Flaming Gorge bass fishing in the summertime is awesome! Here’s what you need to find fish and know what baits will work best out on the gorge this time of year. This lake is loaded with Smallmouth bass. You can learn from this trip about fishing on this lake to save yourself time, and immediately start catching some bass. Enjoy!
Summer bass fishing can be awesome on Flaming Gorge for Smallmouth. This post is a report on what you can do in the summer to catch bass on flaming gorge. It’s a run down from my experience on the water chasing Smallmouth bass from a paddle board. My time on the water produced 20+ bass in only a few hours of fishing. Granted a lot of them where little, but I caught a couple decent footballs too. Hopefully, you can have more success out fishing using the things I learned to get Kraken Bass!
In this article you will see the conditions of the trip, so if you find yourself in similar conditions anywhere you will know what to use. Also, this post contains 3 great lures to catch Smallmouth bass in the summer. Even cooler, I provide a map here for you to see where I caught them, so you can go out here too and slay! Watch the video below to gain even greater insights of what you can expect fishing flaming gorge reservoir in the summertime. Enjoy the stoke!
This trip transpired in late July fishing from my paddle board in the morning from 6:00 am to 9 am. 3 solid hours of fun fishing. Here’s what the conditions where like for me, so you can know what to do when you find yourself in a similar situation.
0 – 2 MPH. Flat Calm all morning.
Partly Cloudy. Air Temps in the high 80’s.
Upper 60’s.
Clear. Visibility about 8 – 10 feet.
These conditions where ideal to find active feeding fish. Summer is usually when the bass are super consistent in their feeding patterns. I caught a lot of them on top water like this one.
Where you fish on flaming gorge for smallmouth bass makes a huge difference on the numbers of fish you catch on the lake. The Utah side typically closer towards the dam has larger populations of fish, but the majority of the fish tend to be on the smaller side. The opposite end of the lake in wyoming has bigger fish, but they are few and far between. For this paddle board fishing trip I wanted lots of action, so I headed to the dam area of the lake. Here’s the map below of the small area of the lake where I had the most success.
You don’t need a ton of baits in your box to catch smallmouth in the summer. They are usually pretty aggressive if you can locate them. Here are the three things you need in your box, and how to use them to catch smallmouth in the summer on the gorge. These are universal good summer bass fishing baits. Even if you aren’t fishing on flaming gorge, you will will catch bass on them.
The Jackall 4.8 green pumpkin pepper flick shake worm is a smallmouth bass slayer in the summer. It is the perfect size for them to slurp down, and it’s the perfect color in clear water for getting lots of bites. The best way to use the flick shake is on a drop shot rig. Put the hook in the middle of the worm wacky style. A small 3/16 oz weight, and a size 1 drop shot hook works spectacular with this lure. The key is to make sure the lure hits the bottom, and slowly shake it along.
The Megabass Dog X Jr. Wakasagi Color is amazing for clear water topwater strikes. This bait caught more fish for me and bigger fish consistently better than anything else mentioned in here. Its an expensive bait, but it’s worth the extra money to catch more fish. In the low light conditions walk the bait back and forth with a steady twitch, and a quick turn of the reel to pick up the slack. You will be able to cast this bait further on a spinning rod and reel set up. Even though you could throw it on a baitcaster. Low light is key in the summer for topwater bites. This bait stopped working once the sun came up.
The baby bass Diawa Neko Fat 4 inch bait is the perfect all around solution to fish both shallow and deep. You want to fish this on a neko rig to be able to get deep, and be able to fish shallow at the same time. It’s great for catching numbers and it also appeals to the bigger fish. Use a light nail weight in the head of the bait, put an o-ring in the center, and then run a size 4 stinger hook through the o-ring. Make sure the hook point is facing up towards the tail of the bait. Check it out in the video below for more details on how to fish it. Love this thing. It slays.
This video of Flaming Gorge summer bass fishing will help you see all this baits, and tips in action from this post. It was a fun morning. Even though a lot of the fish where small, occasionally you’d tie into a nice one. While you watch the video pay attention to where I’m casting, and get in on the excitement of what you can do out bass fishing on this beautiful lake.
The key to finding smallmouth in the summertime is knowing their behavior patterns. At Flaming Gorge, like at most lakes, the bass were up shallow cruising and feeding on crayfish and other minnows early in the morning during the low light conditions. Then as the sun came up and the water started heating the bass move down deeper. Make sure you adjust to the fish’s movements and you will catch a lot more.
One more thing. The links above and below in this post are affiliate links were you can pick up baits, rod’s, reels, line, and anything else I use to “Krak” some bass on Flaming Gorge Reservoir. Krakenbass receives a small percentage of the sales through these links. I only use links to baits, and gear I personally trust and know work. These links are supposed to be helpful for you, and not for the small amount I make for the sale of the products. I hope these products can help you “krak” some bass like they have for me. Thank you for your support!
As Always,
Stay Stoked!!
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4 Responses
Nice article, JB. I just spent a week at Mustang Ridge. We fished all around that area, with the exception of where you marked. We have been there for the past 12 years and I have not fished that area. I will be sure to next time. Isn’t the Neko bait you mentioned to big for those small mouth.
The 4inch size works great. It helps you to get the bigger ones as well. Happy to help!
Didn’t find the videos.
Here it is. You must of just skipped over it – https://youtu.be/OMrJ1KjofHc