Buckhorn bassin’

Finesse lures are the key to winter Buckhorn bass

Buckhorn Lake is a small reservoir in Wilson County, NC, and is a perfect spot to catch bass during the winter.

Bass angler Anthony Horton said finesse fishing is the way to go here this month.

“I like to focus on points, especially one point leading into a main channel that has a road bed across the bottom,” he said.

Covering a lot of water as quickly as possible is one goal, but that doesn’t mean anglers should be fishing fast.

“We want the boat to move quick, and we want to cover a lot of water. But all of our presentations need to be slow,” said Horton.

Crankbaits with a tight wiggle, Rat-L-Trap-style lures and similar lures that can cover a lot of water are all good choices. He’ll have a variety tied on to the rods on his deck, and switch between them throughout the day until he finds what the fish are keying in on.

“One lure I’ll start off with is a Z Boss 6 from Azuma. I’ll also have a spinnerbait tied on to one rod, a shaky head on another, a Texas-rigged soft plastic, a Shadow Rap jerkbait, and a black-and-blue finesse jig. I’ll have all those tied on to different rods as soon as I get on the water,” he said.

As far as colors go for his lures, Horton said it depends on the water clarity. This time of year, the water here is often stained, but not muddy.

“If the water is a little bit stained, I like to go with natural shad colors,” he said.

Look for birds, baitfish

Speaking of shad, Horton said anglers should keep an eye out for birds diving on the surface. This will give away the presence of shad, a telltale sign that the fish are pushing that bait up to the surface, attracting the birds.

“When you see those birds diving, that tells you the fish are munching on baitfish. And when that happens, I try to get on that baitfish bite,” he said.

Horton prefers to start the day by hitting points that lead into deep water. He targets fish that are suspended in the water column. As the sun gets higher and warms the water, he’ll often abandon these points and move into the creeks. But if he continues getting consistent bites on those points, he’ll stick around them.

When the bite is especially tough, Horton said a Ned rig is always a good option. Skirted Ned rigs with a soft plastic trailer can save the day when nothing else will get a bite.

A good color combo here this time of year is a black-and-blue skirt, matched with a soft plastic worm or creature bait in black-and-blue, green pumpkin, or a combination of the two.

A good technique for fishing this rig is to slightly bounce it along the bottom, lifting the rod every now and then to make the lure pop up, then fall again.

For more tips on fishing various waterways all across North Carolina, check out Horton’s YouTube channel called BassRoots Fishing.