While September is traditionally a time of transition in the woods and on the waters this year it feels more like hot August weather than fall. Water surface temperatures are still near 90 degrees and heat index temperatures are still in the 100-degree range. That makes for tough hunting and fishing due to abnormally high temperatures.

Knowing that the bass bite was going to be tough I geared up for it and went to a local lake for some much needed stress relief. Arriving at our first fishing spot I spotted a school of shad skitter across the surface as a bass lurked underneath. I cast a small shad colored crankbait out and cranked down a bit, but it didn’t get too far.

Wham! A small bass smashed it and sucked it deep into his mouth. After a short battle my first bass of the day was on the board. I worked the shallow shelf pretty good but only caught one more on the crankbait, so it was time to switch gears and slow down.

I tied on a Texas rigged BPS tournament series curly tailed worm and started fan casting to submerged brush tops. Casting near a visible top I let the worm fall slowly but the line never stopped. A bass crushed it on the fall and took off with an easy meal – or so he thought. I reared back and drove the hook deep into the jaws of the bass and promptly turned him around toward the boat.

The bite was tough, but the key seemed to be to let the worm fall on slack line. Ninety-nine percent of the strikes came on the fall. Sometimes the bass would move slowly and the only thing to identify a strike was the line slowly moving to the side. More often than not the bass would never move, and you would just get a spongy feeling on the other end, or a bump as they spit it out.

Almost every bite came off of wood cover, though some was submerged. I switched to a slightly different worm with a garlic flavored scent and cast out and caught one on the first cast. The bass were still lethargic, but they liked the garlic flavor and held on much better. Sometimes I’d see the line twitch and feel something like grass on the worm, but it was really the mushy mouth of the bass.

For the rest of the trip it was simply a matter of casting near cover and working that worm very slow. Sometimes they hit it on the initial descent and sometimes they’d strike it when I twitched it a time or two but if you put it near wood there would usually be a bass there. On the occasion when I’d miss one I’d follow up with a crankbait and usually catch a small bass. Their mouth was too small to engulf the whole worm but those sharp trebles bit and didn’t let go, giving us an indication of the size of the bass that we were missing. Too small for our worms and not big enough to fool with.

If you’re looking to catch a bass this time of year then you need to slow down and finesse them and give them a little added scent or attractant to make them bite and hold on a bit longer. When the bite is tough a small shaky head worm is just the ticket. Pitch it out and let it sit and twitch it in place a time or two before moving on and you’ll likely get a few bites.

If you catch a bass in one place work the area thoroughly before moving on. In times like this it might even be good to anchor down comb the area with Shaky heads or tubes. If you’re not careful you just might fish by a spot that’s loaded with bass and only catch one. Remember, it makes two fish to make a pattern but if you don’t slow down long enough to find out if there’s more down there you will surely be missing out on more fish. Slow down, work that lure slow. . . and you just might fill up that supper well. But you can’t do it at the house, get out on the water and get ready for some fine fall fishing because it’s coming soon – I guarantee!

Call Mike Giles at 601-917-3898 or email mikegiles18@comast.net.