During June, bass will be schooling, and once you find them, you may catch more than one from the same spot. Maynor Creek, a 500-acre lake in Wayne County, has one channel running through it.
Topwaters are key
Topwater lures can be very effective in June, early and late, around and on both sides of the bridge that goes across the lake at Maynor Creek. I’ll expect to catch four or five bass early, especially in the riprap.
I’ll primarily fish two lures — the Pop-R and the Zara Spook — for 30 to 45 minutes at first light on a Bruin ELS 8:1 gear ratio reel with 20-pound test bass braid and a 6-foot-10, medium-action rod. I’ll work the Spook fairly fast, darting it back and forth and side to side quickly. If the bass start hitting the Spook, I’ll know they’re actively feeding and willing to chase a bait.
I’ll give the Pop-R two or three quick pops and allow it to sit still for a short time. If a bass doesn’t take the Pop-R when I pop it, but instead waits for the bait to be sitting still and an easy target, I’ll realize the bass aren’t very aggressive. Then, I’ll know whether the bass want a moving bait or prefer to strike more slowly.
If the bass miss the topwater lure, I’ll follow up with a green pumpkin HardNose Freefall worm rigged wacky style with an O-ring slid to the worm’s middle, and the hook put through the O-ring. The bass probably will believe it’s killed or injured that bait it’s struck, and now the bait’s falling to the bottom. So, often the bass will circle around and attack the wacky worm I’m fishing on a 7-foot, medium-action spinning rod with 16-pound bass braid and a 6-foot leader of White Peacock fluorocarbon.
Use pygmy Frog, wacky worm
After I fish the bridge patterns, I’ll go to the lake’s upper end, searching for vegetation and bushes in the water where I can fish a white Pygmy Frog on 50-pound bass braid with a 7.5:1 Bruin reel and a 7-foot, heavy-action rod. You can catch some good-sized bass in this fairly shallow water, if you can get a bass to bite.
I like the Pygmy Frog, a popping-type frog with a cupped mouth, to work through the lily pads. I’ll pop it a few times and then allow it to sit still in any holes in those pads and just outside the vegetation.
I’ll also pick up my wacky rigged worm any time a bass attacks the frog and misses it. I’ll cast that wacky worm right back to the spot and let it free fall. I’ll spend the first two hours of the day fishing around the bridge and the upper end, attempting to catch shallow bass.
Cranking the channel
The channel that runs the length of the lake starts at its upper end, flows under the bridge and passes in front of the mouth of the lake’s biggest bay on the left-hand side as you motor toward the dam.
I’ll fish below the bridge along the edge of that channel, probably only a 3- to 4-foot drop-off, with a gray ghost Mann’s 15+ crankbait on a Bruin ELS 5.1 reel with a 71/2-foot, medium-action rod and 20-pound fluorocarbon. I’ll start casting at a 30- to 45-degree angle just above the big bay, to the lip of the break. I want to land my lure past the top edge of that creek channel with its numerous stumps and brush and bounce it off those.
Follow up Baits
While fishing a 1/8-ounce shaky head jig with a black/blue flake Jelly Bug like I’ve fished the crankbait, I’ll concentrate on dropping the Jelly Bug off the ledge down to the bottom of the channel. The crankbait should get the active bass to bite, and the Jelly Bug will appeal to the inactive bass. Often, when I’ve caught two or three bass on the crankbait at Maynor Creek, I can cast back to that same place with the Jelly Bug and catch a couple of bass that haven’t bitten the crankbait. I’ll fish this channel all the way to the dam with these two lures.
What you’ll catch
You’ll mostly catch largemouths — perhaps 10 or 25 in a day. Maynor Creek homes numbers of 2- to 3-pound bass, but don’t be surprised if you catch a 7- to 9-pound bass.