Catch ‘em in the cold with these tips
As a full-time guide for more than 25 years, Joel Munday has seen Shearon Harris Lake at its least and most productive times.
Munday heard of Harris when the undeveloped lake, situated approximately 20 miles southwest of Raleigh, was in its infancy. Formed in 1981, bass fishing wasn’t much at first with mostly 5- to 10-inch bass inhabiting its 140 miles of grassy shoreline. In the early 1980s, Jordan and Falls of the Neuse, its neighboring lakes, were also created and populated with tiny bass.
Fishermen fantasized what these fisheries would be like when those small bass grew up. They didn’t have long to wait. An unprecedented bass boom took place throughout the 1990s at the three lakes.
Suddenly, the Raleigh lakes were spitting out fish from 6 to 9 pounds with shocking regularity, along with a plentiful number of trophy fish topping 10 pounds.
Munday (919-669-2959) began guiding in 1998, just as the fishing explosion energized.
Fishermen now haggled over which Raleigh lake was the best bass lake.
Harris was the king
Harris emerged as the best of the best after two incredible tournament catches, one in 2016, the other in 2017. The first featured a 10-fish bag weighing 71.88 pounds; the second, a 5-fish catch weighing 41.90 pounds. The two shocking weights not only established Harris as the top Raleigh lake for bass, but also as the top bass lake in the state.
Moreover, Harris gained a reputation as a winter haven for big bass.
“The lake yielded numbers of winter bass from 6 to 8 pounds, and fishermen even had a chance at a double-digit bass,” said Munday.
Some attributed its winter productivity to its clear waters and abundant forage. Others thought it was because the largemouth had been king of the pond without any other rival to compete for forage until white perch showed up around 2000. If bass weren’t feeding, the forage went mostly undisturbed and formed immense concentrations that served as expansive dining areas.
A few mistakenly credited the great winter fishing to the nuclear plant and its hot hole. But Harris never had a sustained hot hole. Unlike other energy plants that produce hot water discharges, the nuclear plant at Harris doesn’t work that way.
Its mode of operation does not result in any sustained warm water discharges that impact lake temperatures like the outlets at Norman or Wylie. Instead, water is heated and cooled through a recycling process within the nuclear plant.
No warm current of any consequence is produced except when clogged pipes must be flushed out. The warm water discharges into the lake at a water outlet that attracts bass. But the flushing of pipes happens so infrequently that neither the warm current nor its outlet is perceptible to anglers.
The big decline
Munday has also witnessed the year-round decline of its big bass.
Relentless fishing pressure has been the main culprit. The significant loss of aquatic vegetative habitat has been another factor influencing the behavior of bass.
“The amount of available aquatic vegetation has declined and moved most largemouth bass offshore for the majority of the year,” said District 3 Fisheries Biologist David Belkoski.
Nonetheless, Munday said Harris remains a good winter lake. But now, anglers must be satisfied catching 2- to 3-pound bass instead of trophy bass.
“If you catch a 5-pound bass, you’re really doing something,” he said.
On the plus side, the latest forward-looking technology keeps Munday looking forward to winter fishing.
“The technology makes it easier to locate and catch cold weather bass in real time,” said the veteran guide. “On my Lowrance Live Sonar unit, the forward-looking feature is designated as ActiveTarget.”
Munday uses down scan, side scan and forward-looking sonar units. He networks the three units so they can function in unison. For ease of operation and targeting, he mounts the live scope transducer on the side of his boat instead of his trolling motor. He’s fashioned a custom-made, side-mounting device for this purpose.
Munday said the best winter fishing occurs from late December through early February, with the fish in small gatherings as water temperatures drop into the lower 50s.
“I think the extended length of day makes the fish move up more than water temperature,” said Munday.
In the winter, thick concentrations of forage hover over creek channels, humps, points, roadbeds and other offshore structures in 18 to 28 feet of water. Surprisingly, the submerged trestle that crosses the lake is not a great winter spot.
“The trestle is more productive in the summer,” said Munday.
Munday said winter bass can be caught shallow and deep, but he prefers fishing deep structure with a variety of baits rather than shallow patches of grass with jigs and jerkbaits.
He employs his down scan and side scan units to check how bass are relating to topography changes in deep water. Then he activates his forward-looking technology to observe where they are and what they are doing.
“In winter, I don’t expect to find large schools of bass, but target the ones I do find with my scope,” said Munday.
Munday groups deep winter bass into three categories: vertical bass, suspended bass and nomadic bass.
