Pickwick Lake Fishing Trip

Pickwick Lake Fishing Trip - October 2010

Left Memphis on the 16th of October and arrived at the lake about 11 am, was staying at J.P. Coleman State Park.

They have about 10 cabin and they are priced where you can stay a whole week that will not eat your pocket book up.

It is so funny when you are so excited about a whole week of fishing it did not take no time to get everything in the cabin.

Got on the lake and started looking for the bass, was starting off with a Rattle Trap, Spinner Bait, and of course a Texas Rigged Worm.

I noticed right away that I did not see the shad up on the surface. This is one thing that has been in the past years and the shad were so thick that you could walk across the water on them.

Started off In Indian Creek working the north bank throwing the kitchen sink. We fished until almost dark and only caught one dink that might have measured 11 inches.

The next day we checked out State Line Island, Panther Creek and still were only catching 11 inch fish.

That is when we took off to Bear Creek in Alabama where
I have caught some good fish. I still was only catching 11 inch fish in the spots that have produced some three pounds in the past years.

I was seeing everyone throwing Crank-baits and Tube Baits and were not doing any better than we were.

We were just about to give up and head back to the cabin and was rounding a point that had some large rocks off the bank in about 14 feet of water and it just had Small Mouth written all over it.

I picked up a Buzz Bait that Tim at C & T Custom Tackle had made for me and threw it toward the bank and brought it back right next the the big rocks.

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All of a sudden the water exploded and the fight was on, was not sure what I had until it got close to the boat and then I saw this Bronze Back Beauty. I landed the Small Mouth and discovered that it was my biggest Small Mouth that I have caught and weighed 5 pounds.

My fishing partner could not believe I was throwing a Buzz Bait at 1pm and catching fish on Top-water.

That was the secret of the lake this past week and from then on we were on the fish and that is all we threw. No matter where we went Buzz Baits is what the fish
wanted.

I ended the trip Saturday October 23 with a 4.4 pound Large Mouth off the Buzz Bait and looking back, must have caught well over 150 Bass this past week and what a trip it was.

We did try and tell some other folks what we were catching the fish on and they looked at us like we were nuts.

One of my other fishing buddies was at the lake and fishing a tournament and we saw each other in Dry Creek
and he came up to me and ask what I was catching all the bass on and I told him a Buzz Bait and he too could not believe it, but sat in his boat and watched me catch three right in front of him. All three bass would have gone to the scales at a tournament.

My fishing buddy also brought his 12 year old son and he caught his first bass on topwater and it was a sight to see. It scared him at first when the bass busted the top
of the water and ate the Buzz Bait and we still have to work on setting the hook, but I feel sure that both of my fishing buddies for that week had a great time and will look forward to our next trip backs to the lake.

If you can slip out of work or just for the weekend you really need to get to Pickwick Lake and watch the leaves changing and see how pretty the outdoors can be at this time of the year. Mother Nature really is putting on a show right now and some of the pictures I took still do not show it all.

Let me say in closing that the the word was the Small Mouth are biting and believe me that is one story that is not a fish tale. The Small mouth at PickWick Lake are
on fire.

Keep The Hooks Wet!

Steve McGoldrick

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