Rods & Rigs - Get it Done in the Dog Days

By Gary Dobyns

There are many scenarios we might refer to as “difficult,” but for me, the Dog Days of summer present some of the most challenging times to fish southern waters. The air temperatures can be stifling, the sun is relentless and anglers really have to stay hydrated and take care of themselves.

As for the fish, there’s often an early morning feeding window, as the fish push the shad up to the surface. This action mostly takes place offshore, over humps and creek channel bends where you may see a group of activity here, a group of activity over there.

After that, they typically shut down — and I mean shut down for several hours. If you can get on the water early, it’s hard to beat a walking topwater for that morning bite.

Poppers can work, but I like a big walking bait because it tends to attract the bigger fish. If one misses, or just boils on the bait, a wacky-rigged 5-inch Senko is the best follow-up bait you can throw. Cast right at the spot where the fish showed itself and let the bait fall on a slack line.

The wacky-rigged Senko is the best follow-up bait ever invented. If they don’t get it in the first 5 or 6 feet of it falling, I usually reel it up and throw it again.

Once this morning bite ends, you’re probably going to face several hours of lean fishing. If you want to tough it out all day, be sure to stay hydrated and plan on covering a lot of water, because at some point they will bite. A lot of times, it’s like 2 or 3 o’clock in the afternoon, when it’s the hottest and the worst time of day when they go on a feeding binge and you catch the tar out of them.

They just don’t feed all day this time of year. When they do, it seems like they all do and you’ll catch a whole bunch of fish really fast, when an hour before you couldn’t scratch a bite.

I know a lot of guys like throwing crankbaits, but don’t overlook your soft plastics. Here are my top-2 summertime presentations:

Carolina Rig

When there’s no surface action, I like going down after them with a Carolina-rigged lizard. This is kind of the old-school favorite, but I think one of the best Carolina rig baits ever made is the Senko. Every time that weight hits something hard on the bottom, that bait darts around and just looks very natural.

You don’t need a lot of action in the bait’s body, but you have to remember that a Senko has a lot of salt in it and it sinks. That’s why you need to work the bait a little more.

Also, one of the most overlooked Yamamoto baits is the Kut Tail Worm. You can rig this bait a bunch of different ways, including a Carolina rig.

I might do this if I want just a little more action on the back of my Carolina rig. That tail really does swim well and it’s just a different look.

Tackle: The Dobyns Champion 764 is my favorite Carolina rig rod, but if I’m fishing someplace like Lake Fork, Sam Rayburn or Toledo Bend with a tremendous amount of cover, I’ll step up to a 765 flipping stick. If I’m fishing around flooded timber and I’m catching big fish, that rod has a good tip and plenty of power. It’s not a normal Carolina rig rod, but on a lake where I’m catching big fish around trees or brush, it’s awesome.

I like a reel with a 7:0-8:0 reel speed and usually 20-pound fluorocarbon. I don’t mind a reel with a fast gear ratio because I don’t think summertime is a time to fish slow.

Football Jig

After I’ve thrown the Carolina rig for a while and I want to give the fish a different look, I like a 1/2- to 3/4-ounce jig with a Yamamoto Hula Grub. I fish this rig pretty fast. I’ll hop it, swim it a little bit and just fish it at a pretty fast rate.

When those fish are in a feeding mode, they’re aggressive. You can fish it fast and cover some water with it. I just do not slow drag a football jig.

You can almost fish a football head like a deep-diving crankbait, but I always let it go back down and touch the bottom before I reel it again and drop it back down. I personally like to fish that bait fast, but the fish tend to like that bait fished that way, as well.

Tackle: For this technique, I like a Dobyns DX745. I throw a 5-power casting rod with an extra fast tip because you need some power on that jig. I’m usually throwing 20-pound fluorocarbon because there’s just no reason to light line these fish in the south where there’s often a lot of cover. It’s completely different from fishing deep, clear western reservoirs with less cover, where I may go down to 12-pound fluoro.

No matter what you choose to throw during the Dog Days of summer, you’ll usually find that the fish get on a pretty consistent schedule. If I catch them at 3 o’clock today, I’ll catch them at 3 o’clock tomorrow.

It’s just so weird how this time of year, the fish will go on lockdown mode after that morning bite. You’re beating your head against the wall being out there, but if you know when that bite is, it’s a lot of fun. You can go out there and sack ‘em up.

Summertime fishing is definitely not easy. It often requires a lot of patience and persistence, but if you figure out when they’re biting, it can be an absolute blast.

My advice: You might as well go out and fish for that early bit, go eat breakfast, goof around all day, and when it’s just smoking hot, grab a bunch of Gatorade, head to the lake and have a field day.