Entry 220-5
Mid-September until Mid-October Fishing with Roger Stegall at Pickwick Lake
Editor’s
Note: Roger Stegall of Iuka, Mississippi, a tournament
bass fisherman for 31 years, has been guiding on Pickwick
Lake on the Mississippi, Tennessee and Alabama border for
21 years. Stegall knows the fish on this lake so well that
each morning, just before sunrise, the fish call him to find
out what they’re supposed to be doing, and where they’re
supposed to be holding. This week, Stegall will tell us how
he catches white bass, stripers, largemouths and smallmouths
from mid-September to mid-October.
Part 5: Lunker Smallmouth – How to Catch Them
Question:
Roger, we’ve talked about all the other fish you catch
at this time of year, but what about the smallmouths on Pickwick?
Stegall: Pickwick is known for big smallmouths at this time of year. The smallmouth is a special fish to me. Many fishermen believe that in this last year, the smallmouths have left Pickwick. However, I haven’t seen any of them walking out of the lake with their bags packed. The smallmouths are still here, and they’re biting well. I’ve caught a lot of really-big smallmouth in the last month, and as the weather cools down, the smallmouth fishing will continue to improve.
Some of the baits I’ve been catching the smallmouth on are the Carolina-rigged lizards, the shaky-head worm, especially in the green-pumpkin and the watermelon colors, and the Spit-N-King. At this time of year, the Spit-N-King is a dynamite lure to use on smallmouths here on Pickwick. I’ll fish the Spit-N-King around bluffs or pea-gravel points. The other morning I had four big smallmouths blow-up on the same point. When one of those big smallmouths blows-up on the Spit-N-King, it will scare you so much you’ll want to jump out of the boat.
The
other top-water lure I fish often at this time of year is Strike
King’s black buzzbait. For some reason, and I can’t
explain why, in the fall, smallmouths like black buzzbaits.
When I can’t get them to take the Spit-N-King, I’ll
fish the black buzzbait. I don’t know what the smallmouth
think the buzzbait is because I’ve never seen anything
run across the top of the water that’s black. I don’t
think they actually want to eat the black buzzbait; they just
seem to want to kill it so it will quit aggravating them. The
fish go after that black buzzbait just like a cat goes after
a mouse, even if the cat doesn’t want to eat the mouse.
Question: How long are those two top-water baits effective on smallmouths?
Stegall: I can catch smallmouths on top-water
baits all the way until the beginning or the middle of December.
Now, I may only get four or six bites in a day, but those five
bites may be smallmouths that weigh 5 pounds or more. Another
lure I catch a lot of smallmouths on at this time of year is
the Strike King smoke with black/blue flakes grub. I’ll
fish it with a 3/16-ounce slip sinker. I throw the grub out,
let it go to the bottom, swim it three or four turns on the
reel, let it fall back and then swim it again. 
That
grub is a great bait to catch smallmouths on at any time of
the year. I like to fish it on main points, deep-gravel points
and sometimes off ledges. The smallmouths will stay on the ledges
and in deep water longer than the largemouths will.
Question: In one day of smallmouth fishing at this time of year, how many smallmouth do you expect to catch?
Stegall: On a good day, we’ll catch and release 15 to 18 smallmouth. On a bad day, we’ll catch 5 to 10 smallmouth. When I fish for smallmouth, I fish for big ones. Some of our fish will weigh 4- to 7-pounds each. From now until the first of December, if you want to catch big smallmouth, Pickwick is the place to be.
To contact Roger Stegall, call (662) 423-3869, or visit www.fishpickwick.com, or email rogstegall@fishpickwick.com.
Contents:
- Part 1: Bet on the White Bass
- Part 2: Stripers That Will Break Your Line and Your Heart
- Part 3: Largemouth Now
- Part 4: What To Do When the Bass Won’t Bite
- Part 5: Lunker Smallmouth – How To Catch Them
