Hey, Keith here.

Summertime is here, and let's face it, it can be a challenge to find midday bass.

Temperatures in the 90s, with the sun beating down, make you want to quit a trip before it even starts.

So my expectations were low when, on my way home from work, I spotted movement in a narrow section of a nearby pond. I had to investigate, despite the brutal weather. 

Today, I'll show you why a windy afternoon is the best time of the whole summer to fish a choke point, as well as how to find that moving water from the bank.

It’s July here in Louisiana, which means the southeast winds have taken over.

On this particular afternoon they were blowing close to 20 miles per hour as I was driving home from work.

I passed a few neighborhood ponds on my way in, and as I glanced over at one of them, something caught my eye.

I saw water on the surface ripping through a narrow section between two man-made peninsulas, squeezing through a gap no wider than 30 feet.

I did a double take. I had caught fish in that exact spot before when the wind was pushing through it, so I knew what I was looking at.

I got home, grabbed my rod, and headed right back down.

I tied on a Berkley Krej and started firing casts across the gap to the far point, working the bait back through the moving water.

On the fourth cast I connected. A solid two-pound bass.

From there, there was no walking the bank. I stayed put and made repeat casts across the moving water.

I managed five bass before dark, but more importantly, I felt like I figured out the fish. (You know the feeling.) 

A choke point is a spot where water is forced to squeeze through a tighter opening.

It might be the gap between two points, a narrow cut between two sections of a pond, or a culvert running under a road.

When moving water hits that constriction, it speeds up. Same volume of water, smaller space to pass through, so the current accelerates.

In the dog days of summer, that little bit of current is everything. 

Here's why moving water is the difference between a dead pond and a hot one:

Fishing a choke point from the bank comes down to timing and angles.

The harder a steady wind blows across the pond, the more current it pushes through the gap, so the day that keeps most anglers home is often the day you want.

When you get to the water, look for the narrowest opening on the pond, where two points nearly meet or the bank pinches the water down, and set up where you can cast across it.

Work your bait back through the moving water rather than alongside it.

Bass sitting in that current are facing into the flow, so a bait swept back through the seam looks like an easy meal pushed right to them.

Throw something heavy enough to cut the wind and cover water, and fan your casts across the whole opening until you find them.

And when you catch one, keep fishing the same stretch. Choke points hold more than one fish, and as you pull them off, others move up to take their place.

The fish in a choke point are used to chasing moving targets, so this is a reaction-bite game. Fast baits that cover the gap quickly and cut the wind are the play:

BONUS TIP: Fish the down-current side of the gap and bring your bait back with the flow so it moves naturally. If you have to fish into the current, slow way down, because the oncoming water will push your bait up and out of the strike zone.