Fred Raby
Volbasser@att.net
Pensacola
Blue
Angels
Bass Page
hook.
com
"FISHING WITH FRED"
covering tidal waters and impoundments
SUMMERTIME SLOW ROLLING SPINNERBAITS
Dog days, summertime and spinnerbaits, what a great time to catch bass...if you can find them and know how to get their attention.
Fishing the southern river systems can provide some of the best stringers of the year in those scorching summer days, but you do need to know what to look for and how to get ole mossy jaw's attention.
A pattern that has been very successful for me is SLOW rolling a 3/4 to 1 ounce spinnerbait around the tree tops submerged on the deep eddy pockets of our Southern rivers.
After the Spring rains have let up and the rivers get in the banks go to the narrows and deep bends of the river and look for laydowns. Many of these will be in d e e p water 40 to 60 feet deep, don't panic. Position your boat on the outside edges, into the current and work the entire length of the lay down...especially the deep outside edge. Ideally the current will be blowing hard enough that you can barely hold the boat. From the down current side cast well into and beyond the tree let the bait slowly roll over the branches, the heavy spinnerbait will dance and flash in the swift current and I promise the bass cannot resist. Be ready for a fight, use heavy tackle because with the swift current, lots of structure and some pretty big hawgs it will be all you can do to get 'em to the boat. Be patient, when you find that likely looking spot work it until it produces. The fish are there with their noses facing into the current looking for that injured shad to come struggling by, but often they are deep under the structure.
These conditions are not for beginners, it can be work, holding the boat in swift current, working the bait through the structure, then horsing the bass out of the cover into the boat, but the rewards are great. Another point of interest in these situations is Red Wasps, and snakes. Reedd Wasps buld their nest close to the water in the same laydowns you are fishing, so survey the area well as you go in because once you hook up you don't want a surprise you aren't ready for. Some of my best stringers have come from these tactics under these conditions.
Good luck and let me know if this works for you.
Fred Raby
