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  Fishin' with Capt. Gus! ~ Hot Weather Fishing Tips
July 5, 2009
Summer fishing is fun, and July is a great time to catch bass, bream and lots of catfish. Hopefully, the following Hot Weather Fishing Tips will make your next trip fun and productive.
- The best time to fish is between 10:00 p.m. and 10:a.m. when air and water temperatures are the coolest.
- When night fishing, be sure that the boat's running lights are working and have a supply of fresh batteries on board for other lights, electronics, motors, etc.
- Lighted boat docks, adjacent to deep water, are great places to cast after dark for bass, stripers and perch. Anglers using live and fresh cut baits prefer to place a light just above the water's surface, or submerge a glow light from an anchored or slow drifting boat. The light attracts baitfish and predators, including summer stripers. Bridge pilings are great places to fish at night for crappie. These tasty tuggers are best taken on small minnows and jigs.
- If night fishing is not your thing, leave the dock about dawn and cast or pull live baits near docks, brush and rip-rap for bass.
- Keeping bait alive is a challenge when temperatures hit ninety. Keep worms in an ice chest when not in use, and add ice to the minnow bucket when the water warms or the bait begins to swim near the surface. Crickets will live longer and stay more active when kept in the shade.
- Don't throw away dead minnows, shad and herring. They make excellent chum when cut into pieces, or filleted into strip baits for cats, white perch and stripers.
- Brightly colored artificial lures work best when the sun is shining; dark colors, including black, are best to use after dark.
- When in doubt, fish deeper during the heat of the day.
- Use plenty of sun screen and stay hydrated by drinking lots of fluids.
Tips from Capt. Gus!
Attach a flashlight to the handle of your landing net so that it shines in the water when you're trying to land a fish in the dark.
Upcoming events:
Saturday, July 18, 2009, Light House Marine Services will offer a State and NASBLA approved Boater Safety and PWC Class. Registration fee is $49.00 for the eight-hour session beginning at 9:00 a.m. The class will be at The Peninsula Yacht Club, in Cornelius, NC. Graduates will receive an approved picture ID certificate of completion and may also lower their boat insurance rates. To register, or for more information, call Capt. Scott Spivey at 704-587-0325 or visit www.lmservice.org.
Hot Spot of the week is the main river channel from Marker 11 south to Marker 3 for stripers and cats. Bass are suspending over humps and deep brush, and perch can be caught drifting in water twenty to forty feet deep using small minnows and sabiki rigs. The best bite is at dawn and dusk. Lake Norman's water temperature is in the mid-eighties and the water level is 1.7' below full pond.
Captain Gus Gustafson of Lake Norman Ventures, Inc. is licensed by the US Coast Guard, a member of the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association, and is an outdoor columnist and a full time professional fishing guide on Lake Norman, NC. Visit his web site, Fishin' With Gus! at www.FishingWithGus.com or call 704.617.6812.
For additional information e-mail Gus at Gus@LakeNorman.com
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