Just before re-injuring his knee and shelving his fishing activities at High Rock Lake for the summer, guide Maynard Edwards of Lexington discovered a hot striped bass bite.
June usually sees a good rockfish bite at High Rock Lake, if you know where to look.
“I’d been murderin’ ’em,” said Edwards (Yadkin Lakes Guide Service, 336-249-6782), “and fishing for ‘em like nobody else was. The rest of the (striper anglers at High Rock) were out there trolling deep water.”
Edwards said instead he’d found concentrations of striped bass in 10 to 12 feet of water on two mid-lake “humps” or “hurdles” as striper anglers call them, rising out of deep water.
“I was at two places in the main (Yadkin) river channel,” Edwards said. “We caught 10 to 15 stripers per trip, and they were running from 7 to 16 pounds.”
Most High Rock summer stripers average about 7 pounds.
His technique is to slow-troll (or “stroll”) with 4- to 5-inch long gizzard shad using 3/4- to 1-ounce barrel weights on Carolina rigs or put out live bait with planer boards and a bream split-shot just above the hook and baitfish. Then he simply circles the “humps” at a speed just fast enough to keep the baits off the bottom.
“They were really whacking the planer board baits,” Edwards said. “I barely had time to change out baits when another one would hit. I’d put out about 30 feet of line with the planer boards.”
Edwards said the best fishing occurred during overcast mornings with a light wind no greater than 10 mph.
“Those weather conditions seem to trigger the bite,” he said. “I’d be out there every morning right now if my knee hadn’t put me in a wheelchair.”
Anglers who wish to fish for stripers still should contact Edwards, as his partner, Charlie Kingen, may be able to arrange a trip. Kingen also is an expert catfish guide at High Rock.
Be the first to comment