3 Best Bass Lures That Work For Summer

Glenn: There you go. Nice. They're in here.

Keri: Come here you. Glenn's getting the net. Come here, baby. Come here, come here. Come on, Glenn. Come on, Glenn. There we go. There we go. He's got a sore on his tongue. There he goes.

Glenn: Hey, folks. Glenn May here with BassResource.com. Today, I want to talk to you about the top three baits that I use during the summer to catch bass. Now there's a lot of baits out there that catch them, but these are my three top confidence baits. So if you're struggling to try to figure out what bait to throw during this time of the year, then this video is really gonna help you narrow down that choice. So let's get started.

The first one I want to talk about is the Senko, which is, you know, the YUM Dinger, that sort of thing. That bait, all you gotta do is just Texas rig it, rig it weightless and throw it in the shallow water like you do in the springtime. A lot of guys fish it in the spring, they fish it in, you know, by weeds, weed pads, you know, lily pads, along weed lines, they skip it under docks, that sort of thing. And then when spring gets over and summer comes, they put it away. And that in my opinion is a mistake because this lure is very, very versatile. Sure. In the summertime, you can fish it in those same areas that you did in spring, and you can catch a lot of fish.

Well, you can also fish it a lot of different areas in different ways. So for example, in the summertime, a lot of bass move off away from the shallow water and into deeper water and they hang out in an offshore or deeper structure. So long tapering points, humps, ridges, rock piles, maybe in a stump field, there's some logs, sunken trees, something like that, a little bit deeper, maybe a drop-off to a creek or river or something like that.

So what I like to do is take that Senko and I'll rig it on something that gets down to where the fish are. So you can put it behind a Carolina rig, for example, or a split shot rig or a drop shot. There's a lot of different ways to get that bait down there and it's just as effective down there in those deeper water areas than they are in the springtime in the shallow areas. So for that reason, it's versatility that's why I really like to have it during the summer.

All right. So another type of bait that I like to fish during the summertime is the Texas rig plastic bait. Now there's a variety of reasons for that. Obviously they come in a lot of different colors, a lot of different shapes, a lot of different sizes and different actions, which, you know, if I was going to pick one type of bait, that's probably the one that's the most versatile but you can also fish it in a variety of different depths.

So you can take a creature bait like a lizard or maybe a Rage Bug, or you can take a plastic worm, any different size. You can fish anywhere from a 4-inch, maybe straight tail worm to a 10-inch, 12-inch ribbon tail worm or I've seen 18-inch ones even longer and they work.

And you can fish them in heaviest of weed cover, which sometimes the bass, they bury up deep in those weeds and you got to go in and dig them out. And Texas rig plastic baits are really, really good lures to use in those situations because you can get them down deep, you can get them in those weeds and you're not gonna get hung up, you can drag it on through that. Or, you know, later on, the summertime, mid to late summer, those weeds like hydrilla and milfoil will mat over and form these thick mats in the bass, will hang out underneath, they're eating insects and baitfish, you gotta get down to them. Well, put on a half-ounce to an ounce and a half bullet sinker on it and throw it up in the air and let it fall right on that mat and it'll punch through it and get down to where those bass are hanging out.

So, you know, it's a really cool way to fish shallow water, but a lot of times in the summer, bass are out deep too, there's a population that hangs out and stays out there the entire summertime. And so, you know, they might be on a hump or a rock pile, maybe some deep stumps or trees, maybe on a point somewhere up and down that water column. Well, you just put it on the back end of a Carolina rig or on a drop shot rig, or perhaps a split shot rig something like that, get those plastic baits down to where those fish are and then you can fish it at whatever cadence it is to match the feeding mood.

You know, if they're really aggressive, you can hop along the bottom real quickly and reel it almost like a straight reeling it in, you can get bites that way. Or if you hit a day, maybe a front has come through and the bass aren't as aggressive, you can drag it very slowly on the bottom and pause it as much as you need to and you can catch bass all throughout the entire summertime. So this is why Texas rig plastic baits are in this list.

There we go. Okay. He’s like a stronger fish than I anticipated it. He's not that big but...

Keri: Fought like a good one. We caught a little fishy-poo. Look at the fishy. Oh, look at him go, run away.

Glenn: Okay another type of bait that I like to use is frogs and toads. Now I know technically they're two different baits, but I tend to lump them into one category because they look similar, you fish them in a similar fashion, and you fish them in the same kind of areas. So I tend to lump it in the same sort of thing. So don't get mad at me because I'm picking two different lures. I know they're different. But frogs, let's start with that.

Frog is a hollow body frog, I like it because it floats and it's weedless. You know, the hooks are right up against the body, that collapsible body just, you know, when the bass crushes it, they get impaled on it right away. But because of that weedless nature and because it floats, you can throw it across heavy, heavy cover.

So for example, when hydrilla, and when milfoil, when it mats over the top, it gets that thick cover that canopy where the bass are hanging out underneath it, that's a great time to throw a frog. Throw it over the top of that matted vegetation, and just wind it back in, that's all you gotta do. And the bass will see it, and they're tracking up underneath it and they'll blast right through that canopy to nail that frog. It's exhilarating, it's exciting way to catch fish. It startles you, it's so much fun to see that strike. And that's, you know, one of the main reasons why I really liked throwing it in the summertime.

But also because it floats, you can bring it across those pockets where there's an opening or maybe you bring it across sparse lily pads, for example, when there's an opening in there, you can let it sit, just sit in place and just hang out. And all you do is take your rod, give it a little twitch every now and then to make it look alive. And a lot of times you can entice reluctant bass to come up and blast it. They just can't stand it, it looks like a helpless creature that's struggling to stay afloat and that's an easy meal for bass. So it's a great way to catch fish when they're up hanging around the thick vegetation, frog is it.

Now toad, very similar. Toads are hollow, they're solid bodies, but they have those legs, gives that kicking action. And so when you bring it across the water kind of gurgles, real subtle. You can again throw it the same thing over the top of the matted vegetation, real it back in, it causes a bit more of a commotion. So again, bass will come up, blast it through that vegetation.

The big difference is when you bring it across a hole and an opening in the weeds, kill it and just let it flutter down, just it'll slowly slink down. And if a bass is tracking it, here it comes right in his face and he has to pounce on it, he has to react. And so it's a great way to catch fish. Say for example, they don't necessarily want to blast through that vegetation, they'll eat it when it falls through that opening. So frogs and toads, favorite baits for throw during the summertime.

There, I had to wait until I felt him. There we go. Here we go. Here we go. Come here, you. Look at that, not a big guy, but he took it. See the key with fishing these toads is when the fish blows up on it your natural reaction is to set the hook right away. Instead, you got to drop the rod tip and feed him slack and feed it to him and wait. Reel up some of that slack, wait until you feel the weight of the fish and then pop them, you know, drop the rod tip just a little bit, throw some slack in the line if you need to, boom. And pop it and that's how to...look, the hook went all the way through his cheek. That's how you do it guys.

So those are some of the top baits I like to throw in the summertime. Now I know I probably didn't mention one of your favorite lures. That doesn't mean it doesn't work in the summer, they do. But these are my top confidence baits that I always have tied on. Yes, I'll throw other baits and I will catch fish on other baits. But if you really want to narrow down your choices and have something onboard or, you know, when you're bank fishing, have it with you in your tackle box, and you want to make sure that you can catch fish no matter what the circumstances, one of these baits is gonna do the job for you. I hope that helps. For more tips and tricks like this visit BassResource.com