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Dog-Days-Bass-thegem-blog-default-large
By Jacob Gatz Camera Posts

Heat of the Summer Largemouth Strategies

The “dog days” of summer mark the end of the early summer feeding binges that most fish including bass go through. Not only are lakes really warm but they are chock full of food including insects, frogs, crawfish, baitfish and fry from all species. Suffice to say that fish have plenty of food and cover available to them. So consequently it can make it just a little tougher to entice a fish into taking your presentation.

A lot of anglers will set their minds on fall when temperatures will cool down and fishing will generally be a little easier. However you don’t have to leave the boat in the garage until then, simply refine your strategies to start catching fish again.

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jig-fishing-thegem-blog-default-large
By Jacob Gatz Posts

The Easiest Way to Get Bit During the Dog-Days

There’s a lot of ways to catch fish during the lazy summer months, but it’s worth remembering that fish are pretty fat and happy right now.  Weedlines are well defined, bait is plentiful in most lakes, and warm water temps mean fish are at peak metabolism.  While they need to eat often, it’s not hard to find a great place to get dinner.  The menu options are varied as well, so it tends to take most fishing patterns and nullify the amplitude of their effectiveness.

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Jig-Fishing-101-thegem-blog-default-large
By Jacob Gatz Posts MarCum

Jig Fishing 101

Who doesn’t have boxes of jigs laying around?  No matter the species, it could be the most universal, widely copied, and versatile lure of all time.  If we’re talking live bait, it’s the best delivery method for meat that I know of.  If plastics, well there’s usually a jig involved here too. 

Starting with a standard jig-head, you have to think about what you’d like to do with it. If you’re threading on a fathead minnow, a will be the logical choice. The same can’t be said if you’re looking to fish plastics, as plastics fish best with an aggressive wire keeper.

As for other features and color, think about the water clarity you’ll be fishing in. Anything with a blade or propeller adds flash and vibration, which may be a necessary part of the presentation. Big minnows call for a , and suspended fish call for a that rises above a weight on the bottom. So many jigs, so many scenarios, but you need to match the style of jig to the type of fishing you’ll be doing.

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Summer-Crappie-Fishing-thegem-blog-default-large
By Jacob Gatz Posts

Fishing Summertime Crappies

Throughout the summer months, schools of crappies typically concentrate themselves along weed edges, as well as pockets and holes in the weedy cover. In certain situations, fish will push further into the weeds and in others, push out away from the edges, but still remain in close proximity to the weeds. Focus your efforts on these keys areas.

As the season progresses, crappies will also inhabit other areas, often in slightly deeper water. Woody cover – such as man-made cribs or submerged timber – act as crappie magnet regardless of the time of year, but they tend to concentrate fish towards the tail end of the summer.

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Summer_Panfish-thegem-blog-default-large
By Jacob Gatz Posts Camera

Get To the Edge for Summer Panfish

Panfish, specifically bluegill and crappie, are the most sought after fish throughout the entire United States.   Anglers of all ages pursue them for a lot of reasons.  They are good to eat, plentiful, and seem to always be willing to bite throughout the entire year.  Walleye and bass anglers can get skunked on any given day but a panfish angler seldom fails to connect in an outing on the water.

This makes them a perfect species to pursue anytime you have the family and or kids on the water.  The great thing about summer is that it can be really easy fishing.  By mid-summer the fish have completed their annual spawning and have transitioned out to where they will spend the summer months.

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How to target Largemouth Bass in June
By Jacob Gatz Posts

How to Target Largemouth Bass in June

Why is it that some of the most pleasing fishing you can do is also some of the simplest? I’m not stepping on bass-anglers with that comment either, but chuckin’ baits up near shore and dragging them back right now will get you bit on most of the weed-choked shallow systems that I fish this time of year. The fishing is that good. As a kid, I grew up bass fishing.

For a southern MN boy, they were the most attainable of the “big” fish. Walleyes lived up-north, you needed a float-plane to fish for pike, and sunfish were for “kids.”

From age 10 up and through my teenage years while I most often fished for those largemouths, I was far from a kid. Catching bass back then, esp. big ones, made your chest puff out a bit.

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Staying organized on and off of the water
By marcum-tech Posts

Staying Organized On and Off the Water

Organization is important no matter your craft. When it comes to fishing, however, a concerted effort for organization should hold a higher precedence. The number of rod, reel, line, and tackle configurations an angler might handle are truly endless.  This is particularly evident with fishermen that target more than one species.

and categorized rod, reel, line, and lure selections. Many professional anglers rely on their organizational and inventorial skills to keep them successful on the water. They know what specific rods and reels they have, what lures they have, and whether they need to restock something in the near future.

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Crank Baits for River Bass
By marcum-tech Posts Sonar

Cranking Your Way to More River Bass

Mist from the baitcast reel erupted into the morning air as the crankbait rocketed toward the conspicuous riprap that hugged the edge of the river. As soon as the lure hit the water it was brought to life with a few cranks on the reel.
Instantly the wobble of the lure going back and forth could be felt in the rod tip. It didn’t take very long for the lipped crankbait to start digging in the rocky bottom. Tick, tick, wham! Fish on as the lure got to the edge of the swifter current and it feels like a good one as the fluorocarbon line is being stretched by the bull-dogging fish in the current.

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Warmer water transitioning walleyes
By marcum-tech Posts MarCum Sonar

Walleye Warm Water Temperature Transitions

Water temperatures that build into the high 60 and 70 degree marks will definitely get fish moving, and that usually coincides with a few hatches.
Bugs crawling out of the deep mud get rafted against the main-lake structure, and signify some of the initial pushes to offshore humps, bars, and reefs. It’s often when casual walleye anglers, or those who see early mixed bags of walleyes with crappies and gills, stop catching them.

Anglers don’t always follow, sometimes because they’re not required to. This is a dynamic time of year as the summer food chain ramps up production. That means anglers don’t always have to look deep to find fish, and several patterns can be going at the same time.

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