IUKA, Miss. — All year long and at just about every level of competition, Pickwick Lake has been kicking out big bass. That should continue when the Mississippi Division of the Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine wraps up its 2025 season with a two-day Super Tournament on Pickwick Sept. 27-28, although anglers will have to work to generate those big bites.
This year, BFL anglers benefit from an expanded slate of Regionals, which minimizes travel costs and provides more opportunities to qualify for the $120,000 BFL All-American while fishing familiar, closer-to-home waters. Click here to find out more.
What to expect
No one has been more dialed in on Pickwick in recent years than North Alabama star Dylan Nutt, who won last year’s Mississippi Division Super Tournament on the fishery as well as a Toyota Series event in February. Across those wins, Nutt has weighed some massive limits, including 30 pounds even on the final day of his Toyota Series triumph.
While that shows the caliber of fish swimming in the Tennessee River impoundment, Nutt said catching them isn’t nearly as easy as it might look on paper. He said Pickwick’s bass seem to be getting more educated by the day.
“Maybe the fish are starting to adjust to everybody out there using LiveScope,” he theorized. “In previous years, some fish might not see a bait for a little while, but nowadays, they’re seeing baits all the time, and they’re starting to learn what’s real and what’s fake.”
Combine that with a transitional time of year, and filling out five-fish limits will be far from a guarantee. Nutt said the bass seem to be spread all over the place right now, with some still occupying offshore, summertime habitat and others moving shallow to chase baitfish.
“I went fishing all day yesterday, and it was an absolute grind,” he said. “I saw plenty of big fish, and it’s hard to get them to bite. … It kind of seems like they’re really spread out right now.”
Still, even though the bites might not be fast and furious, Nutt expects a few big bags to hit the scales. He said a friend of his boated a limit over 28 pounds in recent days. The key will be pairing that with another strong day, which may require a significant adjustment from one day to the next.
“I definitely could see someone having a big bag one day and then falling off the next,” he said. “These fish, especially on Pickwick, they change a lot. It seems like time of day is a huge factor; also the weather, whether it’s sunny or cloudy, they change up a whole lot. But I’d say whoever can just get something figured out and understand what the fish are doing at that very moment are going to be able to pull it off.”
Baits to bring
Jighead minnows and forward-facing sonar are always going to play on the Tennessee River. However, Nutt said that’s far from the only way to contend. He’s starting to see some shad schooling up and flickering on the surface, which is a sign that it’s time to break out the topwaters. He said shad-imitating crankbaits of both the lipless and billed variety should also be popular tools.
What will it take?
Nutt isn’t competing in this event, and that alone might be enough to lower expectations for the winning weight. Last year, he and runner-up Banks Shaw both topped 47 pounds, while no one else even reached 34.
That said, Nutt thinks someone will crack the upper-40s once again.
“I honestly feel like somewhere in that 23, 24 pounds a day is probably going to win,” he said.