Pickwick Lake Elevation 414
Water Temp. 78


BASS
Bass fishing is exciting right now and will get better and better throughout the fall. Although many fishermen complain about the size of bass, most agree that catching a large number of fish is easy. Some spots are more likely to produce larger fish. The most productive areas on the lake are the big grassy flats that are now surfacing. Fish these flats with top water plastic frogs and you are sure to catch a lot of fish. Spinner baits and hard top water baits fished around the edges of the grass will also produce a lot of fish. Over the past few weeks I have been able to pick up several bass on Series 2 crank baits. Fishing these crank baits around rocky bluffs will pick up other fish as well and this will make your day a little more fun.
Stripers
Stripers are biting on the surface and they are also biting deep. You can usually find some way to catch big rock fish below the Dam if you keep trying different methods. One sure way to catch them right now is on live bait caught below the Dam. You can use skip jack minnows that you catch on a live bait rig or yellow tail minnows you catch in a throw new, either way you will do better with bait you catch than you will do with bait you would find in a store. Drift your live bait on a live bait hook and a one or two ounce sinker by making a short cast into the boils and then drift downstream. Another way to drift live bait is on a live bait hook and a split shot, with this set up you will make a long cast and then let out additional line as you drift downstream and wait for the line to tighten and hope it’s a fish and not the bottom of the river( they fell the same sometime as you drift) . We have a few good weeks of striper fishing left and then the will be a little harder to find as the weather gets cooler.
Catfish
I have witnessed a lot of catfish caught below the Pickwick Dam where I striper fish. Most catfishermen that I see are using one ounce sinkers with dead skip jack or cut bait. I would say the most common store bought bait for catfish are nightcrawlers and shad guts.