt. BassinLou]

Just as my title reads, what late summer patterns have been working for you? I know many of our active FL UB members have not been fishing a lot this summer, due to our heat wave. So I'm asking this question to our non-UB member lurkers who have been bass fishing this summer. I will kick things off by sharing what approaches have been working for me.

This year, I have made some changes with my summer bass fishing. I have been forced to adapt due to conditions.  The heat and humidity are a given factor, but two other factors I have had to really adapt to are very high water levels and current. Yes, these are common factors for us when we fish the Everglades this time of year, however, this year it seems things are different. We have had high water and a lot of current for quite some time, with no end in sight any time soon.

These high water levels disperse our bass dramatically. Many head to our immense flats, while other bass stay in the canals. In this post I will be talking about targeting bass that reside in the canals.

To increase your odds at catching these canal bass, you need to think containment, and what do I mean by that? This means fish systems that significantly limit access to the flats. Once you have identified these areas, the next challenge is figuring out the current.

Fishing with current is a great stand alone topic in and of itself, but for the sake of the length of this post, I share just one nugget of information, and here it is: Although our bass are not fans of excessive current, if you take the time to understand how bass adapt to this current, your ability of catching quality bass this time of year significantly increases!! 

The 2 approaches that have helped me significantly this summer so far are: fishing deeper than usual and slowing down,,,, a lot. For those of you that know me, fishing slow has been a work in progress for me over the years.    But,,, I'm finally understanding the effectiveness of slowing down. I guess I'm becoming wiser in my old age.    This doesn't mean that I have abandoned fishing my reaction techniques however. Those techniques are still effective to some degree.

In closing, a greater understanding of current patterns, fishing depth, and a slower approach, have been the 3 factors that have significantly helped me fishing this late summer. 

What's been working for you? (Loyal Lurker)

Pls note: I make these lurker posts from time just to bridge a gap. I know there are many Florida bass fishing anglers out there reading these threads and following this site, which is awesome, and your contribution would really help this bass fishing community. Become a UB member right now!!   

[Larry Francis]

In Winter Haven and on the Chain and very local lakes we have not seen any rain for a month and a half. Kissimmee about 20 miles away has had a few storms and some rain but in WH we got none of it.

Water temps at 91 degrees and the normal patterns seem compressed to night time and late afternoon. I am a morning fisherman so I have struggled. The local Guides here are getting fish but they are with shiners, they are freelining and they are diving into 17 -20 ft of water and going into the Grass beds That is where the fish are and they are not chasing much. Even watching the guys with Livescope seem to be struggling from the ones I have spoken with. We need some rain just to cool things off a bit as far as water temps. I think that would bring them out of the grass some feeding. If not I gotta figure out how to punch Grass in 20 ft of water. 

[Capt. BassinLou]

In Winter Haven and on the Chain and very local lakes we have not seen any rain for a month and a half. Kissimmee about 20 miles away has had a few storms and some rain but in WH we got none of it.

Water temps at 91 degrees and the normal patterns seem compressed to night time and late afternoon. I am a morning fisherman so I have struggled. The local Guides here are getting fish but they are with shiners, they are freelining and they are diving into 17 -20 ft of water and going into the Grass beds That is where the fish are and they are not chasing much. Even watching the guys with Livescope seem to be struggling from the ones I have spoken with. We need some rain just to cool things off a bit as far as water temps. I think that would bring them out of the grass some feeding. If not I gotta figure out how to punch Grass in 20 ft of water. 

Thank you for sharing Larry. Yeah our water temps are between 89-91 degrees as well. My fishing window right now is from dawn to 11:30ish. 12 pm the latest, I'm pretty beat past that.

[Larry Francis]

In Winter Haven and on the Chain and very local lakes we have not seen any rain for a month and a half. Kissimmee about 20 miles away has had a few storms and some rain but in WH we got none of it.

Water temps at 91 degrees and the normal patterns seem compressed to night time and late afternoon. I am a morning fisherman so I have struggled. The local Guides here are getting fish but they are with shiners, they are freelining and they are diving into 17 -20 ft of water and going into the Grass beds That is where the fish are and they are not chasing much. Even watching the guys with Livescope seem to be struggling from the ones I have spoken with. We need some rain just to cool things off a bit as far as water temps. I think that would bring them out of the grass some feeding. If not I gotta figure out how to punch Grass in 20 ft of water. 

Thank you for sharing Larry. Yeah our water temps are between 89-91 degrees as well. My fishing window right now is from dawn to 11:30ish. 12 pm the latest, I'm pretty beat past that.

Then in 1 day it changes. A little breeze was the only difference. Had a 7.82 and a 4 .62 and a 3. only 3 bites. lol Good one though. I will post pics in catch of the day .

[Capt. BassinLou]

In Winter Haven and on the Chain and very local lakes we have not seen any rain for a month and a half. Kissimmee about 20 miles away has had a few storms and some rain but in WH we got none of it.

Water temps at 91 degrees and the normal patterns seem compressed to night time and late afternoon. I am a morning fisherman so I have struggled. The local Guides here are getting fish but they are with shiners, they are freelining and they are diving into 17 -20 ft of water and going into the Grass beds That is where the fish are and they are not chasing much. Even watching the guys with Livescope seem to be struggling from the ones I have spoken with. We need some rain just to cool things off a bit as far as water temps. I think that would bring them out of the grass some feeding. If not I gotta figure out how to punch Grass in 20 ft of water. 

Thank you for sharing Larry. Yeah our water temps are between 89-91 degrees as well. My fishing window right now is from dawn to 11:30ish. 12 pm the latest, I'm pretty beat past that.

Then in 1 day it changes. A little breeze was the only difference. Had a 7.82 and a 4 .62 and a 3. only 3 bites. lol Good one though. I will post pics in catch of the day .

Great job Larry!!

[FlatsNBay]

For me, the last few trips (in the boat) I've been able to locate some schoolers. I've had success on weightless flukes and lipless crankbaits casting to areas of blow ups.

On the other hand, while bank fishing and pond hopping, I've downsized to a ned rig with good success. Nothing big but fun none the less!

[Larry Francis]

For me, the last few trips (in the boat) I've been able to locate some schoolers. I've had success on weightless flukes and lipless crankbaits casting to areas of blow ups.

On the other hand, while bank fishing and pond hopping, I've downsized to a ned rig with good success. Nothing big but fun none the less!

Have you ever tried a walking bait on those blow ups? I like the Dogma it weighs enough you can toss it a mile. I have over 200 fish on this one lure alone.

[FlatsNBay]

Yes, I have Larry. I love a topwater walking bait for schoolers as well. Looking at my Fish Swami analysis for my years catches, a topwater walking bait comes in at #6 lure for most fish caught this year.

[Larry Francis]

Yes, I have Larry. I love a topwater walking bait for schoolers as well. Looking at my Fish Swami analysis for my years catches, a topwater walking bait comes in at #6 lure for most fish caught this year.

I expected you to be on that one.

[PNWlocal]

This heat has definitely taken away some fishing time, I'm usually at it from dawn to around 11ish. Fishing ponds and found success on the topwater with some Heddon and Rapala lures. Smaller swimbaits in 2-4' of water have been working for me too. Not catching a bunch so I'm more or less working on some different techniques to get more comfortable with them.