June 2026 Lake Nockamixon Fishing Report
- Anthony Awgul
- Jul 3
- 12 min read
Hey everyone, Captain Anthony Awgul the Lake Nockamixon fishing guide here! As part of my mission to help anglers catch more and bigger bass on our local fishery, I publish free monthly Lake Nockamixon fishing reports at the beginning of each month from April through November while guiding this lake full-time.
Want even more detailed information? I also post daily fishing reports and in-depth weekly recaps exclusively for subscribers of the Lake Nockamixon Fishing School. You can learn more and subscribe at www.awgulfishing.com/nockamixonfishingschool.
Introduction:
2026 has been a decent year of fishing and guiding so far, but it still felt like we hadn’t fully gotten dialed in on a truly special bite yet. Fortunately, that started to change in June. This past month was one of the most exciting stretches we’ve had all year. Quality finally met quantity, the summertime patterns started to come alive, and records were broken along the way!
Some bass in the beginning of the month were still able to be caught in their prespawn pattern, but then a strong, established summertime pattern emerged quickly. The shallow bite opportunity remained all month long, but the deeper and offshore bite started showing up in a big way toward the middle of the month, in ways greater than I’ve ever experienced.
As far as big fish go, records were broken this month as Nockamixon continues to pump out giant bass month after month for the Awgul Fishing Guide Service. This month, we landed a new client record bass weighing in at a giant 8 lbs 1 oz, breaking the previous client record of 8 lbs 0 oz caught in April 2023. That fish was especially surprising because historically, April has been the only month we've seen 8+ pound bass. In addition to that behemoth, we also caught 3 bass over 6 pounds, 7 bass over 5 pounds, and plenty of 3–4 pound fish in the mix.
Early Month Prespawn Slugfest:
The first week of fishing in June still felt more like a late spring bite than an early summer bite. While we were catching some postspawn bass, we were still catching what appeared to be late prespawn bass throughout the entire week (The spawn seemed to start a little later than usual this year, probably due to the harsh winter and cool spring). There was a full moon on 5/31/2026 that seemed to push a final wave of bass up shallow the following few days. Water temperatures ranged from 72–77 degrees, and water visibility was mostly stained and normal. However, the weather was hot, and it really started to feel like summer, with highs ranging from the upper 70s into the 90s throughout the week. There wasn’t much wind in the beginning of the month, but the first heavy thunderstorm of June rolled through toward the end of the first week.
Almost every prespawn bass we caught was relating around shallow vegetation, but not buried deep inside of it. Most of the fish were positioned off the edges of the grass, near the vegetation, or around isolated pieces of cover close to grass. Meanwhile, some of the fish that finished spawning were able to be caught under thick vegetation mats.
The best bite windows seemed to be early in the morning and again during the middle of the day. The evening bite was surprisingly poor for us. Also, whenever the wind kicked up, the bite shut down and the bass seemed lockjawed. Saturday 6/6/2026, was the clearest example of how sensitive the bite was. We caught them very well in the morning, but the moment that hard wind started blowing around 10 AM, the bite completely died for the rest of the day.
The best baits were soft plastic worms around vegetation. Around lower-density grass, the wacky-rigged Menace Baits 5” Silly Stick was key. Around thicker vegetation, the Texas-rigged Menace Baits 5” Silly Stick helped us fish in the cover more effectively. Bait color didn’t seem to matter much at all.
I did notice some nasty green, snotty algae forming on certain sections of milfoil, while the milfoil itself was thinning out slightly in some areas. At the same time, the lily pads were really starting to thicken up.
2nd Week Transition:
The second week of June is when the lake really started to feel like it was turning the corner out of the spawning season and toward the summer bite. It was a pretty challenging week, with the seasonal patterns really seeming to transition. Water temperatures still ranged from the low to mid 70s, and water visibility remained stained and normal. The weather warmed up this week, with several very hot days over 90 degrees, plus a few small pop-up thunderstorms.
Earlier in the week, we were still catching a few fish that looked like they were behind schedule in the spawning process, but more and more bass were starting to act like postspawners and even true summer fish. Most of the fish we caught seemed to have already spawned, finished their postspawn recovery period, and started setting up in more predictable summertime areas.
The bite windows were also very unpredictable with the transitioning seasonal patterns. One day in particular, Tuesday 6/9, we went hours without a single bite, and then all of a sudden in the middle of the day, we caught multiple fish in just a few minutes. That was a big theme that repeated throughout the week: long dead stretches followed by sudden flurries of action.
While we started seeing a little bit of action in deeper offshore spots, almost all of our fish were still caught up shallow. We had to cover a ton of water to find fish, so power-fishing baits that helped me fish efficiently and find active, aggressive feeding bass became key. The Menace Baits Freaky Frog was the hero of the week, helping us sift through miles of shallow, high-percentage areas until we stumbled on a bite window or a group of fish.
