We’re in the high heat of summer, which means it’s prime time for catchin’ hogs! With our “Dog Days of Summer” August box, you’ll be equipped with everything you need to take advantage of hot days and warm nights spent on the water. Grab your box and let’s get to it.

Fish tend to have a slower bite this time of year, which is no biggie as long as you know how to lure them out from their cool, deep-water hangouts. This time of year is all about finding the perfect bite window: when the fish in your body of water are going to be most active.

Our latest video covers everything you got in your August box… all the bait, lures, tackle, and equipment you need to successfully fish the hot summer waters:

  • Rip’n Lips – Quiver Deliver
  • Bait Brigade – The Frogman
  • Phenom Lures – Cracker Jack
  • Clear Cut – CC8000
  • Producto Lures – Tournament Worm
  • Gambler Lures – Stinger 5ct 
  • Mustad – Grip Pin Edge Hooks 
  • Lucky Xtras: Bobber Stoppers

As always, there’s no “right” way to fish, so don’t be afraid to test out a few different techniques to see what works best for YOU. Whether that’s working on your slow retrieve, figuring out how to best maneuver fishing in heavy vegetation and different water patterns, or discovering which time of day your local fish are most likely to bite.

But no matter where you are in the country, a couple rules are always good to keep in mind. Here are three main lessons to have in your tackle box while you’re fishing this time of year:

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:
What’s cracking LTB nation? I’m Scott Arganbright.

Erik:
And I’m Erik Thue.

Scot:
We’ve got the dog days of summer.

Erik:
For some of you, it’s all about those swimming holes. We’re going to show you, it’s really about the fishing holes.

Scot:
Let’s dive in.

Erik:
Let’s go.

Scot:
During the dog days of summer, these fish can be really negative. The bite is slow, so you really need to slow down your approach. Dragging baits, super slow, soaking them for long periods of time – that’s going to get those fish to bite when they’re negative. Other times, you really want to find that bite window. Maybe it’s the morning. Maybe it’s late evening. When that window is open and those fish are hot and biting, that’s when you can speed up your retrieve and catch those fish in the dog days of summer.

Erik:
Hot, hot heat, and those weeds are at its peak. We see deep weed growth, even. These baits, we’re going to be able to slow roll them right over the top, slow it down, fish down deep into those weeds. During the hot days, we have all these weather patterns and changes are always happening. We’re going to be able to use this to our advantage and really hoss on those dog day donkeys.

Scot:
In the dog days of summer, we’ve got a Lucky Xtra in this box. Something that everybody needs, and these are going to be awesome to get into that thick grass. Two of the baits in this box, very, very necessary to have these bobber stops, that is going to peg your weight on the hook. What you do is you slide your line, your fluoro, or your braid into the little loop. You’re going to fold it over, grab the bead, pull that up. Now, you’ve got a bobber stop on your line and you are ready to put whatever weight, could be lead, could be tungsten onto your line. Tie your hook to it, pull that knob down, and then you’ve got a nice little rig there ready to get into that thick, heavy cover, always trim your tag in, and you can get into that thick, heavy cover and get them beasts out of there.

Scot:
We’ve talked about this one a lot, the good old classic Texas rig. Come up past the barb, sliding that all the way up the hook shank, give it a little twist. You’re all set to go. Using the bend in the hook as your gauge, you’re going to come into the plastic right on that bend and then slide that right up, and you’re completely weedless. This bait, the Gambler 5/0 is going to be perfect for that heavy grass. As we talked about before, it’s matted up, it’s at its peak. It’s as thick as it’s going to get, so you can go deep. You can go shallow with this bait. All depends on the size weight that you have on there. Again, you can run shallows and punch this into that heavy, heavy cover. We’ve got a heavy weight on there, or you can go deeper, throw this down a grass line, drag it back nice and slow. As we mentioned, you’re going to need to move it slow typically to get those bites in the dog days of summer.

