Believe it or not, the hottest days of the summer turn some people into hermits. They lock themselves inside and turn up the air conditioner. When the temperature climbs above 90 and the humidity hovers close to 100 percent, those people refuse to go outside and pursue outdoor activities like fishing -- even when the fish are biting!

But that's not how it works for everyone. Some people thrive on the summer heat, and they also like to go fishing. They are certainly not going to let the hot weather stop them from enjoying the productive summertime bite on their favorite waters. After all, this is the best time of year to catch many species!

Summertime weather triggers certain species of fish into more active feeding patterns. When that happens, the action can get hot very quickly. Other fish, like salmon and trout, react to their natural spawning urges as the summer months wear on.

From ravenous catfish on our largest rivers to largemouth bass and hybrid striped bass on our most expansive reservoirs, our state has plenty of world-class summer fishing available. And don't forget about small lake panfish or Lake Michigan's mighty salmon and trout, either. All of these species offer summertime angling that is second to none.

Read on to find out more.

WABASH CHANNEL CATFISH
During the heat of the summer, there is nothing quite like sitting on the bank of a river at dusk, waiting for a hungry catfish to swim by and gobble your bait. For many Hoosier anglers, there is no better place to do so than along the banks of the Wabash River. The Wabash is home to an amazing fishery for catfish, and the most popular species of catfish on this river is the channel catfish.

The Wabash is a remarkable river, running from the northeastern part of the state down through Logansport, Lafayette, Terre Haute, Vincennes and then south to the mighty Ohio River. There is an abundance of habitat along the length of this waterway, including sandbars, mud flats, logjams, deep holes, gravel beds and flat slate ledges. Channel cats can be found throughout the river, and once you find one fish, you will often find several.

Tom Stefanavage, a big-river biologist for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said that the Wabash River is loaded with channel cats.

"You can find channel catfish just about anywhere," Stefanavage said. "They do like the pools, of course, but the biology of the channel catfish makes them generally more spread out throughout the pools. When it is extremely hot, everything is in the deeper water where the water temperature is cooler."

Catfish anglers also do a lot of fishing from boats on the Wabash. A favorite tactic is to anchor above a good pool or logjam and drift baits down into the strike zone. This is extremely effective at night, but it works well during the daytime, too. Popular baits include night crawlers, cut shad, large live minnows and stink bait.

Although most channel catfish on the Wabash run between 1 and 5 pounds, it is not unusual to catch fish up to 10 pounds. Fishermen that target flathead catfish with large live baits often hook-up with bragging-sized channels. Those bigger channel cats are not shy at all about grabbing over-sized baits meant for someone else!