Best Summer Spots and Baits for Deep-Lurking Lunkers

Now is not the time to pound the banks for bass. After spawning, big largemouths and smallmouths leave the skinny water and scatter offshore, gravitating to deeper structures—often 15 to 25 feet deep—where they lie in wait for passing baitfish schools. Armed with a graph and a set of marker buoys, you can tap into some hot bass action on these offshore honey holes. Here’s where to fish and what to throw.

Submerged Humps
Bass loiter around the perimeter of these structures, feeding when shad schools approach. Fan-cast a topwater stickbait, such as a Heddon Rattlin’ Spook (1; in G-Finish Foxy Shad), around the hump and dog-walk it back to your boat for an explosive surface strike.

Reservoir Points
The fishiest points extend a long distance from shore with a gradual taper, eventually cascading into a deep river channel. Bass will hunker next to isolated stumps and rocks on the tops and ends of these structures. Trigger strikes by grinding a Bomber Fat Free Shad (Dance’s Citrus Salad) along the point and deflecting it off scattered cover.

Ledges
These feeding shelves are flat on top, then drop off quickly into deep water. Largemouths stack up on them in summer and can be caught by dragging a 1⁄2- to 3⁄4-ounce Booyah Pigskin football jig (River Craw) with a Yum Money Craw trailer (junebug) around cover near the breakline.