Entry 128-2
Roger Stegall - How to Catch Smallmouth Now
Strike King's New Redfish Magic - Perfect for Smallmouth
Editor's Note: Longtime Strike King Pro Fisherman Roger Stegall of Iuka, Mississippi, has guided fishermen on Pickwick Lake on the Alabama/Mississippi/Tennessee border for over 17 years. Here's some of his tactics for catching big smallmouth during the month of November.
Stegall: One of Strike King's new lures this year is the Redfish Magic with its safety-pin-type spinner and soft-plastic glass-minnow body. This type of lure is a saltwater fisherman's favorite because it combines the two lures that usually produce redfish at this time of the year, the gold spoon and the glass-minnow soft-plastic jig. The Redfish Magic gives off the flash of gold that you'll get with a spoon and has the glass minnow trailer trailing behind. But what most freshwater fishermen don't know is that the Redfish Magic is also the perfect bait for smallmouth. The gold Colorado blade will always attract smallmouth, and that chartreuse-and-pearl glass minnow looks just like a Sassy Shad lure that many smallmouth fishermen know.
As I mentioned yesterday, since the smallmouth are keying-in on shad, anytime you can fish with a shad-colored bait and flash that bait, you will attract and catch smallmouth. The vibration of the blade on the Redfish Magic will cause the tail on the glass minnow to vibrate quite a bit.
The big advantage of the glass minnow on the Redfish Magic is that it's made out of Strike King's tough 3X material, which means the body of the lure won't tear up like the body on the Sassy Shad and other soft-plastic jigs will. This lure also has a good, sharp, wide hook in it that you can use to stick a smallmouth. I like to fish the Redfish Magic around stumps and logs where there's numbers of minnows concentrating. If a steady retrieve doesn't get a strike, I'll fish this lure with a drop-and-go action like I will a jig, reeling it up from the bottom and letting it fall back to the bottom. The Redfish Magic lure vibrates so much, it really calls smallmouth bass to it.
Too, the Redfish Magic will catch almost any fish that swims, including stripers, hybrids, bass, crappie and even catfish. Most of the fish that live in reservoirs containing shad will be feeding on shad during the fall. The shad that die off in the fall make an easy meal for these gamefish.
On cloudy overcast days, I'll be fishing chartreuse with glow chartreuse, and on bright sunny days I'll be fishing pearl. I'll fish the Redfish Magic on 12-pound-test line. This lure is an excellent bait to use when the smallmouths are holding in deeper water, especially when you're attempting to catch them on breaklines. I'll fish this lure just like I will a jig, hopping it up off the bottom to cause the blade to turn and then letting it fall back to the bottom. Most of the time the smallmouth will attack when the bait is falling back to the bottom.
To fish with Roger Stegall at Pickwick lake, contact him at (662) 423-3869.
