Buggs bass go to the bushes

Flooded timber is productive pattern in June’s usual high water

Guide Joel Richardson of Kernersville, N.C., said bass fishermen not only can find top-to-bottom action in June at Buggs Island Lake, aka Kerr Reservoir, but they can also catch fish in a variety of ways.

Early June offers exciting topwater action at secondary and main-lake points as the bass begin moving to deeper water, according to Richardson (www.joelgrichardson.com). The fish have recovered from spawning and are in a feeding mode.

“Pop-Rs, Heddon Spooks, buzzbaits and floating worms will draw plenty of strikes in the mornings and evenings,” said Richardson. “With cloudy conditions, the surface action can last throughout the day.”

Richardson also looks for bass running shad to the surface, which happens quite often this month.

On windy days, Richardson said Rat-L-Traps and spinnerbaits become effective baits and allow him to cover a lot of territory quickly.

If the water is in the bushes — a strong likelihood in early June — Richardson flips plastics and jigs into the numerous buttonwood bushes, willows and gum trees found along the lake’s shoreline and in its many pockets.

The ideal water level for fishing the bushes is 30 4 feet above sea level, which puts the vegetation in about 4  to 5 feet of water. If the water gets much higher, it will flood the forest, spreading the fish out through the dense cover and making it difficult to access the productive shallow cover.

As the weather warms in mid-June, the fish migrate to depths from 8 to 12 feet.

Richardson likes to target the long, finger-like points from Nutbush Creek to the Kerr Dam.

“Bass can be caught throughout the lake, and some locals really hammer them in the Clarksville, Va., area, but I do most of my fishing in the Nutbush Creek area,” said Richardson, who alternates between Carolina rigs and crankbaits around points, using rigs out to 12 feet and crankbaits in 8 to 10 feet of water.

He Carolina rigs with plastic worms 7 inches or longer,  plastic lizards and centipedes in green pumpkin, redbug, black/grape and black.

“I love cranking, but the Carolina rig is probably the most consistent fish-catcher for this time of year,” he said.

Richardson said June is one of the best months at the sprawling impoundment for numbers of bass, most of which will weigh from 2 to 31/2 pounds.

“Buggs Island is still recovering from the Largemouth Bass Virus that decimated its big-fish population in 2009,” Richardson said. “But the fishing keeps getting better year after year, and more quality bass are showing up at tournament weigh-ins.”