The state has just reworked Lake Bogue Homa, which is located east of Laurel off Highway 84. A grass and a lily-pad lake with cypress trees, Lake Bogue Homa is shallow — only 6- to 8-feet deep for the most part — and has a few small creeks running through it. I like to fish this lake in December because that’s when most of the bass relate to the creek channels, making the fish easy to find and catch.
During December, most folks in that part of the state will be deer hunting, so there shouldn’t be much pressure on the lake.
You should take three baits to fish for bass this month at Bogue Homa to catch fish all day long — spinnerbait, buzz bait and jig.
This month I’ll be fishing a 1/4-ounce buzz bait in either black or white. I’ll use the black on cloudy days and the white on clear days. I’ll be fishing 17-pound-test fluorocarbon line with a 6 1/2-foot rod and a Pinnacle 7.3:1 reel to fish that buzz bait with a trailer hook around the grass and lily pads. You’ll get numbers of short strikes with a buzz bait, and that trailer hook will catch about 25 percent more fish than you’ll catch without the trailer hook.
To catch bass during December, concentrate on the edges of the grass next to the creek channels by casting parallel to the grass. You’ll find numbers of the lily pads dying back, so perhaps you’ll only see lily-pad stems. Fish the buzz bait over the tops of those stems as well as down the edges of those large lily-pad clumps.
Most people think of a buzz bait as an early spring or a summertime early-morning/late-afternoon bait, but this time of year after a few cold fronts have passed, the bass will really key in on a buzz bait until the water falls to 52 to 54 degrees. The water temperature in Lake Bogue Homa probably doesn’t get that low until late December.
The bass know that winter’s coming on and that they need to feed heavily to get ready for that late December-early March cold weather. Bass also will come up to take a buzzbait in December because their food source, shad, are staying in that top story of water.
Concentrate your fishing right in the middle of the lake on either side of the boat lane. Out in the middle of the lake is an island surrounded by lily pads. A small underwater tributary creek runs behind that island. Where the lily pads grow close to that underwater creek on the backside of that island is a place to concentrate your December fishing, as well as the cypress trees on either side of the boat lane, especially those closest to the creek channel on the back side of that island.
When the bass aren’t biting the buzz bait, I fish a 3/8-ounce Mann’s Classic spinnerbait in chartreuse/white with gold Indiana blades. If some cold fronts have moved through this area earlier than normal, the water temperature is cooler than usual and clear blue skies are present, the bass may not be actively feeding and won’t come up and take that buzz bait. But they will take the spinnerbait.
I recommend that you slow-roll the spinnerbait about 2-feet deep along the edge of the channel and around the cypress trees. Also, if the bass have been short-striking the buzz bait, run the spinnerbait just under the surface of the water to catch those fish.
At this time of year, I’ll use a white 3-inch Mann’s curl-tail grub as a spinnerbait trailer. I’m convinced you get more bites by adding the grub to the end of that spinnerbait. I’ll still be fishing with a 6-1/2-foot medium-heavy rod, a 7.3:1 Pinnacle reel and 17-pound-test Trilene fluorocarbon line.
The third tactic that will produce in December on Lake Bogue Homa is flipping and pitching a jig around the cypress trees. I like the black/blue 1/2-ounce Mann’s Stone Jig with a black/blue flake Mann’s HardNose Craw as a trailer. I’ll fish the jig with a 7-1/2-foot light flipping rod. I’ll change lines and use 20-pound-test fluorocarbon. I’ll fish the jig tight to the trunks and the knees of the cypress trees on the edge of the creek channel. If you can get the Stone Jig down in the holes of the underwater root systems of these cypress trees, often that’s where the bass will be holding.
To effectively flip these cypress trees, make at least five or six pitches to each tree and thoroughly work that jig through those roots. Since most of the bass will take the jig on the fall, be sure to watch your line on the fall. The bass will be in 3 to 4 feet of water around these trees. In cold weather, the bass will move in close to that wood to get the heat that the wood absorbs from the sun.
I don’t expect to catch big bass this month at Lake Bogue Homa because the lake’s only been stocked for about 3 years. But you can catch a lot of bass in a day of fishing at this lake.
Just remember the lake’s 15-inch size limit.
On a good day in December, you can catch 25 bass, with perhaps five or six of those over the 15-inch size limit and several 4-pounders. Most of the bass will weigh about 2 pounds.
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