The Largemouth & Smallmouth Bass is the most highly pursued game fish in North America.  Found in all types of fresh water, from small farm ponds to the largest of  lakes, from small irrigation ditches to large rivers and streams, the Largemouth Bass can also be caught under many varying types of water conditions, from the very  warm water of summer to the frozen iced over lakes in the winter.  The Largemouth Bass is probably one of the most exciting fresh water fish to catch, from the little slow  tug on your line through the ice, to the exploding water around your top water plug.  The Largemouth Bass is also highly regarded around the dinner table. Although some people would try to make you think differently, it doesn't take a fancy bass boat or expensive gear, to enjoy the thrill of catching remarkable bass! Yep, believe it or not, the ole  basics (cane pole and worm) are still very effective.  The Bass has a very wide range on its appetite selections. It can be caught on crankbaits, spinner baits, worms, lizards, jigs, minnows, and all types of artificial baits, from top water lures to under water spinners and spoons.

Tips for Fall Fishing:  During Fall weather, bass move into the back of coves, up creeks, or to a shallower staging area.  Shad are their main food supply.  Bass tend to school up to feed during this time, because they are getting ready for winter temperatures.  Your best bet is to locate concentrations of any bait fish.  Bass, as well as bait fish, tend to locate around "cover," mostly rocks because they hold better heat than other structures.  But they can also be found around piers, logs, boat docks, stumps, and standing timber.  Popular lures during the fall are crankbaits, rat-l-traps, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, buzzbaits. The idea is to imitate the bait fish that bass are chasing.  Popular colors are silver, chrome, bone, or white.  If the water color is stained or muddy, use gold, chartreuse, orange, or red.  We carry all of these baits, including bait containers.

                 Bandit Crankbaits                  Culprit Worms       

                  Hilderbrandt Spinner Baits          Gamakatsu Hooks

                 Zoom Worms & Lizards               Booyah Jigs

                 Yum Products                             Heddon Topwater Baits

Bream:

Bream are the Democrats of the fish world. They will bite most any bait from earthworms to topwater bass baits. They can be caught anywhere there is a little water and they aren't too picky about conditions. Bream are great cooked in a lot of ways, and they are often the first fish young anglers catch. They don't care if you are in a boat or fishing from the bank, wearing a jumpsuit with sponsor patches or just patched jeans, using a cheap 'blue light special" rod and reel or the top of the line stuff costing big bucks. They never met a fisherman they would not bite for!

                   Betts Floats           Rod & Reel Combos

             Mustad Hooks                  Worm & Leech Bait Bucket

                      Cricket Containers              Split Shot

Crappie:

Why do crappie prefer docks? Docks provide good habitat for these popular panfish. Crappie find cover under the docks and minnows also congregate around docks. With cover and an ample food supply, crappie feel contented around docks.

What tackle is best for targeting dock crappies?  Use an ultra lite spinning rod and reel combination with four to eight pound test monofilament line.

What bait or lures should you use?  Any lure that imitates the minnows near the docks.  The most efficient crappie lure is a jig tipped with a small curly tail jig colored red or yellow.  If you use lures, cast as close to the dock as possible into the shady side of the dock.  Your retrieval will normally be straight, slow paced through the water back to the boat.  As you retrieve, try twitching the tip of your pole to give the lure a different action.  Some anglers add the lure under a bobber.  Under a float just cast, let the lure settle and then twitch the tip of your pole, but don't retrieve immediately.  Twitch, giving the lure some action, stop, twitch again, stop, then twitch a third time and retrieve very slowly.

Also, you can tip your jig with a live minnow.  Hook the minnow through both lips.  Add a bobber.  Cast as close to the dock as possible and be ready as crappie love minnows and your bobber will disappear quickly with live bait.

Fall Tips:  Some fishermen say this is the best crappie fishing of the year!   During the Fall season, crappie move into shoreline cover(fallen trees, shallow coves, etc.).  Vertical jigging is a good method to fish submerged cover.  Some fishermen like to use a float or bobber, including a life minnow attached to the jig.  If the weather is bright & sunny, use bright colors.  If it's cloudy, use slightly darker colors (brown, green, black).  If the water color is clear, use natural looking colors (silver, smoke, gray, etc.).  If the water color is stained, use bright colors.  If you can't get the fish to bite, try: Changing Presentations(twitch, slow down, speed up); Changing Colors; or Changing Baits completely. Remember, finding the right combination is 50% trial and error.  Good Luck!

                 Crappie/Panfish Lures              Crappie Poles

               Stren Monofilament Line                       Nitro Crappie Gems

Catfish:

Spring time to a cat man means a time of plenty. Bait and channel cats are abundant, moving upstream to take care of  their yearly ritual spawning. In the meantime channel cats are eating well as they travel and look for spawning locations again.

Several things determine the best location, channel cats like banks littered with rocks, man made riffraff, and like other species fallen timber is a plus. Depths ranging from 2’ to 30’ drop-offs in the river below the dam seem to produce the best results. Above the dam in the lake rock bluffs line different portions of the lake and are laced with fallen timber over the years. There are all kind of cracks in the rocks where the fish can back up in to spawn and ambush a meal.

The best time of year in the Mid south is mid-April through mid-June. This period you will catch pre-spawn fish, spawning fish and late spawners. The best time of day is from sunrise to 10 AM then 3 PM till dark, once the sun gets up over the trees and shining directly down on the shallow water the fish tend to slow down. Another thing to consider is boat traffic usually picks up mid morning till later afternoon.

Baits to consider: dip bait used with the surgical tubes or plastic worms and #6 treble hooks, shad guts, cut shad, crickets, worms and chicken livers have their days to. One key thing to remember is to keep moving if the fish slow down or your not getting bites within 10 minutes. If the channels are near, they aren’t shy about biting.

Tackle: I have a couple of favorites, a medium action spinning rod with 14 lb. test line. Use a slip float that will cast and adjust to different depths. Use as little lead as possible to cast up to 30’ away from the bank and a single #6 hood for using worms, crickets and shad guts. I generally cast as close to the bank as possible and let the bait set for a minute or so, then pull bait toward the boat out in deeper water. Once I find the depth the fish are holding in that day, it’s time to reset the slip float and continue fishing that depth. My other method of catching channels is to use a flyrod. I use the same setup and just continue to cast and let the bait sit for a minute or so to see if there is a channel cat close by. Boy this is a blast when you get one of those 8 to 12 lb. channels on a 8’ fly rod and they go from 3’ of water to the other side of the boat to 30’ deep.

New World Record Catfish!

Good luck this year fishing for those fighting channel cats, I believe if they got up to 30 lbs in the Tennessee River you couldn’t land one by the way the smaller ones fight. Remember this is a good trip for a kid -- lots of action to keep them excited.         Written by: Phil King  Corinth,MS

                         Catfish Bait / Bait Holders            Skinners & Scalers

                         Pliers / Scissors                         Eagle Claw Hooks

                  Stren Fishing Line                       Sinkers