someone asked a really good question that I didn't have the answer for today. At least I didn't immediately have the answer. " How can you tell fish are in a summer pattern?" What are you guys thinking?

Here's what I look for..

Most of the time I notice most of the bass vacate bank structure and isolated cover.  (generally speaking) 

fish seem to be in groups near main lake intersections. ex. Main lake points, humps , grass lines brush etc.

Water temps over 80 ( I don't like this metric because there's so many metrics to consider)

The way the fish looks. This could be beat up tails. The fish can be a little skinnier, and sometimes if we're further into the season the fish can actually be fatter.

schooling activity on the main lake

The hard part about this is that often time depending on the species these "triggers" could be any time of the year. Namely spotted bass and smallmouth. THATS WHERE IT GETS HARD TO EXPLAIN. 

If you're fishing isolated cover in creeks and all of a sudden you notice it hard to get bit, most likely your fishery has transitioned to a "summer" stage.  Move to the main lake or river and look for schools of fish near any main lake intersection. A intersection would be somewhere a creek meets the main river. Anywhere a a hump or high spot, or ledge is near or on the main river. It may take longer to get bit but once you do there's usually more fish in those areas.