How to fish on hot summer days

Summer is here! The days are long and hot. Boat traffic is heavy. It is time to adjust fishing tactics.

 

Elliott (my son), Brody (the amazing fish-finding and stock-trading dog), and I love fishing. However, we tend not to fish during the heat of the day.

 

The waterways are crowded, and it is just too hot. Especially for Brody, who fishes in a fur coat.

 

To beat the heat, we are now fishing early in the morning and late in the evening. Our best results are in the morning.

 

At sunrise, cooler water and low-light conditions trigger predators to feed. Optimal feeding conditions occur again at dusk. These are the times when predators eat, and you can fish without getting heat stroke.

 

On Wednesday afternoon, Elliott dropped by to help with a few things around the house. While Elliott and I organized our tackle room, Brody took a nap beneath an air conditioning vent.

 

I asked Elliott if he wanted to fish that evening. Brody immediately woke up, ran to the back door, and sat down. Elliott looked at Brody and replied, “I guess we are going fishing.”

 

We launched the skiff a few minutes before sunset. While I ran the skiff to a shallow oyster laden creek near the house, Elliott rigged our rods with Zara Spook top water lures.

 

Upon our arrival, the incoming tide was just beginning to submerge the oyster bars. Baitfish were congregating around the oysters.

 

Elliott and I began casting and retrieving our lures with a twitch, twitch, and pause cadence. This is known as a “walk the dog” retrieve. However, Brody finds this name offensive.

 

So, Elliott and I call it the twitch, twitch, and pause cadence.

 

When the sun dropped below the tree line, trout and ladyfish began crashing baitfish in the channels between the oyster bars. Elliott cast his lure into the commotion, and a fish blasted it.

 

The strike was vicious. After a short fight, we landed the trout, took a quick picture, and released it.

 

For the next 30 minutes, the top water bite was pretty good. It was a great evening. We saw a picturesque sunset, released several fish, and did not get heat stroke!

 

Contact Captain Greg Peralta at captgregp@gmail.com or call (843) 224-0099.