Entry 265-2

Catch Fish in August and September with Roger Stegall at Pickwick Lake

Part 2: Don’t Forget the White Bass

Question: Roger, many people forget about the white bass because they’re extremely plentiful, fun and easy to catch, but they’re not glamour fish. Do you ever guide for white bass?

Stegall: The white bass is a great alternative to the largemouth or the smallmouth bass. If the largemouth-bass and the smallmouth-bass fishing are slow, I prefer to look for white bass. Then I know I can get my anglers’ rods bent and strings stretched and put smiles on their faces. The white bass likes current in the middle of the river. So, when I’m searching for white bass, I’ll be fishing underwater humps, Indian mounds and any kind of rise off the bottom at Pickwick Lake where shad concentrate.

Question: What do you use to catch white bass?

Stegall: I prefer Strike King’s Sand Blaster, Rocket Shad or white-colored grub. Most people throw these baits on 6-, 8- or 10-pound-test line. However, because you’re fishing where both largemouth and spotted bass fishermen fish, there’s often a lot of line underwater where you may get tangled-up. I fish these baits on 17- or 20-pound-test line. So, if I get hung-up in some of that line broken off underwater, I can use that stronger line to break my lures free.

Question: What colors do you like in the Sand Blaster, the Rocket Shad and the grub?

Stegall: I like chartreuse, pearl and white. One of my favorite colors is the lime chartreuse. I also use the shad and the blue-shad colors.

Question: What type of retrieve do you use?

Stegall: I cast these baits out and let them fall to the bottom. If the white bass don’t take the lure on the fall, once the bait hits the bottom, I hop it up off the bottom and allow it to fall back to the bottom.

Question: How deep is the water where the white bass will be holding?

Stegall: Many times I’ll catch the white bass in water as shallow as 8 feet or as deep as 20 feet. One of my favorite places to fish is the upstream ends of underwater islands. If I find an underwater island in 8 feet of water and the point of that island drops off in 20 feet of water and is facing the current, I’ll almost always find a good school of white bass holding in this area.

Too, I prefer 20-pound-test line here because very rarely do you find schools of white bass holding by themselves out on the points of these islands. We have hybrid striped bass and saltwater stripes in Pickwick, and most of the time when we’re fishing for white bass, we’ll tie into one of those big linesides that may weigh from 10 to 20 pounds. So, even though your lures are set up to catch 2- to 3-pound fish, when you hang into a 10- to a 15-pound hybrid or striper, you’ll be glad you chose that 20-pound-test line.

Question: How do you find these schools of white bass, hybrids and stripers?

Stegall: I use my Lowrance depth finder, which will light up those fish.

Question: How big are the white bass you’re catching?

Stegall: We catch a number of white bass that will weigh from 1-1/2- to 3-pounds each. From now until Thanksgiving, fishing for white bass will improve. When you’re fishing for white bass, there’s a good chance you’ll catch anything that swims in the Tennessee River. I was fishing a tournament and pulled up on a spot holding white bass. I started fishing right in the middle of a big school of white bass busting the surface. My partner asked, “What are you doing catching white bass in the middle of a bass tournament?” I smiled and said, “You’ll see.” The next fish I hooked was a 5-pound smallmouth running with the schooling white bass. After I landed that smallmouth, I caught 10-more white bass and then another 5-pound smallmouth.

My partner and I won the tournament, and I had the two biggest bass in the tournament. Some of the best catfish spots on Pickwick are places where I fish for white bass. We’ll occasionally catch an 8- or a 10-pound catfish while we’re white-bass fishing. When you decide to fish for white bass with me, you not only will catch white bass, you’ll also catch a good number of other fish.

To fish with Roger Stegall at Roger Stegall’s Guide Service or learn more about the fish at Pickwick Lake, call him at 662-433-3869, or visit www.fishpickwick.com, or email rogstegall@fishpickwick.com.

Next: Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty

Contents:

• Part 1: Trophy Smallmouth
• Part 2: Don’t Forget the White Bass
• Part 3: Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty
• Part 4: Hot-Weather, Deep-Water Largemouth
• Part 5: Largemouth Aren’t Just Deep Now