There's Always Time To Fish

 

Shad Rap





Cedar Cliff Lake, Tuckasegee NC



Soon after catching my first bass on an artificial bait I spent all my allowance on two lures. One was a jointed Jitterbug and the other was a F9 Rapala Minnow. I was hooked on the minnow right away and the Jitterbug slowly moved to back of my tackle box.

As a boy walking the banks of Cedar Cliff and Bear Creek Lakes I could catch bass on the F9 minnow almost all year. I guess that is what led to almost 40 years of being a bass addict. I thought at the time the F-series were the greatest baits ever made, and they still hold a special place in my heart.

 

Then along came the Shad Rap! I was looking for baits in the tackle section of Macon County Supply or Roses or maybe Sky City and stumbled across a Shad Rap. This was around 1984-85 and I was really getting into fishing more places than just Cedar Lake. I was just starting to fish places like Hiawassee, Bear, Wolf and Glenville Lakes. Rivers were also becoming a bigger part of my fishing. The lower Tuckasegee and Little Tennessee were also getting a lot of my attention.

As I expanded my fishing I found out that the Shad Rap worked wonders on those waters. When I fished other areas the first thing I tied on was a #5 Shad Rap. This was well before I had a subscription to Bassmaster or In-Fisherman or any other magazine and only knew what I figured out about bass fishing. Learning was slow, but what I eventually figured out still works today.



One of the first things I learned was that Shad Raps are not meant for brush or wood cover. The angle of the bill is not set to deflect off wood cover. I figured out after too many times swimming in cold water that I should keep it away from wood. I did learn, however, that fishing very close to wood was the way to go. Bass would dart out and eat that Shad Rap and I kept the laydowns pretty well fished out.

The second thing I learned was the Shad Rap fishes equally well fast as it did slow. I would make a cast and fish the area I thought there should be fish in, get not bite and speed reel it back in to make another cast. Low and behold I would catch a fish or two that way. It took a while to distinguish between dumb fish and causing a reaction bite, but eventually I did. The Shad Rap has such a perfect design that it rarely if ever rolls on the retrieve and that allows you to fish it quite fast.  The Smallmouth in Cedar Cliff really liked it when you cast near a rocky shore and reeled like hell and then stopped it. They would just crush it, especially in the late spring and early fall.

 

Another trick I learned is that a Shad Rap makes a great jerk bait. My good friend Brad Hensley and I were fishing the Broad River near Tignall, GA many years ago. The river wasn’t quite as broad as the name implied, but was slam full of Spotted Bass. We started wading the area around out camp and saw lots of fish, and had several follows. The Spots wouldn’t hit spinner baits or top waters and we didn’t try jigs after the plastic worms drew little interest. Remember this was before drop shots or shaky heads and it would be another year before the Slug go or Jerk Worm found their way into our tackle boxes.

Kentucky Spotted Bass

I picked up a medium light action Shimano with a Bantam reel and tied on a silver and black Shad Rap. It was about to light to cast far, but I could make long pitches.  After ten or twelve attempts to cast I discovered the pitching technique. On a straight retrieve I had a couple follows but then I got it hung a single, thin weed. I jerked the Shad Rap quickly and a two-pound Spot exploded on the bait. After catching that one I tried again with similar results. We spent the rest of the afternoon wading and pitching Shad Raps to every piece of wood or weed we could find. We easily caught 150 fish that day; Spotted Bass, Black and White Crappie and even some Largemouth. The biggest fish was around four pounds and most were two to three pounds. We never changed baits, just retied every few fish. I have duplicated those results here in WNC, the coast of NC, South Carolina, West Virginia, Oklahoma and even the canals of South Florida.

 

The Shad Rap is also revered as cold water bait as well. People all over the country use it when the water temperature is cold and the water is clear. Fished slowly on light line the Shad Rap can be deadly in rocky lakes all over the south. I use it both in the traditional crank bait style and like a jerk bait by adding some Storm Suspend-dots to keep it neutrally buoyant.   

 

Lakes, rivers, ponds and saltwater, the Shad Rap works everywhere on all fish. Fished slow, fast or erratically it catches just as many fish today as it did 30 years ago.

