Shallow in Summer

We all know that bass go deep in summer. But Arkansas' Scott Rook says that he "always" fishes shallow, and that "summertime is one of the best times to fish shallow."

That's true of all kinds of water, he notes:

> "Rivers like the Arkansas River or the Red River have current during the summer, so the fish stay shallow (5 feet or less) all year long."

> "On some reservoirs, the water temperature in summer will be the same throughout the water column and fish in those lakes will stay shallow."

> "If you have a lake with a lot of shoreline vegetation that produces a lot of oxygen, that will also make fish stay shallow."

Shallow is "where I start," Rook says. "I'll look far and wide shallow before I go deep. Shallow fishing is my strength, and that's why I'll look there first."

Lake Fork Example

"One time I was down at a (sponsor) workshop at Lake Fork" in the summer, he says. "I get down there and the first person I run into is Kelly Jordon. I ask him what the fish are doing, and he tells me to use my electronics to find these deep (25 feet), long-running points and fish them with deep-diving crankbaits.

"Well, I went out and did that the whole first day and caught three fish all day," Rook says. "The next day I went down the first bank I saw and caught a 5, a 4 and a 3 1/2. I was catching them like crazy in 3-4 feet of water. It just shows you: do what you know to do and don't listen to anyone else."

Where to Start

During the summer, Rook says that he will try to find the dirtiest water in the lake or river he's fishing. "Fish hold shallower in dirtier water -- they're not as spooky," he explains. Then he looks for any type of visible cover, including emergent grass, brushpiles and stumps.

Early in the morning he fishes buzzbaits and other topwaters, and switches to small crankbaits and spinnerbaits as the day warms. But his favorite shallow hot-water bait is a Mizmo tube, which he flips with a fairly heavy weight.

"I use a heavier weight during the summer -- a 5/16 or 3/8-ounce -- because it falls faster and that way you get reaction strikes," Rook says. He says the tube helps with that presentation. "You get a fast, erratic motion out of that tube, too."

Doing the Yo-Yo

One of his favorite techniques isn't for the faint of heart: he yo-yos the bait over an obstruction to drive the fish wild. "If you can flip over the top of a limb and yo-yo it up and down really fast -- faster than what you would think -- you can really get them going," he says. Rook simply lets the tube fall to the bottom, and as soon as it hits, pulls it back up. "Do that 4-5 times," he says.

"Ninety-nine percent of the time, when you go to pull it back up, he's on it," Rook adds. "You'll never feel him."

He says this yo-yoing technique is "killer" on a river system, "especially on docks with support beams." The only caveat there is zebra mussels, which will cut your line every time.

Fish Fast

When fishing shallow, Rook says: "I'll have 4-5 baits tied on -- a crankbait, spinnerbait, a tube and maybe a worm -- and will be constantly changing what I'm fishing. I might go through there throwing a crankbait on rip-rap and then stop on a piece of wood and throw a tube."

"Stay on the move," he advises. "Most of the fish that are shallow in summer are pretty active. You have to cover a lot of water during the hot part of the year because most of the time you won't find concentrations of fish."

It's Never Too Hot

In case you think shallow water in summer is too hot for your lake's bass, consider this: "I've caught them before in summer when the surface temperature gauge clicked from 99.9 over to 00.0," Rook says. "So just because that water's hot doesn't mean they're deep."