STAGE THREE: Small But Mighty Shearon Harris Could Produce Championship Giants
RALEIGH, N.C. – Although it’s a mystery to almost all 80 anglers in the field, Shearon Harris Reservoir southwest of Raleigh is the tiny titan of a lake (only around 4,100 surface acres) that will hold the Championship Round for the MLF Bass Pro Tour Favorite Fishing Stage Three Presented By Evinrude (March 26-31).
But what this impoundment of the Cape Fear River drainage lacks in acreage, it makes up for in quantity and size of largemouth bass. In fact, as MLF NOW! live stream color analyst and Shearon Harris veteran Marty Stone points out, there have been two tournaments in recent years where it took 41.93 and 46.89 pounds of bass, respectively, to win a five-fish event (in early March of 2017 on back-to-back weekends, by the same co-ed team).
Looking deeper into local tournament results, you’ll see that fish of that caliber aren’t uncommon in Shearon Harris: big-fish honors in events held there routinely go to anglers weighing in 7- to 9-pound largemouth.
But monsters are not all that lurks in this lake, which was dammed in 1981 to provide cooling water for the Shearon Harris nuclear power plant.
“Shearon Harris is a special lake,” Stone says. “It’s small, but it’s so good. It has better numbers of fish than Falls and Jordan lakes, and it has huge fish, too. It’s one of those places where you can find a pocket and fish it all day, and there will be catchable bass in there the next day. I’ve broken the mid-30s with my five largest weighable fish on this lake and learned how to sight fish on this lake. It’s special to me.”
How Harris Sets Up for Stage Three
Unlike Falls and Jordan Lakes, vegetation is a major player in Shearon Harris, according to Stone.
“Shearon Harris is a grass lake,” Stone confirms. “Although, the state of North Carolina has killed off a lot. Hydrilla is what they’ve targeted, but the native primrose is a player here, as are the bullrushes. Adding to the vegetation, the water is generally clearer here. Obviously, that depends on the current conditions, but in general, it’s clearer (than Falls and Jordan).”
Stone says that Shearon Harris’ largemouth will be positioned in the shallows when the MLF Bass Pro Tour visits in late March, but can also be found deeper, holding offshore.
“If we have a warming trend, the fish will usually make a move towards the shallows, but there will likely be a good offshore bite as well,” Stone says. “Creek channel bends and points are likely locations: The typical pre-spawn holding areas.”
Popular lure choices here in late March include swimbaits, jerkbaits, crankbaits, bladed jigs, jigs, and soft plastics.
A “Nursery For Bass”
Shearon Harris’ largemouth benefit from a slot limit that protects 12- to 16-inch fish, and the off-limits area that exists around the Harris nuclear plant, which is located in the upper end of the lake.
“That area around the power plant has barrier buoys and armed guards, so there’s no fishing or anything back there,” Stone says. “That area is untouched, and fish spawn and live there with zero pressure, ever. It’s one of the reasons they grow big here along with lots of bait. That area is basically a nursery for the bass.”
Stone offers one final word of caution for the 10 pros who make it to the Championship Round.
“If the bass are up shallow in the primrose, look out,” Stone says. “Those fish can be big. And I mean BIG. Get your braid out, and you’d better have your feet on the deck … they might pull you in.”