Air temperatures during the summer months here in Central Florida are brutal with August being the worst. Bass Fishing, for the most part, becomes difficult during this time especially for the flyrodder.
The typical fishing pattern for this time of year is simple and obvious: hit the water before dawn and fish shallow water until the sun comes up, switch to deep water once the sun is up. Here, in Florida, late summer also means higher water due to summer rains and you can find fish in very dense emergent vegetation in the shallows during the heat of the day. For the spin fisherman the early morning lures will be topwater, Rat-L-Traps, spinner baits, and worms. The heat of the day lures will be Carolina Rigs and heavy jigs or punching through dense vegetation. But the bite can be depressingly slow.
What about fly fishing?
The first thing when hitting the water during hot weather is cover the water in hurry to locate fish. Fish a topwater lure or Clouser Minnow until you find fish or even use spinning gear with the lures mentioned above. Once you catch a fish, or even if one explodes on your topwater and doesn't get hooked, this is where you use your anchor. Bass tend to not be alone during this time of year and you want to work any area with signs of fish thoroughly, using different retrieves and flies. Once you got them biting and it seems to stop, switch it up again and thoroughly work the area before raising anchor to leave.
Many a fly fisherman when thinking about bass fishing think of a calm morning, water like glass, just enough light to see, and throwing a popping bug to the edges of vegetation waiting for that wonderful explosion of a fish. Not me, at least not during the summer. I want wind because the bass want wind. Besides, a calm summer day in August is, in a word, oppressive. Wind is a welcome relief and this is where an anchor can become an important tool.
Think positive about your anchor.
Anchors have the advantage that it allows you to focus on fishing rather than balance fishing with operation of the tolling motor. You are free to fish from anywhere on the boat because you no longer are stuck to the bow and I do believe in the benefit to fishing of not having tolling motor noise in the water. In shallow water, I use a pin anchor which every bass fisherman should own. I deeper water, I use a fluke style anchor on 50ft of line and they do have disadvantages.
Embrace your anchor's faults.
Anchors are cumbersome and make your boat filthy, but there are ways to minimize this. I store my anchor line on a 2" diameter PVC pipe that is about a foot or so long. I thread the anchor line through the PVC so just the tag end hangs out (I tie a loop on the tag end on my anchor line). Then wrap the line tightly around the PVC and PVC now has become the spool for your line. This minimizes tangles and makes storage easier. When dropping anchor, I allow the PVC to slowly spin until the desired length has been reeled off. I then tie the anchor to a cleat, and tuck the PVC with the excess line wrapped around it near the cleat tucked under the gunwale. You can also store the PVC spool inside a nearby hatch while anchored.
To minimize the mud and debris from lifting anchor, if the wind permits and you can safely do so, you can raise and lower anchor a few times to clean it off before bringing it on the boat. I will lift the anchor near the surface, then let it rapidly fall a few feet, move the anchor horizontally away from the debris slick and lift again.
A couple of side notes on anchors:
First, when dropping anchor, do so slowly and quietly. Set the anchor in the water and the fall should be slow and gentile. I once had a fishing partner on hearing "let's drop the anchor here" launch the anchor skyward and it went into the water with a loud KA-BOOM splash. The next thing he heard was "bring up the anchor, we need to go somewhere else."
Second, avoid tying off an anchor from the stern. Boats are heavy in the stern and a stern anchor can cause a boat to swamped from the stern due to a big wake. The boat will be able to bounce freely with the waves when tied off near the bow. Likewise, avoid tying off midships if in a current for similar reasons.
Back to fishing.
Don't shy away from anchoring in deeper water if you see fish activity. Drive up to the activity and drop anchor. I prefer this to jump fishing because I have found that if I anchor and if I am patient enough, the school will eventually work its way back to my location.
Other options for fishing in hot weather include what Skip Morris calls
"The Bass-Bluegill Lap". This type of fishing is fun and can bring enjoyment to a slow fishing day.
Don't let hot weather keep you off the water. Wind and therefore your anchor are your new best friends. In Florida, hot days are part of the deal and you have to adapt........and look forward to the fall.
I hope you found this information helpful and please leave a comment.