   

If want to fish and need some advice or a guide then contact my good buddy Austin Neary. He is a serious stick on Glenville Lake and all WNC Mountain lakes. Austin fishes the BASS College Series, and after a third place finish at the Eastern Regional at Watts Bar, Tennessee he competed in the National Championship Tournament on Lake Chatuge. Reach him at Dream Catcher Guides  

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There's Always Time To Fish
 
Topwater Time!

 Part 3

As for where to fish top waters, that’s a huge question. Basically anywhere there is water you can fish it. Really it’s that simple but also more complex. First you have to understand that for three of the four seasons there are fish shallow. Anytime there are shallow fish a top water can work very well. Fish in shallow water typically orient themselves on a piece of cover and sit and wait for food to swim past. With little water under them they must look up first to feed. The fish can also move horizontally a long way to are feed. 

Brian Bees prop bait

Deep water fish use the surface as an edge to trap forage fish against. The bass will follow below the schools of forage fish and slowly get closer until the school is on the surface. This effectively creates an edge that bass use. The forage can’t go up so they are trapped between the bass and the surface.

When spring arrives in WNC, the first places I look for top water fish is the ends of long points close to deep water, holding areas. These points allow fish to move shallower by moving vertically, as the sun warms the water. When the fish have moved up you can tempt them with a prop bait or Spook if you work it very slowly and subtly.

Dead sticking a jerk bait can work well too. Cast it out and let it sit there, that’s all. Watch your bait because the bite will not always be a big splash. Bass will often suck a bait under like a trout does a dry fly. You won’t catch a lot of fish like this but can catch some nice ones.

As the water warms into the pre-spawn, the fish follow secondary points toward spawning flats near the back of coves and pockets. Move from point to point and cast prop and walking baits to isolated 

Rebel Pop-R

pieces of cover, docks and laydowns. Also look for the first emerging vegetation in a cave or pocket. These areas can hold several fish so remember to make several casts and return later in the day to fish again.

During the spawn top water takes a back seat to other tactics but will still catch fish. One trick I use is to dance a prop bait or popper slowly around spawning flats. Play close attention to the outside edge, isolated cover and along deep water access areas. Another trick is to dance a jerk bait on the surface above spawning nests. When you break the bill on a small to medium sized jerk bait save it and file down the bill until it’s very close to the body. These baits will not work like a normal jerk bait, but will sit and quiver on the surface. A number 7 or 9 Rapala is perfect for this. This can drive bass crazy and draw vicious strikes.

Rapala F9

During the post-spawn bass need to recuperate from spawning and will settle deep for a few days. After they get back on track they’re hungry and will crush walking baits and poppers. Reverse the path you took into the spawning areas to find post spawn bass. Also look for humps, bars and around islands.  

H2Xpress TWS

When you find them use a quick retrieve to draw strikes. The post spawn often coincides with the Shad or Herring spawn and creates an early morning frenzy of top water action. Both Shad and Herring spawn on at or near the surface creating a buffet of forage for bass. Bigger walking baits and Pencil Poppers work very well.

I tend to fish top waters early or late in the day during the heat of summer. Most of the fish are deep and will not rise to hit a top water consistently. The fish that stay shallower will roam more during the lower light of morning and evening. Look for isolated cover near points and along feeding flats and ditches. Poppers fished fast works very well during this time. Another dynamite presentation is to fish a jointed black Jitterbug over the edges of flats, ends of drops offs and along bluff banks after dark. The strikes are loud, violent and make you have scared feeling in your stomach. Perfect way to end a day!



Shad

We’ve talked in an earlier entry about where to fish in the fall, so I’ll be brief here. Follow the forage on your lake!

You will read about how you should go to backs of creeks and deep coves where the bait is, and that’s true to a point. Remember you must follow the bait on your lake or river. The lakes I fish the majority of the time don’t have Shad, so I don’t run to the backs of creeks with the shad.

Blueback Herring

The bass in the Tuckasegee chain of lakes feed on Crawfish first and young of the year Bass and Sunfish second. I fish rocky, hard bottom areas and along any vegetation I can find. You need to think like a crawfish or bream. Laydowns, brush piles, docks and stumps are key areas.

