By: Darin Brown, Hwy. 49 Sporting Goods
36488 NC 49 Hwy.
704-463-7053 www.49sports.com
September is the official last month of summer. Soon most of the jet skis and recreational boaters will be off the water. Most of the month, depending on weather patterns, fish will still be in the traditional summer pattern. This means different things for different species.
September is big bait month for largemouth bass. Large baits like the Zoom® Ol’ Monster worms and the Strike King® Bull worms are great baits for late summer bass. The color can vary depending on the water color but If I could only have two colors they would be black and green pumpkin. Fish them over points or underwater humps and be prepared from some real lunkers, big baits often catch big fish.These baits can be fished a lot of different ways but you can’t go wrong with the traditional Texas Rigged or Carolina Rigged worm. Top water frogs will catch good fish over the grass on Tuckertown Lake early in the morning or on overcast days.
Crappie should still be in deep water for most of this month. Try trolling small jigs or minnows over deep water humps or the ends of deep water points. Night fishing with lights under bridges is a great way to beat the heat and catch some nice crappies. The new LED submersible or floating lights make night fishing much easier than in the past. They draw a lot less current from your battery and put out as much or more light that the old style lanterns.
We are seeing some nice catfish coming in from all the lakes. The biggest ones seem to be coming in from Badin Lake but all three lakes are catching good fish. Badin lake has a “Trophy Limit” of only one blue catfish greater than 32 inches may be taken per day. The traditional baits (shad, sunfish, chicken livers) are doing great. Catfish Charlie® and Little Stinker™ dip baits are catching good numbers of fish in the 2-15lb range.