With his background in fisheries biology, Michael Murphy can explain how depleted summer oxygen levels slow down the metabolism of the bass, but it's enough to know that they, like you, just want things a little cooler. Often, on lakes throughout the mid-south, that forces them down about 10 feet.
But just because you have them pegged doesn't mean they're catchable. Those suspended fish are some of the toughest of the year to catch. Murphy found that to be the case at Dardanelle earlier this month, where he figured out a little something and sacked a monstrous (for that event) 11 pound limit on the third day to vault into the money.
"It was super-tough and the fish were suspending," he recalled. "That happens a lot this time of year. They sometimes get to suspending out on deep points or in the guts of coves." The key then, he added, is to find the shad. They too are growing quickly so they can't hide in the shallows any more. They bunch up and the fish keep tabs on them.
Murphy uses two IMA baits to keep tabs on them himself. The first is the Rock N Vibe lipless crankbait. He uses it to cover a lot of water and trigger reaction strikes. "Despite what people may thing, that tight wobble is not just for spring," he said. "It's good any time their metabolism is low."
His second tool is the IMA Skimmer topwater bait. After all, what could be better for the Dog Days than a lure that makes it easier to "walk the dog" than anything that comes before it. It too is a great fish locator, but it particularly excels when fish are breaking the surface during their brief spasms of activity. The Skimmer casts a country mile and nothing on the market today resembles an injured shad more closely.
With both lures Murphy favors patterns that resemble baitfish and have "as much flash as possible." He typically throws them on a 7 foot medium-heavy baitcasting rod and 12 lb. Big Game monofilament. "I keep it simple," he said.
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