It’s July, and time to deal with some of the hottest weather of the year. Whenever surface temperatures start bumping the upper 80s, it can make fishing tough. Unless I’m fishing a lake where ledge fishing is about the only game in town, I look for the thickest cover I can find, wherever I can find it. That might be matted hydrilla or milfoil, sawdust piles, logjams or even hyacinth mats – anything that provides dark ambush cover. It helps if there’s deep water nearby, or at least flooded ditches or creeks, and maybe some current. But what there absolutely has to be is baitfish; whether it’s shad or young bluegills. I use a heavy-action 7 1/2 –foot flipping rod with braided line because I’m fishing 1- or 1 ½-ounce jigs, punch jigs or heavy tungsten weights and soft plastics that will get through all that mess. This is usually slow, tedious fishing and you’ll make a lot of flips between bites. Generally, though, the quality of fish you get out of heavy cover is going to be better than average and could really help you in a tournament.