Here’s a monthly look at the best opportunities Magnolia State anglers can take advantage of this year.
Against the backdrop of a rising sun, lifting over the horizon with its warming rays, the fisherman intently watches his fishing line from the tip of the rod to where it meets the water.
There’s a twitch, then another, and then the thin thread goes tight.
It’s on!
Swinging hard with the rod, the angler drives the hook into the lip of the fish, and the battle is on. It could be a bass, a crappie, a bream, a catfish, a redfish, a speckled trout or a flounder. It could just be a trash fish looking to steal a meal.
It’s Mississippi, so it could be any of those, or more, and it could be any day on the calendar that weather allows us to be on the water to fish for fun or sustenance. That’s the splendor that is fishing in the Magnolia State — any day, any time and almost anywhere there is water. From Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, there are fish to be caught. So myriad are the opportunities that deciding is often the toughest part of fishing. This 2021 fishing calendar is designed to give you a place to begin planning. It is based on over 40 years of fishing in every part of the state and in the Gulf of Mexico.
We’ll give you a No. 1 pick for the month, along with a No. 2 and a No. 3.
Let’s go.
January
Top choice: U.S. Highway 90 bridges
No. 2: Eagle Lake crappie
No. 3: Lake Bill Waller bass
Let’s start the year with the easiest and arguably the most productive saltwater trip any time: fishing the pilings below the U.S. Highway 90 bridges at Bay St. Louis and Ocean Springs. This requires only a short run by boat from local landings and frozen shrimp for bait.
“The pilings offer predatory fish a place to hide and ambush bait fish pulled into or out of the bays by tides,” said Capt. Sonny Schindler of Shore Thing Charters in Bay St. Louis. “Drop a bait next to a piling and hold on. You can load a fish box with good-eating fish like redfish, black (puppy) drum and sheepshead.”
Eagle Lake, the old Mississippi River oxbow north of Vicksburg, is worth a trip to fish for black crappie under piers and boat houses on the outside bend.
Lake Bill Waller at Columbia will actually have bass on beds late in the month, but before then, fishing the edges of the spawning areas can produce good fish.
February
Top choice: Lake Washington crappie
No. 2: Barnett Reservoir bass
No. 3: Tenn-Tom catfish
Man, it can be so cold in February, but even then the fishing can be hot, especially in the little Delta town of Glen Allen, which sits on the banks of Lake Washington. Crappie is the target fish, and slabs are often the results, which is why this small oxbow lake ranks among the Top 5 crappie destinations in America. A shallow lake, fishermen troll or drift, offering jigs tipped with minnows at different depths. Once you hit the magic depth and start catching fish, you can adjust all your rigs and start filling a box.
Bass fishermen can cash in on warming trends on any body of water, but Barnett Reservoir is famous for turning on very quickly in the pad stems.
A third pick is the Tenn-Tom Waterway for catfish. Hitting the deep holes in winter can be extremely productive, but on warmer days look at nearby shoals.
March
Top choice: Grenada Lake crappie
No. 2: Barnett Reservoir bass and crappie
No. 3: Pascagoula River shellcracker
It’s a tough month to pick three, since the choices are so plentiful, but it can’t be argued that the world’s No. 1-rated crappie destination, Grenada Lake, should top the list. By the middle of March, the search for Grenada’s 3-pounders is on, and fishermen from all over the country will be trying to get theirs. The fish will begin moving toward the shallows from the deep lake and using the lake points and creek channels as highways.
Barnett Reservoir is a good second choice, both for crappie and largemouth that will be migrating toward the shallows.
The Pascagoula River system is magical for redear, or what most Mississippians call chinquapin. Down near the coast, they are called shellcracker, and they will be as far south as freshwater will allow to feed up for the spawn.
April
Top choice: I-55 lakes crappie
No. 2: Bay Springs Lake bass
No. 3: Lake Perry bream
The crappie spawn hits its peak all over Mississippi, so our No. 1 pick for the month are the big lakes that line Interstate 55 from Jackson north to Memphis. There’s Barnett Reservoir near Jackson on the south end, Arkabutla Lake on the north end and Grenada, Enid and Sardis in the middle.
Bass fishermen should consider Bay Springs Lake on the Tenn-Tom north for Kentucky spotted bass; 4- or 5-pounders are not out of the question. A big largemouth is always possible, and there’s a small chance for smallmouth.
Bream fishermen get their first shot at bedding bream in south Mississippi lakes like Lake Perry at Beaumont.
May
Top choice: Pickwick Lake bass
No. 2: Pickwick Lake catfish
No. 3: Bedding bream in MDWFP state lakes
We’re pointing north this month, starting with Pickwick Lake for bass. Whether you target largemouth or smallmouth, spots or stripers, Pickwick is red-hot in May.
“If you can’t catch a bass up here in May on Pickwick, you need to give up,” said veteran guide Roger Stegall. “Once the spawn is over, the big females start stacking up on points. Get you a crankbait and get after them.”
If you can’t catch bass and do give up, stay at Pickwick and shift gears and equipment and catch catfish, lots of catfish, on the bluff banks. Catfish move up on the base of the tall, rock banks to spawn on the rock flats. Cast out a nightcrawler and hold on.
