As the summer gets into full swing, big bass have moved to either areas of heavy weed growth on expansive flats, edges and inside and outside turns near deep water and have also set up on main lake zones. Though giant bass may feed less frequently during summer, the opportunity for giant fish still exists as the most productive times will always be low light conditions during shorter specific bite windows. A combination of fishing 5 days before the new and full moon periods in combination with incoming summer storms can produce some of the heaviest bass in the system. Being on the water the hours between fronts [weather windows] provide excellent bite windows that can be extended.
Another transition occurs during the late summer, as bass once again instinctively feel a need to feed heavily just before the fall turnover. This late summer time frame has produce some giant bass for me throughout the decades and lasts about 2 weeks until the turnover gets into it’s mid-stages.
The fall turnover starts another transitional period, as oxygen depletes in the shallow weed areas and expansive weed flats and forces those bass that lived in shallow water during summer months to relocate to steep break lines containing more forage, more oxygen and left over healthy green weed growth. Bass also can be found throughout the entire water column, top to bottom during early to mid turnover. They transition slowly until all layers of oxygen throughout the system remain the same and water temperature stabilize to the same temperate top to bottom.
This is the start of the Fall consolidation and the best time of the Fall season to get into consolidated groups of giant bass locating in small portions of the system. This time of the year fish are again feeding heavily after transitioning through Fall turnover, and gorging themselves before winter. Prime time for the Fall peak bite is when water temperatures drop from 60F through the 52F degree mark. High winds and variable weather
Article & Images by Brett Richardson
Bass Digest/June, 2014