Catching specks when it’s hot out is no easy task, but it’s certainly doable. On certain days, it can even force the fish to congregate in cooler areas, making them easier to locate. As a general rule, start your days shallow and progressively fish deeper. The shallows have had a break from sunlight and are at their coolest point at daybreak. Unless there is some freakish heat, fish can usually still be found in the shallows in the mornings. Some decent cloud cover or rain can extend this bite past dawn, but once that sun starts beating it’s time to head to the depths.
Structure like oyster beds, wrecks, and grass flats in water six feet or deeper should all be on your radar. Docks in deeper water and holes surrounded by shallow water can both produce fish, especially with clean, moving water. Dirty water generally heats up faster than clear water due to the darker sediments absorbing more sunlight, so finding clean water is especially important when it’s hot out. If you find an area or piece of structure that you think is holding fish, make sure you pick the entire thing apart before moving on. Specks will often be sitting tight in one spot when sitting deeper in the current, and with how warm the water is, they don’t want to use much energy to feed. If you don’t put your offering right in their face you probably won’t get bit, so make sure to attack from every angle and thoroughly before moving on.
It’s also a good idea to upsize the baits a bit in the summer, and present your lures relatively slowly. Remember, these fish don’t want to use a lot of energy right now. A large meal they don’t need to work for is going to be more attractive than a small one that they need to chase down. A big chunk of soft crab, a jumbo shrimp, or a four-inch soft plastic are all great choices for this time of year. If you plan on using bait, get it fresh and don’t freeze it. While you can catch trout on frozen bait, you’ll catch a whole lot more using stuff that was swimming around the day before.