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| Key Feature Homepage Stories |
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| Three Patterns And A One-Two Punch For Neely Bass In July |
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| By Joe DiPietro |
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Originally published in the July 2012 issue of AON
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Tournament angler Brad Carroll with a nice Neely Henry largemouth. Although reservoirs on the Coosa River are well known for Coosa spotted bass, Brad said Neely is a good largemouth lake even during the depths of the summer.
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It’s no secret that once the bass in Alabama hit their postspawn pattern in late spring, it isn’t long before the dog-days of summer show up and the fish become downright tough to catch.
On Lake Neely Henry, though, the difference between tough and impossible is a pretty good margin in July. And, that margin of separation translates into a good bass bite through the month.
Neely Henry is located on the Coosa River chain of lakes and begins just below the Weiss Dam before running close to 80 miles downstream to the dam above Logan Martin. While the lake is more or less a river-run lake, it does open up a bit toward its dam.
However, the bulk of the best bass fishing on the lake in July will take place on the upper end of the lake in the vast shallow flats and grassbeds, above the Highway 77 bridge and boat ramp at Rainbow Landing.
“You can really stay above the bridge all summer and stay in some pretty good fish,” said BFL angler Brad Carroll. “I’m also a firm believer that you can catch bass in less than 3 feet of water at just about any time.”
This doesn’t mean bass fishermen should entirely avoid fishing for summertime bass on the deeper ledges and structures, but rather that the ledges and deeper water are a secondary pattern to fall back on when the shallow fish aren’t biting.
The growth of grass mats around the lake’s perimeter is critical to providing habitat for all species of fish in the lake. Grass offers probably the best bite going for bass fishermen in the heat of summer. On top of that, largemouths dominate the grassbeds.
Although Coosa reservoirs are famous for hard-fighting Coosa spotted bass, a winning tournament sack on Neely typically requires at least a few good largemouths. Brad said the deep-water summer bite for smaller spots can be outstanding, but he also said largemouths have come on strong at Neely in recent years, and that’s what he normally targets.
“I try to focus my fishing on the grassy areas with deep water in close proximity,” Brad said. “Find an area with grass and a depth range of 1 to 10 feet, so when the water temperature is 90 degrees the fish can set up in the grass in the morning before moving deeper for the day. Places like that are absolutely where your best bass are going to be hanging.”
Bass on Neely typically average 2 to 4 pounds, but Brad said there are a lot of 3- to 5-lb. fish to be caught. His personal best Neely largemouth weighed 8-lbs., 4-ozs.
Perhaps one of the best pieces of advice Brad handed out to me all day long was to listen to what the fish you’re catching are trying to tell you.
“Every fish is going to tell you something about what they’re doing, and you’ve just gotta put the pieces of the puzzle together each time to figure them out,” Brad said. “Whatever you’re doing, remember that the hotter the water temperature gets, the closer you’ve got to go toward deep water. This is what determines where I’m going to fish. Too many people force themselves into fishing what looks good outside of the water, instead of letting the fish dictate.”
Later in the day, once the sun is well up over the water, look for the action around the grass to slow down and the fish to move off onto the deeper ledges nearby. Provided Alabama Power is pumping water, the bite on the ledges can be very good for both spotted bass and largemouths, Brad said.
“If they’re not pulling water, the fish tend to get out there and suspend on the channel ledges and structures,” he said. “Catching these fish when they’re suspended is about impossible. Now, when there’s current those same places fish great.”
The last general pattern Brad recommended for summertime bass is under and around the many docks on the lake. Particularly for largemouths, which Brad believes ambush prey, while spotted bass tend to move around more to chase it, the scenario of eating a couple bream all day and hanging back in a little deeper water with structure and shade seems an obvious choice. Docks provide the perfect place for largemouths to do just that.
When it comes to what to throw at Neely Henry bass in the dead of summer, Brad likes to keep it simple.
The day I climbed aboard with him, there were only four rods laid out on the deck. Brad had already been fishing a few hours by the time I arrived, and it was apparent he’d patterned the fish well, as he had a 3-pounder in the livewell waiting on a photo and another fish pushing 4 pounds, both largemouths.
“I’ve got four baits on the deck, and that’s all I’ve used today,” Brad said.
Nearly all the bass Brad caught that morning were on one of his favorite summertime lures, a black/blue 3/8-oz. Tightlines Tackle swim jig with a Strike King Rage Chunk in summer craw. Swimming a jig through the grass when it’s overcast or early in the day is pretty tough to beat on Neely Henry in terms of the numbers of fish it will produce.
“Most people who swim a jig in the grass will be using white,” Brad said. “I’m throwing a black-and-blue jig, and I believe it imitates a bream now that they’re up shallow. I think you can catch three-to-one with a black-and-blue jig compared to what another guy with a white swim jig can.”
While a lot of other anglers will be running buzzbaits, frogs or other topwater lures in and around the grass, Brad prefers the swim jig because he said there’s a better hook-up ratio.
Try to swim the jig quickly through the grass just to keep it up, and then “let it die” at the edge of the grass and sink a few inches into the water. Don’t get too excited when a fish smacks the jig.
