BADIN/HIGH ROCK LAKES
Striper fishing was exceptional last summer at Badin and High Rock lakes compared with the past several years.

“July was excellent at both lakes, but especially at High Rock, for big fish,” Edwards said. “The stripers ran from 6 to 9 pounds at Badin and from 9 to 15 pounds at High Rock with an occasional 20-pounder.”

Edwards fishes the same rig at both lakes to catch summer stripers.

At one end of a 2-foot leader, he attaches a 1 1/2-ounce bucktail jig with a 6-inch green/chartreuse plastic trailer and ties a barrel swivel to the other end of the leader.

“The bucktail serves as the weight for the rig and as a fish-catcher,” he said.

On a separate leader, 18 inches in length, he ties a Tony Accetta Pet spoon at one end and a barrel swivel at the other.

The next step makes the rig unique.

Edwards runs his main line consisting of 16-pound-test through the opening of the barrel swivel of the leader with the spoon without making any ties; then he slides a bead on the main line. The main line is then tied to the barrel swivel of the leader with the bucktail jig.

“With this arrangement, the two baits are less likely to tangle while slow-trolling or cross if two fish are caught at once,” Edwards said.

For slow-trolling, Edwards uses a spread with six medium/heavy- to heavy-action rods -- two rods with planers, two down rods, and two rods with floats -- all using the same bucktail jig/spoon rig. The different rods allow him to vary the depths his baits will run. Baitcasting reels complete the outfits.

Toward the front of the boat on opposite sides, he houses his planer rods, one on each side to cover shallow water. Instead of 16-pound-test line for his main line, he substitutes 20-pound-test Fireline, a small diameter line that virtually stays out of the water when used with planer boards.

On opposite sides of the boat near the back, he has two bar mounts capable of holding three rods each. He places his down rods, one on each side of the boat, in the outside rod holders, and lets the lines of the down rods out with the lines tied directly to his rigs. The down rods run deep and close to the boat. Finally, on the inner rod holders at opposite sides of the boat, he has the same setup as with the down rods, except he attaches each line to a Redi-Rig float, a type of slip-bobber that allows him to adjust the running depths of his baits.

“I can add two more rods if I want, but six rods are enough to handle while guiding, especially if all six rods go down at once,” he said. “The spread covers a wide area and works depths from 8 to 20 feet.”

Edwards slow-trolls with his trolling motor at 1.5 mph, a speed that gives the bucktail jig and spoon sufficient action.

Last year on one down rod, he experimented with an umbrella rig, which holds nine baits at once.

“I hit a gold mine with that rig,” Edwards said. “But I switched to 30-pound-test braided line and an ocean-type rod with the umbrella rig because the 6-inch swimming baits I attach to the rig pull hard through the water.”

At Badin, stripers can be anywhere in June, but Edwards searches for humps coming up to 16 or 20 feet in 70 feet of water from the Alcoa Landing to the Mainstream section. In July, he fishes outside the grass lines at Buffalo Creek and Gladys Fork with planer boards probing the shallows, an approach that works best in the evenings.

At High Rock Lake in June, Edwards trolls at the mouths of Crane and Swearing creeks. In July, he fishes the red bank islands and the mouths of Abbotts, Second and Flat Swamp creeks.