David Fritts hoists a solid bass at a tournament weigh-in. His tactics for taking such bass on crankbaits can work in North Carolina in the summer. Photo courtesy of Craig Holt.

Conventional wisdom in the Bass Nation holds that summer success depends upon finding largemouths at depths that'd make a submarine's hull creak.

Not so, said David Fritts, the sport's No. 1 deep-diving crankbait guru. Like Merrill Lynch, when Fritts speaks, everybody listens -- especially summer crankbait anglers.

His favorite Tar Heel lakes to fish deep are High Rock, Kerr Lake (aka Buggs Island) and Jordan. All contain plenty of bass, baitfish and deep structure.

"Where you find fish in summer (at any lake) depends on two things -- oxygen levels and available baitfish," said the 52-year-old pro, the only person whose name is inscribed on Bassmaster and FLW championship plaques.

But Micropterus salmoides, he said, won't be extremely deep during summer because usually there's not enough oxygen at extreme depths to support them or baitfish.

However, water flows obviously differ at each of these lakes -- and that affects the thermocline. Each summer, a thermocline develops at large impoundments. It's the bottom layer of water beyond which oxygen is scarce and just above which is a comfort zone (cool water, plenty of oxygen).

Some lakes have a summer thermocline, while others don't. We'll explore those questions as the Tar Heel crankin' king offers analyses and tips about deep summer fishing at three of North Carolina's top bass venues.

HIGH ROCK
"How deep the bass are at High Rock depends on how much rain you get (in July and August)," Fritts said. "It's got nothing to do with the thermocline."

If the lake level is high, usually depending upon wet weather patterns (rare in North Carolina, but they occur occasionally), the deep bite usually disappears because High Rock is part of the Yadkin River system. Sustained rains put two or three distinct levels of stained water (the locals just call it "mud") in the lake and force clearer water -- and baitfish and bass -- to the banks.

"The fish will go shallow," Fritts said, "but that doesn't happen too often. Just my bad luck it happened at the first High Rock (Bassmasters) Classic (July 1994)."

The late Bryan Kerchal won that event by flipping a red Culprit worm at shallow docks near the mouth of Second Creek.

"Just before the Classic started, one of the biggest schools (of bass) in the lake was right out in front of (Kerchal)," Fritts said. "When the lake came up (following a week of daily torrential downpours), the bass moved up to where he was fishing."

With no significant rain, Fritts likely would have waltzed off with the title by catching Kerchal's fish because he knows every deep bass-holding stump and rock in the lake.

With just a "touch of rain, so you know where the water's moving every day and if you know where bass are hanging out, High Rock can be a really good crankbait lake," he said.

One of his top crankin' spots is near a deep fish attractor at the mouth of Buck's Branch off Abbotts Creek. During the second (1995) High Rock Classic, he set up there the first competition day. Kevin Van Dam fished the same depths at a small island just to the north.

"I threw at a single stump," Fritts said. "I think having one stump at the right place is better than having a whole stumpfield. You get a single stump, you're likely to have more than one fish off it. If you've got a lot of stumps or rocks, for instance, fish will scatter around instead of being at one spot."

Fritts caught four bass at that stump.

Another target for the cranking genius during the '95 Classic was a fish attractor about 80 yards off Black's Bottom (a peninsula that features a steep Yadkin River channel dropoff a few yards from the shore).