In the summer, the bass start moving deeper. But before you can fish them, you have to find them. Kevin VanDam looks for bait that is more efficient in those deeper depth zones. His favorite is a deep diving crankbait. Once you catch a few bass on a crankbait, you can always move to a slower bait.

First thing in the morning and late in the evening is prime feeding time for bass. As the water warms and the current moves more, the bass will move to those points where they can ambush bait fish. Early morning fishing is best in the shallows with a topwater or buzzbait. As the day warms up, go ...

The spawn is tricky when it comes to choosing baits. You want to get down on the bottom and get in front of the bass’ faces. Jigs and plastics are hard to beat. When the fish can see well, when the water clarity is better, a wacky rigged plastic worm that has a lot of action and slow sink and sta...

Bass will go to where the best food source is at that time of the year. Bass will move with the bait fish, so know when those bait fish spawn and where they are. After the shad spawn, the bass will start to move deeper as the shad move deeper where cooler water is. The bass always relate to struc...

Bass want to get away from the current. They’ll look for backwaters where there’s less current so they can build a nest. Smallmouth bass can spawn in some current, but look for areas that will help block the current. Rivers are a challenge when the water isn’t clear and it’s hard to see the objec...

There’s not a bad time to fish in the spring. As long as you can see early in the morning, make longer casts at visible targets. Bass will usually be a lot more aggressive in the morning. As the day warms, you see more bass move into the shallows to spawn. Sunny afternoons are a great time to fis...