Bluegills and bass roam three primary areas during summer: They can be up shallow around cover like piers, fallen trees and weed pockets. They could be along the deep weed edge or first drop-off. Or they could be suspended. Let’s go catch them!

Shallow fish are easy; all you need are some good casting skills and a little luck. For bluegills, I like a little ice jig like a Custom Jigs & Spins Glazba. It is made from tungsten, so it has just enough weight to pitch around piers and wood, using light line and a St. Croix Panfish rod. Slide on a redworm, give it a pitch and reel it back in slowly.

You can also use a small bobber to keep your jig above weeds or snags on bottom. Get that bobber right in there, up under the pier if it’s sunny, or to drift around the structure. Be sure to use the absolute smallest bobber you can find so the fish feel little resistance when they suck in your jig.

When I’m bass fishing, I’ll use a Chatterbait with a BFishN Tackle Ribb-Finn and pitch it right in there. I’ve been surprised at how well the Chatterbait worms through the weeds and snags—even better than a spinnerbait—and you can work it slow to give fish more time to react.

On a second rod, I’ll use The Worm: a pre-rigged plastic worm that spins slowly on the retrieve. You’ll want to add a few split shots above the line and add a ball bearing swivel to prevent twist. The Worm can be skipped under piers with a side-armed cast and then reeled as slowly as possible. I’ll use The Worm to work an area thoroughly after I locate fish with the Chatterbait.

The next area is the deep weed edge or first drop-off. As you pull out into deeper water, look for the weeds to stop, either by sight or by using electronics. In shallow, stained-water lakes, we could be talking weeds that only grow from 1 to 5 feet deep, so you are still in shallow water. In clear lakes, the edge could be 10 to 15 feet, or in extremely clear water, as deep as 30.

Here it’s best to use a slip bobber setup with the Glazba/redworm, or you can still give it a pitch without a bobber. These shallow weeds are great because they are easy to see and you can pitch right up to them, bringing back the bait in small twitches. Those deeper weeds can be fished with the slip bobber, or just jigging under the boat, moving slowly along with your trolling motor.

For more aggressive fish, I’ll use a 1/16- or 1/8-ounce Slender Spoon tipped with a redworm. I’ll attach it with a ball bearing swivel to prevent line twist and add one or more split shots to the line a few feet above the lure to get it down into the fish zone. Again, slowly covering water with the trolling motor gets the fish biting.

The weed edge is a prime spot for bass and other gamefish. Here I will use a swim jig with a BFishN Pulse-R plastic, pitched up to the weeds and reeled in slowly. I also like to use a Ringworm on a drop shot setup with a weight on the bottom, a VMC #1 Spinshot hook 18 inches up the line, and then slip on the Ringworm. It’s very fish-catchy, and surprisingly weedless!

Finally, out in no man’s land—the deeper water—the thermocline is the place to be. A thermocline is the transition layer between the warmer, wind-mixed water at the surface, and the cooler, deep water below. If you watch your locator, you can actually see a line down below you (sometimes halfway to bottom), and you will see fish suspended right above that line.

Here, I set up a slip bobber and cast it out. I also use a second rod rigged with a small tungsten jig like a 7mm Chekai, tipped with a redworm, and lower it right down to the fish zone. With electronics, you can see your jig well and are able to get it right on the spot.

For bass or other game fish, I’ll use a heavier, 1/4-ounce Slender Spoon and work it right above the zone. Use a good lift/fall jigging motion and hang on, as anything down there will grab it, be it a bass, pike or even a monster bluegill.

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