Summer fishing is always pictured as laid back, relaxing fishing, and it may be that way in some areas. In the South, it's almost too hot to fish during the day; most days you won't be comfortable except early and late. In the North, summer may be the best time of year to fish since it can be very short and fish usually feed actively during the short time they have. And some places on the West Coast seem to have summer all the time.

Summer Fishing in Fresh Water

In the South, try bass fishing at night; bass feed during the lower heat and light, and you will be much more comfortable while fishing for them. At night, crappie, white bass, hybrids, and stripers will all come to lights hung over the side of your boat to feed on shad attracted by the lights, making them easy to catch. And fishing at night for catfish is a tradition in many Southern states.

In Northern states, bass feed all day long to take advantage of the short growing season and you can take advantage of them. Walleye and perch bite best at night on many lakes. Muskie are active and will hit around shallow grass beds. Bream bed all summer long in most areas and you can have some fast action for them.

Trolling is a good way to fish during the summer since you keep moving and have some breeze to cool you off. It will get your baits down deep where many fish stay in hot weather, too. Wading rivers and streams is cooling to you and puts you close to the fish, so try getting wet to beat the heat.

Summer Offers Good Saltwater Fishing

Summer is the time of party boats in most areas. Seas are usually their calmest of the year and smaller boats can venture out safely. Most fish are as spread out on their range as they get, so they can be caught in a wider variety of areas. And it's open season on almost all species.

This is a good time to go out and fill your freezer with sea bass, cod, and croaker. Although it can get extremely hot, there's usually a breeze and taking a covered boat to provide shade will keep you comfortable most days. Baitfish are easy to catch and bait shops have the best variety of bait this time of year, too.

Summer flounder are called that because they move into bays and can be caught in large numbers. Fishing from piers and bridges can be excellent for catching them. Mackerel are moving up the coast and schools sometimes come in close enough to shore to be caught from piers. Bluefish move close to shore to feed and will hit just about anything thrown to them. And fishermen with boats find many kinds of fish concentrated around offshore oil rigs and reefs.

On the Gulf Coast and southern Atlantic, redfish and sea trout are in shallow waters feeding, and these excellent table-fare fish can be caught easily. Fish for them in the shell beds with live shrimp. You'll probably also catch jack crevalle and other fish that will fight hard, but these won't be too good to eat. Just enjoy them and let them go to fight again.