When fall arrives, Lake Tillery largemouths concentrate at creeks to gorge on shad, and savvy bass anglers can find prime-time action.
As the leaves fall at Morrow Mountain State Park, largemouth bass fishing at adjacent Lake Tillery hits a peak. Autumn has long been a favorite time to fish the 5,000-surface-acres reservoir near Albemarle.
Why autumn? Easy to answer that one.
Tillery’s largemouth are concentrated at the major creeks, smashing into schools of threadfin shad. As the lake cools in fall, the shad follow the warm-water gradient into pockets of water with slightly higher temperatures than found in the main channel.
“Usually there’s lots of schooling activity in November at Tillery,” said Maynard Edwards, a fishing guide who works the Yadkin-Pee Dee River chain of lakes, which includes Tillery. “I go to the backs of the creeks and look for action, particularly around the edges.”
“Do you know the creek where the seafood restaurant is? That’s Cedar Creek. Both arms of that creek are largemouth hot spots in November.
“Fish the little cuts. Usually I fish fairly shallow there. I throw a Pop-R or a floating worm to the edge of the grass.”
Any of an angler’s favorite topwater lures likely will work at such areas. The last couple of years, a good first choice has been the Pop-N Image, Jr. It features three shad color variations, and each has worked.
The Super Spook Jr. is also a prime selection. If the fish don’t jump on your topwater but nonetheless are feeding near the surface, try a shallow running jerk bait such as a Rogue or Swim’n Image.
A 2- or 3-inch tube grub threaded onto a 1/4-ounce jig is another good approach for largemouth that are chasing schools of shad. With a good spinning rod and reel, a rig like this can be cast a country mile.
As Tillery largemouth often come to the surface a good distance from the boat, a long cast often can be helpful. Rig the jig inside the tube as it falls more erratically than if the jig is outside the tube. White, pearl or blue are good tube colors.
Vibrating crankbaits, such as Rat-L-Traps or Spots, and heavier blade baits, such as Sonics or Silver Buddies, are other good choices for largemouth chasing shad. These also can be cast a long way. Or try a Little George, a small lure which also will get a bass going nuts for threadfins just a little more crazy.
Water-willow weeds form vast beds in Cedar Creek. Indeed, across Tillery such weeds exist along its shore, particularly at main lake points and at major creek shorelines.
As November advances, the weeds die, but early in the month, the weeds are dense and green. Largemouth use the weeds as cover and prey on the small fish which also rely upon the weeds for shelter and places to find food.
Be sure to toss a floating worm to the inside edge of the weeds. Bill Matthews caught a number of nice fish from the inside weed edge at Tillery with floating worms a year or so ago.
Drew Montgomery, a Lake Norman guide who fishes Lake Tillery from time-to-time just for the fun of it, also recommended attention to the weed beds.
“Fish the grassy points,” he said. “Between the N.C. 73 bridge and the dam there are a number of them. I sure like the (Zara) Spook (as a lure at such places).”
Spooks or other topwater lures also may be used as one of the lures in a tandem rig setup. A small spoon with a chicken feather tail can be rigged ahead of or behind a heavy topwater lure. The spoon should be 1- to 1 1/2-inches long.
A 1-foot monofilament leader should be tied between the topwater lure and the spoon. If the spoon is ahead of the topwater, many anglers contend bass perceive the spoon as a small fish escaping from a larger one, however that theory may give too much credit to the perceptive qualities of bass.
But no matter; in any event, the technique works, whether the spoon is in front of or behind the topwater lure. A heavy topwater lure lets anglers reach bass that come to the surface a distance from the boat. Certainly a small spoon creates flash and is of a size that suggests a threadfin shad.
This technique really works well when largemouths are herding shad in shallow water.
“If I can’t catch fish with the topwater, I hit the edges of the weeds with a jig-and-pig,” Montgomery said. “The fish are there; you just got to get them to hit.”
“There’s a kind of pond back there, under the bridge,” Edwards said of Cedar Creek. “That’s usually a good spot in fall. Largemouth follow the shad back into the shallow water in that pond. It’s a good spring spot, too.
“Across the lake, there’s another good November spot, back under the bridge. You have to go through a narrow area and under the bridge.”
Edwards was describing Lower Richland Creek. But be sure to try the upper end of Richland Creek, the creek just upstream of Lower Richland Creek, as well.
Many years ago when my son was beginning his career as an angler, I took him to Tillery to fish the pattern Edwards mentioned. A few days earlier, I had seen largemouth attacking shad at Wood Run. We went there with confidence my son could catch bass.
He’d never used a bait casting rig, but I put a full-size Zara Spook on one of my outfits and screwed the anti-backlash down. With a couple of instructions, he was soon chucking the Spook toward aggressive largemouth and caught a dozen.
“Dad, I think I’d like one of those rods like you use,” he said as we drove home. “I think I can cast with it.”
Only later did I tell him I had ordered one for a Christmas gift.
