Another trick he employs is knowing many tournaments hold their weigh-ins -- and release bass -- near major recreation area ramps.

"I've won tournaments all over the lake," he said, "from Nutbush (Creek) to the middle part at Ivy Hill to Clarksville. It's not hard to figure out, but I've always known one of the keys to finding good concentrations of bass has been near the launch ramps because that's where (BASS, Federation, FLW) tournaments and weekend wildcat tournaments release their fish.

"Once a bass's been caught, put in a livewell and hauled around the lake all day, I think his bearings may be messed up a little, so he isn't going to go very far once he's put back in the water. He's gonna stop at the first spot where he finds plenty of oxygen, cover and some baitfish."

So, obviously, during July and August, Fritts concentrates his fishing efforts near tournament release sites with relatively deep structure nearby that's also near the thermocline.

"Eastland, Nutbush and Dodson's creeks have been real good places," he said.

Near Ivy Hill are the Rock Hole plus several flooded house foundations close to the 50-foot-deep Staunton River channel, at ledges near the mouth of Bluebird Creek and at Hundred Islands and Terrys Island.

Just to the east of Ivy Hill is Bluebird Creek with a steep channel that can hold deep bass on its slopes.

Southeast from Henderson Point are more flooded foundations about 30 feet deep off Nutbush Creek's main channel.

Just to the north of Henderson Point are several islands called "The Cut Through" that afford deep water, steep ridges and structure where Nutbush Creek joins the main flow of the Staunton River.

Henderson Point is one of the lake's four main spots for holding tournaments and where released bass will concentrate during summer. Other bass-release recreation areas include Satterwhite Point (at Nutbush Creek), North Bend Park (near the dam) and Clarksville, Virginia.

So, for Fritts at Buggs Island, the main summer bass key always has been finding where bass are concentrated and where they're biting -- which is the opposite of spring when largemouths seem to spawn at every shallow piece of shoreline with a gum tree, willow bush or pea gravel.

"Unlike other times of year, in summer, Buggs is so big, (bass) may be biting at Nutbush and not biting at other parts of the lake," he said. "They might be biting off main-lake points but not in Nutbush. Or they could be biting only in Grassy or Eastland creeks. The whole lake might be dead, but they might be biting in just one creek. It's your job to figure out where active fish are in the lake."

Surprisingly, as much as Fritts relies upon electronics to find the thermocline, baitfish and largemouths, he said sometimes electronics aren't that valuable. Anglers then must rely upon observing what's happening around them and react accordingly. That's an old Rick Clunn technique some observers describe as a Zen approach to bass fishing.

"I do look for shad on the depth-finder, but there's no replacement for putting down the trolling motor and finding fish you might never see (on a depthfinder)," Fritts said. "Sometimes they'll be next to a stump or in a brushpile and you'll never see them. I've caught the biggest fish of my life that way at Buggs and never saw them (on a LCD).