|
| Key Feature Homepage Stories |
|
| Pickwick Is On Fire! |
| |
| By Shaye Baker |
|
|
|
Originally published in the May 2012 issue of AON
|
| |
|
|
Jimmy Mason lands one of the chunky smallmouths Pickwick is famous for. The smallie bite is good, but this spring largemouths have taken center stage, with numerous double-digit bass caught.
|
|
|
|
View All Images (4)
|
|
Recently Lake Pickwick has been the talk of the fishing town so to speak. The usual breeding ground for tons of quality bass has suddenly closed the gap between itself and its fellow Tennessee River fishery, Lake Guntersville. It’s hard to give a definitive answer as to which is the better fishery at this point, which is astonishing since Lake Guntersville is home to exponentially more aquatic vegetation.
The offshore grass that blankets the ledges on Guntersville gives bass a great refuge. Although Pickwick has a lot of contour as well, there are far fewer places to hide. And like Lake Guntersville, the advent of the Alabama Rig has revealed what the lake truly has to offer. Anglers have hit the lake with every brand and offspring of the contraption since the castable umbrella rig became more readily available at the beginning of the winter.
Numerous double-digit largemouth bass, including a possible Tennessee state record, have been pulled from the unusually warm winter waters of Pickwick and brought before a camera lens and a set of scales, much to the astonishment of anglers who have fished the lake for years. One such angler is Jimmy Mason, who has himself caught a 10-lb. whopper on the Yumbrella Rig, Yum’s version of the new phenomenon of a bait.
However, according to Jimmy the big-rig bite is about to slow down.
“I threw it a lot last summer on the ledges (before the craze began),” he said. “But I found that the traditional summer baits out-fished it.”
Traditional summer baits are the big crankbaits, jigs and worms that have piled up in most tackle boxes and collected dust since the spawn of the A-rig. But there is one deal left where Jimmy is excited about using the Yumbrella Rig—the shad spawn.
When the water hits about 70-75 degrees, shad by the thousands find whatever structure is in the area and spawn on it. They rub up against grass, rock, wood, docks or whatever is readily available and make themselves extremely vulnerable to postspawn, hungry bass. This shad spawn creates a feeding frenzy that leaves even the most seasoned fisherman in awe.
Shad spawns last for only a short period of the day, in low-light conditions. If early morning clouds linger, then so too will the bite, but it is very rare to see a shad spawn in the heat of the day. Eventually a large number of bass will find shad spawns and feed on them. Having so many bass in such a tight wad can make for easy pickings, but the window allowed by nature to take advantage of it creates a little bit of a problem.
That’s why Jimmy is excited about using the Yumbrella Rig on fish relating to a shad spawn. The very real opportunity of a limit on one cast exists with an umbrella rig in your hand. Though five fish per cast might be a bit of a stretch, there is a high probability that an angler will catch multiple fish on a single cast around a shad spawn.
There are several other great baits that can be used to take advantage of a shad spawn as well. Swimbaits, swim jigs, spinnerbaits and square-billed crankbaits are some of the higher percentage hook-up baits, though an array of topwaters will also work. But evolution and invention keep coming on the coattails of the Alabama Rig, and another new contraption for the shad spawn has Jimmy’s interests piqued this year.
“The Yum Double-Up wasn’t designed specifically for the shad spawn, but I think it will be a great tool for it,” he said.
The Double-Up consist of a metal wire bent into the shape of a V which has a swivel and a clip on either end. The rig itself has no significant weight and can be used to attach two baits of any kind to the ends. Jimmy’s thoughts for the shad spawn: if one square-bill, spinnerbait, swimbait or swim jig is good, why not two?
Why not five some might ask and then just revert back to the umbrella rig. The umbrella rig is built for more open-water scenarios than where you might find a shad spawn. Although shad spawns could happen on straight bluff walls along the river or rip-rap bridges, a lot of times they will be along a winding shallow grass line or a dock where more precision casting is needed.
This lighter, two-bait contraption is much easier to maneuver and still gives the angler an opportunity at multiple bass without overpowering the fisherman or the fish.
But the shad spawn is just one thing happening in May. As the bass come off the beds and gorge on shad, a large number of them will move out to deeper water where they can recuperate from the physically draining spawn. These fish stack up on offshore ledges, gravel bars and depressions where they feed opportunistically.
