Fishing is a spectrum, and just as tiny baits and delicate tactics hold a solid position at one end, the opposite end sees the profound relevance of big and bold. Tubes are no exception, and large, fringy monsters twice the size — or more — of standard models can prove highly productive in the right scenarios. […]
It’s often called the “Lake Erie of the South,” and the abundance of big smallmouth more than justifies that moniker for Pickwick Lake. However, while northern anglers bounce around in monster swells, anglers in the Magnolia State do their smallie work in much more hospitable conditions.
Indeed the TVA lake shared with neighboring Alabama and Tennessee holds a healthy population of smallmouth that find abundant habitat throughout its 43,100-acres. And with long southern growing season, Pickwick smallies grow fat and sassy on a diet of threadfin shad, gizzard shad and all the yellow perch they can catch. […]
At 53 miles in river length, Pickwick presents considerable real estate throughout which smallmouth can hide. You can just go fishing and hope for the occasional lucky cast, or you can divide your day into “looking” and “fishing.” […]
When the Tennessee Valley Authority built hydroelectric dams on its namesake river, recreational fishing enhancement may not have been the primary objective, but the positive impact on lakes like Pickwick is undeniable. Water released through the massive structures — measured in cubic feet per second (CFS) — not only creates electric power, it stirs the impoundments, piles up baitfish and puts bass in a bona fide food mood. […]
After working a shallow water cove for quite a while with no results, Justin Giles turned his boat toward deeper water and peered intently at his LCR until we crossed a slight drop off. Giles dug into his bag of tricks and pulled out a nice looking crankbait with a short lip, and changed lures. […]
Designed to imitate a range of forage, tubes are among the most versatile and productive baits in a bass angler’s arsenal. […]
Bass anglers are visual creatures. We like blinking metal flake on our boats. […]
The Louisiana Sportsman Open bass tournament – South Louisiana’s richest tournament – is just more than a week away, with the first-place team walking away with $10,000 and the total payout based on 100 boats reaching nearly $28,000.
If 100 teams sign up for the Louisiana Sportsman Open, the tournament will pay out a total of $27,375 – which is $7,375 more than total entry fees. […]
Maynor Creek Water Park, consisting of about 500 acres and located near Waynesboro, once was a very productive bass-fishing lake before going into a downturn, but it’s currently making a comeback.
Big bass are being caught again at this lake that once produced numbers of 10-pounders. The lake was drawn down several years ago to repair the dam. Because of that drawdown, the buck willows and other groves of trees flourished on what was the lake bottom. When the lake was brought back to normal pool, an abundance of cover had sprung up close to the shoreline in the shallow water. […]
Bass anglers are visual creatures. We like blinking metal flake on our boats. We like crankbaits that push the limits of the color wheel. And we like throwing to targets that we can see.
That’s why I was so impressed when Kenny Churchill idled into Cane Creek on Ross Barnett Reservoir near Jackson. My eyes immediately told me that Cane Creek is what I would call a target-rich environment.
The co-owner of Performance Outboards wanted to show me how to fish the winter remnants of lily pad flats that carpet Ross Barnett Reservoir during the summer. […]
While watching a fishing show about 15 years ago, Kenny Churchill saw a couple professional bass anglers fishing Rat-L-Traps through standing lily pad stems. They were catching a lot of fish, but the one thing he noticed was how much they were staying hung and how hard they were working to free their baits. […]
Petal’s Cliff Pace has fished pad-stem flats all over the country as he travels to fish the Bassmaster Elite Series tournaments, and he has put together a solid explanation as to why bass love getting around the shallow stems. […]
Copyright 1998 - 2026 Mississippi Sportsman, Inc. All rights reserved.