Edwards noted Tillery usually is quite clear, particularly in fall.
Bill Shumaker utilized the clarity of the water for a fantastic day of autumn action at Tillery last year. At Mountain Creek, large schools of shad swam everywhere.
While individual fish weren’t visible, several black clouds could be seen suspended above the clay and sand bottom. At intervals, the clouds scattered as the bait fish fled in terror, a result of the largemouth bass ripping into the cloud. With Puppy Spooks, Shumaker and I caught a bunch of 2-pound fish.
If the largemouth weren’t actually busting into the schools of shad, the secret was to cast at the rear of the cloud we could see. The largemouth were trailing the shad. Even though we rarely saw individual largemouth, they were there and willing to hit.
In addition to the creeks mentioned, be sure to check out the back of Jacobs Creek; it contains many stumps. When not busting into schools of shad, largemouth hide near the stumps.
A small buzzbait or a Texas-rig worm dragged past a stump should draw a strike. The late Craven Thomas fished Jacobs Creek one day many years ago. Like lots of the lessons he taught, I’ve never forgotten Jacobs Creek in the fall.
If you can’t find largemouth busting shad, Edwards recommended rocky points.
“If they’re not schooling, target rocks,” he said. “Particularly the rocky points back in the creeks. Try small crankbaits. Tillery largemouth, for some reason, like smaller lures than the bass on other Yadkin River lakes.
“I like (to cast) a chartreuse Flat A.”
Another good small crankbait at Tillery is a Fat Free Fingerling. Thomas used to throw a firetiger Model A at rocky shores at Lake Tillery.
If water is being drawn through Tillery’s dam, target the upper end of the lake.
“Fish the current at the upper end of the lake,” Montgomery said. “When this works, you’ll need good batteries on your trolling motor. Throw a jig-and-pig near the rocks.”
Here a heavy jig is needed as the current sweeps by pretty fast. Try a black-and-blue jig with a comparable trailer or a brown jig with a blue trailer.
And anglers should always be cautious when motoring at the shallow upper end of the lake the rocks will eat an outboard’s lower unit in a flash.
Montgomery suggested fish the area upstream of Dutch John Creek.
Several Thanksgiving Days ago, I fished the upper end of Tillery. Current was boiling over the rocks and stumps between Dutch John Creek and the Uwharrie River.
With bladed-topwaters — first a full-sized Bang-O Lure and then a Torpedo — I caught more 2- and 3-pound largemouth than I could tabulate. Some larger fish came toward my lure, but the little ones were quicker. But as soon as the current slackened, the action stopped; it was as though the fish had disappeared.
No discussion of Lake Tillery largemouth fishing would be complete with mention of piers and docks.
They abound at Tillery, just about everywhere save the shoreline at Morrow Mountain State Park.
Brad Foster revealed this November pattern a number of years ago. Since then, the most productive piers and docks have been below the N.C. 73 bridge for a mile or so on the west side of the lake and on the east side of the lake a comparable distance above the bridge. Productive piers also jut in the lake near Norwood on the western shoreline a mile or a little more from the dam.
As November passes, largemouth move deeper and deeper at the piers. Some of the piers in the area extend into a dozen or more feet of water.
Anglers should keep an eye on the depth-finder and fish near the deep ends of those piers. Early in the month, fish will be shallower than later in the month.
As the water cools during November, bass metabolism slows. Slower and more deliberate approaches are required.
Foster fished a suspending Rogue near the piers, just twitching it. With long pauses between twitches. I used to have a bluish Rogue that worked well Tillery, but it — and lots of other gear — was stolen from a locked truck one day.
Chrome and blue or black back Rogues are good choices. Other suspending jerkbaits, a Long-A, for example, also work well.
Another approach that works at Tillery piers is a jig-and-pig. Black-and-green, black-and-blue and brown are prime jig colors.
A suitable plastic trailer seems to enhance the productivity of the jig. Again, slow and easy for the retrieve.
Lake Tillery, as is the case with the other impoundments of the Yadkin-Pee Dee River chain, has a five-fish, 14-inch minimum limit for black bass. Every now and then, someone catches a smallmouth bass which has relocated to the reservoir from the Uwharrie River.
The regulations apply to both largemouth and smallmouth.
Lake Tillery is a prime location for late autumn largemouth bass.
Edwards summed up the prospects for Lake Tillery anglers in the fall.
“Tillery is not known for big fish, but there are lots of them,” he said. “Yet, over the years, I’ve caught a pretty good number of 5-pound-plus largemouth bass at Tillery. Most of the big bass were caught between mid-October and Christmas.
Chasing threadfin shad in the backs of creeks and coves is a classic pattern this time of year. And there are abundant spots at Tillery where this pattern can be found.
Lots of bass, including some pretty nice fish, are available to anglers throwing topwater lures.
If the largemouth aren’t busting shad, rocky points, then weed beds, piers and docks provide a ready alternative.
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