We struggled to find big bass this week, and the biggest fish of the week only weighed in at 4 pounds. Those big females were very unpredictable and hard to locate with the changing seasonal patterns, but we managed to put bass in the boat every day we fished that week.
Mid-Month Offshore Slugfest:
The middle of the month was when the offshore bite finally started showing up in a big way. Water temperatures remained in the mid to upper 70s as the third week of the month was pretty mild, with highs mostly in the mid 70s to low 80s. It was another dry week, and very strong winds ripped through later in the week. High winds haven’t been our friend since the fish started spawning in May. They seemed to help the bite in April, but since May, high winds have made the bite more challenging for us for some reason.
We continued to catch some bass up shallow, but we weren’t catching impressive numbers up there. We had to move constantly and cover a ton of water just to generate a few bites. That’s where the Menace Baits Freaky Frog was helpful again. It allowed us to fish quickly and efficiently through high-percentage shallow cover. We weren’t seeing those notorious giant shallow Nockamixon bass for a while, especially after a week with no big fish the week before, which drove me to invest more time off the bank in deeper water.
For the first time this year, I really started catching them well on offshore features in that 10–20 foot range. Various baitfish presentations like the Menace Baits Dirty Deepdiving Crankbait, Menace Baits Jolly Jerkbait, and Menace Baits 3” Finesse Fry produced exceptionally well.
One of the most exciting things I saw was one of the best offshore schools of largemouth I’ve ever seen on Nockamixon. These fish were grouped up by the dozens in about 15 feet of water on a specific piece of cover. There was a shocking number of bass schooled up on and around that spot, but they were not easy to persuade to bite. I really had to pay attention to my cadence, alter my retrieves and presentations, and figure out exactly what made them react.
Once I figured out the perfect combination, I started catching bass after bass after bass for about an hour. And these weren’t dinks either! The average size was 3–4 pounds, and the biggest was over 5 pounds. These fish were already stocked up for summer and positioned into the next seasonal pattern with girthy bellies full of alewives and gizzard shad.
It’s not often that opportunities to catch excellent numbers of bass arise on this unique big-bass lake, and it was all the more special that the quality was there too.
End-of-Month Rain Storms:
The fourth week of June was a little more unpredictable, although there was still plenty of action. Water temperatures ranged from the mid 70s to the low 80s, and water visibility remained stained and normal. Temperatures were more mild overall, but we finally got some much-needed rain. A small storm came through Monday, a stronger rain system hit Tuesday, and we had additional rain Friday and Saturday.
A cold front came through, and the much-needed rain definitely seemed to make the bite a little bit less consistent. However, the rain also seemed to help wash away and clear out some of that nasty green, snotty algae that was forming in some areas, helping the key vegetation clean up nicely.
The shallow bite was still available, but again, it was a numbers game. It seemed like you had to cover a lot of water to run into the fish. Topwater frogs were still a great way to search through pads, mats, and shallow grass, but slowing down in high-percentage areas with Texas-rigged plastics helped pick off more deliberate bites.
Offshore, the fish were still setting up on deeper structure and cover. But this week, bottom baits started to play much more of a role compared to the baitfish presentations from the previous week. Jigs, like the Menace Baits Weedless Wobble Jig, Carolina rigs with the Menace Baits 4” Cavity Craw, and Ned rigs with the Menace Baits Naughty Ned Worm were preferred options around deeper offshore features, especially when the fish were less willing to chase and related closer to the bottom.
The big takeaway was that the lake was no longer fishing like spring at all. By this point of the month, the fish were spreading into multiple summer patterns. Some remained shallow in vegetation and various other types of cover. Some were setting up offshore on different types of structure and cover. Many were starting to really group up, although some were still isolated and solitary (especially up shallow).
Ending the Month on a High Note:
By the last days of June, the lake was really starting to look and fish like full-swing summer. The lily pads were peaking in thickness, and the milfoil presence was still strong throughout the lake. The month ended with water temperatures between 78–82 degrees, and the weather was seasonably warm with highs in the low 80s. The lack of wind helped us experience strong bite opportunities these last couple days of June.
Up shallow, the best approach was still to efficiently fish through areas with high-percentage cover while looking for isolated ambushing bass. But to my surprise, we started seeing fish group up pretty well up shallow too! Topwater frogs, like the Menace Baits Freaky Frog, and Texas-rigged Menace Baits 4” Cavity Craws were both great ways to target fish tucked into pads and grass mats. Around the edges of shallow vegetation and other types of shallow cover, swim jigs, like the Menace Baits Alive Swim Jig, and vibrating jigs, like the Menace Baits Vibrating Pulse Jig, also started to become key options.
