Entry 318-1

Catch Hawg Fish During the Dog Parts of Summer with Roger Stegall of Strike King

Part 1: How to Find and Catch Smallmouths Now

Question: Roger, you’re a multi-species guide, aren’t you?

Stegall: Yes, I am. I’ll take my clients to catch whatever species they want to catch. But I primarily fish for largemouths and smallmouths.

Question: August is not considered a good time to catch smallmouths in the Deep South. October and November, as well as March and April, have always been the glamour months. But I know you’re catching plenty of big smallmouths right now during the Dog Parts of August. Where are you finding those smallmouths, how are you catching them, and on what are you catching them?

Stegall: I like to fish deep banks that are close to grass and around big chunk rock. I’m catching these smallmouths shallow, especially in the early morning. I’m using a Strike King Spit-N-King and the Strike King Shadalicious. Using this technique, during August this year, my clients and I have caught some 5-pound smallmouths. If we have clouds or rain, the bite’s even better.

Question: When are you fishing the Spit-N-King?

Stegall: I fish it really early in the morning on 14-pound-test Vicious Ultimate line and late in the afternoon. Unless the day’s rainy and/or has cloud cover, then I can fish the Spit-N-King later on in the day.

Question: How deep is the water from which the smallmouths are coming?

Stegall: The fish are coming from 6 to 8 feet of water up to the surface to take the Spit-N-King or the Shadalicious. Even though these smallmouths are in that shallow water, they’re holding on the edge of 20-foot-deep water. A couple of weeks ago, when I started catching these larger smallmouths, we were having a willow-fly hatch, and a lot of the smallmouths were feeding on willow flies.

Question: Okay, Roger, what about the Shadalicious? How are the smallmouths taking it?

Stegall: They’re coming up from the bottom and taking it close to the surface also.

Question: When you’re using the Spit-N-King, what type of retrieve are you using?

Stegall: I use a pop-pop-stop pop-pop-pop-stop type of retrieve. Sometimes I’ll let the Spit-N-King sit motionless for 10 seconds after that series of pops. Many times, the smallmouths will take the bait in-between that cadence of pops.

Question: How fast are you moving the Spit-N-King when you’re retrieving?

Stegall: I’m not really moving it that fast. In one series of pops, I may not move the Spit-N-King more than 3 or 4 feet.

Question: What colors Spit-N-King are you using?

Stegall: I’m using the sexy shad, the blue-gizzard shad or the green-gizzard shad.

Question: When you’re fishing the Shadalicious, what size are you using, and how are you rigging it?

Stegall: I’ll use the Shadalicious in the 3-1/2-inch size up to the 5-1/2-inch size. In this bait, I also like the sexy shad, the blue-gizzard shad and the green-gizzard shad colors. I rig it using a lead-head tube-type hook that I can put inside the head of the Shadalicious. I’m casting it on 12- to 14-pound-test Vicious line with a fairly stiff-action rod. When the bait hits the water, I’m bringing it back to the boat on a steady retrieve about 1 foot under the water. The smallmouths will come up and kill the baits just like they will the shad.

Question: Are you putting a jig head on the Shadalicious?

Stegall: No, Strike King has come out with a tube-head jig that actually works better than a jig head. That tube-head jig works perfectly in the Shadalicious.

Question: What size smallmouths are you catching, Roger?

Stegall: They’re running about 3-5 pounds now. A few days ago in early August, we caught six smallmouths in the 3-5 pound range by 9:30 am.

To fish with Roger Stegall for bass and other species, visit www.fishpickwick.com, call 662-423-3869, or email rogstegall@fishpickwick.com.

Next: How to Find and Catch Largemouths Now

Contents:

• Part 1: How to Find and Catch Smallmouths Now
• Part 2: How to Find and Catch Largemouths Now
• Part 3: Catch Them with a Current
• Part 4: Smallmouths at Night
• Part 5: Hot-Weather Cats