CATCH MORE FISH THIS SUMMER
By Bob Jensen

It feels like summer outside. Hot, humid days, lots of sunshine, occasional storms, they're all typical of a Midwest summer. This is a time of year when some anglers feel fishing is the most difficult. Actually, fishing is pretty much the same year 'round, it's the catching that might be a little different from season to season. Regardless of how hot it is though, the fish still have to eat. In fact, they eat as much in the summer, maybe more, than they do the rest of the year. If you keep a few ideas in mind, you can catch just as many fish in the summer as you do the rest of the year.

One of the reasons that fish can be more selective in the summer is the abundance of baitfish. All the perch or shad or suckers that were spawned a couple of months ago are now just the right eating size for the predator fish. There is lots of food to choose from, so many anglers feel that it is important that you make your offering extra appealing to the walleyes, bass, or whatever you're after.

There are lots of minnows swimming around down there right now, but not many of them have a spinner twirling around in front of it. Maybe that's why minnows, crawlers, and leeches attached to spinners are so productive this time of year. Try one of the Rainbow Spinners with live bait or a Power Crawler for a different look that will appeal to walleyes in particular in most waters.

Keep a close eye on your sonar. You want to be sure you are fishing where the fish are. Some anglers watch for the presence of big fish, others watch only for baitfish. They feel that if baitfish are present, the big fish will be in the area. The Legend 3000 sonar that is becoming very popular with anglers does a great job of revealing the tiniest of baitfish as well as the larger predators.

Keep moving until you find biters. If you fish a school of fish for a half-hour, have tried a couple different lure presentations, and have had no action, find a different school. Sometimes it's just tough to get certain fish to bite when you want them to. Move around looking for biters, but remember where that group of fish was that didn't want to bite. Keep coming back to them, because eventually they're going to get hungry.

Experiment a lot. If the fish are biting aggressively, try a different color or lure size. Maybe you'll find something that appeals to the bigger fish.

If the fish aren't real aggressive, try a different color or lure size. Maybe you'll find something that will appeal to at least a few fish.

Remain flexible. If the walleyes aren't hungry, try to catch some bass or pike or perch. In the summer, you can usually find something willing to bite, and it's a lot more fun to catch a bunch of something than to not catch anything. You can count on that.