July and August brings hot water to most of the country.  You must adapt your tactics to keep catching bass.  Before you can understand what to do in July and August you've got to take a look at where they were in June.  June is typically the month the bass are apt to be the deepest with no thermocline forming yet.  By the time July rolls around it has been hot for so long that a thermocline is likely to have formed in your lake.  You want to make sure you fish above this level.  For many lakes it could be as deep as 20 ft, but others, especially small lakes and ponds it could be as shallow as just 3 ft.  Keep in mind you may be fishing to deep in the summer if you are not getting bites.

Follow up:

In July and August I like to try four totally different techniques to find out what the bass are doing.

The first is big 10 and 12 inch Culprit worms on creek channel ledges that I believe are shallower than the thermocline.  You can still find big schools of bass in late summer so it is worth a shot.  I like 15lb Flourocarbon and heavy action 7' or longer Daiwa rods like Steez or Zillion.

If the fish are not biting good or are suspended I like to rip a jig off the bottom.  I use 1/2 or 3/4 and aggressively snap it off the bottom in order to get reactions out the bass.  After you rip it let it fall back on a semi slack line.  Most bass bite at the top of the rip when it pauses.  I like to use a Culprit Tailgate Special trailer on my jigs for this.

The third thing I try is going shallow especially if you can find moving water or dingy water.  My favorite is the Fat Max with a 5/16 sinker and 4/0 hook.  This worm penetrates cover well and gives the fish a nice sized meal.  I like to flip shallow water willow, logs, brush, and beaver huts with this bait.  If you go up a creek -- key on the outside bends this is where they deepest water will be.

Sometimes they just want Topwater in the summer so I have a Culprit Frog or Topwater Shad handy as well, especially early and late in the day.  The Frog is good if there are shallow weeds and the Shad could be good anytime.

Try these four ways to catch summer bass and have fun!