Normally, by late May, Oklahoma should be well into the hot weather, even though summer doesn’t officially begin until June 21. It just started warming up the last couple of days.
We may be a little behind schedule, but I’m not complaining. Once summer officially sets in, we’ll have all we can handle.
By now, most of our fish are postspawn. There may be a few stragglers, but the majority of the spawn is done, so they’ll be moving toward their summer areas soon.
One thing that will make this seasonal transition interesting is all the rain we’ve recently received. We had a really dry winter, but it changed earlier this year. We’ve been getting a consistent amount of rain.
We’ve had some major storms come through and throw down tornadoes. We have some random, extreme rains that might only be in certain areas, but if it lands on top of you, it’s liable to dump 3 to 4 inches of rain.
That’s been a big help, because the water levels in most of our lakes had been as low as I’d seen them in a long while. It definitely was a good thing that they filled up. We were hurting on the water table around here.
Having a low winter period as we did can really change the summertime, because around here, when we get rain, it turns to mud. That gives the lakes a healthy look, instead of just being super clear. That allows you to stay shallower longer throughout the year.
In a normal year, by now, the water is pretty well stable. It would be getting pretty clear with 3-foot visibility. Right now, we’re still in that 1- to 1 1/2-foot visibility, so those fish will stay in 10 feet or less, where they’d normally be in 10 to 12 feet of water.
From a bank-pounder’s perspective, I think this makes fishing a little more fun. It allows me to throw a squarebill or a lighter finesse jig longer, instead of having to move on out to your big crankbaits like a Norman DD22.
It allows you to stay up there and fish and not be so oriented to your electronics. Just put the trolling motor down and go down the bank
In planning a typical early summer day, I’m always gonna start with a topwater. Getting that early bite is crucial this time of year, so anytime after May 1, I’m gonna have a Heddon One Knocker Spook or a Booyah Counter Strike buzzbait tied on.
I like the walking topwater in clean water, and if it’s dirty, I’ll go with the buzzbait. Either way, I’m gonna keep that topwater bait in my hand longer than normal because, if I can find shade pockets on those steeper banks, I can throw that bait up to 10 or 11 o’clock.
After that, I keep it simple with a War Eagle Finesse Jig and a 7-inch YUM Ribbontail Worm. I have a lot of confidence for anything from rocks to docks, while a Texas-rigged worm is a standard bait for summertime brushpiles.
Whatever you throw, the key to summertime success is just covering water. In the mornings, you want to put your trolling motor on 60-70% and take advantage of those active fish. Later in the day, you can revisit some of those topwater areas with the jig or the worm and clean up any stragglers.
You have to make the most of your time during the summer period, but when you get on ‘em, it can be fast and furious. It definitely gets the blood pumping.
