Entry 176-1

Catching Smallmouth with Roger Stegall in the Fall

Part 1: You Can’t Beat the Diamond Shad for Smallmouth

Editor’s Note: Roger Stegall of Iuka, Mississippi, a tournament bass fisherman who owns and operates Roger Stegall’s Professional Guide Service at Pickwick Lake on the Alabama/Tennessee/Mississippi line, has scouted and fished for big smallmouth for more than 30 years. At this time of year, smallmouth fishing really heats up on the Tennessee River and especially on Pickwick Lake. This week, we’ll learn how Stegall is catching big smallmouth that weigh 8 pounds or more.

Question: Roger, where are smallmouth during early October on Pickwick?

Stegall: Smallmouth are beginning to move up out of the deep water and follow the shad into the shallow water, and they’re not by themselves. At this time of the year, smallmouth are mixed in with largemouth, spotted bass, white bass, saltwater stripers and just about every other fish in the lake that eats shad. So, when you go fishing for smallmouth at this time of the year, you’ll catch a wide variety of fish. In a day of smallmouth fishing, catching 50 to 100 fish a day at Pickwick Lake isn’t uncommon.

Recently, I had a guide trip out, and although we were targeting smallmouth, we not only caught smallmouth, we also caught 20 other assorted fish, including yellow and white bass, largemouth and even a bluegill. As we get further into fall, the smallmouth will segregate themselves out of the other schools of fish, and we’ll catch 80- to 90-percent smallmouth and largemouth. But at this time of the year, we really catch a wide variety of fish. Even though my customers usually just want to target smallmouth, I’ve never had one complain because he had fish on his line most of the day.

Question: What kind of areas are you primarily fishing?

Stegall: We fish shallow-water humps and ledges and up on pea gravel points and flats.

Question: What’s your favorite bait and way to catch these fish?

Stegall: You can’t beat a 1/4- or a 1/2-ounce Diamond Shad from Strike King. I like to fish the shad colors in the silver or the white with the chartreuse back. I use the Diamond Shad on an All Star rod with a Pfluger high-speed reel and 14-pound-test Shakespeare Supreme Super Tough Line.

Question: What type retrieve are you using?

Stegall: I fish it super slow. At times, I’ll even let it sink to the bottom. Shad have a tendency to feed on the bottom off the rocks by standing on their heads eating algae. When you’re kicking the bottom with that Diamond Shad, that lure’s nose is down, and the tail of the bait is up, resembling a shad feeding on the bottom. I’ve found that we get our bites a lot quicker when we use this type of retrieve.

Question: How deep are you fishing the Diamond Shad?

Stegall: I’m fishing it as shallow as 2 feet and as deep as 7 feet. At this time of the year, you may be surprised that you can catch some really-big smallmouth in knee-deep water.

Check out Roger Stegall’s Guide Service for more information.

Catching Smallmouth with Roger Stegall in the Fall

Part 1: You Can’t Beat the Diamond Shad for Smallmouth

Next: Do It With a Quad

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