POWE R FI S H IN
Story & Photos
BY KEVIN HAWK
under water. I run three Lowrance
HDS units with StructureScan on my
Phoenix 921 ProXP—an HDS 12 and 9
at the console and an HDS 12 on the
bow.
I target points, drops, and high
spots near creek mouths and
along the secondary and main
river channels facing into current.
The current is important, because
it washes away the silt and sand
exposing hard bottom areas, like
Lowrance StructureScan becomes your eyes under water.
shell beds and rock, which bass prefer over soft bottom.
I spend more time idling and
graphing than I do fishing, because I
don’t stop to fish until I first see the bass.
W
hen post-spawn
largemouth bass funnel out
to their summer holding
areas they’re usually aggressive and feeding heavily, which can make
When I find hard bottom areas and bass on my sonar, I immediately turn my attention to my StructureScan to get even more detail. The DownScan shows the bass as white marks, like dotting the screen with a ball point pen, positioned
them easy to catch using traditional hard bait power near the bottom. Then, I position my cursor on the
techniques, like deep-diving crankbaits. But as the
bass and drop a waypoint.
water temperature continues to rise and fishing
After I’ve thoroughly graphed the area I intend
pressure increases, it slowly breaks up the newly
to fish, I turn the boat around and line up my cast
formed schools and they become less aggressive.
on my waypoint. This process is more efficient than
Once off-shore bass become weary of deep-
dropping a buoy to mark the spot. Plus, it doesn’t
diving crankbaits and begin to scatter, I continue to
visibly mark the area for other anglers to see.
power fish with heavy-weighted plastics, because
they allow me to continue fishing fast and quickly covering water.
POWER PRESENTATIONS
My favorite power fishing summer time plastics
EYES UNDER THE WATER
are a 5”, blue pearl/silver flake Yamamoto Swimbait rigged on both ½- and 3/4-oz Owner Saltwater
Power fishing for deep summertime bass
Bullet Heads and a 6”, green pumpkin Yamamoto
requires good electronics that act as your eyes
Senko rigged on a ¾-oz Picasso Shake-E-Football
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