Fall is right around the corner, but until then, we’re still deep in the Dog Days of Summer, AKA the hottest, most sultry months of the year. August’s Lucky Tackle Box was dedicated to late summer fishing, and it came packed with everything you need to be successful on the water.

And – of course – we never simply supply you with equipment and cross our fingers for the best. In true Lucky Tackle Box fashion, our team of expert anglers has been filming tutorial videos every single week to teach you the best tips, tricks, and techniques for this time of year.

In a new video from Scot Arganbright and Erik Thue, the two fishermen break down four banger tips for fishing the dog days of summer. Let’s check ‘em out!

1) Keep An Eye Out For Change
In the sultry dog days of summer, bass – just like YOU – are desperate for a little reprieve from the oppressive heat. While you may crack open a cold one and blast your AC, fish don’t exactly have central air. Instead, they lay low in the cool waters and wait for any type of weather change. We’re talking thunderstorms, y’all! When the wind starts to pick up and the raindrops fall, fish go into a feeding frenzy. To capitalize on that shift in behavior, a Quiver Deliver bait will be your BFF, especially if you’re in a breezy cove with plenty of aquatic vegetation.

2) When It’s Hot, Go Slow

If you prefer to fish during a clear forecast when blue skies are overhead, you’re gonna want to slooow down your approach and bust out the finesse lures. Finesse lures are softer and quieter than regular baits, so they won’t startle sluggish fish. Instead, they’ll strategically entice bass to bite, even when they’re feeling sleepy. One bait we love is the Producto worm. All you need to do is drag the worm really, really slowly across the bottom of the lake, and hang the bait right in front of their faces. That’s how you get more bites during the hottest days of the year.

3) Reaction Bites > Hunger Bites

Ever been so hot, you just don’t feel like eating? Bass can relate! When the water gets super warm, fish aren’t as hungry as they typically are during other months of the year, so they won’t be as tempted by tasty-looking baits. That said, quit trying to get them to eat, and instead get them to REACT! To get a reaction bite, rig up a crank bait or a bladed jig, and then run it right along by the grass, popping it out, and ripping it free from weeds if need be. That motion will cause a fish to attack instinctively, even if they’re not hungry.

4) Magic Happens During The Witching Hours

When the late summer light is low, like during early mornings and late evenings, the water temperatures finally cool off and the fish come out to feed. Lucky Tackle Box anglers like to call these hours the “witching hours,” because that’s when the magic happens, baby! Fish are most active during the witching hours, so there’s not really one type of bait that’ll work better than another. As long as you’re out in the AM or PM, you can really play with whatever equipment you’ve got in your tackle box to see which baits and lures your local fish respond best to.

That’s it for now, Lucky Tackle Box nation! Did we miss a late summer tip or technique you swear by? Let us know in the comments below, or on any of our social media channels! The hot weather’s almost behind us, but we still wanna cover anything and everything we can before the new season hits.

Speaking of that… keep an eye out for your September box! It’s got everything you need for transitioning into fall fishing. It’s gonna be EPIC!

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4 Banger Tips For Catching Fish During The Long, Hot Dog Days Of Summer: Video Transcription

Scot Arganbright:
What’s popping LTB gang? I’m Scot Arganbright.

Erik Thue:
And I’m Erik Thue. Today we’re going to give you guys four banger tips for fishing the dog days of summer.

Scot Arganbright:
As you can see, we’ve got a little bit of conditions here, a little bit of light mist, we’re going to talk about it.

Scot Arganbright:
So in the dog days of summer, you’re really looking for those times where there’s change. So weather changes, any type of changes in the pattern, you’re going to want to capitalize on those. Typically when it’s super hot, the fish just… They’re not going to bite like you really want them to. So looking for that rain, looking for a thunderstorm that’s coming, capitalizing right before that storm. That’s when those fish are going to turn on and they’re going to feed.

Scot Arganbright:
To break that down even further, when you have those kind of nasty conditions, the wind picks up, you’ve got wind blowing into a point. You’ve got wind blowing into a cove, a little cut like that, the Quiver Deliver is really going to shine. So in those windy conditions, those fish, they’re a little bit easier fooled running this through there, especially if you’ve got some good grass in that cove, you’re literally going to get bit and you could catch quite a few.

Scot Arganbright:
On the flip side, when you’ve got the dog days of summer, you’ve got the hot days with the board shorts on, you’re going to want to go to a little bit more finesse-y bait. The Producto worm is one that you’re going to want to run really, drag really slow across the bottom. Those fish are lethargic. They’re not really wanting to eat. So you’re going to want to hang that bait literally right in front of their face. Move it nice and slow. That’s going to get you more bites when it’s one of those dog days of summer.

Erik Thue:
All right, tip number three coming back at you guys. So we’re going to use these baits for a reaction. By getting reaction bites during these hot days, we’re triggering the latter line of the fish. So whether it’s one of the crank baits or the bladed jig, we’re able to run this right along by the grass, popping it out, ripping it free from the weeds if need be. These things can actually cause a fish to come in instinctively and think that that’s trying to get away, I’m going to chow it.

Erik Thue:
The flip side, when we really need to slow it down, we may have to have good bottom contact. So our worm or creature baits, those are going to shine. So having good bottom contact, busting it through the weeds a little bit, hopping it along, giving it a time to sit momentarily. And that in itself is going to trigger more fish this summer.

Erik Thue:
Another thing to always consider, mornings and evenings. These hours I refer to as the witching hour, low light periods. When you have low light periods, the fish are going to generally be at their peak. So if we’re coming into a morning, our water temperatures have maybe cooled overnight. We’re starting off at a really good point in being able to find more active fish.

Erik Thue:
Now as we encroach on our evenings, even though our water temps have been warming, we again see that low light conditions, waters are going to start cooling and these fish will eventually slide up on these brake lines and maybe even weed tops and start looking around and start feeding a little heavier before the sun goes down. Get them in the AM or the PM.

Scot Arganbright:
Yeah. Thank you guys for all the support this year. We really appreciate all of our subscribers. So drop a comment in the question section below. Any type of video, anything you guys want covered that’s going to make you better fishermen, let us know and we might be able to cover it on the next video.

Erik Thue:
Don’t forget that subscribe button. Also give it a like, big thumbs up, and we’ll see you guys on the water next time.

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