Entry 318-3
Catch Hawg Fish During the Dog Parts of Summer with Roger Stegall of Strike King
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. Stegall, a Strike King pro, fishes many state and regional tournaments. Pickwick Lake, located on the Tennessee River, has hosted several BASS and FLW tournaments, and Stegall believes this lake holds the next world-record smallmouth bass.
Part 3: Catch Them with a Current
Question: Roger, I know that on Pickwick Lake, like many other lakes throughout much of the country, bass bite best in August when current’s running. How are you finding and catching those bass this month, both smallmouths and largemouths, when current starts running through the lake?
Stegall: In the past, if I’ve found a break on an underwater ledge, a hump out in the middle of the lake, a spot where a creek channel runs into the main-river channel or a ridge that breaks the current, I can catch both smallmouths and largemouths in those kinds of spots. But in the last 4-5 years, Pickwick, like many other lakes, has gotten a dose of grass, and grass is becoming more common throughout the lake. Because of the grass, we’ve seen a change in where the bass position themselves when current is coming through the lake.
Now instead of being on the humps, ridges and areas where a creek channel runs into a river channel, the largemouths and smallmouths are starting to hold on grass points around cuts in the grass. 
The grass has caused a lot more bass, both largemouths and smallmouths, to be in the lake, but the grass has also changed the way that both the largemouths and smallmouths have traditionally been caught. Now you have to deal with how the bass position themselves in the grass when there’s current moving at Pickwick to catch the fish.
Question: What are you using to catch those bass in the grass when the lake has current?
Stegall: The 10-inch Anaconda is a productive bait. The Strike King 1/2-ounce or 3/4-ounce Premier Pro-Model Jig is also a lure you can bet on, especially if you’ve got a Rage Tail trailer on it. Lately I’ve been catching bass on a Rage Lobster or a Rage Craw. I Texas-rig the Rage Lobster to the Rage Craw with a 5/16-ounce weight and flip it around the points of the grass when current’s coming through the lake. If I’m fishing the Anaconda, I’ll be fishing the Bama bug or plum color. If I’m fishing the Rage Lobster, I like watermelon red or June bug. If I’m fishing the Rage Craw I prefer green pumpkin, watermelon red or Bama bug.
When I’m fishing around the grass with current running, 80% of the time I’m going to catch largemouths. But there are also some big smallmouths holding around that grass. 
Now if I find those big smallmouths around that grass, I’ll change to a Quad Shad or a Red Eye Shad. But if I get on some big largemouths, I’ll probably fish that 10-inch Anaconda. In all the years I’ve been fishing, I’ve only seen five smallmouths caught off a 10-inch worm, but I’ve seen tons of largemouths caught off that worm. The smallmouths prefer either the Quad Shad, the Red Eye Shad, a jig or a Rage Craw.
To fish with Roger Stegall for bass and other species, visit www.fishpickwick.com, call 662-423-3869, or email rogstegall@fishpickwick.com.
Next: Smallmouths at Night
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
