No Dog Days

 There Are No ‘Dog Days’ For Good Fishermen

Then Associate Editor Don Woodruff with a 3-step approach to fishing the summer period. Of particular interest was the prevalent thought back then that ‘fish hate light.’ 

This was frequently mentioned in combination with fish not having any eyelids to shield them from the light, and light even ‘hurting’ their eyes. Everyone pretty much understood that cloudy days, windy days, murky water, or early and/or late could produce better fishing. We now know they just had the wrong reason - but you can still be ’right’ for the wrong reason, so the general advice and recommendations often held true.

Step 1️⃣ - Understand that fish hate light. Their security is in deep, dark waters where the light of day hardly penetrates. This depth will vary from species to species, of course, and from lake to lake. In a given lake, largemouth bass will probably be found only about half as deep as walleyes.

👉 If there is a choice of waters available to you, choose the dark, dingy waters over the spark-ling, gin-clear lakes or streams. This will help to put the odds more in your favor.

Step 2️⃣ - There is a way for you to get an approximate idea of what the light penetration is at any given time. That is to lower a white china cup into the water until it just disappears from sight. You'll be surprised at how deep that will be! Then, measure the distance of that amount of line it took to lower it to that depth and double it.

👉 …when you have measured that depth at which the white china cup just disappears from sight, you will have a reference point on which to base your fishing. Start your fishing just below that depth. Below this point is where you will find the schools of big fish.

Step 3️⃣ - Step three is how to fish those depths. Whenever it becomes necessary to fish below 25 feet, use one of three basic methods. 

1. Cast a bottom bumping jig, plain or dressed with a minnow, crawler or pork rind. 

2. Fish live bait (minnows, or best of all in summer, a conditioned nightcrawler) 

3. Trolling bottom bumping lures

👉 When casting a jig, minnow or crawler during this period, more strikes will occur if the lure or bait is cast on structure in about 15 feet of water, then gently pulled DOWN the breaks to deepest water.

👉 Six pound test line will be the maximum test to use at any time, and some waters may dictate four pound or even two pound test.

👉 NO HARDWARE. Leave leaders, spinners, swivels and snaps at home.

Tie your line directly to your hook with a Figure Eight Knot or an improved clinch knot or when using an artificial lure, use a loop knot to provide complete freedom of action.

👉 Back motor trolling, which is simply trolling in reverse, with the motor running as slowly as possible, providing the additional drag of the stern pushing against water, allows fishermen to "jig" live baits or lures, almost straight up and down as they traverse back and forth over deepest structures.

📸 Fishing Facts, 1972