Largemouths rule Pickwick now

Pickwick Lake on the Tennessee River, located in the corner of Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee, is making a comeback this year. The grass is growing in the lake, and the largemouth are responding to the additional habitat. The fishing has been really good there this year. Although Pickwick has a reputation of being a smallmouth lake, it also has nice-sized largemouth. Since smallmouths are sometimes hard to catch in August when the weather’s really hot, I target largemouths in August.

I recommend anglers fish the lower end of Pickwick Lake closer to the dam, and look for milfoil and hydrilla growing on the edges of the creek and the river channels. The tops of these ledges and drop-offs will be 7 to 12 feet deep, but will drop-off into river and creek channels 18- to 25-feet deep.

I like to fish the 9- or 12-inch Mann’s Jelly Worm Carolina-rigged. I prefer to use either a 3/4- or 1-ounce Tru-Tungsten bullet-shaped slip sinker up the line because it will punch through the grass better than other weights. The big Jelly Worms fall slowly after you move that weight along the bottom to get the bass’s attention.

During August, my favorite color at Pickwick is tequila/green with a rosy belly, a brownish-red top and green flakes, an extremely productive color on the Tennessee River.

I’ll fish 30-pound-test Stren Super Braid as my main line, 20-pound-test Berkley Big Game monofilament as my leader, a No. 6/0 Gamakatsu hook and a Quantum 1160 Tour Edition PT reel on a Quantum Tour Edition PT Signature Series Greg Hackney rod.

Locate Pickwick bass

I’ll be looking for points and bars — some with grass — that drop off into deep water. The bars and points without grass will have mussel shells on them, another productive habitat for bass. I fish 50 yards down either side of the tips of the points or the bars.

Also, you’ll locate bass holding on the underwater humps 50 to 100 yards long in the middle of the lake. Generally, I’ll fish all the way around them. Some of these humps will have ditches in the middle of them that dead-end inside the humps. I tend to catch the most bass on the humps at the ends of ditches running parallel to the river.

In recent years, I’ve learned that these humps are ancient Indian mounds that were on the land before it was flooded. To excavate the mounds before the lake was inundated, archaeologists used backhoes to dig trenches through the ditches and study the different layers of soil and debris and to learn about the people who once lived on these mounds. Many times the trenches didn’t go all the way from one Indian mound to the other, but only went about halfway. As current runs over the tops of these trenches, it brings baitfish to the largemouths holding in the trenches and out of the current.

Not only will I fish these Indian mounds with a Carolina-rigged Jelly Worm, but I’ll also use a 3/4-ounce Mann’s Stone Jig. I don’t like to hop, jump, jerk or pop the jig off the bottom when I’m fishing these points, bars and Indian mounds. Instead, I prefer to drag the jig across the bottom and let it fall down into the drop-offs and the ditches.

Using these tactics, you’ll catch plenty of 2- to 3-pound bass and occasionally a 5- to 8-pounder.

Although I’m not fishing for smallmouths, I’ve found that when I’m fishing the Stone Jig, I’ll occasionally catch one. I prefer to fish the black/blue and the green/pumpkin jigs with a green/pumpkin trailer when I’m fishing in August on the Tennessee River. I’ll fish 20-pound-test Berkley Trilene fluorocarbon line with the same rod and reel I’ve fished the Carolina-rigged worm.

I always cast my jig upcurrent and then drag it slowly downcurrent over those bars, drop-offs, humps and ditches.

The key to catching big bass on the Tennessee River is current. Like most anglers, I fish early in the morning and late in the evening. However, you’ll catch the most bass at Pickwick when the current’s running — no matter the time of day.

Also, I’ll be throwing a spinnerbait and a deep-diving Mann’s 10+ crankbait in the shad pattern or the points of the larger bars (Indian mounds). I’ll also fish all the way around the smaller mounds with the crankbait and spinnerbait.

I’ll reel that crankbait fast to trigger a strike and get the bass to react to the bait rather than trying to elicit a feeding strike. My favorite colors for crankbaits are chrome/blue back and grey ghost, which are both shad patterns. I’ll fish the crankbaits on 12-pound-test Berkley Trilene fluorocarbon line.

If I had to choose one lake to fish in Mississippi to catch a good limit of big bass in August, I’d fish Pickwick Lake and use these tactics.