 

choked it

Final thoughts on location. I find that the line where the bottom seems to disappear into deep water is a great place to start fishing a top water. I know it seems strange but I put together this pattern years ago and holds up every year. I don’t know if the fish use that line of shade or color change as an edge, but it works for me. Another place to never overlook is dark spots. Dark spots are often deeper than the surrounding water and can often have an isolated piece of cover in them that hold fish. Dam faces are excellent from early spring to late fall. The large rocks hold heat, and provide thousands of places for both forage and Bass to hide.

Find the fish during the season your fishing, fish your top water the right speed and hold on! Top water fishing can help you load the boat and often works when nothing else will.

If want to fish and need some advice or a guide then contact my good buddy Austin Neary. He is a serious stick on Glenville Lake and all WNC Mountain lakes. Austin fishes the BASS College Series, and after a third place finish at the Eastern Regional at Watts Bar, Tennessee he competed in the National Championship Tournament on Lake Chatuge. Reach him at Dream Catcher Guides



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There's Always Time To Fish
  
Topwater Time!

Part 2

Top water is arguably the most exciting type of fishing there is in the mountains. The explosive strike, water spraying everywhere, fish coming out of the water is not something that happens when you’re dragging a Carolina Rig or Flipping. We talked about my favorite fall baits last week so let’s talk about what to fish them with and where. 

Tackle for top water, or any technique, really is a personal choice. Some people use $300 dollar rods and $250 reels while others use cheap rods and $50 dollar reels. I really have a hard time spending 500 bucks for a rod and reel but if you do then great.

I use a Shimano Sellus rod and a high speed baitcasting reel. This set up runs me about 100-125 dollars depending on if it’s on sale. The rod is technique specific and handles 85-percent of  top waters just fine. It does have some tradeoffs, but all rods do. I stick with a 6.3:1 reel and find it plenty fast enough to handle all the top water fishing I do.

Choose the medium action

What do you look for in a top water rod? I really like a medium to medium heavy power and medium action. I like rods with a medium mid-section and soft tip. The medium heavy allows you cast both standard size and large top waters and gives you plenty of power to turn fish. The medium mid-section is important because it’s where the rebound is in the rod. The mid-section is where the snap and return happens that really works the bait well. The soft tip plays a part, but mid-section is key. If it’s too stiff it will over work your baits, if it’s too soft the baits will be sluggish and respond poorly. The soft tip allows you to cast accurately and absorbs some of the shock of close hook sets.

My Sellus fishes Pop-R’s, props and Spook Jr’s very well, in fact it’s the best popper rod I’ve ever used. This rod is very accurate with lighter baits and medium weight line. I said it had tradeoffs and here are the major ones. I find that the accuracy is off when casting the heavy



Nice largemouth on a walking bait from Storm

baits like the Sammy or Gunfish. I also don’t care for throwing buzz baits on it because of the softer tip and mid-section it has. If you’re throwing the bigger top waters like Sammy’s, Super Spooks or Pencil Poppers you need to go with a heavier rod. Something in the 7-foot medium heavy range should be ok.

As for the reel, I use a 6.3:1 ratio. I have used this speed reel for about 8 years and it is a good reel speed, but is 8 years old. When I get a new one over Christmas break it will be a 6.3:1 as well. For 90-percent of top water fishing a 6.3:1 reel will be perfectly fine.
Faster reels may help you get the bait back to you quicker and make a few more casts, but the difference is negligible. Also, if you use your top water reel for jerk baits too, then a 6.3:1 is perfect because it really works well with jerk baits. Casting accuracy and distance are really more important than retrieve speed. If a reel is hard to cast and doesn’t respond well when you set the cast controls; then find a new reel for top water fishing. It is critical that a reel will cast smoothly and a long way. 

