It's July, and while most of America has been focused on family vacations, fireworks, and barbeques – it's also a great time to be bass fishing. The mid-summer bite can be as hot as the weather, and there are many ways to catch bass this month. This month, you can choose to fish shallow and deep and will have success with these proven approaches.
The Offshore Bite
As the temperatures creep up and some fish move to their summer haunts in deep water, fishing offshore and away from the shoreline can be your best bet. This is especially true in the hottest part of the day as bass seek shade and cooler waters in deeper depths.
Aside from just going deep, bass also need something to relate to, which can be any number of things. Look for brush piles, standing timber, deep grass lines, as well as rock structures such as boulders, reefs, and humps in deeper water. Other likely areas are points on the main lake or the deeper water near dams. Anything that can give a bass somewhere to hide, if they need to, is a great place to fish, and these pieces of structure and cover can be found with your electronics and, in some cases, will be visible on your lake maps.
Regarding techniques for fishing deep water in July, there are two main approaches: fast or slow. When fishing slow, soft plastics rule during the warmer months, and several different rigs are ideal for July bass fishing. Starting with a finesse worm like a Roboworm straight tail on a drop-shot rig is a great way to catch summertime bass, but you can also drag a larger worm or creature bait on a Texas Rig or Carolina Rig and expect to get plenty of bites.
When fishing deeper water with faster baits, two options are deep-diving crankbaits that can bang into cover and create a reaction from a bass, or you can swim something subsurface like a swimbait on a jighead or underspin with a swimbait. With the latter two, feel free to adjust the depth you are fishing from reeling them just above the bottom to higher in the water column to see if some bass are suspended above cover or chasing schools of baitfish.
Sticking Shallow
While some may assume that all bass head to deeper water in the dead of summer, there will always be some shallow bass if they have two things: shade and forage. Bluegill and other small fish like to hang around shallow cover, and the bass won't be too far away.
If you've spent any time fishing for bluegill and other panfish, you probably know the likely areas already. Fishing around shallow grass, lily pads, and docks are great places to catch bluegill and prime spots to catch bass in July. Another critical component is finding shade; these areas will all provide shade for bass. You can also add overhanging brush, stumps, laydowns, and many artificial objects, such as bridges, that create shade and give the bass a place to hide.
When fishing shallow, a soft plastic stick worm like the Yamamoto Senko or small Texas-rigged creature bait are two prime options for catching bass this month. Other good choices are hollow-bodied frogs like the Strike King Pad Perch and others that look just like small panfish.
Two other great options are poppers and walking baits. All the baits mentioned are great for imitating bluegill and are some of the best lures you can use for bass in July.
Topwater Time
Perhaps no month is as good for topwater fishing as July. The water is warm throughout the country, and it gets an excellent topwater bite from far north to way down south and everywhere in between. It's a fun way to catch bass any month of the year, but right now is the prime time to throw baits on the surface.
Some of the best for July are walking baits. There are countless good options on the market, from the standard Heddon Super Spook to more modern baits like the 6th Sense Dogma and Strike King Sexy Dawg. This style of bait will walk side-to-side on the surface and is great because it casts a long way and will draw fish from far away. You can also fish them reasonably fast as you move and search for actively feeding bass.
Three other great topwater baits are poppers, frogs, and buzzbaits. They are primarily used in shallow water and do a great job catching bass in the summer. Each is best around some shallow cover, but each does things a little better than the other in situations.
Frogs are great because they are weedless and allow you to fish them over grass. Poppers are subtle and great for pinpoint casts to docks, brush, and other objects where you can present the bait near these targets and slowly pop the bait to draw a bass in. A buzzbait is excellent for moving fast to trigger a reaction and buzzing down a shaded dock or along a grass line. With your buzzbaits, you can use a standard skirted version or a bait like the Dirty Jigs Scott Canterbury Pro Buzz, designed to be fished with a soft plastic toad instead of the skirt.
July is an excellent month with holidays and plenty of summer fun. It's also a great month to go bass fishing, and there are many places to catch them. There are also quite a few lures that excel this month.
