Entry 55-4
Roger Stegall's Secrets For Catching Smallmouth On Pickwick Lake
How To Catch Big Smallmouth On Pickwick In The Early Spring
Editor's Note: Roger Stegall, of Iuka, Mississippi, has guided on Pickwick Lake on the Mississippi,/ Tennessee/ Alabama border for 16 years and has fished the lake for 27 years. He's seen an 8 3/4-pound smallmouth come from Pickwick Lake, and he's also weighed in a 5-fish limit of smallmouth that weighed 27 pounds, 6 ounces. "I saw Leon Tidwell and a friend of his catch a 10-fish limit that weighed 52 pounds," says Stegall. "I believe the next world-record smallmouth will come from Pickwick Lake. Two 10-pound smallmouth have been caught from Pickwick in the last year."
Stegall: This past spring the big smallmouth preferred the Strike King Wild Shiner Jerk Bait in chartreuse with a brown back and chartreuse with a green back. Also, the Suspending Wild Shiner is productive around secondary ledges and along gravel bars. At this time of the year, I look for water temperatures that are between 50 and 58 degrees. The perfect water temperature for the large smallmouth is 52 or 53 degrees.
Another bait that was produced nice dividends this past spring was the Kevin Van Dam Pro Tube. I fished this tube with a 3/8- or 1/2-ounce lead inside the tube. The smallmouth preferred that the tube be drug along the bottom like you drag the weight on a Carolina rig. Green pumpkin, chartreuse and mustard were the colors that the big smallmouth preferred. The third bait that I used was the 1/2-ounce spinner bait with a single blade. The chartreuse skirt and gold blade was the best combination. I also fished this spinner bait around secondary ledges and underwater gravel points. I looked for current breaks because that's where the smallmouth like to stack up.
