Carolina rigs, Texas rigs produce good catches in deeper water
Throughout a sizzling July, the offshore bite for bass at High Rock Lake was almost non-existent, much to the chagrin of crankbait and Carolina-rig fishermen, as fish snuggled tight to the piers in less than 5 feet of water, hitting jigs and plastics flipped their way. Then along came August and surprisingly cooler temperatures and the unexpected happened. The offshore bite reappeared, catching most fishermen by surprise.
Lexington’s Maynard Edwards of Yadkin Lakes Guide Service stumbled upon the deep bite at Flat Swamp during a recent outing.
“I received a call from H. R. White of Knoxville, Tenn., who planned to visit his father-in-law, who had a place at High Rock,” said Edwards. “White said he and his father-in-law wanted to go bass fishing and wanted to learn more about the lake.”
Edwards booked the trip, though he had some reservations.
“I had heard the bass had their noses buried in the piers, and the fishing was tough,” said Edwards.
The day began as Edwards feared.
“The early topwater bite and the shallow-water bite were both duds; the only option left was to fish deeper,” he said.
When his two clients began dragging water 12 to 14 feet deep with Carolina and Texas rigs, good things started happening. They stuck six nice bass; three big ones came unbuttoned, but three in the 3-pound plus range came on board.
White used a Texas rig with a ½-ounce worm weight and an 11-inch tequila sunrise Rawhide worm, a bait once made by Denton’s Carl Benton and now discontinued.
“He began with a 2/0 hook, but after missing several strikes, he switched to a 5/0 hook and began catching fish,” said Edwards.
White’s father-in-law, Jerry Tilley of Lexington, used a standard Carolina rig with a 2-foot leader, 3/0 worm hook, and ¾-ounce weight with a green pumpkin Zoom Baby Brush Hog at the business end.
“The worm rigs weren’t anything special, but the deep bite was,” said Edwards.
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