Line is important! You would think that’s a no brainer, but people often overlook their top water line. First, Monofilament has been king for a long time. Why? It floats. A floating line keeps the bait high on the surface and doesn’t hinder the action. Unless you’re fishing in some heavy cover, your mono doesn’t have to be overly abrasion resistant.
Second, stay as far away from Fluorocarbon as you can. It is a great line for most everything except top water. It sinks and therefore it pulls the nose of your bait underwater and kills the action. The only exception would be for buzz bait fishing where the speed of the bait keeps it on the surface.


My favorite knot for leaders

Finally, braided lines are the future.  Guys who have switched to braid and used it for a while swear by it.  I tend to over work most top waters with it. I can’t seem to make the subtle little pops, splashes and gurgles as I can with mono. It’s because I don’t use braid and haven’t learned how yet. Braid is really the next logical step for top water fishing. Braid floats, is super strong, has almost no stretch and is quite
abrasion resistant. It casts very well and lasts forever.It can make you a better topwater fisherman, IF you use a mono leader. The lack of stretch in braid allows you to set the hook from the next county over, but it also rips baits out of fish’s mouths. The lack of stretch tears baits through the skin on the hook set and during the fight. A length of mono leader from two to four feet helps prevent this, as does a softer rod. The leader also keeps the bait from sliding past the braid and fouling the front hooks. This happens because mono is stiffer than braid. The mono leader also provides a measure of protection for line-shy fish. Clear water fish can see the braid, but the mono leader tends to less visible.


Another must for effective fishing

Fly floatant for your topwater line!

Two little tricks to help with topwater fishing is fly floatant and Blakemore Reel and Line Magic. This gel is designed to help dry flies float longer and it works great when topwater fishing. I put it on a cloth and run my line through the cloth as I put it on my reel. This helps keep my line floating just a little longer.



If want to fish and need some advice or a guide then contact my good buddy Austin Neary. He is a serious stick on Glenville Lake and all WNC Mountain lakes. Austin fishes the BASS College Series, and after a third place finish at the Eastern Regional at Watts Bar, Tennessee he competed in the National Championship Tournament on Lake Chatuge. Reach him at Dream Catcher Guides

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There's Always Time To Fish

 

Topwater  Time!

Top water fishing is going off right now in mountain lakes. In the fall Bass follow the shad into creeks and set up on predictable ambush sites and wait for the bait to swim by. They will also corral bait in the middle of creek arms and narrow coves where they can feed from underneath by trapping the bait on the surface. This is the time when a top water really shines.  Depending on the water color and wind you can use several different top water baits. I rely on popping baits and walking baits 90-percent of the time. Occasionally a buzz bait or prop bait will work as well.

 

H2O Express TWS series

Walking baits are my choice when the wind is blowing, and I need to cast a long way. This past week end I had both very clear water and wind to contend with. I tried several different things but always came back to the topwater.

I found fish at the depth where the clear water turned dark, or where I could see the bottom disappear. I had to make very long casts and work the baits with a deliberate, snappy type of walk. You could almost call your shot if you found a secondary point or little pocket with a stump along the dark water line.

Walking baits also tend to catch larger fish than poppers or prop baits. YoZuri, H20 Express, Strike King and XPS all make a sway-back style and all are very good. These baits tend to walk pretty easy, but can have control problems if you over work them.

Heddon Zara Spook; the Gold Standard

The Heddon Zara Spook remains the gold standard in walking baits. Spooks are straight, cigar shaped and rarely have tail dressing. Zara Spooks sash-shay, sliding across the water as the move, with little popping. They may be the easiest to walk and in skilled hands can move in so many different ways.Walking baits are hard to beat this time of year. You can simply do so much with them. They cast a mile and can be as aggressive or as subtle as you want them to be. The sway-back style spits and pops when you fish it, while the oft-imitated Zara Spooks slides and gurgles. Some rattle and some are silent, but if they walk they catch fish.

I use both the Zara Puppy and Spook Jr sizes, mainly due to my penchant for a more finesse oriented approach. The Puppy works best when fish are reluctant to chase, while the Jr shines when fish are very aggressive. Both cast well, and draw fish up from deep water. My only complaint about walking baits is that they quit walking when something gets on the hooks. Any little bit of vegetation, leaves or other debris really kills the action.

