Incoming water at Jordan can be inconsistent, so during the dead of summer, low water flows may cause the lake to stratify, creating a thermocline. However, the thermocline isn't critical at Jordan, Fritts said.

"The thermocline isn't so important because the lake tends to have a lot of oxygen in it all the time," he said.

Jordan is where Fritts and his then-partner, Jerry Lohr, who became famous as a Lexington lure-maker, started weighting crankbaits and presenting lures to bass other anglers couldn't reach.

"We were catching 'em deeper than anyone else," Fritts said, "18 to 19 feet, with DB3 crankbaits."

The Magnum DB3s were 3 1/2 inches long, including a round 1 3/4-inch-long lip. Fritts and Lohr also used DB3M B111 Diving Silver Shads.

They also created their own paint schemes, coloring most of their lures in what they called "homer" (dark-green back, chartreuse sides). Sometimes they varied the coloration, extending dark-green stripes down the sides (the firetiger model).

"The idea was to make 'em look like bream," Fritts said.

To make the DB3s reach desired depths, Fritts and Lohr drilled holes in the big-lipped crankbaits and filled them with lead that made the lures, designed to dive 12 to 15 feet deep, track 20 feet deep -- or deeper.

Fritts doesn't remember how he and Lohr stumbled upon the idea of weighting crankbaits.

"We just did it and started catching deep fish," he said.

They regularly fished a couple of places during summer -- the standing timber in New Hope Creek near the main channel off Farrington Point and near the lake's three main bridges -- the Farrington Road, Ebeneezer Church Road and U.S. 64 bridges.

Today's summer bass also are taken off structure (flooded timber or stumps), although many anglers prefer using Carolina rigs.

"Today, I'd use a bait like the DT-16 if I was fishing Jordan in July or August," Fritts said. "Baits like that already have lead in them."

KERR RESERVOIR
Fritts won uncounted tournaments at Buggs Island during summer and fall before he became a major player at the two major pro tours.

But fishing deep during July and August at this 50,000-acre North Carolina-Virginia border lake is somewhat dissimilar to High Rock or Jordan lakes.

"It's a little different because Buggs is such a huge impoundment," Fritts said. "It's always got water flowing because there's four rivers (Dan, Staunton, Hyco, Bannister) feeding into it."

Depths of Buggs Island can reach 95 feet, which means summer bass will stage deeper than at High Rock or Jordan because the lake has a distinct summer thermocline. Below that layer, little oxygen exists.

"Most of the time by the end of July, fish will be in the 20-foot range," Fritts said. "I catch a lot of fish at Buggs 18 to 20 feet deep."

Fritts likes to crank cove mouths with deep creek channels and structure. His experiences at the lake have taught him where to look for baitfish and bass just above the thermocline layer, so he doesn't have to go cruising, looking at his depthfinder.