Bedding bream is the third choice, and as a location, we give you the entire state lake system of the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. The top five of those are Tippah (Ripley), Lamar Bruce (Saltillo), Claude Bennett (Rose Hill), Prentiss Walker (Mize) and Calling Panther (Crystal Springs). One of the historical best, Simpson County, is sadly closed for dam renovation.
June
Top choice: Mississippi Sound speckled trout
No. 2: Chotard Lake bluegill
No. 3: Lake Bill Waller bass
People mistakenly believe that the speckled trout bite on the coast is hottest in April or May, but more fish are caught in June. Start your day around Cat Island’s south side, and if you have a Louisiana license, you can make the run to the east side of the Biloxi Marsh.
While the bedding is cycling down on most waters due to rapid warming, Chotard, a Mississippi River oxbow, hits its peak due to the cool waters coming downstream.
Near Columbia, at Lake Bill Waller, get your buzzbaits and frogs out and go lunker bass hunting at sunrise or sunset.
July
Top choice: Gulf of Mexico tripletail and sharks
No. 2: Mississippi River catfish
No. 3: Barnett Reservoir crappie
One of the great things about fishing on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast is there is always something biting, either something you target to eat or to battle. While many species are biting in July, the tripletail (blackfish) are the summer’s hottest action. Just run crab trap buoy lines until you spot one on the surface around a buoy. Stop and offer it a shrimp. It will bite. Otherwise, get out some tough gear and go shark hunting. Cut bait is all you need. The edge of the Gulfport ship channel is one place to look. Chumming the water with anything bloody and smelly will help.
At Barnett Reservoir, get ready to turn on the live scope and go searching for big slab crappie holding on cover.
August
Top choice: Lake Ferguson white bass
No. 2: Biloxi Bay black drum
No. 3: Grenada Lake crappie
Probably Mississippi’s most-overlooked fishing opportunity, white bass are native to all rivers connected to the Mississippi. At Greenville, you can launch on Lake Ferguson in downtown, then run to sandbars or simply spot them schooling and chasing shad on top. There is no limit, not on the fish nor the fun you can have on light tackle.
Biloxi Bay fills with black drum, and on the high tide, these fish can be caught from the bank on cut bait or dead shrimp.
Take your trolling gear to Grenada Lake and try to find the big crappie on their deep summer haunts near the river channel or the end of main lake points.
September
Top choice: Mississippi Sound redfish
No. 2: Sardis Lake crappie
No. 3: Mississippi river white bass
Redfish are plentiful in the Gulf in September, and a mix of bulls and keeper slot reds can be readily found fishing the barrier islands or the many man-made Katrina reefs built out of rubble from 2005’s horrible storm cleanup.
Sardis Lake hits its summer peak for trolling in August. Pull crankbaits along the river channels or main lake points.
For sheer fun, it’s hard to beat white bass fishing behind the jetty dikes on the Big Muddy. Drop to ultra-light gear and little white grubs and look for breaks in the dikes that have water running over.
October
Top choice: Pickwick Lake bass
No. 2: Lake Washington crappie
No. 3: Eagle Lake white and yellow bass
In addition to the beauty of the fall foliage on its banks, Pickwick Lake offers fabulous bass fishing. Hit the deep, bluff banks with crankbaits for smallmouth, fish the boat houses and riprap for spotted bass, and look for largemouth in the mouths of the many coves.
An early fall run over to Lake Washington can produce a boat full of crappie by pulling jigs tipped with a minnow anywhere from 3 to 6 feet deep.
Eagle Lake’s white and yellow bass are under-utilized and therefore plentiful. There is no limit and these fish taste great and travel in big schools.
November
Top choice: Lake Ferguson bass
No. 2: Tenn-Tom catfish
No. 3: Lake Chotard white bass
Lake Ferguson, the old oxbow off the Mississippi River at Greenville, is never a bad choice for bass fishing, but it’s best in November. Two patterns usually produce: deep cranking and shaky heads on deep cover, like old sunken barges.
Both the Columbus and Aberdeen pools on the Tenn-Tom Waterway are prolific when it comes to fall catfishing for both blues (deep) and channels (shallow).
If the weather is too hot to sit in a deer stand, then put a boat in at Chotard and target the ends of boat ramps and gravel beds for white bass. Catching a few hundred is possible. We’re not kidding. Try tailspinners.
December
Top choice: Mississippi Sound redfish
No. 2: Pelahatchie Bay crappie
No. 3: Lakes Chotard/Albermarle bass
Redfish move close to the shore in winter, and when they arrive in December they are at their hungriest. The man-made reefs along the Gulf Coast will hold fish, as will bridge pilings. The shorelines of the bays like Bay St. Louis, Biloxi Bay and the Pascagoula River also hold reds, and a spinnerbait or a spoon will work.
On Barnett Reservoir, the Pelahatchie Bay area is outstanding in the winter for crappie. The water is mostly protected from winds, and the creek channel edges offer a good bit of natural cover for the fish.
Go back to Chotard and its connected oxbow, Albermarle, in December, when it’s too hot for a deer stand and target largemouth (and white bass) on the ends of boat ramps and old road beds. You’ll be shocked at how good it can be.
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