 

With popping baits I prefer with the Rebel Pop-R. They are easy to work, easy to modify and consistently catch fish. Several other companies make really good poppers, such as H2O Express, Strike King, Yellow Magic, LiveTarget and XPS.

Modified Pop-Rs; shaved lips and new paint

 Basically poppers come in two styles, popping and spitting. The popping variety is just what it sounds like. It pops. Some make a deep ker-plunk, some make a higher pitched, bubble-wrap type pop, but they all pop. They really don’t walk or slide at all, they dig in and make some serious noise. Spitting poppers slide across the water more than digging in and spray water out in front of them. Some spray an inch or two some spray up to a foot. Some spray in a thin stream straight forward, and some spray in a fan-like pattern. These type tend to walk better and can be fished much faster. I find that spitting baits work better when fish are chasing or schooling.

Poppers really excel when you need to make targeted casts to pieces of cover such as docks, stick ups, laydowns, moored boats, etc. Poppers tend to get into places other top waters can’t, and they can be kept in place a lot easier.

You can use popping baits in open water and they are quite effective for schooling bass. I find I can’t seem to cast them quite as far as a walking type bait. I learned to use popping baits in the Oklahoma wind so I know they are effective in windy conditions.

My last trip to Lake Glenville I used a Pop-R around docks to catch the best limit of fish I have ever caught in that lake. I had to make really precise casts to the edges of floating docks, but when I did I caught some really nice fish. Glenville is really on fire right now and is a hidden gem among the mountain lakes. My fish were all Largemouth, but Smallmouth are thick in Glenville.

Other top waters to try in the fall include buzz baits and prop baits.

Typical buzzbait

Buzz bait fishing for me is hit or miss, but I think it’s a confidence thing. I rarely use one, so I don’t really have a lot of confidence that they will work. That doesn’t mean that they won’t. I have Friends that wear the paint off their buzz baits in the fall. They tend to fish their buzz baits around docks and laydowns. I mean right through the thick stuff and catch a lot doing this. I prefer my buzz baits on the lighter side and this hurts in fall wind. Strike King, War Eagle and Terminator all make good buzz baits.

 

custom prop baits

As for prop baits they too have a place if you really need to finesse fish. That little tiny prop on the back can really tempt shy fish to bite. Some people use large prop baits when it’s windy and rough and do well, but that’s never worked for me so I tend to stick with them in finesse situations. I fish my

Heddon Torpedo

props over submerged vegetation and along horizontal cover like weed edges, laydowns and docks. The Heddon Torpedo probably is the most well-known, but quality baits from Lucky Craft, H2O Express, Brian’s Bees, and Smithwick are available. 



Lucky Craft Gunfish

A couple of baits to include would be the hybrid style walking bait like a Lucky Craft Gunfish or an H2O Express Pistol Minnow. These have the body of walking bait with a small concave face like a popper. You can really fish these baits fast and still cause some commotion that draws fish a long ways.

 Some people will argue that wake baits and swim baits should be included here but I don’t think so. Top waters don’t really dive under the water, and both wake and swim baits do. Both catch fish in the fall, but let’s stick to true top waters.

We've covered the baits so come back next week as we talk about tackle and the areas to fish.

If want to fish and need some advice or a guide then contact my good buddy Austin Neary. He is a serious stick on Glenville Lake and all WNC Mountain lakes. Austin fishes the BASS College Series, and after a third place finish at the Eastern Regional at Watts Bar, Tennessee he competed in the National Championship Tournament on Lake Chatuge. Reach him at Dream Catcher Guides

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There's Always Time To Fish

 

Fall Favorites 

Wolf Lake, on the East Fork of the Tuckasegee River, Tuckasegee, NC



Continuing our talk about fall fishing in the WNC Mountains leads to my favorite reaction bait, the crank bait.  Bass in creeks and reaction baits go hand in hand. Creeks are full of small points, drop-offs, rock piles, humps, laydowns and stumps. These structure and cover features set up perfectly for crankbaits in mountain lakes.

