by Darin Brown
March is a transition month for most species of fish in our area. With the water warming and the days getting longer most fish will be in the prespawn staging areas.
Largemouth will be moving into the shallows to feed but may move back out into deeper water if the water temperature drops due to a cold front. Flipping jigs in shallow water cover that is near deeper water is one method that works very well. Keeping the jig bumping the bottom will produce more strikes, especially when the water color is stained or muddy. The fish will be able to see a darker colored jig better than a light colored jig in this type of water. Try a black or green pumpkin color. Dave’s Tournament Tackle Big Bite Jigs or Lunker Lure Rattleback Flipping Jigs in 3/8oz or 1/2oz are both very popular in our area.
Small crankbaits like the Rapala Shad Rap in either #5,6 or 7 size are other good options during this time. Firetiger or Crawdad are two of our best selling colors during early spring. These lures will dive to about 5 to 10 feet. Cast them along shallow points, downed timber, or shallow flats. Vary your retrieve rate some or stop the lure for just a second several times during the retrieve. Often the fish will take the bait just as you stop it.
March is one of the best months of the year to catch slab sized crappies. Casting, vertically jigging or trolling are all great ways to catch them. Slow troll a small jig, such as a Kalin’s 1.5” Triple Threat Grub on a 1/16 oz. Jig head, just out from a likely spawning area in 10 to 15 feet of water. You can also use live minnows on the jig head if you prefer. I like to find the fish on my fish finder and vertically jig the area with a Charlie Brewer Crappie Slider jig or cast to it and let the jig slowly fall into the strike zone. Towards the end of the month if the water temperature gets up toward 65 degrees the fish will move into very shallow water to spawn.
Newsome Creek on Tuckertown Lake seems to always produce a lot of nice crappie in the spring. As you go under the railroad bridge use your fish finder to locate the structure out from the bank on the left or right side. Once you locate them either troll, cast or vertically jig in those areas. On Badin Lake the Garr Creek area has lots of wood structure stretching from shallow water out into 20 feet or more. This area produces a lot of large Crappie every year. On High Rock Lake the Flat Swamp area in Davidson County and Second Creek area on the Rowan County side both are great areas to catch a lot of nice crappies.
Striped Bass on Badin Lake will be beginning the journey up to Tuckertown dam starting in about mid March. Striped Bass do not like dirty or Muddy water. So if the water is more than stained look for clearer water down river. The Beaver Dam Creek area almost always has clearer water than the upstream area below Tuckertown Dam. If the water is not muddy, trolling the Old Whitney area with bucktails (1oz. White) or 4” shad bodies on a 1oz. Jig head is a tried and true method of catching them. Drifting live shiners or shad also works well. If this area is muddy, then move down river to the Beaver Dam Creek area around the islands.
Darin Brown – Writes the forecast for High Rock, Badin & Tuckertown Dam
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Hwy 49 Sports is located in New London, NC on NC Hwy. 49 near Tuckertown boat launch area. Tuckertown lake is located between two larger lakes (High Rock and Badin Lake) on the Yadkin river chain. The area is very scenic and a great place to fish! The store offers a huge selection of Fishing, Hunting, Camping and Marine items. Although they offer your more common outdoor products at great prices, our specialty is being able to bring you items not found in most large discount stores or outdoor stores.