By Reed Montgomery

If you, like most Alabama anglers, have given up on summer daytime fishing until things cool down a bit, its understandable. Summer showed considerably higher temperatures in Alabama than in years past. Intolerable continuous midday highs of over 100 degrees sent most anglers either towards the couch in the cool, air conditioning. Or resorting to night fishing.

Early August showed unseasonably cool daytime highs in the mid to upper 80s. This helped fishing significantly and the shallow-water bite increased overnight. In addition, although we have not had any large amount of rain, evening thundershowers have kept the lakes headwaters and most major feeder creeks slightly stained.

Most of you that either know me, have fished with me on a guided trip or been around when I collected a check at various bass tournaments (like Mark's). You're aware of my fondness for shallow-water fishing. This includes and array of topwater lures or lures that run just beneath the water's surface Like most anglers, I must get used to the fact that they don't always bite when and where you want them to.

Unlike most anglers, I have to be ready to go fishing at a moment's notice and put anglers on a quality catch on any given day As a fishing guide this is how I make a living, so my "product" must be worth the money invested or like at Wal-Mart, people come back looking for a refund. My addiction towards this style of fishing means having to have many shallow-water spots to check out in a day's fishing.

This is understood by most anglers that fish regularly: Even if we have a bad day, most usually go home a much more knowledgeable angler than when we met at the dock that morning. If shallow-water angling is not their style, we often resort to deep-water fishing, finesse fishing or flipping and pitching to piers and boathouses, all in a days time. That's why I advertise, "a full day's fishing daylight to dark year-round." Sometimes it takes all day to find 'em!

After fishing all of Alabama's Lakes for more than 30 years, I have discovered one trait that all bass have in common that is in my favor. Year-round, there are always some bass shallow on all of our lakes. These are all catchable bass by the knowledgeable angler with a lot of patience (and sunscreen). Fishing pressure has a lot to do with catchable bass, so if its hot and the majority of "sane" anglers are at home, then you have a lot of places all to yourself.

PREDATORS AND PREY
The ticket to finding and catching these shallow water bass is to look for the main ingredients that attract bass year-round under different seasonal conditions. During summer bass eat every day. They have to. The energy they expend when chasing down a meal must be replenished every few hours. This means they are going to stay in an area with plenty of bait fish or crayfish to supply them with a needed meal.

So this means the angler must find concentrations of baitfish that generally stay in one area all summer or fish areas with red clay bottoms and rocky surroundings that crayfish are known to inhabit. As most anglers know, there is a smorgasbord of meals for bass to dine on during summer. Besides a variety of baitfish and crayfish found lakewide, bass will eat anything (especially largemouths) that can be chased down and choked down. Lures that mimic these meals are good for fooling the age-old, lure-conscious bass of our lakes.

Frogs and mice venture near the water's edge. Thus the popularity for soft plastic imitations that mimic these little bank-running creatures. Fishing various models around a variety of weeds, from coontail moss to millfoil and hydrilla, will always give an angler a thrill when seeing these huge bass explode on a well-placed offering.

Here's a tip: Always fish areas other anglers avoid. These lures are very weedless and can be thrown right in the thickest greenery imaginable. Keep in mind that not all of these little furry and hopping creatures dwell around weeds. During summer drought many lakes are void of weeds. Many of these creatures live around man-made cover, brush, stumps, log jams and scummy backwaters, areas most anglers avoid or don't even try to fish. Heavy line and stout equipment is a must when fishing these lures.

Besides baitfish, most weeds have many worms, insects, crayfish, snakes and even small furry creatures that live in or near this bass-attracting cover. Weedless lures such as floating worms, lizards, dragon flies, soft jerkbaits or weedless spoons entice strikes from finicky bass that have seen too many unreal meals. buzzbaits, spinnerbaits, jigs, various topwaters, even crankbaits, jerkbaits and rattletraps attract strikes in and around thick aquatic weeds, but most sure don't look like anything the bass eat on a regular basis. It may sound, act and look real, but the bass know its not. That's why they just slap at a lot of these lures, and missed strikes are common. Something that looks and acts real will get more strikes and a better hookup.

So while your sweating out these last few remaining hot days of summer and early fall, keep in mind that not all bass go deep, not all bass bury up in thick cover or stay hidden far back up under thick, matted weeds and not all bass are hidden in and around man-made piers and boathouses.
Some bass remain shallow, even throughout the summer when most anglers have given up until fall arrives. Remember, "Keep on chunkin'. They're there, you just got to make "em bite." Persistence pays!

Call me and we'll go fishing. Reed's Guide Service. (205) 787-5133.