As the weather got hotter and hotter in June, my bass fishing got tougher and tougher, with fewer fish caught and nothing really big. By the end of the month, my catches were minimal enough that I stopped posting anything here. Now, with the dog days here, I have completely switched to crappie fishing. Crappie fishing can also get pretty tough in the hottest part of the year, but at least I can catch a few fish in the heat of the day, while staying in the shade under a bridge while doing it, so that’s what I do.

I got out both Tuesday and Thursday this week. But I certainly can’t complain about the crappie fishing being too tough. I caught 26 keeper crappie Tuesday, and another 20 on Thursday. Tuesday’s fish were all just small keepers, but I did catch a few nicer crappie on Thursday. It was 100 degrees both afternoons, but I was off the water before it got that hot both days. I did fish until 2:00 in the afternoon both days, which is later than I usually stay out when it’s this hot. But I was having a lot of fun, and it wasn’t unbearably hot in the shade of the bridges, so I just kept fishing. I caught the crappie in 13 to 26 feet of water, but they were all caught 12 feet deep. Even the slightest bit deeper or shallower would produce no fish at all. The fish were on rocks or near pilings. Some of the guides start using minnows when it gets this hot, but I stuck with my jigs like I always do, and they worked well. The water surface temperature got up to 90 degrees both days. It’s obviously much cooler 12 feet down. The lake is falling fast and is now 8 inches low. That’s a pretty good level for August 1st, much better than it was last year. I think that has a lot to do with the bite still being this good this late into summer. We’ll see how long it remains good with the lake falling this fast.

A nice size crappie from Thursday’s trip.