HOW TO CATCH SMALLMOUTH NOW WITH ROGER STEGALL
Jerkbaits for Smallmouths in the Fall
Editor’s
Note: Longtime pro fisherman Roger Stegall of Iuka,
Mississippi, has guided fishermen on Pickwick Lake on
the Alabama/Mississippi/Tennessee border for over 17
years. Here's some of his tactics for catching big smallmouth
during the month of November.
Yet another lure that's overlooked for smallmouth fishing
at this time of year is the jerkbait, but I've been
catching a lot of fish in recent years fishing a Wild
Shiner made by Strike King. This year Strike King is
introducing a new color in the Bleeding Bait
Series that I really like - crystal gizzard shad. As
the weather cools down, the shad will start to die.
Cold weather kills shad quicker than any other fish
in the water. When the shad die, they don't have quick
deaths. As they start to die, they twitch, flutter and
begin to fall to the bottom. If you'll notice the shad's
gills when it's going through this dying process, they
will be really red, the same color of red that you'll
see on the crystal gizzard shad in the Bleeding Bait
Series. Because this bait has red eyes, red hooks and
red around the gills and imitates the action of a dying
shad, this bait will probably be my favorite colored
jerkbait to use when the weather starts to cool down
and those shad start dying. A dying shad that can't
run away from a predator fish like a smallmouth offers
a really-easy meal to those ole brown fish.
I fish the Wild Shiner by casting it out, reeling it
down two or three turns, stopping the bait, pulling
it with my rod tip and finally letting it sit. Then
I take up slack, pull it again with my rod and
once more let it sit. You don't have to fish this bait
nearly as slowly in the fall of the year as you do in
the early spring when the water's much colder, and the
bass are in their prespawn mode. I like to fish the
Wild Shiner when the water temperature in the 55-65
degree range. Although most fishermen consider the jerkbait
a prespawn, early-spring lure, the Wild Shiner is extremely
deadly in the fall when water temperature reaches the
55-65 degree range.
To learn more about fishing below the
dam at Pickwick, contact the Hardin County Convention
and Visitor’s Bureau at info@tourhardincounty.org,
call 731-925-8181 or 800-552-3866, or visit www.tourhardincounty.org.
Pickwick Landing State Park offers fishing, boating,
hiking, camping, swimming and golf. Lodging includes
the lakeside inn with over 100 rooms, cabins that sleep
eight and a campground that contains 48 sites with grill
and electric/water hookup at each site. A restaurant
at the park offers delicious southern cuisine. Call
731-689-3135 or 800-250-8615 to learn more.
TOMORROW: THE TRUTH ABOUT THE QUAD SHAD SPINNER BAIT
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