Summer Bass Fishing Patterns

Going from Winter to Summer without having much of a Spring seems to be a common subject among fishermen. The intricate patterns of Springtime fishing were blurred by the prevailing twenty to thirty-five mile per hour winds that blew from the end of February through May. As of this writing(late May) I have counted only four days that the wind did not blow over fifteen or so.

Many portions of the lake have been totally unfishable because of the wind, areas that are in open water like some of the mainlake humps and ridges. Some of the mainlake brushpiles have been untouched due to the swells rolling over the top of them.

Water temperatures were on a quick rise through April, I was already recording temperatures in the eighties the first week of May. The fish have been responding to the warming water as if we were deep into the summer. I have been taking customers out to fourteen to eighteen foot brushpiles and dragging Carolina Rigs for black bass this month and pretending that its summer time. The early morning bite has been on, rocks and breakwaters have been giving up good fish on crankbaits and Texas rigged worms. Even the Caronlina rig has been producing early fish on the rocks and breakwaters. Later in the morning those deeper brushpiles are holding good numbers of bass in and around fifteen feet. Pumpkinseed, smoke/blue, chartreuse pepper, and watermelon colored french fries have been my number one Carolina rigged baits.

The crappie quickly recovered from their spawn and stacked up on the brushpiles. At times during the last few weeks I’ve graphed a brushpiles to mark and there will be so many crappie suspended over them that the depth will change from the bottom to the top of the school of fish. The crappie are so thick in numbers that they collectively have enough density that the sonar cannot penetrate. Unable to see the brushpile for the fish I’ll just throw a buoy upwind of the fish and start fishing. Crappie numbers are high again this year with alot of fish around the eleven inch mark. When measuring crappie or any other fish close the mouth and push it to the zero end of the measuring board and then sweep the tail for an accurate measurement. Also remember that if the fish is barely legal that it will loose a little bit of length when you throw it on ice or if it dies in the livewell.

Looks like we are in for a hot summer so be ready to fish those deeper structures in the lake.

Bill Cannan Professional Fishing Guide – Lake Havasu

– Lake Havasu