Photo by Bruce Ingram

It's summertime and the livin' is easy. At least it is for us Northern smallmouth bass fans. While smallie anglers down in Southern states often give up fishing during the dog days, our smallmouthing stays doggone good all summer long. But you have to understand where the fish are at different times of the day or season.

Here's the skinny on how you can hit hot fishing from June all the way through August. Just be sure you have your game face on and you're ready to do battle.

TARGETING THE SPAWN
On most lakes, smallmouth bass are still spawning during the first half of June. This means the most active fish will be concentrated in areas with shallow gravel substrates. In some lakes, only a few shorelines or bays have suitable spawning habitat, and the other 98 percent of the water will hold few smallies. Obviously, you need to locate the spawning areas and skip the majority of water. Prime nesting sites are next to downed trees or boulders 3 to 8 feet deep.

After the peak of the spawn, bronzebacks will still be guarding their nests for a couple of weeks, but they likely aren't as aggressive as they were earlier. When the lake surface is flat, one good way to entice them is with a slow-moving and quiet topwater. Small prop baits are excellent. Fish the lure with short twitches of the rod tip so the lure makes a distinct "buzz" each time it moves forward. Pause four or five seconds between pulls. With this extra-slow retrieve, the lure remains over or near the nest for a long period, greatly increasing the odds of a strike.

Where the surface has a chop or spawning fish are widely scattered across shallow bays or along shorelines, medium-running crankbaits are the ticket for covering water. Choose a lure that will dive deep enough so it nearly reaches bottom, and work it with a stop-and-go retrieve.

When spawning fish are acting super-finicky, nothing beats the old reliable jig. Two types of jigs are particularly effective for this type of fishing: 3-inch grubs and similar-sized tube jigs. The tail action of the lure as it slowly falls really appeals to the fish, so use a very light jighead. Using the lightest line possible also helps, both to increase the number of strikes and to detect them better. An extra-limp and small-diameter monofilament is still my favorite line for finesse jig-fishing. Go with 8-pound-test if there's a lot of cover, or 6-pound-test for more-open water.

Fly-fishing is also a great way to catch spawning smallies. On a fly rod, you can use a quiet topwater like a Sneaky Pete in calm water. For a choppy surface, try a Big Blockhead popper. To tempt finicky spawners, my favorite fly is a slow-sinking olive or brown Rabbit Bugger. These and many other innovative fly patterns for specific situations are featured in my new book on fly-fishing for smallies.

Once smallmouths finish the rigors of guarding their young, they go into a sluggish recuperative mode. On many lakes, this post-spawn period often starts around the second to third week of June. This is the slowest fishing of the summer, but fortunately it's of short duration -- a week to 10 days long. One way to entice smallies during their "post-spawn funk" is to work deeper areas next to spawning sites. Dragging a small slider worm ever so slowly along the bottom in 8 to 14 feet of water invariably picks up some fish.

SUMMER IN THE SHALLOWS
After the smallies recover from spawning, they move to locations where they spend the rest of the summer feeding. For many fish, this means moving to offshore structure, which can be as deep as 35 feet.