Some know it as "drop fishing" and others know it as "ledge fishing for bass" but whatever name you have heard it called, it is the key to being successful on reservoirs during the heat of summer.

What is a ledge? Basically a ledge is a form of structure that can be found at the edge or bank of an old creek channel or the main river channel that remains underwater after the flooding of a reservoir. A quick look at a topographical map of any man made reservoir will show you these old channels. The creek channels will wind their way from the backs of the bays to the old river channel and the main river channel will wind its way thru the reservoir from the headwaters of the lake to the dam.

 That first cast a smooth underhand pitch with a Pumpkin “Big Jig” and a brown grub trailer. The bait slides into the water with hardly a splash, slides down the old log, and “TIC” the line jumps and bait swims to the side you set hard and a fat 5lb bass fish breaks water “what a feeling”.

As everyone has noticed for the past several weeks, old man winter has been gone on vacation, or something. We have been enjoying spring - like weather during what should be the onset of our cold weather season. In fact, it has been so nice outdoors, I have not considered deer hunting or duck hunting, two of my favorite cold weather endeavors. Instead, I have been focusing on my bass fishing, which has been pretty good. It looks like things are about to change. According to the weather forecast, we are in for a bit of seasonal weather, in other words, it’s gonna get cold and stay that way for a while.

While most youngsters are enjoying school being out for the summer, there is another type of school going on, summer school. I don’t mean your traditional classroom education type of summer school, I am talking about summertime schools of sand bass fish and hybrids. The action is fast and fun. Richland-Chambers reservoir is loaded with sand bass and an abundant supply of food for them to eat, shad. Each year about this time, the "sandies " can be found chasing shad to the surface and create a feeding frenzy that literally makes the water boil. They are a blast to catch, even for we "serious bass anglers".

As daytime temperatures begin reaching the 70's and 80's, the surface water temps also begin to rise. As any "bass minded angler" can tell you, it won't be long until those green creatures of the deep begin their annual migration to the shallows to spawn (lay eggs). It is during this time that most of us dust off our gear and head to our favorite lake. When bass are shallow, they are the easiest to catch.