Daylight Fishing a Way to Beat The Heat

Tuesday’s heat wave reached 98 by mid-afternoon, and under those conditions, it's hard to do anything outside. To make matters worse, Tuesday's heat index was 105 to 107 degrees. I learned long ago that if you're going to fish in July, August, and even September, you need to be on the water at daylight. Very few people fish in the heat of the day, and if they do, they need to find shade to avoid overheating.As I pulled into the Smith Lake Dam parking lot at 5:30 AM Tuesday, I noticed a couple of boats that had launched, and when I left the lake at 9 AM, I noticed four trucks, including mine. There is a big difference between spring fishing and now. The lake's pulldown and the heat will cause the fish to get lockjaw. So very few fishermen show up to fish this time of the year, and the ones that do fish at daylight. Very few fishermen fish the lake the way I do; in fact, I have never seen anyone other than me fly fishing or using micro-lights to fish live bait on Smith Lake. I've had a…