North Carolina’s newest lake is still hot in sizzling weather.
When Randleman Regional Reservoir — popularly known as Randleman Dam Lake — opened its gates for the first time at 8 o’clock one morning in March 2010, anglers towing bass boats were ready to go. In fact they’d been ready to go for hours, some since the previous night. The line of boas stretched a half-mile down the access road in anticipation of being among the first watercrafts on the lake.
Rumors of gadzillions of bass eager to jump on any lure had swept through Piedmont North Carolina and beyond. Even the early 1980s opening of Jordan Lake — an impoundment 3½ tunes the size of Randleman Dam and known to have scads of bucketmouths — didn’t experience a grand opening and angler frenzy on this scale. Some anglers slept in their trucks overnight, eager to be at the head of in line when the gate opened. Certainly dreams of black bass heaven had filled their minds.
But as Scottish poet Robert Burns once wrote: “The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft agley,” which was the first written expression of what later became Murphy’s Law — “If something can go wrong, it will.”
At 3,007 acres and administered by the Piedmont Triad Regional Water Authority, Randleman Dam permits only 100 motorized boats on the lake at any one time. At the start of that first day, about 20 boats literally were left out of the cold — and it was a chilly and windy morning — because the limit had been reached as fishermen, searching for the Mother Lode of bass bites, scattered across the Deep River impoundment
The only problem was, the weather didn’t cooperate. A cold front pushing showers had swept through, muddying the lake’s waters, and the surface temperature hovered near 48 degrees, slowing bass metabolisms to a crawl. If any angler caught a bass that day, he was an exception. By mid-day, more than half the early arrivals had pulled their boats up the ramp and headed for home to get warm and ponder how rumormongers and on-line experts could have been so wrong about Randleman Dam.
But to paraphrase Mark Twain, rumors of the lake’s demise were highly exaggerated. All that had to happen was a wait of month or so until the water warmed — and the bass bite went from dead stop to 200 mph. It’s been going great guns ever since.
Discounting the opening-day flop, Randleman Dam has produced tons of bass for amazed anglers and continues to be a pedal-to-the-metal bass-fishing venue.
In fact, fishermen landed so many largemouths the first two years the lake was open, the catch alarmed PTWRA officials, who attempted to set their own restrictive keeper rules and replace the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission’s original creel and size limits. But the Commission stepped in and worked with PTWRA to implement regulations that took effect on Feb. 22, 2012, with a daily creel limit of five fish and a 14-inch size minimum, with two smaller fish allowed per day but only one longer than 20 inches allowed per day.
Corey Oakley, a fisheries biologist for the Commission, .noted incredible numbers of bass caught and released during prime fishing months last year. During July, he described tremendous 20-, 30- and 40-bass days, even with .temperatures stuck above 90 degrees and the surface water temperature in the high 80s.
“(Anglers) not only caught fish during late spring and summer, which we expected, but they whacked bass in the dead of summer, July and August, when it was so hot,” he said. “Catching 30 and 40 bass a day in that high heat; it was crazy.”
Joel Richardson, a Kernersville bass pro and guide, regularly fishes Randleman Dam. He sampled the fishing one hot July morning last year, and in 2 ½ hours landed a dozen healthy bass, plus twice that many “dinks.”
Richardson has a secret, though — a self-made, one-of-a-kind only-known topographical map of Randleman Dam Lake, a reservoir so new that most GPS map programs don’t include it.
Here are 10 of Richardson’s top spots at Randleman, which may be the hottest bass lake in North Carolina and certainly a place most likely to produce a limit of fish during sizzling July:
1 Launch Ramp Cove
35 51 12 N/79 49 37 W
It’s not surprising, given the number of bass in the lake, that the trip to the first honey hole covers about then length of a football field the main launch ramp.
“It’s the No. 1 community hole on the lake,” Richardson said, moving his Ranger boat from the ramp to the spot on his trolling motor. “It’s got some rock piles on the point,” he said. “A channel runs close to the bank, and bass like to travel in that deeper, cooler water in the summertime, then they go after the baitfish around those rocks.”
Buzzbaits, topwater poppers or pencil baits, such as a Devil’s Horse, are good choices early in the morning, while shallow-diving crankbaits with a tight wiggle will work by mid morning.
2 Rocky Point
35 51 087N/79 49 4W
The best time to fish Randleman in July is as early in the morning as possible, when bass usually congregate in the shallows.
This spot is approximately 150 yards southeast of Launch Ramp Cove on the lake’s east side, a point with visible rocks protruding above the surface.
“I like to use a buzzbait, Pop-R or (Zara) Spook or Zara Puppy here,” Richardson said.