As for exactly why the fish bite the traditional bottom baits better in the summer, Mason believes it’s the necessity of bottom contact from the bait. The beauty of the umbrella rig is it makes suspended fish suddenly a lot more acquirable and is the reason the bait has been the center of the bass fishing world since last fall. Fish were suspended, feeding on shad when the bait was unleashed, and thanks to the mild temperatures, bass never really became lethargic all winter this year like they typically do.
Most years there comes a time when bass simply won’t chase a bait. When the water temp falls into the mid 40s, anglers have to break out the jerkbaits, jigs and even float-n-flies just to trigger a handful of lackadaisical strikes. That never happened this year. Instead, the coldest water temps most saw in Alabama came at the beginning of the winter, and those only toyed with the upper 40s.
This created a no-end-in-sight scenario for the A-rig. However, that end is coming in late May or early June, according to Jimmy. There will be at least a brief break in the A-rig bite before the fish suspend again in the fall. Not to say that no one will catch fish on a mini umbrella rig, but it should no longer be the dominant bait.
At the beginning to middle of May, the offshore bite really heats up, and Jimmy stresses that you don’t want to miss the start of it.
“The bite will still be good shallow, but that first wave that moves out will hold some of the biggest fish that move out all year,” said Jimmy. “I like to start fishing out deep with a big Fat Free Shad in No. 7 or No. 8 to locate the fish.”
Jimmy will work an area thoroughly with the crankbait first, trying to catch any active fish. Then he will slow down and pick the area apart with a Carolina rig or a big worm.
“Before I leave an area, I’ll work it over hard with a 5/8-oz. Pumpkin Ed jig head rigged with a 10 1/2-inch Mightee Worm. The neat thing about that bait is you get the same feel of the bottom with the big jig head as you do a football head, but it gives the fish another look at a more finesse-style bait with the straight-tail worm,” said Jimmy.
Jimmy reiterated the common sentiment that current is a big deal when you’re fishing offshore. It puts the fish on the “sweet spot” and fires up fish that might not be feeding otherwise. The current jump starting the school can be the difference in blowing through an area without a bite and loading the boat with big bass.
The sweet spot is typically the upstream side of whatever current break, ledge or gravel bar that you can find. The fish position themselves there knowing from experience that food will come along shortly. An interesting note from Jimmy is that the most obvious offshore stuff is the best at the start of the bite. It’s obvious to the fishermen for the same reason that it is obvious to the fish.
If you can find the first good ledge outside of a spawning flat or the first real contour in front of a bay or creek, you’ll likely find a few fish stacked up there. This makes Pickwick a great place to learn to fish offshore but a tough place to fish a tournament offshore. With only so much of this “obvious” water to go around, the fishermen stack up on top of the fish and each other.
But if it’s just a good time and a lot of action that you are looking for, Mason said you should not lose focus on the bank. There are a large number of bass including some big ones that stay shallow on Pickwick all year, and, although most tournaments are won with a strong bag offshore in May, several of the other top spots will fall to fish caught shallow.
Fishing shoreline grass along the river and in the creeks is a great way to develop a pattern quickly. Spinnerbaits, swim jigs and frogs are some of the favorites for areas like Waterloo and Bear Creek, and flipping the grass can produce some big bags, too.
Pickwick also has some great smallmouth fishing, and May is the best time to catch them up on top, according to Jimmy. A Super Spook Jr. and Pencil Popper work well just below the dam in the current. The fish that typically relate to the dam will pull out in May to the current and feed up after the spawn. Working something with a lot of commotion like the bigger walking baits is a great way to draw the attention of giant smallmouth.
“The good thing about these bigger baits is you can throw them a long way,” said Jimmy. “If you see one come up schooling in the current, you can usually reach them with one of those big topwaters.”
Another fun bait to use to lure up smallmouths is a wake bait. Jimmy’s wake bait of choice is a Bomber Long A, which he likes to throw along bluff walls, gravel bars and docks. The wake bait is something you have to commit to if you decide to throw it. It takes patience to fish effectively, but when you get bit it is usually a good one and an explosive strike.
So there are really several options for an angler of any skill level to try. If you’re a hardened tournament angler with a big event coming up, then the offshore bite could hold your winning fish. If it’s just a lot of bites and the chance at a few good ones that you’re looking for, the shoreline is probably your best bet. If you’re in search of the smallmouth of a lifetime, Pickwick has plenty.
No matter what you are looking for in bass fishing, Pickwick is likely the place to be in May. There’s a lot going on, and Florence plays the perfect host to fishermen. Just drop your boat at McFarland Park and you can catch fish without even cranking the big motor. There’s no guarantee, because it is still fishing, but I have personally seen it happen!
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
|
|
