March wall hangers at Bogue Homa

Plenty of 4-5 pound female bass are caught in March at Bogue Homa, and you may catch a 10-pound plus bass. The weather and the moon phase will dictate when Bogue Homa’s big spawners will move into shallow water — generally at the end of February or the first of March.

Baby 1-Minus

I’ll start off fishing a red Mann’s Baby 1-Minus on 12-pound test White Peacock fluorocarbon line on a 6.2:1 Bruin reel and a 7’1” medium action FX custom rod. Lily pad stems, dollar pads, coontail moss and other grasses will be emerging, coming up from the bottom just under the surface. I’ll swim the Baby 1-Minus over the top of that emerging grass and through the lily pad stems, primarily on the northeastern and northwestern sides of the lake. These regions home the most lily pad stems and small feeder ditches coming into the lake. Also, because the sun rises in the east, that water will warm up first.

Bogue Homa is a stump infested lake. You’ll need to fish a lot of water to pinpoint where the most spawning bass are. You’ll find the lake loaded with 60-yard sections of bass beds. Concentrate your fishing there. In clear water, you can see the beds, but generally in March, the water will have some stain. These bedding bass may be in water only 1-2 feet deep. I’m searching for movement in the water around the lily pad stems or for wakes on the surface as bass try to catch and eat the bluegills that also bed in and around the grass. When fishing with 12-pound line, you’ll lose some bass. If the water’s fairly muddy, I’ll fish the Baby 1-Minus on 30-pound bass braid.

Bladed jig

If the water’s very muddy, and the bass aren’t aggressively trying to eat the Baby 1-Minus, I’ll fish a ⅜-ounce bladed jig in a crawfish or a fire-orange color, a black blade and an orange trailer — perhaps a crawfish colored soft plastic or a swimming trailer. I’ll kick that bladed jig off the lily pad stems. I’ll swim it through new dollar pads closer to the surface to keep from getting hung up.

The weather may be cold at the first of March, but the bass fishing at Bogue Homa will be hot at the end of the month.

I’ll use 19-pound fluorocarbon with a 7’ medium heavy action FX custom cranking rod. A bass either may attack the bait or hit it short, not be committed to it or not get it all the way in its mouth. A cranking rod will slow down the time from when I set the hook, until the bass gets the bladed jig in its mouth, which gives the bait to the bass longer than a stiffer rod will. I like this rod with both fiberglass and graphite in it. The rod’s fiberglass allows the rod to bend and give the bait to the bass, while the graphite has the backbone to help jack the bass out of cover.

SpringR Worm and SpringR II Worm

If the bass are finicky, not actively feeding, or the water’s so clear I can see the bass sitting on the bed, I’ll fish either a Mann’s SpringR Worm or a SpringR II worm in a junebug color on a 7’ medium heavy action FX custom rod with 30-pound braided line and a 6 foot leader of 14-pound test fluorocarbon with a uni-knot connecting the bass braid and the fluorocarbon.

I’ll throw the worm past the bass on the bed and reel it back in front of these bass without any lead on the line. I’ll kill the bait and let it fall in a slow, natural way once it hits the water. I’ll be using a 1/0 Gamakatsu Weedless Wacky Worm Hook, and I’ll aggravate the bass sitting on the bed, until I can get her to bite. If the water’s clear enough, I’ll use a white SpringR worm, so I can watch it as it’s on the bottom of the bed and see as the bass inhales it. If the water’s dingy, I’ll use a junebug colored SpringR Worm.

Buzzbait

I’ll also fish the buzzbait by tying 55-pound bass braid directly to the buzzbait and fishing it on a 6’10” heavy action FX custom rod with a 7. 3:1 Bruin reel. During the first two weeks of March, I’ll reel that buzzbait as slowly as possible but still have that blade turning. As the water warms up in March, I’ll retrieve it faster. My favorite color buzzbait in March is white with a gold blade, no matter the water’s color.

What you’ll catch

You’ll catch numbers of male bass in March. Bogue Homa has a 15-inch size limit. Some male bass will be just under 15 inches but others will be 16 inches and weigh 2 – 2 ½ pounds. Although you’ll catch some 3-4 pound female bass, you’re likely to get a 5-pounder or possibly a 10 plus pounder.

About Paul Elias 183 Articles
Paul Elias, of Laurel, has fished 15 Bassmaster Classics with career winnings of over $1 million, including one Bassmaster Classic Championship. Elias also holds the current record for a four-day BASS tournament weigh-in with 132 pounds, 8 ounces, on Falcon Lake in Texas.

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