In addition to an increasingly productive shallow bite, the deeper offshore bite heated up for us even more. I started seeing even more incredible groups and schools of bass in mid-depth to deeper water. That’s not always what I expect from our notoriously lazy Nockamixon largemouth. A lot of these fish are usually efficient, solitary ambush predators that relate tightly to cover and compressed shallow water environments. But lately, I’ve been running into special groups of bass relating to different types of offshore cover and structure.
Again, the quantity was incredibly impressive offshore, but so was the quality. We continued catching more really chunky bass out there with bellies full of gizzard shad and alewives. Despite the impressive results offshore, I have to admit that it continued being a challenge to get the fish we found to commit.
A lot of the offshore bite has come down to precision. Cast after cast. Angle changes. Cadence changes. Drawing fish off cover slowly. Sometimes they would follow my bait all the way back to the boat, sometimes they would just look, and sometimes they would finally barely nibble the bait after it was worked perfectly. Just like a couple of weeks ago, baitfish presentations were key again, including the Menace Baits Dirty Deepdiving Crankbait, Menace Baits Jolly Jerkbait, and Menace Baits 3” Finesse Fry.
Overall June Takeaways:
June 2026 was perhaps our first very special month of the year on Lake Nockamixon. But despite this favorable fishing report, I have to realistically clarify that most of the fishing throughout the month still didn’t feel “easy.” Every bite felt hard-fought and well-earned. Even when we found them, they often required technical, precise, repetitive, and constantly tweaked presentations to get them to react.
Still, I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen so much grouping and schooling of largemouth bass on Nockamixon. We saw incredible quantities of quality-sized bass grouped up together, with some days producing dozens of fish or more.
To summarize, in June 2026, you could catch fish shallow or deep, but you had to match the pattern to the mood of the fish. Shallow fish required covering water and finding active ambushers. Offshore fish were much easier to find, but required patience, precision, and figuring out the exact cadence that made them react.
Looking Forward:
With the summertime seasonal pattern fully in effect now, Nockamixon bass have two things on their mind and two things only: survival and feeding. Hot water means fast-burning metabolisms for these cold-blooded creatures. That means calories consumed by bass in these upcoming summer months will be burned quickly just to maintain survival, let alone grow and thrive. The key to thriving will be maximizing calories consumed while minimizing calories burned. That’s why summertime means big meals hunted efficiently.
With the warmer water, the lake will continue to really feel alive. The birds are chirping, the bugs are swarming, and the baitfish are active and everywhere. With bass no longer worried about spawning and now focused on just surviving and feeding, you can literally have the opportunity to catch bass anywhere throughout the entire lake. That’s one of the reasons why summertime is one of my favorite times of year to guide on Nockamixon.
Bass could literally be anywhere around the lake, either using shallow water to efficiently ambush large meals or deep water to efficiently position themselves around large schools of nutrient-rich baitfish. They could be utilizing any type of structure or cover: ledges, flats, banks, offshore structure, grass, rocks, points, or even featureless banks. The opportunities are endless.
The key every day in the coming months will be figuring out each day’s unique puzzle. One day, they’ll be set up in certain patches of vegetation really well. The next day, they may leave, and more fish may be utilizing offshore structure. The next week, one area of the lake may start outperforming the others. Then the week after that, it may be all junk fishing and throwing your confidence baits at every piece of cover and structure, catching bass on random baits and techniques. Bait fish presence, bait fish movements, weather patterns, and other important conditions will continue to impact bass behavior day-to-day the rest of the summer, so making the correct adjustments every day will be key to maximizing your success on the water.
There is some extreme heat in the forecast, but historically, I have found that heat doesn’t always deter the bass from biting on Nockamixon. Often, it does the opposite for us! I find that sometimes, the hotter the better, as extremely hot water temperatures require bass to more predictably set up on cover and structure to maximize efficiency with such fast-burning metabolisms.
We’ll see if this established summertime bite we’re on right now sticks around and gets even better, or if the fish react poorly to the increasing temperatures and become less predictable and consistent. So grab your sunscreen and some sports drinks, and get ready for some hot weather and hopefully some more hot fishing!
If you’re interested in booking a guided fishing trip with me in 2026, I still have a few openings remaining this year! I’m currently booking for Fall 2026, so be sure to check availability and reserve your date online at www.awgulfishing.com. I’d also recommend joining the cancellation list on the bottom right corner of my website; you’ll be the first to know if any last-minute openings come up due to cancellations.
And as a reminder, if you want to stay fully dialed in with the most up-to-date fishing information; plus connect with a community of dozens of other local anglers, be sure to subscribe to The Nockamixon Fishing School at www.awgulfishing.com/nockamixonfishingschool.
Tight lines, and I’ll see you out on the water.
—Captain Anthony Awgul