Best July Bass Lures (By Depth)

July is here and it is hot — but the bass are still biting if you know where to look. This is the first month since February that nearly everyone with open water can throw the same categories of lures, because the spawn is over and summer patterns have set in. The simplest way to think about July is by depth: deep, mid-range, and shallow. Here are the best lures for each zone, so you can match your baits to wherever the fish are holding on your pond or lake.

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Here is the big-picture rule for July: the best fishing is usually found in the deepest water you have access to. That does not mean the bottom of a 175-foot highland lake — but if your pond or lake tops out somewhere in the 10-to-25-foot range, that deeper water is where bass love to thrive in the heat. And yes, even shallow ponds have relative deep water worth targeting. So let us start there.

July Lures by Depth — Quick Reference

If your pond maxes out at 5 feet, fish there; if it is 15, fish there. Wherever your deepest water is, that is zone one — and the best lure category for it is some kind of worm. Bass sitting deep are looking for something natural and slow-moving to pass by, and after 20 years of fishing, Tyler keeps coming back to the same truth: worms just get bit in deep water in July.

1. The Worm (Every Way You Can Rig It)

This is the first month Tyler breaks out the big curly-tail worm, though the 5-to-6-inch stick bait produces all year. Fish a big worm on a 1/4 oz Texas rig, on a Carolina rig, a free rig, a Neko rig, or a drop shot — a 5-inch Strike King Ocho in a color like candy craw is deadly dragged out deep. Watermelon and green pumpkin look the most natural down there, and a worm can imitate a bluegill or anything else that falls to the bottom. For the drop shot and Carolina rig, a smaller Strike King Filler Worm shines because the worm itself carries no weight.

Deep Honorable Mentions

A few more deep options, especially for boat and kayak anglers. A football jig dragged on hard bottom — a rock spine off a main-lake point, a boulder flat, or where the fish finder shows the return go from soft to hard — is a summer staple (it just does not shine in ponds). An urchin-style bait gives pressured fish something they have not seen: go small (8 to 14 mm dice styles like the Strike King Tumbleweed) on a drop shot or wacky rig when the worm bite stalls. And a deep diving crankbait (like a Strike King Series 5 that dives around 14 feet) fires up grouped fish anywhere you have deep water over hard bottom or structure — not just the famous TVA lakes. Northern largemouth anglers, this one is for you.

Call it roughly 5 or 6 feet down to about 12 feet. If your pond tops out here, then mid-range and deep lures blend together. But if you have deeper water too, this middle band is where the most bottom structure lives — the deeper grass edges, the brush piles, the better rock. That makes it the richest zone for lure variety in July.

1. Full-Size Urchin

Tyler’s favorite recent mid-range bait is the full-size urchin (19 or 25 mm). It pulls fish from a long way off — out of the brush, off the rocks — and then a twitch-twitch-twitch triggers the eat. If you have not thrown one yet, you are missing out.

2. Stick Bait on a Neko or Wacky Rig

In the mid-depth in July, Tyler fishes the 5-to-6-inch stick bait almost exclusively on a Neko rig (a very light one) or a wacky rig — because he wants the worm to fall as slowly as humanly possible. Cast it around grass edges or deeper grass clumps, let it sink on slack line, then slowly lift, let it drop, lift, let it drop. From Canada to South Florida to Arizona, a stick bait just gets bit — if it is not working for you, you are probably not fishing it in the right spots.

3. Glide Bait or Big Swimbait

The opposite end of the spectrum from a stick bait — and a real big-fish producer. A glide bait in a shad or bluegill pattern gets bit in July, and you do not have to fish it deep: even in 6 feet, a bass hears the splash, looks up, and comes to check it out. Fish the glide bait higher in the column and let a big paddle-tail swimbait (bigger than 5 inches — think a 5.75 or 6.25) sink lower. Good glide baits range from about $40 up to the low hundreds, so start affordable and work up.

4. Vibrating Jig & Standard Jig

Full-blown fish catchers around healthy mid-depth grass — milfoil, coontail, hydrilla. Fish the deepest edges where heavy grass starts to break apart into dispersed clumps; that is where bass sit feeding on bluegill and baitfish. Make long casts with a bluegill-colored vibrating jig (a 3/8 or 1/2 oz Thunder Cricket) or hop a standard jig through the deeper grass.

Mid-Range Honorable Mentions

Two baits on opposite ends of the spectrum. A jig head minnow is a lake and big-baitfish-population lure — throw it over open water for suspended fish (with or without forward-facing sonar) or shake it near the bottom across rock piles and points. And a spinnerbait is the first thing to reach for in current — creeks and rivers, especially for shoal, spotted, and smallmouth bass sitting on ambush points. In a still pond, Tyler would rather throw a vibrating jig; in current, the spinnerbait wins.

As hot as July gets, you can still catch them shallow — you just have to time it and pick the right tool. Most of the shallow game is topwater early and a punch rig once the sun is up.

1. Topwater (Early Morning)

Get out there when the sun is hardly up. Once it climbs, shallow bass either shut off, relocate, or slide out to deeper zones. Tyler’s favorite all-purpose July topwater is a walking bait — it even draws fish up from 12 to 15 feet — and a topwater frog is impossible to beat around shallow wood, grass, or snot grass where a treble-hooked bait is useless. Tie one on, fish the high-percentage shady spots early, and you almost guarantee yourself against a skunk.

2. Punch Rig (Tyler’s Slept-On Favorite)

Once it gets hot, shallow bass turn lethargic and would rather have a meal crash into their home than chase something on top. A punch rig — a heavy tungsten weight pegged to a small craw or creature bait — is the best way to reach them. When grass grows so thick it tops over and forms a canopy with at least a foot of water beneath, bass live under it like cars under trees over a road. Peg the weight so the bait does not separate, flip it 10 to 15 yards out, let it punch through, give it a few hops, then reel up and make the next pitch. Go the lightest weight that still punches — 3/8 oz in sparse grass, up to 1.5 or 2 oz in the thick stuff.

Shallow Honorable Mentions

A swim jig (a 1/4 oz around reeds, pads, and cattails) shines up North — cast it, start your retrieve immediately, and swim it back with a craw or swimbait trailer. And a soft plastic jerkbait (the Caffeine Shad, Tyler’s Skunk Buster) is a wonder-worker in northern ponds, especially where bluegill are thick, even if it takes a back seat to wacky and Neko rigs down South.

Final Thoughts

July does not have to be a grind if you fish by depth. Start deep with a worm where the bulk of your fish are holding, work the mid-depth structure with an urchin, stick bait, glide bait, or vibrating jig, and hit the shallows early with topwater before switching to a punch rig as the sun climbs. Let the water tell you which zone is loaded on any given day, and you will stay on fish all month long.

Prefer to think about July by where you fish instead of how deep? Check out our companion guide, the best July lures for ponds vs. lakes, featuring Bass Pro Tour pro Alton Jones Jr. And if any single technique here has you stuck, Tyler has full masterclasses on the worm, drop shot, Carolina rig, glide baits, punching, and more.

Source: Based on video content from TylersReelFishing — “Catch MORE Bass With These July Lures! (Summer Fishing Tips)” · youtube.com/@tylersreelfishing