Heat's locked them down to deep cover and early-late bite, pressure dropping means they'll fire up before the weather rolls in.

Water's brutally hot at 101 degrees, well past the comfort zone where bass get lazy and hunker down in shade and depth. The lake's running a little low, pool at minus 0.7 feet, which tightens cover and funnels fish into brushy structure where they can stay cool. Pressure's dropping ahead of some weather, which typically fires up a few fish, but this heat is the real story. The evidence shows bass stay on deep brush 15 to 18 feet during the day and come out shallow very early and very late. Clarity's normal stain, which helps because it lets you fish darker baits when light gets fierce. Early morning and dusk are your windows, and once the sun gets up and the pressure starts climbing again after whatever weather comes through, the bite shuts down hard.

The day's game plan

Where to fish

• Coontail and Pondweed Flats above FM 2495 Bridge — 4 to 12 feet · Emergent and submerged weed beds with grass pockets and hard bottom access to deep water
  Shallow cover holds baitfish and gives bass escape routes to deeper water fast. Early and late light, bass hunt these flats. In heat they slide deeper but the edges remain productive as transition zones.
• Main Lake Deep Brush and Timber — 15 to 20 feet · Submerged timber, brush piles, irregular bottom in 18 to 25 feet of water
  Heat forces bass to the deepest available structure where water is slightly cooler. Tight cover provides shade and oxygen pockets. Biggest bass hold here during midday when shallow fishing is dead.
• Goat Island and Riprap Dam Face — 8 to 15 feet · Submerged rock, hard cover, drop-offs, deep hard bottom
  Goat Island rock is hard cover that holds bass in the heat and provides distinct structure to work vertically. Riprap at the dam offers another hard-cover option when thick brush is too snaggy or when you want to cover ground faster.

What to throw

• Texas Rig Worm — 5 in · green pumpkin, red flake · 1/4 to 3/8 oz (early morning in shallow grass, midday deep brush, evening shallow transitions)
  drag slowly along the bottom in grass edges and structure, pause 3 to 5 seconds, shake occasionally to trigger strikes
• Wacky Rig Senko — 4 in · green pumpkin, natural watermelon · n/a (early morning shallow flats, dusk shallow transitions)
  cast to grass pockets, let it fall on slack line, work with subtle twitches and long pauses
• Spoon — n/a · white, chartreuse · 1/2 oz (morning when bass move to the edge after sunrise, schooled fish on points)
  lift and fall vertically on structure, work it above the brush or rock, pause 1 to 2 seconds on bottom between lifts
• Crankbait — n/a · chartreuse, green shad · n/a (late afternoon when slight pressure changes start, scattered bass on shallow structure)
  steady crank with occasional drops, work the drop-off and grass edges, keep it in the strike zone 8 to 12 feet
• Hollow Body Frog — n/a · black, brown · n/a (dusk and evening when bass move to thick shallow cover)
  cast over thick grass mats and work with twitches and pauses, walk it slowly or sit and twitch

How to work it

• Vertical Jigging — morning transition and anytime fish are schooled vertically on structure during heat · deep brush 15 to 20 feet, main lake points, humps adjacent to deep grass
  Drop a spoon or small jig straight down on structure, work it with lifts and controlled falls, maintain contact and feel the bottom
• Slow Dragging — midday when bass are tight to cover and won't chase, all day during extreme heat · along deep brush edges, grass lines, around timber
  Keep the bait on the bottom or just above it, drag it 6 inches at a time, pause 3 to 5 seconds, shake slightly to trigger bites
• Casting and Pitching to Cover — early morning to dusk, always effective in this lake's defined cover · shallow grass flats early and late, deep brush midday, timber pockets anytime
  Pitch the bait 10 to 15 feet to the thickest brush, trees, and weed pockets, let it fall naturally, work it tight to the cover

Pro tips

• Pressure is dropping before the weather moves in, so expect the window from dawn until about mid-morning to be your best shot. After the front passes, fishing will get tougher until conditions settle again.
• The heat is the limiting factor today, not lack of fish. Bass are there, you just have to fish slow, tight to cover, and accept that you'll work harder for fewer bites. Midday is a grind, but if you pick apart the deep brush methodically, you will catch some.
• If the wind picks up from the south before the front, the windblown banks on the western shoreline hold slightly warmer, oxygenated water and can produce better than the protected eastern side. Position accordingly.

If conditions change

If the front blows through and pressure spikes with cold, clear air, the bite shuts down completely. Fish tight to the thickest cover you can find, downsize everything to 4-inch worms or small jigs, and slow your retrieve to a crawl. Focus on deep brush 18 to 25 feet. If wind shifts to north and sky clears, stay deep and dark. If instead the clouds hold and you get an afternoon breeze without the front clearing out, keep working the grass edges at 10 to 12 feet, the shallower bite can extend later. If the water clarity improves with any overnight rain, brighten your colors slightly and work faster, but heat will still be the dominant factor so don't chase shallow baits.