Shane Smith
Now that summer is in full swing and the water temps are steadily rising, you will see more and more bass show up on your electronics offshore. I am not saying that all bass are offshore, but the majority of your trophy-sized bass will call the deeper offshore areas home until the water cools off for the fall.
I will share with you my favorite tips and tricks to catch that summertime water donkey out deep this year.
1. Know your electronics. You can have 4 graphs hanging off your boat with enough technology to contact Jupiter, but if you don’t know what you are looking at, you will struggle to catch bass offshore. Spend some time behind the wheel and on places like YouTube to get familiar with your graph and what it is showing you.
2. Get your mind right. If you have committed to staying offshore and fishing for larger than average bass, don’t beat yourself up and want to constantly catch something. Think more like a trophy deer hunter. Have it in your mind much like my good friend Jeff Lindsey (The Lindsey Way) who will pass on lots of bucks to chase trophy class animals. Maintain your combat focus and stay the course.
3. Typically bigger is better. I will opt for larger baits that will yield me fewer bites, but usually the right bites. Now is the time to reach for that 6th Sense Cloud 25 crankbait, ¾ oz. Divine Hybrid jig with a full size beaver trailer, 10-12” worm and a 6-10” swimbait. Make sure you have the right rod and reel setup for fishing offshore and putting yourself in the best place to land a monster bass when you hook one.
4. Fish SLOW. From my experience with every bait I mentioned with the exception of the crankbait, I will fish them painfully slow. Larger than average bass are notoriously lazy and won’t chase down their meals that often. Eventually they will be able to ambush their prey, and it will be large enough to keep them full for a while.
5. Fish where they live. Most of these trophy bass will be in thick brush, rock piles, deep ledges or some type of heavy cover that offers them safety and a vantage point over their prey. You will absolutely get hung up and lose some baits. That is part of it. If you are afraid to get hung up and know you won’t be able to knock it free with your rod tip, maybe this type of fishing is not for you.
All those giant, double-digit bass that were on a bed in the shallows a few months ago are now out deeper and feeding up offshore. Try some of these tips and see if you can’t catch an offshore megahead this summer.
