Cody Meyer on Staying Ahead of the Spring/Summer Transition
BRANSON, Mo. – If you fish the same body of water often, you’ve probably experienced what’s going on right now on Table Rock Lake: The fish are in a certain location one weekend, and the next they’re gone.
Those same areas you were catching them become a ghost town, and that’s what’s happening right now in Bass Pro Tour Stage Seven as the lake’s bass are transitioning from their spring to summer patterns.
Stages Six and Seven has been a tale of two seasons as the fish have primarily vacated the bank and moved to deeper water, according to MLF pro Cody Meyer. If you experience this, the good news is they haven’t moved far, and they’re generally within sight of their last locations.
A Combination of Factors
Bass naturally like to slip to deeper water after spawning, and Meyer said the current conditions at Table Rock have sped up the process even faster than usual.
“I was catching all of them right on the bank (during Stage 6), and I tried those areas and couldn’t get a bite in my Shotgun Round,” Meyer said. “The combination of the water temperature rising, and the water dropping pushed them out quickly.
“This time around the fish are close to where I was catching them but on the first point out towards the lake. When you look around and figure out where they are going, it makes them very predictable. The key is to fish these places and give them five minutes and if they are not there, move to the next one because they are going to be feeding somewhere.”
High-Percentage Locations
Each lake is different in how the bass transition from one season to the next, but some things occur just about everywhere.
“The biggest thing is having access to deeper water,” Meyer advised. “It could be main lake points, right at the mouth of a creek or bay, but it needs to be close to deep water. Once the bass spawn and move out, spotted bass especially, they will be there in those same deeper areas until early winter when they start moving back into the creeks following baitfish. These bass like to suspend, and it could be around bridge pilings, timber, or on channel swings over open water.”
“Deep” is a relative term and varies lake-to-lake, but 30 feet here on Table Rock seems to be the zone right now, according to the Daiwa pro.
Targeting Transitional Bass
No matter where Meyer goes during this time of year, he can effectively target bass on the move with three techniques: A drop-shot, topwater, and swimbait do most of his damage during the early post-spawn.
“I like to use a smaller drop-shot bait after they spawn and the 3 ½-inch Strike King Half Shell in Smoke Gold Purple Flake is great everywhere we go – it’s what I’m using here at Table Rock,” Meyer said. “I caught some casting the drop-shot, but most of the time I go in circles while I’m watching my electronics, and wait until I see one before I drop down to them.”
Meyer fishes a drop-shot on a rod he helped design for Daiwa, a 7-4 medium Tatula Elite. Paired with this rod is a Tatula LT reel spooled with a 15-pound braid and a 6-pound fluorocarbon leader.
The other tool in Meyer’s transitional toolbox is a walking topwater bait. In the closing moments of the Shotgun Round, it seemed like he couldn’t keep the bass of his Strike King Sexy Dawg walking bait.
“It was crazy how good the topwater bite was in the evening hours, but it’ll work all day long this time of year,” he admitted. “Some anglers think of topwater only in lowlight conditions or with shade, but if the bass are feeding on shad, it can be an all-day bite.”
Meyer prefers the Chrome Sexy Shad color in these conditions, and he fishes the bait on a 7-3 medium heavy Daiwa Taula Elite Brent Ehrler Multi-Purpose rod. When it comes to reels, he chooses a 7.3:1 Daiwa Tatula SV reel spooled with 15-pound monofilament.
The final part of his arsenal is a 3 ¼-inch Strike King Rage Swimmer swimbait that he fishes on a ¼-ounce Owner round jighead. He prefers the same reel, but opts for the slower 6.3:1 gear ratio and spools it with 8- to 10-pound fluorocarbon. The rod of choice is a 7-0 Daiwa Tatula Elite Brent Ehler finesse baitcast rod that is rated as a medium/medium heavy.
As bass complete their annual migration to deeper water, it can be a challenge for anglers looking to stay on the fish. But this period also offers excellent fishing opportunities as bass are aggressively feeding, if you know where to look.