Erik:
Hopping along, we have that six-inch Producto worm. We’re also going to use that Lucky Extra, pegging that Texas rig-style weight. Again, we have this Texas rig just like that Gambler. We’re going to be able to fish this bait in shallow weeds and weed edges. We might find a little hard bottom area, hop this bait along. This has a beautiful little flap tail to it. We’re going to be able to drag this out deep, hop it through the mat grass. Fish it slowly, making good bottom contact. Always be certain to have good line lure contact to feel those very finessed bites.

Scot:
With the two Texas rig baits, you’re going to want a little bit more backbone. This is a 7’4″ heavy. That’s going to allow me to get those fish back to the boat quick, set the hook hard, and I’m not going to break them off and I can really hoss them back. On top of that, you’re going to want anywhere from about a 15 to a 20-pound fluoro, you don’t want to go any lower than that, or you’re going to risk breaking them up, breaking your line. Braided line, typically anywhere from 40 to about 65 pounds and you’re good to go. Hoss those fish back, bottom baits, heavier weights. You’re good to go.

Scot:
We talk about fishing heavy grass. A lot of the time, one of the best baits is going to be a bladed jig. This is the Rip’n Lips Quiver Deliver. Again, you’re going to throw this into that heavy grass, and when you make contact with the grass, you’re going to use your rod tip, rip it free. Make sure that you’re paying attention though, because when those fish bite is when you’re ripping it through that grass. What I’ve done here is I’ve taken that Gambler 5/0, I’ve added that to this bait as a trailer, those legs are going to kick and quiver really nice with this bait. Again, throw that into the heavy grass. Be ready, because when you rip it free, they’re going to crush it.

Erik:
You want to talk about skimming some deep weeds, the Bait Brigade Frogman. This bait is going to dive six to eight feet. We’re going to be able to cast this out, whether it’s off a ledge with some weeds, maybe a big open flat, but we’re anticipating that this bait is just going to barely bump those weeds. If we tick some of those weeds with the bait, give it a little rip, give it a little pop. It’s going to break free. You can cause a reaction bite out of that, but as we work this bait, giving it momentary pauses, a little hesitation, a little pull from the rod, it’s going to cause this bait a little more action. Remember, we’re trying to slow it down. Anticipate that bite. Get them with the Bait Brigade.

Scot:
The Phenom Cracker Jack, so this bait dives three to five feet. Anytime you see a gap in between the grass and the top of the water, you’ve got a perfect little level to run this, slow roll this bait right over the top. When the fish turn on, the bite turns on late evening, the fish are looking up. They’re looking for something to feed on and it’s got that nice rattle, roll this right over the top, and you’re going to catch them.

Erik:
We have the Clear Cut Spinner Bait, a fantastic bait for during those dog days. The spinner bait being on a hair pin with an upturn hook is very, very streamlined. This is a bait that we can run it right through the grass. You can run it right over the top, burn it in a little bit faster. You’re also going to slow roll this just like we talked about in those deep water conditions. You can fish this off deep ledges. We can pop this, get that skirt to pulsate and move and lunge, if you would. Anytime that we bump grass and weeds, give it a little rip. They’ll pull right out of there almost completely weedless and you can cause a lot of reaction strikes during the dog days with the Clear Cut.

Erik:
For a lot of these moving baits, we’re going to rig this up on a bait casting setup. You might just have a spinning rod set up. It’ll do the same, but a 6’6″ to 7’ medium action, more of a moderate tip. You got treble hooks there so that it’s going to pin them, peg them up really, really nicely. We’re going to run for me, a braided line to fluorocarbon, that way, if we’re in those deep weeds, that braid cuts right through. Some of you guys might like that fluorocarbon straight onto the spool, especially in that gin clear water, this setup is going to help you keep it moving and keep it grooving on those big bass.

Scot:
The whole point of this video was to make the dog days of summer a little less doggy for you guys.

Erik:
Don’t forget, hit that subscribe button. Comment with questions down below.

Scot:
We’ll see you on the water next time.

Erik:
That’ll do, donkey. That’ll do.

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