Vertical bass
Vertical bass are bottom-hugging bass, so Munday positions his boat right over them and drops his baits in front of the fish thanks to his ActionTarget.
“I rarely cast. or make very short casts,” said Munday. “I mostly use a vertical presentation and choose my baits accordingly.”
Munday’s lures include 1/4- to 3/4-ounce jigging spoons in citrus green, white, purple or silver and 1/4-ounce Damiki Vault blade baits in gold, silver or a holographic hue.
He rotates lures, colors and the speed of his retrieve until the fish show an interest or bite.
“With forward-looking sonar, I can alter the motion of the jigging spoon or blade bait and see how fish respond in real time,” said Munday. ”I call it ‘negotiating’ with the fish.”
Munday vertical fishes using a medium heavy, 7-foot baitcasting rod paired with a baitcasting reel filled with Seaguar 12- to 15-pound fluorocarbon line.
He also employs a drop shot rig consisting of a 1/2-ounce weight and an offset 2/0 or 3/0 Texas-rigged hook with a Zoom Fluke Jr. in blueback herring or pearl white colors. A medium heavy 7-foot spinning rod and reel with a 12-pound fluorocarbon leader tied to the main line completes the rig.
Munday said vertical fish move very slowly, and his forward-looking sonar captures that movement.
Suspended bass
Munday said suspended bass are difficult to catch because they’re frequently on the move in small numbers. Those lingering over structure are somewhat easier to catch. In either case, their exact depth must be determined.
“Although targeting suspended bass can be taxing, I use my forward-looking sonar to track my baits in real time,” said Munday. “I see how they’re running in relationship to the fish and if they’re going above, below or through the fish, and how the fish respond.”
For suspended fish, Munday favors MegaBass 110 and Rogue jerkbaits in shad colors.
He occasionally retrieves an Alabama rig, lowering or running it right through the suspended bass.
“Its chandelier configuration gets their attention,” he said.
Nomadic bass
Munday said single nomadic bass are almost impossible to catch unless they’re moving along an established migratory route.
Schools of bass are mainly a summer thing and not a factor in the winter.
Bright Future
Munday believes he will be there when Harris makes a comeback in a few years, given the lake’s large forage base and NC Wildlife’s Aquatic Habitat Enhancement Project.
“A lot of big fish aged out and died,” said Munday. “Eventually, they’ll be replaced. And the fish will chunk up again. Growth rates are above average at Harris.”
The future is bright for Shearon Harris anglers
The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission has implemented an Aquatic Habitat Enhancement Project (2018-2022) to support the fishery at Shearon Harris Lake. It has been extended to 2027. The Project should help restore the numbers of big bass in the lake.
In 1995, Pat Vines of Knightdale took a monstrous lake-record 13-2 pound bass from its waters.
At a 2016 Tar Heel Mini Team Tournament, Dennis and Jayne Reedy of Sanford had a 10-fish limit weighing 71.8 pounds.
But the crowds only intensified when Shane and Bonnie Burns of Durham had a 5-fish catch totaling 72.5 pounds at a 2017 Piedmont Classics Spring Team event. After BASSMASTER magazine ranked Harris as the top bass lake in the Southeast and the 4th bass lake in the nation for 2017, the reservoir became known to fishermen throughout the country.
At only 4,151-acres, Harris couldn’t cope with its new fame and neither could its big bass population. In the past few years, the big bass population has sharply declined.
Wildlife samplings collected every other spring from March through May reflect the recent change at Harris.
“From 1997 to 2017, fish greater than 20 inches accounted for greater than 10 percent of the sample, which is exceptional,” said David Belkoski, District 3 fisheries biologist. “There has been a slight decline in fish greater than 20 inches and slot-sized fish since 2019. Fishing pressure has also gone up since 2020.”
Coinciding with the loss of big fish was the loss of aquatic vegetative habitat.
To counter the disappearing vegetative habitat, NCWRC started the Aquatic Habitat Enhancement Project to establish beneficial native aquatic vegetation and to install artificial and natural habitat for a balanced fishery. These measures were taken to supplement available spawning habitat as well.
Interested parties assisted NC Wildlife in adding to the lake approximately 800 fish attractors, 23 cabled trees, more than 5,700 native plants at 120 locations, and colonies of native aquatic vegetation.
Every two years, NC Wildlife will monitor the size, condition, recruitment and growth of bass.
“There have been significant changes at Harris Lake. But it is still a quality fishery,” said Belkoski.
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