Pickwick Lake Elevation 413.5
Water Temp. 76

Bass
When bass fishing early in the lake, don't forget about the grass beds. Over the past few weeks we have caught a large number of fish in and around those beds using the Strike Kine Spit N King. The easiest way to fish the grass with this bait is to just work it around the edges of the grass and not in the middle. I get the most action out of these lures by fishing them on a medium action Lews Rod and I always use a Lews Reel. Sometimes you can catch good fish in the middle of the grass beds but you will need to switch to a weedless frog. There are a lot of shallow areas visible from the Pickwick Dam that have grass just under the water surface and these areas usually hold a lot of fish and are easy to fish baits over the top of them without getting tangled in the grass every cast. You can also fish a creature bait through these areas on a weighted hook or texas rig and this method sometimes works throughout the day. The deep water humps and ledges are still holding good fish right now. In the deeper water throw a deep diving crank bait or a heavy spinner bait. 1oz Aggravater Spinnerbaits have been a favorite on Pickwick for years but they are no longer making spinnerbaits. Stike King has a new 1oz spinnerbait that looks like it will be a hot lure on Pickwick, Bay Springs and other lakes that a bass fisherman would benifit from using this heavier spinnerbait.

Stripers
The Strike King "Spit N King" has been an all around great top water with stripers and bass in the Tennessee River below the Pickwick Dam. Popping this feathered tail bait attracts fish in the area that are actively feeding on the surface. If you are after stripers and you have already caught a few big ones on the top water baits you might want to switch over to a jerk bait because you can usually hold on to the fish longer with the jerk bait. Right now you can find small stripers busting the surface all day but the bigger stripers will be in deeper water after the first few hours of daylight. Throughout the middle of the day you will need to switch to a live bait rig and drift downstream with a live minnow on a bait hook. If you can catch skip jack minnows in the river for this method of fishing you will be more successful catching good stripers but you can use minnows from a bait store. The store bought minnows usually produces fish if the natural bait are not present below the dam.

Catfish
We have caught several catfish drifting the Dyna-Bites in 25-30'' of water. I like to fish the Dyna-Bites with a medium action Lews rod with a once sinker if possible. I hear livers and shad gutts are very produtive baits as well right now from other catfishermen. This is also a good time of year to fish a little deeper, you may improve the size of catfish your catching.