CORPUS CHRISTI
Reported by CAPT. JAKE WHEELIS
Calm, Hot Days
LISTEN: (2 Min, 47 Sec)
THE DOG DAYS of summer are upon us once again. I’m fortunate to live, in my opinion, in the best place on earth. I can hunt and fish 365 days a year, but there are two months out of the year I’m not a huge fan of, and it’s the back half of July to the middle of September. With hot temperatures, low wind and historically speaking low tides, let’s dive in to how we will continue chasing fish and getting bites.
July and August will bring challenges just like the rest of the year, and how you tackle those challenges is the difference between a successful day to a grind. So that being said, let’s talk about our approach to a day of fishing in the dog days of summer. As far as country and environment that I’m going to be looking for during this time of year, are flats with a drop off and a secondary drop off that we can still wade with the pushed out tide. I will still fish the top of the flats early, but recognizing when the fish are pulling to deeper water is the key. As the water warms, the fish are going to pull into deeper water, whether it be guts or the edge of spoil banks and flats. As this happens, try to read the water as to what is happening, paying attention to what the bait is doing. Is it starting to migrate to deeper water and still jumping and acting nervous? The simple version of this is to follow the bait to the fish, paying attention to your surroundings, not just what’s going on right in front of you. Adapt to what the fish wants to do.
My lure box gets very simple this time of year, with Lil John XL, Bass Assassin straight tails, and small top waters. Fish have made the time honored transition to a shrimp and fin fish diet and they are very active in chasing bait. They are going to eat small, and a lot of it, since they have the energy to do that in the warmer water of summer. I’ll be what I like to call “swimming a bait”, which is a lot more working it more erraticly this time of year on my top waters. I’ll still be changing my cadence from a fast “walk the dog” to a slower “walk the dog” and adding a pause to every few twitch’s. In short, find what the fish want to eat and don’t get a hair trigger on blow ups. Wait to feel the fish eat.
In closing, please remember to hydrate and keep plenty of water on the boat. This time of year is no joke with the heat. That being said, please only take what you need and practice CPR. As always tight lines and good times. And if you see me out there, come introduce yourself.
Email Jake Wheelis at Wheelis85@gmail.com
Phone: (361) 575-9058
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