We have all been schooled on how big bass always go deep during the super-hot days of summer. From my earliest days as a teenager reading BASSMASTER magazine there were countless stories from all the big names on techniques to seek out and catch bass using big cranks, jigs, spinnerbaits and spoons on deep ledges. For the most part, after 30 years filming the pros that theory has proved correct, but never fool yourself into believing that ALL bass follow the rules.

I will never forget a lesson I learned from a seasoned fisherman in Moultrie Georgia named Jack Adams. He invited me one hot July afternoon to fish with him on a north Florida lake. I gathered my gear supposing we would be fishing deep like everything I had ever read. However, that was not going to be the case. First he wanted to fish right during the middle of the day which seemed odd. Then I noticed right off that Jack did not have a big fiberglass fancy bass boat but a large aluminum jon boat with a small outboard and a push pole. I also noted he had no tacklebox but an old paper sack I assumed was bag of snacks. I saw one very long and heavy-duty casting rod with an Ambassadeur 6500C reel with what looked like plow line spooled up. I was starting to wonder to myself what I had got myself into. After all, he frequently stopped by the local sporting goods store several times a week with Polaroid photos of these huge jet-black bass he supposedly had been catching.

 

Once we launched, it did not take long before I really grew puzzled as we left the open water and he began push poling the jon boat further and further back into some of the thickest grassflats I had ever seen. Once he found a spot he considered “looking good” he stopped and reached in his snack bag and pulled out a ginormous Johnson spoon attached to a wooden head. Next, he would heave that monster spoon plug as far as he could and simply start a slow retrieve. He had made a dozen or so casts in virtually the same place as indicated by the streaks left in the grass when the unexpected happened. I don’t think you could have thrown a concrete block and made a bigger splash. I found out why he used a 7 ft surf rod and 60 pound surgical braided line. If he ever got the beast’s head on top he would winch them to the boat. Now everyone back in those days ate what they caught. Once he got that 8-9 lb. fish in the boat he would club it with a small baseball bat, drop it in the cooler and whoosh he was making another cast. Since I had nothing I could fish with, I just sat there in awe as he continued to smash these giants. He continued smashing until was satisfied and had enough fish (he had promised some friends for a fish fry.)  He offered his rod several times but I seemed satisfied just learning all I could about this crazy technique I had never read about in any magazine.

 

 

Over the years, we went several times together on various lakes that had similar shallow grass beds and almost always resulted in great catches. I would have never believed it had I not witnessed it! So never forget that bass do not read BASSMASTER Magazine, therefore do not always follow the rules.

 

Be sure to check back each Tuesday for new tips from our expert staff and pro staff around the country.