12. Tackle for summer bass fishing. (12 of 18)

For summer largemouth, you'll want a floating line with a steep heavy taper for throwing big wind-resistant flies. It should be an eight or nine-weight. Your leader should be short, three to four feet with a minimum of 20-pound test. Just a level piece of very heavy tippet will work fine. Or you can make your own tapered leader.
Casts will be short and you'll need the heavy leader both, to pull your fly out of the snags and to find bass in this heavy cover. Recasting into open water in summer, a seven or eight-weight rod is ideal. The flies are going to be slightly smaller and you won't have to yank your flies out of heavy cover.
What is key in summer, is having a variety of fly lines to match the conditions. Floating lines work well for top water in early morning or in the evening. But during the heat of the day, you'll need sinking lines to get your flies down to the bass. You're not in the game for summer bass fishing in lakes unless you have sinking lines.
For water that's up to eight feet deep, an intermediate line might be enough. But in deep water, it's far more efficient to use a full-sinking or depth charge line. Something with a sink rate of between three to five inches per second. You'll want a four to six-foot leader, typically, just a straight section of 10 to 12-pound or 0x to 2x tippet attached directly to your fly line with a perfection loop.