“Most people set the hook on swim jigs way too quickly,” Brad said. “They also swim the jig too fast and keep it too high up on the water. Just slowing it down with the hook-set and backing down the retrieval rate will improve the number of fish you connect with.”
As we made our way along a bank Brad said he’d already beaten that morning, he was able to pull six additional fish from the first 15 yards or so of grass. Following up on a bass that erupted on his jig but failed to take the hook, Brad broke out what he called his “one-two punch.”
“If I swim a jig through the grass and it gets boiled on but I miss him, I’ll pick up a weightless Senko and drop it right back on top of him. He’ll usually get it.”
Brad pitched his Senko right back where the fish hit and simply let the worm settle. A few moments later Brad lightly pulled his line tight, gave the fish a few extra seconds to eat and nailed the bass. A largemouth of about 2 pounds came over the side of the boat.
“One of the most important things to remember when pitching that Senko out after the swim jig is to give the fish time to get a hold of it,” Brad said. “With that worm being weightless they won’t usually drop it. But if they do, I’ll fish around and make my way back to the spot I missed the fish at and try again before leaving.”
Brad likes a 5-inch Senko in watermelon lemon laminate rigged on a 4/0 weedless worm hook.
As Brad and I continued to fish an overcast mid-morning in June, the one-two-punch trick worked time and time again.
“This is just one of those tricks you pick up from putting a lot of time in on the water,” Brad said.
When working the almost never-ending stretches of grass, it will help increase the number of fish if you concentrate on any irregularities of the grass like open holes, cuts or points. Focusing on these areas of the grass also works to help you cover more water efficiently.
“If there’s a 20-foot section of grass that all looks the same and then there’s one little part that sticks out a bit, I’m going to fish that,” Brad said. “And usually, I’ll get bit right in those irregular sections of grass.”
Brad and I continued to use this tactic throughout much of the rest of the day and managed to catch fish on either the swim jig or the Senko. With the heat of the day coming on but the sun still tucked behind the clouds, Brad made the call to move out toward the river channel and try the other two lures he had rigged and ready to go.
But before we left, he mentioned an alternative to moving out on the ledges. When the sun gets up, he said you can sometimes do pretty well switching out the swim jig for a creature bait like a Gene Larew Biffle Bug in sooner run color pattern. Brad Texas rigs it with a 1/2-oz. tungsten bullet weight held in place with a small peg. The Biffle Bug will often draw strikes in the grass when bass tuck into the shade and stop hitting a swim jig.
If it’s not happening in the grass, it’s time to move out onto the channel ledges, where having good electronics is essential. Because the lake is basically a river-run, the main ledges most guys fish are either along the main channel itself, in creek mouths, old stump flats or along points. There are also a few small humps strewn across the lake that will hold fish as well. Brad said spotted bass will typically stick to the main-river ledges, while he catches more largemouths in creeks and sloughs off the main river.
In ledge fishing situations, particularly around the main channel, Brad is glad he has two separate depthfinders on the bow and stern of the boat, each with its own transducer in respective locations on the boat.
“You never really know without one just where you’re at on a ledge,” Brad said. “Especially around the channel where the bow can be in 2 feet of water and the back of the boat can be in 10 feet, it helps to know where you are.”
Pulling along side a big hump in the Canoe Creek area, Brad went to work with a Lucky Craft RC 1.5 square-billed crankbait. Bumping up to the 2.5 size of the same bait is sometimes a good idea, so be sure to carry both sizes. Brad began casting the crankbait and retrieving it, working it shallow to deep along the hump and up over a bunch of old stumps.
“This lake is just chock-full of stumps, so you want to have a lure retriever with you to keep from losing too many crankbaits,” Brad said. “Fishing a square-billed crankbait is the key around the ledges and stumps because a rounded bill will run deeper and hang up more.”
In just a few casts, Brad had what looked like a short strike on his crankbait. He was able to connect with a couple largemouths on the crankbait but said when there’s moving water you can wear out the spotted bass on 8- to 15-foot main-channel breaks. Find some good cover on those ledges like stumps, brushpiles or rocks. When he’s after spots, Brad likes a Carolina rig, a 1/2-oz. jig or a Rapala DT10 in hot mustard.
We finished the day by hitting a few docks. Pulling up to the second dock we fished, Brad flipped his jig tight to a post and let it sink. He gave the lure a few light taps, got that intense look most tournament anglers get just before a hook set and nailed the fish. The water boiled, and from underneath that dock came a largemouth in the 4-lb. range.
“To still be catching bass mid-day in an Alabama summer is good even when conditions are right and it’s cool and overcast like it has been today,” Brad said.
Totaling nearly 30 bass for a morning of fishing, it’s pretty obvious Brad’s techniques with just four baits and three patterns is a great way to spend a day bass fishing at Neely Henry this month. But Brad warned that just because these are his confidence baits doesn’t mean others won’t work.
“It’s the bait that any one person has the most confidence in that usually gets bit,” Brad said. “If for no other reason than they’re willing to leave them in the water longer before changing them.”
Even in the heat of July, tournament guys shouldn’t be the only ones taking advantage of the summer bite at Neely. Fish early and late when largemouths feed in the grass. Or hit docks and ledges for spots and largemouths during the day.
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