In the heat of the summer, fishing the oxygen-rich weeds in his favorite waters, Dan Brozowski returns to a proven bass-catching technique—split shottin’.

In addition to keeping up with their voracious appetite during the heat of the summer, bass deal with oxygen depletion in many bodies of water. Unfortunately, oxygen content in our waters is usually not discussed, but it is an extremely critical condition that affects not only bass, but all other species as well. Some fish are more tolerant of lower oxygen content in the water than others. There’s certainly more information than we can discuss here, but it is an important consideration to where you present your baits in the water.

Can you tell oxygen content in some way without an oxygen meter? Nope, but you can restrict your fishing areas to those that have conditions more favorable for good oxygen levels. The easiest to recognize is something that circulates or pumps water into a body of water such as aerator fountains or natural runoff areas. These certainly are not commonplace in most waters, but there is one natural oxygen producer common to practically all waters—weeds. Weeds produce oxygen during these dog days of summer, as well as under the ice, and are a natural attractant to bass. Weeds not only produce oxygen, but provide shade, concealment, draw in forage and actually provide slightly cooler water temps—all of which are positive environments for bass, especially larger fish.

This time of year, I concentrate my fishing on deep-water presentations. Yes, bass can be caught at all depths—they do move about the water column—but I have found my most consistent catches come in close proximity to weeds and near the bottom. When the temps rise and the bite seems to slow a bit in my normal summer areas, I concentrate on my deep-water approach.

In this article, we will focus on just one technique to work the depths, but there are many more. Getting a bait down into that strike zone is the intention this time of year; how you go about achieving those goals is entirely up to you. I kind of slow down a bit, really search that deep-water zone, and usually turn to my soft plastics to get the job done. Other baits are certainly an option; deep crankbaits, for example, work well. Depending on how deep the water is, running these baits near bottom has resulted in some great catches. The one drawback to cranks, and any other bait sporting treble hooks, is fouling on the bottom weed growth. It can become tiresome raking the bottom of most waters. Therefore, I concentrate on more weedless options.

There are many weedless options that will navigate the weeds. A few years back, I reverted to a basic old rig: drop shotting plastic worms.

The rig is as simple as it gets a worm, hook and some pieces of split shot. A Texas-rigged worm is normally attached about 12 to 16 inches up from the shot—that’s it! It was a popular rig many years ago among bass anglers, but has since kind of faded away to make room for a multitude of more sophisticated bottom rigs. It is very simple and subtle. No heavy weights bang on the bottom, no crashing through weed growth, and no specialty hooks, weights or baits are needed. Honestly, you could walk the bank with all the tackle you need in your pocket!

We’ll start with the rod and reel. I always use a spinning rod for myself—again, that’s your choice. At times, I might drastically reduce the weight size on a particular day, and my spinning outfit allows for more casting distance when I change to a lighter presentation. I prefer braided line simply because of the sensitivity. I’ve used mono or copolymers—they do work well—but braid will detect some very light bites. I generally use 15- to 30-pound test, not so much for the strength, but because of the diameter, which is quite low. With mono or copolymer, 12-pound test works well for me.

Standard worm hooks such as the EWG style, offset or round bend hooks—basically any worm hook that you can Texas rig with—works for this approach. Last season, I began experimenting with VMC’s Ringed Wide Gap Hook, which is basically a worm hook with a solid ring through the eye. This ring seems to give the bait more action than a direct tie to the hook eye. It’s not necessary, but I have noticed a difference. Hook sizes can vary from 1/0 on up to 4/0; you just need to match the hook to the worm size.

The final piece, of course, is where the rig gets its name, and that is split shot attached onto the main line below the bait. Vary the size depending on depth; the deeper the water, go heavier on the shot. Mine are normally attached around 12 inches on up to about 18 inches from the hook. The farther away from the bait the shot is attached to the line, the longer it takes the bait to settle to the bottom, which can be a deadly approach when bass seem to be a little off on certain days. As far as size of the shot, it varies. I suggest buying shot such as Water Gremlin in one of the multi-packs, which covers a variety of rig sizes.

For split shotting, I use plastic worms, not creature style baits, that vary from small, 4-inch models on up to 7- to 8-inch worms. We all have favorite worms; the actual bait brand or worm style is not as critical as the rigging. Worms with straight or action tails all seem to work when presenting your bait this way.

Fish these rigs by concentrating your approach on those oxygen-rich areas we discussed, but certainly don’t hesitate to use this setup in open water as well. This technique is designed to slowly work small areas. This is not a search bait; refrain from trying to see how much water you can cover. Bass are concentrated in these favorable water conditions at this time of the season, so restrict your presentation to these deeper, oxygen-rich areas.

One small tip with this presentation: Bass will follow this bait to the bottom. Once the weight hits bottom and the worm begins to settle, I get many hits, so being alert through the whole cast is essential.

Split shottin’ is an old rigging. Whether you’re trying this rig for the first time or revisiting a retired technique, why not give this rig a chance during the extreme heat of the summer?

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