From late summer to fall, Bass progress from deep summer feeding areas into shallower fall feeding areas and then back into deeper winter holding areas. During this time you can follow the fish with three to four crankbaits and cover all the water they will feed in beginning in the late summer Bass will be deep and this call for bigger, deep diving baits. Baits like a Strike King 6XD, Rapala DT 16 or 20, and a H2O Express CRD+ work very during this time.

As the season progresses into early fall the fish move into the creeks and get shallower. The ends of the first two or so points into the creeks area a good place to start. Humps and bars in the middle of creek mouths are very good as well. Early fall calls for mid-range baits. Baits like a 3XD, DT10 and CRS+ work perfectly this time of year, and can load the boat. These baits have a good size body to attract larger bass and still work well around cover.

 At the height of fall fishing the bass are shallower and chasing forage around the middle to back end of creeks. True fall calls for baits like the Strike King Series 3, DT6, or CRM. You can get away with a little smaller bait right now. Remember to focus on the ends of laydowns and any high spot, point hump, bar or individual stump or rock pile as they block current and create ambush points. If the fish get really shallow or are holding on the ends of laydowns during any fall season you can turn to a square bill. Square bills, like the KVD, Rick Clunn or Excalibur series are perfect for fishing laydowns. Just bang them into the limbs and hold on. They really can be fished in some heavy cover if you are diligent and use heavy line.    

Sexy Shad, the hottest crankbit color

Mixing up the type of bait you throw by using both silent and rattling versions helps keep fishing biting. Color is up to you as long as you start with a Shad base and go from there. Water clarity really comes into play when picking colors. The clearer the water the clearer and more natural the bait, and the more stained the water the more vibrant the bait color. You can get away with just a few colors if you have to. Sexy Shad, Ghost Shad, Tennessee Shad, Blue and Chartreuse and Brown and Chartreuse are all very good and cover clear water to stained water. Bluegill and Crawfish colors work, but I tend to fish Shad colors first.

Rods and reels should be set up for crankbaits and can range from 6’ 6” medium to 7’ 11” medium-heavy depending on the bait and depth your fishing. Longer rods work better with deeper diving baits for two reasons. First, they are heavier powered and allow you to throw heavier baits farther. Secondly, the extra length allows you to move more line on the hook set. Any crankbait that dives less than 10-12 feet doesn’t need a rod longer that 7’ 3”. Square bills actually work better on rods 7 feet. As for reels you only really need two. The first is a cranking reel from 4.9:1 t to 5.8:1. The lower the gear ratio the better for deep diving baits. The low gear ratio helps drive the bait deeper, relieves torque and provides plenty of power to turn fish away from deep cover. Square bills should be fished on a reel in the 5.8:1 to 6.6:1 range. Square bills work better with some speed. They are designed to move fast and crash into cover and deflect off. The shorter rod allows you to roll cast and make accurate casts with a square bill to tight cover.

Line size should match what your wanting to do and where your throwing your baits. Line test from 8 to 17 can be used. The smaller diameter helps you cast farther and gets your bait deep, but abrades quicker and lacks power to move heavy fish from cover. The heavier lines shine around shallower cover. I use 10 and 12-pound for the majority of my crankbaits. Eight pound for medium diving baits with sparse cover and 14 for square bills fished around tree tops, brush piles or laydowns. Any quality line will work as long as its fluorocarbon. Fluorocarbon has significantly less stretch so it’s a lot more sensitive. The lack of stretch also aids with hook sets in deep water. Fluorocarbon sinks and this will add a little depth to your crankbaits, which can be a good thing.

The last thought on crankbaits is this, change your hooks. Unless your bait comes with premium hook, then change them, period. I prefer EagleClaw or Trokar hooks. The Eagle Claw Lazer round bend or Trokar TK300 are super sharp and strong. You’ll catch more fish with better hooks, trust me.



If want to fish and need some advice or a guide then contact my good buddy Austin Neary. He is a serious stick on Glenville Lake and all WNC Mountain lakes. Austin fishes the BASS College Series, and after a third place finish at the Eastern Regional at Watts Bar, Tennessee he competed in the National Championship Tournament on Lake Chatuge. Reach him at Dream Catcher Guides

 

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