Badin, Tuckertown bass action still good

With High Rock muddy, smaller Yadkin lakes have been place to go

Craig Holt

Big plastic worms fished on Carolina rigs have been productive later in the day on Tuckertown and Badin lakes.

Largemouth bass have been the prime targets at Badin and Tuckertown reservoirs, two lakes on the Yadkin River system.

“We’re catching lots of bass at Badin and Tuckertown,” said guide Maynard Edwards of Lexington’s Yadkin Lakes Guide Service.

Tuckertown and Badin are downstream from much-larger High Rock, and they’re protected from the direct influx of muddy water from recent heavy rains that have turned High Rock a shade of red. The summer bass fishing on 2,600-acre Tuckertown and 5,200-acre Badin remains good, according to Edwards (336-247-1287).

The best action on Badin has been for schooling bass, especially early in the morning until about 10 a.m.

 

“I don’t care if it’s 95 degrees,” Edwards said. “We’ve been having a blast. Bass have been schooling almost every time we’ve gone down there.”

 

Top lures have been buzzbaits and Zara Spooks.

“As the sun comes up, the bass go a little deeper, and we’ve been throwing crankbaits, Carolina rigs or jigs,” he said. “The bass are coming from 8 to 20 feet deep. By 1 to 2 p.m., the bass are usually 20 feet down.”

 

On 5-hour, “half-day” trips, Edwards said his clients have been catching as many as 20 to 25 bass.

 

“They’re not big when you catch ’em with topwater lures, mostly 12 to 16 inches,” he said. “The bigger bass are coming from deeper water.”

 

Most of those deeper fish are at points near creek channels and the river channel.

 

“At Tuckertown, we’ve been catching early bass by throwing Senkos, floating worms and frogs around the lily pads or grassy areas,” Edwards said. “As the day goes on, those fish get deeper, too, and  they hit Carolina rigs, jigs and crankbaits. It’s a typical summertime pattern.”

 

The best Tuckertown bass producer has been an unweighted Senko worm thrown at lily pads.

 

“We’ve caught several 4-pounders,” Edwards said. “You throw it onto a pad, then let it fall off and just twitch it.”