September’s top fishing spots

From cats to slabs, bream, bass and reds; plenty to offer

Looking for a place to fish this month in Mississippi? Try one of these:

Catfish, Barnett Reservoir

The long, hot summer has pushed the blues and channels to the edge of deep flats. Dead-sticking cut bait, prepared baits or night crawlers on rods and reels will work in 8 to 12 feet of water as long as you are in casting range of a drop to deeper water. In legal areas, free-floating devices, aka jugs, will be productive between 2 and 10 feet deep, 24 hours a day. Trot-liners do best upriver or in the deeper timber of the upper main lake.

Crappie, Lake Washington

Still among the worst-kept fishing secrets in Mississippi are the big crappie in this old oxbow lake near Glen Allen in southern Washington County. Once a virtual-unknown resource, this lake has made about every Top 20 list of the country’s best crappie spots over the past decade. The best September pattern is probably the only remaining secret about this place: trolling shallow in deep water. It’s true. Some of the best and biggest fish are caught within the top 4 feet of water in the heat of the day. Tip your jigs with a minnow. The fish may be plentiful, but they are picky.

Bream, Tippah County Lake

Of course, this MDWFP lake near Ripley is famous for its spring fishing, when the bluegill and redear are on the beds, but the bite doesn’t end when the fish quit spawniong. Think deep, and then think deeper. Some of the biggest bream caught from this lake are caught late in the summer and into the fall, with long casts from boats or the banks to the bottom in 10 to 12 feet of water. Use big worms and fish with tight lines.

Bass, Pickwick Lake

This big lake is absolutely no secret, and it remains the No. 1 destination for late-summer bass action that includes all three black bass species: largemouth, smallmouth and Kentucky spotted bass — in quality and quantity. As soon as the shad begin migrating out of the river toward the banks, the action increases. Rock or grass points will both produce, but one secret to big September smallmouths is moving to a rock bluff bank with a quick vertical fall and paralleling it with a mid-range.

Redfish, Mississippi Sound

No secret here, and it comes with options. Fishermen can target the big bull redfish to stretch their lines or the gap reds — 18 to 30 inches — for the grill. September’s dog days offer some of the best action in the Mississippi Sound, from the Pascagoula River to the Pearl River. Big schools of bulls will be around the barrier islands while the smaller reds will be tearing it up in inshore waters and the Biloxi Marsh.