Anglers can use all the help they can get in the summer heat when the fishing gets tough.

They and their bait really deal with it. There is a lot of competition in the water. Knowing when and where to fish can make all the difference for them.

“Fishing gets tough in the summer because the fish have so much natural prey to eat,” says Daryl Bauer, fisheries outreach program manager for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. “Everything is at its peak during the summer.”

Bauer said that with the warm summer water, the fish feed as much or more than at any other time of the year. “They spend less time foraging for food, so feeding times are shorter,” he said.

For this reason, he said, the “prime times” for fishing, when they will most likely feed, are early and late in the day or after dark.

Once out fishing, Bauer says anglers need to “find their best spots.” This can include drop spots, places where you see an abundance of natural bait, and places that concentrate bait and fish.

“Anglers want to be on these spots during the best times,” Bauer said.

On reservoirs, remember to fish for spots and on smaller waters, fish for ‘ambush’ spots such as under docks, piers, overhanging trees and in aquatic vegetation.

Fish, especially in irrigation reservoirs, tend to start moving deeper in the summer because the water begins to drop with irrigation releases. “On a night when the fish are feeding, they can always be back to shallower waters, but generally we’re going to start fishing deeper over the summer,” Bauer said.

Anglers should also fish their presentations faster in warmer waters, but not necessarily always. “You can fish quickly to cover the water to find feeding fish — rather than crouching down and fishing slowly and teasing them into biting,” Bauer said. Anglers fishing in tanks for white bass or wipers should look for gulls feeding on baitfish. These baitfish will attract white bass and wipers, but also walleyes and channel catfish.

Thunderstorms can be rare, but anglers who are in the right place at the right time can take advantage of them. “If you can be right in front of a thunderstorm, it can be a good bite,” Bauer said. “You want to fish as late as possible until it’s no longer safe.”

Bauer said summer is the perfect time to fish a scum frog in pits and ponds for largemouth bass and grasshoppers for river catfish and grasshopper grounds for panfish and trout. . For more information on fishing in Nebraska, visit

For more information on fishing in Nebraska, visit outdoornebraska.gov/fishing.