My main goal for fishing for smallmouth bass when the rivers get low in the summer is to approach them without scaring them. In order to do this, I wade upstream while casting upstream and up across the stream. I also wade very slowly so I do not send out tell-tail waves which will scare the bass.
I do make longer casts now than I did earlier in the season. I like to fish on on the surface during this time and I find I can easily make long casts with stream lined deer hair bugs. Some of my favorites are the Murray’s Frisky Frog size 4, Murray’s Floating Dace Minnow size 6, and Murray’s Floating Chub Minnow size 6. In order to pick these bugs up off of the surface of the river to make the next cast without creating a racket that can scare the bass, I point the rod tip straight at the bug and start sliding the bug across the surface of the river by using a long slow line-hand stripping motion. Following this with a smooth rod line picking up action shoots the bug high in the air behind you so that you can cast back to the same general area and catch a bass.
The shaded banks are very important feeding stations in the summer. If you have water that is 3 feet or more deep over cobblestone streambottoms below well shaded banks, you can catch many nice bass throughout the day. I wade upstream about 30 feet out from these banks and cast up and across the stream 40 to 50 feet so my bug lands very close to the bank. A very slow line-hand stripping action that produces a gentle slide- pause- slide action that swims the bug slightly faster than the current usually beings many solid strikes.
This is very exciting fishing and frequently you will have the river all to yourself.