3 White House Drop-Off
35 50 576 N/ 79 49 29W
This region is just a few hundred yards southeast of the rocky point along the lake’s eastern shore.
A house with white vinyl siding and a gray cinderblock foundation, and a brick home to its right, are visible through oak trees near the shoreline. Several stickups protrude from the water in front of a round concrete pad just above surface.
“It looks like the floor of a grain silo, and it might have been in the past,” Richardson said, “but the key to this spot is the water drops off really quick down to 18-feet deep.
“I like to sit back in deep water and throw a Carolina rig (worm or lizard) up on it and ease it back toward me. I sometimes get a bite about 30 feet off the bank.”
4 Roadbed
35 50 389 N/79 49 227 W
Submerged roadbeds are classic spots to find largemouth bass in reservoirs, and this one toward Randleman Dam’s southeast corner near St. Peter’s Church Rd. is no exception.
The visible portion of the road is gravel, because it has high green grass and weeds growing on it, so the ditches that extend into the lake likely are filled with briars and brush, which make excellent hiding places for baitfish and ambush areas for bass.
“I work the top of the road with a Carolina rig or the side ditches,” Richardson said. “A lot of times they’ll be filled with bass.”
One of his favorite summertime soft-plastic lures is a 12-inch Zoom Ol’ Monster worm. That huge plastic worm (black’s the right color) also is a favorite at deeper spots.
5 Deep River Point Island
39 50 573 N/ 79 49 52 W
Almost directly southwest across the lake is a point at the junction where the Deep River meets the main body of the lake.
An island is off the shoreline, and a buoy marks a fish attractor in the middle of that channel.
“This is a good spot to get a big-fish bite in summer, around that channel marker,” Richardson said, positioning his boat to cast a Carolina-rigged Ol’ Monster worm toward the man-made fish habitat.
“You can fish a Texas rig with a bullet weight here, too; and I’ve caught some nice bass here,” he said.
6 Deep River Island No. 2
35 53 23 N/79 49 54 W
Another island sits a few hundred yards north in the middle of the Deep River.
“It’s got a good rocky shoreline along this island,” Richardson said, “and it’s a good topwater spot in July, especially early in the morning.”
A Chug Bug, Pop-R or Zara Spooks in different sizes are good choices, along with buzzbaits in white or chartreuse.
7 Shad Creek
35 53 25 N/79 49 569 W
About one-third of a mile north is a feeder creek on the east side of the river that begins near Hockett Dairy Rd.
“In July, this creek is filled with shad a lot of the time, and that draws bass in here,” Richardson said.
Just about any largemouth lure will entice strikes in this creek.
“I like to have three rods: one with a Carolina-rigged plastic worm, a topwater bait and a shallow-running crankbait,” he said.
Sometimes, when the bass begin feeding on the shad, Richardson said they can be seen crashing baitfish on the surface.
“That’s when you need to throw a small topwater or the shallow-running crankbait,” he said. “If you get one of those close, you’ll almost always get bit.”
8 Radio Tower Brush Point
35 51 404 N/79 49 376 W
It’s always nice to have a reference point on a lake, such as the cooling tower at Shearon Harris.
On Randlman, the most-visible marker probably is a tall radio tower on the eastern shoreline just south of Shad Creek.
“It’s very visible, and if you’re in the middle of the river, you have a wide brushy shoreline point that sticks out into the river directly in line with the tower,” Richardson said.
“It’s a good place to work a buzzbait in and around those stickups in the morning or Carolina rigs or shallow-diving crankbaits in the mid-morning.”
9 Water Plant Cove
35 52 554 N/79 49 55 W
Across the lake from the Radio Tower is the PTRWA water-treatment plant, and just south of it is a cove.
“It’s fairly shallow water in that cove, but sometimes the treatment plant pulls water into the intake, and it makes a small current that seems to get baitfish going — and the bass get stirred up, too,” Richardson said.
Crankbaits and Carolina rigs seem to work best in the open water of this cove.
10 Ramp Cove Middle
35 51 259 N/79 49 229 W
As often happens, one of the best places to catch July bass is within a well-hit 3-iron of the launch ramp.
It’s marked by deeper water and has some interesting bottom structures that hold bass.
“It’s just to the left of the boat ramp from the shoreline out to the open water, ” Richardson said. “The bank’s rock, and there are some stumps that hold fish.”
If an early-rising angler gets to the launch ramp, he can cast a topwater lure (a buzzbait is effective) at the shoreline trees, then work toward the middle of the cove as the day progresses, using deeper-running lures or Carolina-rigged plastics.
Joel Richardson can be reached at 336-803-2195 or 336-643-7214 or www.joelgrichardson.com.
Be the first to comment