by Darin Brown
Largemouth Bass will pull back to deeper structure during the heat of the day. Deeper diving crankbaits are great lures to fish out from points or other structure that transitions from shallow to deeper water. The Strike King XD series crankbaits in 5XD, 6XD, 8XD and the Rapala DT10 series are very good lures for this type of fishing. Early in the morning and late in the evening or on cloudy overcast days don’t forget about the top water bite. Live Target or Spro brand topwater frogs are great over grass. Tuckertown Lake has a lot of grass that can be fished with frog baits or other topwater baits. In areas that do not require a weedless lure try throwing a buzz bait.
Crappies will be deep after the spawn. Slow trolling live minnows or jigs in deep water usually catches them during the summer months. Look for underwater structure such as creek channels, underwater humps, or the deeper end of points. A lot of slab crappies are often caught at night during the month of June. Fishing under bridges with the green LED submersible lights is a great way to beat the increasing heat and to catch some nice slabs.
Redear sunfish otherwise known as shellcrackers will be going on the beds just before the full moon. Look for bedding fish around grassy areas in shallow water. Simple red worms are probably the best bait for catching these prolific panfish. A small number 6 or number 4 hook below a split shot sinker will do the trick. You can often find them in the very back of coves. You can sometimes smell a strong fishy odor in areas where they are bedding.
We are seeing some real nice catfish coming in from all the lakes. The largest ones seem to be coming in from Badin Lake. The tailrace below Tuckertown Dam has been a prime area to catch large catfish. Shad, either live or cut, fished on the bottom is the bait of choice for the larger fish. For the small to mid size fish, dip baits such as Catfish Charlie or Hog Wild brands fished on a “dip bait worm” are catching a lot of them. The dip bait worm is a plastic bait with a treble hook inside. Push the worm down in the dip bait and remove it. Cast the worm out gently so as not to sling the dip bait off and allow it to lay on the bottom. The dip bait leeches out into the water and the scent draws the catfish to the bait. If you have not caught a fish in 30 minutes reel in the worm and reapply the dip bait.