Beat the heat
By Nick Simonson
Growing up in the upper Midwest taught me to relish the warmth of summer. Sometimes those stretches of 90-degree days spanned just a week or two in August. Other summers, the warmth seemed to highlight the entire 12 weeks we were out of school. In between backyard kickball games, neighborhood-wide all-day water gun fights and kick the can contests at dark, were canoe treks up the river and fishing for bullheads from its banks. As angling became more of the focus in my life, we’d seek out the shade under the trees upriver casting after smallies and white bass, or dodging the sun’s direct light by waiting for an evening of trolling for walleyes on nearby lakes. The glory of hot summer
days, however, isn’t for everyone and certainly isn’t for fish that have no way of blinking out the bright sunlight, or those that get stressed by warming waters. That is why
knowing where fish go when things get bright and hot is key in keeping them on the line all season long. By exploring cover, working deeper water, timing things right and
finding areas where things are just a bit cooler, the odds of hooking up with fast summer action are increased. What follows are some general rules to consider as temperatures
rise and fish adjust to the warmth of the season.
