Summer Delta Playbook by David A. Brown

What You Should Know About Delta Bass in the Summer

Summer 2020

M

ost of the bass have wrapped up their

spawning season and settled into the lifestyle

that’ll carry them through the year’s hottest months. But don’t despair; for, even though spring’s big-fish

bonanza has come and gone, Delta stick Blake Dyer knows

well the upcoming potential.

“Summer on the Delta can be a blast; you can catch a lot

of fish,” Dyer said. “You can catch them on topwater all day

long, which is one of my favorite ways to do it. You can frog

from sunup to sundown and you can have a chance to catch

one of the biggest bass of your life.”

We’ll look at Dyer’s favorite summer tactics in a moment,

but for now, let’s consider his advice on key factors:

Habitat: The Delta lacks not for fish-friendly habitat; but

determining a game plan is a more sustainable strategy than

random running and gunning. Dyer knows he can potentially

catch fish on practically any type of cover, but he also knows

that preferences frequently change.

“Sometimes, it seems like you can catch them in the hydrilla; some days, they’re more in the hyacinth and sometimes, it seems they’re grouped up around tules,” Dyer said. “I’d say figuring out the type of vegetation that they’re hunkered down in and grouped up on is a good place to start.”

There’s no one-size-fits-all rule, but Dyer narrows it down this way:

“When the tide bottoms out and the grass mats canopy on the surface, that can be money,” he said. “On a high incoming tide, or when the tide is falling, but not completely bottomed out, I’ll start targeting floating hyacinth mats, because those (floating) mats need water under them.

“On the highest tides, I

like to get on riprap banks

with sparse tules where

I know there are a lot of

grass clumps up and down

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