Early topwater bite has been excellent, guide Richardson said
Even though the spawn has ended, the hottest bass bite in the Piedmont likely is at Randleman Dam Reservoir.
“(Bass) are flat biting at Randleman,” said guide Joel Richardson of Kernersville. “I’m having some really good days over there. The bite has been starting at daylight, then slacks off from 11:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m., then it cranks up again until dark.”
Richardson (336-643-7214) said he’s found largemouths at secondary points in four to 10 feet of water at the 3,007-acre impoundment in northern Randolph County.
“They’ve been biting topwater (lures) in the morning, up to about 8:30 a.m.,” he said. “I’ve been using buzzbaits and Pop-Rs around wood cover — small stickups, trees and laydowns — in three feet of water or less at the mouths of spawning coves.”
Richardson said he’d caught “5- and 6-pounders in the morning,” on a lake that hasn’t been crowded with anglers.
“I think since it’s tournament time, a lot of people who fish this lake are going elsewhere,” he said. “When everybody gets there, it’s usually only 45 to 50 boats (on the water).”
When the topwater bite subsides, Richardson switches to soft plastics and jig-n-pigs.
“They’ve been biting shakey heads really good,” he said, “and Carolina rigs with green pumpkin and red shad worms. Junebug has worked well, too, and I’ve caught some on a jig-n-pig at rocky places.”
His soft-plastic lures include a 7-inch black/green Zoom trick worm on the shakey head rig, a 7 ½-inch Zoom Magnum 2 green-pumpkin worm with the Texas rig, and a 6-inch junebug lizard with his Carolina rig.
“I’ve been catching 25 to 35 bass per day,” he said. “Last week, I found a school of bass and caught 16 of them in 10 or 15 minutes. When I left they were still biting.”
Richardson said one factor in anglers’ favor at Randleman is that recent heavy rains haven’t muddied the lake’s waters.
“Most other lakes are muddy now, but Randleman has heavy stain, which is perfect for bass fishing,” he said.
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