Know when, where to fish to keep summer fishing edge

Anglers can use all the help they can get in the heat of summer when fishing gets tough.

They, and their baits, really are up against all the competition in the water. Knowing when and where to fish can make all the difference.

“During the summer, fish have so much natural prey to eat,” says Daryl Bauer, fisheries outreach program manager for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. “Everything is at its peak.”

Bauer said that with the warm summer water, fish are feeding as much or more than any other time of the year. “They don’t spend as much time looking for food, so the feeding periods are shorter,” he said.

Because of that, he said, the “prime times” to fish, when they most likely will be feeding, are early and late in the day or after dark.

Once fishing, Bauer says anglers should “find your best spots.” That can include drop-offs, places where an abundance of natural bait is seen, and places that concentrate bait and fish.

“Anglers want to be on those spots during the best times,” Bauer said.

On reservoirs, don’t forget to fish points and on smaller waters fish “ambush” spots such as under docks, piers, overhanging trees, and in aquatic vegetation.

Fish, especially in irrigation reservoirs, tend to start moving deeper in the summer because the water starts to drop with irrigation releases. “On an evening when fish are feeding, they still might be back toward shallow water but, in general, we’re going to start fishing deeper as the summer goes on,” Bauer said.

In general, anglers should fish presentations at a faster pace in the warmer water, but not necessarily always. “You can fish fast to cover the water to find some fish that are feeding rather than hunkering down and fishing slow and tease them into biting,” Bauer said.

Anglers who fish reservoirs for white bass or wipers should be looking for gulls feeding on baitfish. Those baitfish will attract white bass and wipers but also walleyes and channel catfish.

Thunderstorms may be few and far between, but anglers who are in the right place at the right time can take advantage. “If you can be right in front of a thunderstorm, it can be a great bite,” Bauer said. “You want to fish right up as late as you can until it’s not safe anymore.”

Bauer said summer is a great time to fish a scum frog on pits and ponds for largemouth bass and grasshoppers for channel catfish and grasshopper patterns for panfish and trout.

For more information on fishing in Nebraska, visit OutdoorNebraska.gov/fish.

Factors driving summer fish behavior
Nebraska has fish species that thrive in cold water, warm water and everything in between. In the heat of summer, though, compromises sometimes must be made just to get fed — and survive.

The behavior of fish species during the summer is information anglers could use to conquer tough fishing days of July and August.

Coldwater species like trout can’t survive when water temperatures get too warm. But warmwater species like largemouth bass and channel catfish, which can survive Nebraska winters, are at their metabolic peak when water temperatures are their warmest.

The metabolism rates of Nebraska fish increase as temperatures rise. During the heat of summer those fish eat more food than when the water is cooler. They must eat more to fuel higher metabolism rates.

Daryl Bauer, fisheries outreach program manager for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, said finding cold and coolwater species during the summer is not as simple as finding cooler water.

“Those species may prefer areas where they can find water temperatures closer to their ideal, but they still must find food,” Bauer said. “If they can find enough prey in or near water at ideal temperatures, they can grow fast and fat.”

He said they often are forced to compromise and stay in warmer waters where there is prey. Even near lethally warm temperatures feeding activity will continue right up to the point where they die.

Fishing becomes more difficult during the heat because that’s when the entire aquatic food chain is functioning at peak productivity. The abundance of a variety of natural prey for the fish anglers are trying to catch peaks during the summer.

“In some cases, all a fish needs to do to find something to eat is almost literally just open its mouth,” Bauer said.

Summer fish feeding activity can be summed up in two words — intense and brief.

“Fish capture all the prey they need in a short period of time, then they conserve energy until the next feeding window,” Bauer said.

Bauer says successful fishing strategies during the summer heat will be to spend as much time as possible fishing during prime times — typically the low light of early and late in the day, perhaps after dark.

“Fish that are activity feeding are always easier to catch than those who are not,” he said.

Bauer says anglers should identify the spots where the fish they are pursuing are likely to feed; there should be an abundance of prey there. Then, they should plan to be on those high-percentage spots at prime times and be ready to take advantage of brief feeding frenzies when they occur.

Fish often become most selective when prey is abundant. Bauer says it can be critical to match the size, shape and behavior of the prey on which the fish are feeding when that prey is abundant.

Faster retrieves often work better during the summer heat and peak abundance of natural prey. Why? Panicked, fleeing prey items become easier targets for fish to catch, and fast retrieves give the target species less time to identify phony presentations.

Nebraska fish from least tolerant of warm water to most tolerant

The following is Daryl Bauer’s list of some common Nebraska fish species, from least tolerant to warm water to most tolerant:

Trout
Northern pike (especially large pike)
Muskellunge
Wiper (especially large wiper)
Yellow perch
Walleye
Sauger
Smallmouth bass
Blue catfish
Crappie
Bluegill
Largemouth bass
Channel catfish
Redear sunfish
Flathead catfish
Common carp