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What is the best thing to use in these conditions??
Air Temp- 88-92 degrees
Water temp- 78-82 degrees
Sky-Sunny
Water Clarity- clear about 1 foot from the surface, dirty below that
Time of day- 3-4 p.m.

Well, sounds like a summer day, I would go to my flippin stick and a texas rigged 7" to 12" worm. Flip those lay down trees/bushes around shallow water or fish a tree rows.

Good Fishing

EAT SLEEP FISH

Laydowns, overhanging trees, boat docks or grass, anything that produced some shade, with a floating worm or fluke would be a good place to start.
I would further my search in 10 to 14 feet of water with a Carolina Rig or a Texas rigged worm or lizard in any off shore structure that I could find near some sort of flat that was holding baitfish early and late in the day.

I would try to pattern shade as well.

I would pitch a jig tight to any cover to begin with. Then I would try a 10" Texas Rigged worm. If I still came up blank after that, I would drop out to deeper water and fish a Senko or Tube Lizard on a C Rig. Cranking deep structure would probably be another effective technique.


JT Bagwell

Everything the other guys have said is correct.

I would pitch and flip cover of all types, with jigs, Salt Craws, worms and tubes, and skip tubes under docks and overhanging trees.
Dan

Cole, the dirty water under the clear water seems like an excellent place to try spinnerbaits. Keep the lure working just about where the lure almost goes out of sight. As the others have said, at that time of day, key on shade and shadows. White/Chartreuse skirt-Gold or copper blades for the spinnerbait. Let the bait fish size determine your spinnerbait size. If the shad or minnows are small, go with 1/4 ounce, if larger try 3/8th to 1/2 ounce. Go get 'em. Johnnie

Cole,

I'm big on pounding shallow structure and cover, but in the heat of the summer, you can also find fish really deep and schooled together. If Smallmouth are present in the lake, I would look for an alternate deep bite.

Work areas that attract baitfish like Alewife, shad, etc. Humps, intersecting road beds, intersecting creek channels, old building foundations, channels created by the contour lines between and island and the nearest shoreline can all be great spots. Spend some time with your electronics checking areas like this for the presence of bait and bass in 30+ feet of water. If you mark clouds of bait and big “arches” under or mixed in with them, position your boat over top and try a vertical presentation with a spoon at the depth where you are marking the bait. If the big “arches” are packed tightly together, chances are the bass are not feeding at this time. You can sometimes coxes one or two into biting, but I prefer to look for another school that is making visible contact with the clouds of bait on my depth finder. When you connect with an active school, you can load the boat in just minutes and you don’t have to compete with the guys on the bank for these fish.

Above I mentioned primarily Smallies, but this works just as well for Largemouth. Either way, don’t work areas in less then 20 ft. of water if you plan to go vertical for these fish. You can also use conventional baits like deep diving crankbaits, spinnerbaits and even top water baits but staying on top of the school can be difficult with this type of presentation, because you now must position the boat away from the school and they are no longer visible on your sonar screen.

It’s a whole different game when you go 30+ and it can sometimes take hours to connect, but when you do, it can pay big dividends. School fish are typically the same size and five 3-4 lb. fish can go a very long way in a tournament. If you are not fishing a tournament, it still can make for some great pictures. Some of the biggest Smallies I have ever caught came from this method in the heat of the summer.

Gees… that was a bit long-winded… hope it helps…

BC

I would throw a Buzzbait. Throw it close to any nearby cover you can find. Those hot Conditions call for active fish. Give it try & lemme know how it works

Will do guys, ill take all the help i can get from you....anyone else???