Mississippi Division will end the season on Pickwick
Pickwick Lake will host the season finale in the Mississippi Division of the Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine. This Super Tournament on Sept. 21-22 will test the anglers with bass caught between summer and fall patterns, but there is always the potential for monster bags in this fishery.
Tournament details
Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine Mississippi Division Super Tournament
Sept. 21-22
Iuka, Miss.
About the fishery
Pickwick Lake is no stranger to bass tournaments and is one of the most popular fisheries on the entire Tennessee River system. It spreads over 43,000 acres over 50 miles, with prime bass habitat throughout the lake.
Every year is a little different for Pickwick’s vegetation, and this year, it’s scant, according to Pickwick guide Brent Crow, who’s scored a BFL and Toyota Series Championship victory on one of his home lakes.
“Normally, September is when you have the best grass bite on Pickwick, but this year, there’s no grass,” he said. “Usually, you have mats to fish and can fish the edges of grass. This year, all that’s left is the little short stuff, and that’s it.”
With vegetation lacking, Crow expects other types of cover to play.
“Pickwick is a lot different than Lake Guntersville, where it seems like the grass always grows,” he said. “With no grass, the gravel bars will be more of a player. The fish are not all out on the summertime ledges with giant schools, but you can still get on some groups of them on some of those bars.”
Crow also expects traditional hotspots to be a factor in this event.
“Normally, the bars around Koger Island have the grass and biggest population of largemouth, and even with no grass, there’s plenty of stumps, and it’s still a good area to drag a Carolina rig,” said Crow. “This time of year, I also like to run into the backs of Indian and Panther Creeks to look for schooling fish.”
Another potential winning area is the dam below Wilson Lake.
“That’s always a player. Even though September isn’t prime time for that bite, you only need five bites a day,” said Crow. “I expect some of the top weights to come from there, but it’s usually those with intimate knowledge up there because it isn’t easy.”
What to expect
It’s September in the south, so fishing is expected to be challenging, and that’s what Crow is predicting despite the incredible winning weight of this same event last season.
In early September 2023, Jake Lawrence amassed 51 pounds and two ounces to win by over 20 pounds in the Super Tournament. Crow said that was highly unusual but that it opened the eyes of many local anglers.
“He let out the whole LiveScope bite and what it can do this time of year, but typically 16 or 17 pounds is really strong,” he said. “Someone may catch 20 pounds here in September, but to do it two days in a row is really hard. It’s just not as good here as it will be in October or November. I think catching 18 a day will be strong and definitely put you in the top five, even if someone comes in with a huge bag one day.”
Aside from the forward-facing sonar bite, Crow shared that there will likely be many ways to catch fish in this event.
“Targeting schooling fish is a big deal in September, and throwing topwaters is my favorite,” he said. “If you can get into them, you can also use a spinnerbait, crankbait, or whatever you want to. If you get in the right pockets with active schoolers, you can catch largemouth and smallmouth in the same place.”