Topwater Fall Fishing on Pickwick Lake!
Alabama Bass Guide
Ryan Salzman, 256-508-5260
Pickwick Lake will always have a special place in my heart. Because that is where I cut my teeth tournament fishing, and because of these beautiful brown fish called smallmouth!
This time of year on the Tennessee River, especially Pickwick, is prime time for throwing topwater for chasing fish. My favorite lure to target these fish is a Vixen by Reaction Innovations. Bone is the go to color, but the translucent colors work great when the water is calmer.
Pickwick Lake goes through transitions of having grass to not having grass about every 3 years or so. This was a year when the grass decided to make a comeback. The primary areas for chasing fish this year was scattered and topped out hydrilla mats. Once you got into an area you could PowerPole down and catch fish for hours. You would visibly see the bass chasing schools of shad.
If you didn't want to target the bigger groups of fish you could go down the grass line working your spook quickly down the edge to locate and catch fish. Sometimes I will switch to throwing a belly weighted True Bass Swimbait on an 1/8 ounce Owner Beast hook. I would reel that through the grass and over scattered hydrilla. They would knock slack in your line a lot of times when they would hit it.
We had an Alabama Bass Trail tournament at the beginning of October where I ran these patterns and weighed in just under 17lbs fishing by myself. My partner was deployed overseas for this event.
Once the water draws down in the middle of October the topwater action gets even better. The tail race below the dam really heats up with hundreds of fish eating up there every morning. Sometimes they can be finicky on what topwater they want. If you want to learn the tips and tricks on fishing Pickwick give me a call!
To fish Pickwick or any other Alabama Lake call:
Ryan Salzman,
Alabama Bass Guide
256-508-5260