Catching Bass in Late Summer with Mark Rose: Duck Hunting for Bass in Hot Weather
John E. Phillips 08.23.12
Editor’s note: Mark Rose of Marion, Arkansas, who has won more than $1.5 million, is a professional bass fisherman, a member of War Eagle Boats’ and Strike King’s Pro Staffs and the winner of six FLW tournaments.
Depending on the area of the country where you fish, you’ll often find duck blinds in shallow-water grass where duck hunters hunt during the late fall and winter. If you use your War Eagle boat to hunt as well as fish, you already know where some of these shallow-water spots are. You may not have considered bass fishing your duck holes in the hot summer months, but that’s where I often locate some fantastic overlooked bass fishing. Duck holes often have several ingredients that attract bass. They may have grass around them, and duck blinds, or posts and structures of old blinds there. The duck blinds and grass provide shade, cover and cooler water for the bass. Usually there are an abundance of bluegills and other baitfish too.
Strike King has a new bait out now called the Swim’n Caffeine Shad. I like to put a 1/16-ounce slip sinker in front of that Swim’n Caffeine Shad, and peg the sinker to the head of the shad. I use a bobber stop (a plastic device used to set a bobber at a certain depth. Some anglers prefer to use a toothpick) to peg my lead and a Gamakatsu No. 4/0 or No. 5/0 extra-wide-gap super-light hook in the Swim’n Caffeine Shad. I slow-retrieve the Swim’n Caffeine Shad through the grass, and let the tail of the lure wag back and forth, creating ripples on the surface of the water. If the lure swims through an open hole, a bass often will blow up and eat the bait. I’ll either fish with 20-pound-test fluorocarbon line or 50-pound-test braided line in the weeds in duck holes.
When I target duck blinds, I use a new Strike King flipping bait called the Rage Shellcracker. You’ll often find numbers of bluegills and shellcrackers (redear sunfish) around duck blinds, which offer good spawning habitat for these bream. The bass will hold under these duck blinds because that’s where the dinner table is. Strike King’s new soft-plastic Shellcracker looks like a little bream. I rig it the same way I rig the Swim’n Caffeine Shad, usually with braided line, fish this lure under the duck blind and pitch it to all the posts that support the duck blind. These techniques are the ones I like to use when I’m fishing my War Eagle boat in areas most bass fishermen won’t fish and can’t fish in the hot summer months
To learn more about how to fish for bass with Mark Rose, click the titles for these two new bass books by John E. Phillips, “How to Bass Fish Like a Pro” and “Catch the Most and Biggest Bass in Any Lake,” or go to http://www.amazon.com/kindle-ebooks, and type in the names of the books to buy them. Too, you can download a Kindle app for free and buy the books from Amazon to read on your iPad, SmartPhone or computer.
To learn more about top-quality War Eagle boats, click here.
Click here to learn more about catching bass in “the mouths” with Mark Rose.
John, the 2008 Crossbow Communicator of the year and the 2007 Legendary Communicator chosen for induction into the National Fresh Water Hall of Fame, is a freelance writer (over 6,000 magazine articles for about 100 magazines and several thousand newspaper columns published), magazine editor, photographer for print media as well as industry catalogues (over 25,000 photos published), lecturer, outdoor consultant, marketing consultant, book author and daily internet content provider with an overview of the outdoors.
Phillips has been a contributor to many national magazines, has been affiliated with 27 radio stations across Alabama serving as their outdoor editor and wrote for a weekly syndicated column, "Alabama Outdoors," for 38-Alabama newspapers for more than 13 years. Phillips was Outdoor Editor for the "Birmingham Post-Herald" for 24 years. Phillips was also the executive editor for "Great Days Outdoors" magazine for 3 years.
The author of almost 30 books on the outdoors, Phillips is a founding member of the Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA) and an active member of the Southeastern Outdoors Press Association (SEOPA). Phillips also is the owner of Night Hawk Publications, a marketing and publishing firm, and president of Creative Concepts, an outdoor consulting group.
Phillips conducts seminars across the nation at colleges in freelance writing, photography and outdoor education besides teaching courses in how to sell what you write to writers' groups. Phillips received his photography training as a still-lab photo specialist for six years in the Air Force. He was the chief photographer for Mannequins, Inc., a Birmingham modeling agency, for 11 years.
While serving as 2nd Vice President of the Alabama Wildlife Federation, Phillips was in charge of all press releases for the organization as well as serving as Chairman of Alabama's Big Buck Contest, which he founded more than 30 years ago. He also was president of the Alabama Sportsman's Association for three years.
Phillips is the recipient of a Certificate of Merit from the Governor of Alabama and the Department of Conservation for his work in the outdoor field. Phillips is vitally interested in the outdoors and travels the nation collecting personalities, stories and how-to information for his articles and features.
EDUCATION: B.S. degree from the University of West Alabama with a physical education major and a history minor.
EXPERIENCE: 10 years parttime and fulltime physical director for YMCAs and 34 years as a freelance writer, photographer, editor, book author, lecturer and daily-content provider for websites. Currently, Phillips is a field editor for Game and Fish Publications; serves on the editorial board of Grandview Media; is a regular contributor to 12 internet magazines and a daily content provider for 8 websites.
WRITING AWARDS: Runnerup - Best Outdoor Magazine Feature - 1981 - SEOPA; Certificate of Merit - Awarded by Alabama's Governor for writings on conservation; Most Outstanding Sports Writer in Southeast - 1983 & 1984; Best Outdoor Feature in Alabama, 1987 - Alabama Sportswriters' Association 3rd Place; Best Book of the Year - 1989 - SEOPA; 2007 - inducted into the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame as a Legendary Communicator; 2008 - received award naming him 2008 Crossbow Communicator of the Year from the Crossbow Manufacturers' Association; 2009 - GAMMA Honorable Mention for Consumer/Paid Best Essay for July/August 2008 in "Southern Sporting Journal."
