BLOOMINGTON - Well-known Jimmy Buffett fan Jim Crowley has been to Mexico and islands far out in the Pacific to catch huge marlin and other saltwater fish.

But when he hears, "Fins up!," the universal rally cry of Parrotheads everywhere, Crowley, is far more likely to think of the largemouth bass common to freshwater than sharks.

The affable Crowley, 41, a fishing educator and guide from Bloomington, spent most of his life pursuing freshwater fish in the Midwest and Canada. Of them all, bass will always hold a special place in his heart, and summer will always be one of his favorite times to catch them.

Summer is not an easy time to fish. There's too much food, too many little newly hatched fish in the water for game fish to munch on. They aren't hungry enough to bite on just any artificial lure. Still, Crowley is one of the armada of anglers who don uniforms of shorts, T-shirts, flip flops and shades to sweat a day away in search of trophy bass.

"I've had great summers," said Crowley, a frequent face on Midwest Outdoors television and a regular contributor to the magazine of the same name.

His Fin-tastic Guide Service stays close to home. Central Illinois has some good bass fishing spots, such as Lake Bloomington, Dawson Lake, Clinton Lake, Weldon Springs and Lake Shelbyville. Evergreen Lake has big fish, too, but the population doesn't seem as good as it is at the other area reservoirs, he said. Gravel pits and farm ponds produce monster bass.

Finding bass can become a challenge when summer arrives. It's easier when water is high. Predators like bass will move into newly flooded cover. Shoreline cover, such as fallen trees and weeds, always hold some fish if the water level stays high enough. Crowley has caught as many as 10 keepers from a single tree.

Unfortunately, falling water is more common in hot water. Fish often move to deeper water, and deeper fish are harder to find and catch. That's when understanding structure and its importance to fish location become critical, Crowley said. The word "structure" defines the contours, or changing depths, found on the bottom of all lakes, reservoirs and rivers. Fish follow the contours as they swim. "Cover" describes weeds, fallen trees, stump fields, rocks and similar things. Fish, both large and small, can conceal themselves in cover.

Some contours form structures like points, which are fingers that reach from the shore to deep water where bass spend most of their time. Fish move along points to move from deep, where they feel safer, to shallower water where they eat. In reservoirs that provide much of the fishing common to the Midwest, points that reach to the old river channel hold the most fish.

"Even if you haven't been on a lake, check the map and pick a point with the creek channel on it. The fish will be there," Crowley said. "I like current or wind (blowing on the structure) or points adjacent to spawning areas."

The more cover a structure has, the better. Fishing educator Spence Petros of Chicago refers to the "character" of structure, a reference to how much cover and how many differing kinds it has. The more character, the more fish it will have.

"Fishing structure by itself can be good," Crowley said. "But, fishing structure with at least one type of cover can be really good. Fishing a point with two or more kinds of cover can be spectacular."

To make the search even easier, focus on "junction areas" or the edges where two kinds of cover meet. That may include a weed line with two different kinds of weeds or weeds meeting a stump field, or wood meeting rocks.

"As long as baitfish appear there, there's probably no better place (a junction area) those fish would rather be," Crowley said. "That's why deer hunters are good fishermen. They know bass relate to edges extremely well."

Finding the right depth where fish are holding is critical. How deep fish are at any given time depends on water clarity, water color and the weather. The dingier the water or the cloudier the sky, the shallower they can move where catching baitfish is easier for them. But, factors like dropping water, sunlight and even fishing pressure can send bass scurrying back to the safety of deep water. When that's the case, Crowley said nothing could be finer than a Carolina rig. The presentation uses a 7-foot medium-heavy rod, a 30-pound braided main line, a ¾- to 1-ounce brass sinker and a glass bead above a barrel swivel. Then, he ties a 12-to 15-pound monofilament leader to a hook and a plastic bait line to a Gulp Sinking Minnow, a straight-tail worm or a crawdad imitator.

Put the boat on the point, cast toward the shallows and reel the bait back. Try different actions such as lifting and dropping or drag, hesitate and then drag some more.

If fish are positioned on stumps, try a half-ounce jig and a crawdad imitator or a double-tailed grub.

Crowley will sometimes switch to lures, such as a ¾-ounce Storm swim bait that can be reeled back so they dig into the bottom and cause a commotion.

But, the most exciting fishing can come on extremely hot days when he wonders why he's still on the water. Bass will often crowd under mats of vegetation that provide them shade. Crowley uses a Spro Bronze-eyed Frog with no other weight. He casts over the mat and lifts and drops the nose of the bait as he reels it back to the boat.

"They literally tear a hole in the mat to get to them," Crowley said.

Though your heart may stop when you see the explosion, resist the urge to set the hook right away. Wait until you feel the weight on the line, he said.

Pause briefly as you reel when you reach a hole in the grass. You might see "Fins up!"

Get hooked

Who: Jim Crowley

What: Fintastic Guide Service

Phone: (309) 261-3068

On the net: www.jimmyfish.net