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Fishing Reports Tournament Results Bay Springs Lake Also known as the Divide Cut Section of the Tenn-Tom Waterway, Bay Springs Lake is the only deep-water lake on the waterway. Bay Springs contains 6,700 acres and has 133 miles of shoreline. The Lake is connected to the Yellow Creek embayment of the Tennessee River by a 25-mile long canal that was dug between the hills that separate the Tennessee and Tombigbee River Basins. Bay Springs Lock & Dam is the northern most of the ten locks and dams on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. It is located just above Mississippi Highway 4 about six miles west of Dennis, MS. The lock, which was completed in 1979 is 600 feet long, 110 feet wide and has a lift of 84 feet, which is the 3rd highest east of the Mississippi River. This is the fourth highest single lift lock in the nation. Six standard size barges along with their towboats can be locked through the forty-six million gallons of water. It takes approximately fifteen minutes to empty a filled lock chamber. The lock is open year round twenty-four hours per day for boat traffic. The commodity most often transported through the lock is wood products, which account for about 50% of the traffic. To Contact the Lockmaster, call (662) 454-7977 or Marine Radio Channel 18. (Standby Channel for All Locks - Channel 16) (more lock information) 4/29/2008 Water temps are in the upper 60s; the cold front over the weekend dropped the water temps a couple of degrees. The bass bite is excellent, but only a few people are catching the larger fish. Good numbers of both spots and largemouth can be caught by running windy banks and targeting timber in the backs of the pockets. The problem with this pattern is average size; most of these bass are in the 10 to 13 inch range. The best baits to catch numbers are spinner baits and rattletraps. The key for the quality bite is to fish deeper. The crappie bite this past week has been fair to good depending on who you talk to. Good numbers were caught this past Saturday. The most successful crappie anglers have been fishing deeper water, hitting secondary points and/or brush tops; minnows have been out producing jigs right now. We had very few catfish reports this past week. 4/16/2008 Bass reports have been fair to good; a lot of boats have been on the water for the BFL tourney this past weekend. A nice 17 lb sack was brought to the scales; most anglers reported catching good numbers of fish. A variety of baits are catching largemouth, but t-rigged plastics, jig-n-pig combos and spinner baits were popular bait choices on Saturday. For spotted bass, target windy, red clay banks with traps and spinner baits. The crappie bite changed dramatically this week. The good shallow water bite has dropped off as the few crappie being caught are coming out of 6 to 10 feet of water. Most crappie anglers are hitting secondary points and/or brush tops near spawning areas; minnows have been out producing jigs right now. We had very few catfish reports this past week. 8/7/2007 The bass bite during the day has proven to be pretty tough. A few bass are being caught the first 3 or so hours after daylight, but the midday bite is almost nonexistent. I did have one good report during the day for numbers of bass. Light line and 4-inch finesse worms proved to be a good choice on main lake points. The bite in the canal is still pretty good; buzz baits and t-rigged plastics have been best baits. The bass reports at night have been fair; a few quality bass are being caught on Carolina-rigged plastics and t-rigged 10-inch worms. The catfish reports are fair; most folks are jug fishing in the canal between Bay Springs and Pickwick. The crappie reports are coming from deep water near the McDougal and Ashcraft areas of the lake. The few crappie anglers are hitting the deep ledges and brush piles in 18 to 30 ft of water. Both minnows and jigs are catching fish. 7/7/2007 Several anglers are still reporting some bass action at night. Old roadbeds, main lake points, and creek channels are all popular right now after the sun goes down. Big (11-inch) plastic worms will be your best bait, along the jig-n-pig combos. Other bass anglers are reporting a fair to good bite early and late on top water baits; after that, Carolina-rigged plastics and shaky heads will be your best bet. Target main lake points with sunken brush for best results. The catfish reports are fair; most folks are jug fishing in the canal between Bay Springs and Pickwick. The crappie bite is also deep as crappie have moved into their summer patterns. The few crappie anglers are hitting the deep ledges and brush piles in 18 to 30 ft of water. Both minnows and jigs are catching fish. 7/3/2007 The night bite for bass is starting to improve. Old roadbeds, main lake points, and creek channels are all popular right now after the sun goes down. Big (11-inch) plastic worms will be your best bait. Other bass anglers are reporting a pretty good bite early and late on top water baits; after that, Carolina-rigged plastics and shaky heads will be your best bet. Target main lake points with sunken brush for best results. The catfish reports are fair; most folks are jug fishing in the canal between Bay Springs and Pickwick. The crappie bite is also deep as crappie have moved into their summer patterns. The few crappie anglers are hitting the deep ledges and brush piles in 18 to 30 ft of water. Both minnows and jigs are catching fish. 6/26/2007 Most bass anglers on Bay are fishing deep right now. A few top water reports are coming in early and late; best bites are spotted bass on main lake points. The deep bass are on main lake points, the Josh Pond levee and old hwy. 4. Carolina-rigged or Texas-rigged plastics are best bait choices, with a jigging spoon a good option for both bass and stripes. The canal above Crow’s Neck is holding some keeper bass right now; most bass are averaging 2 lbs. Best baits for the canal are shallow crank baits and t-rigged finesse worms. The crappie bite is also deep as crappie have moved into their summer patterns. The few crappie anglers are hitting the deep ledges and brush piles in 18 to 30 ft of water. Both minnows and jigs are catching fish. The catfish reports are still coming in; most anglers are fishing near the cut at Crow’s Neck and in the canal above Crow’s Neck. 5/29/2007 The bass reports are fair to good; most bass are coming on secondary points in the hollows and main lake points. Carolina-rigged lizards have been the best baits with small ¼ oz jigs catching some nice spots along shoreline structure. A good top water bite is being reported on main lake points both early and late and we even had a few large mouths caught on spinner baits in the timber up at Crow’s Neck. The crappie bite has slowed, we haven’t seen that many crappie anglers on the lake in the last week or so. The few that are fishing are pulling crappie jigs in deeper water near McDougal and Ashcraft. The white bass have shown up on the Josh Pond levee; deep crank baits and Lil’ Georges have been good stripe baits. The catfish reports are slowly coming in; most anglers are fishing near the cut at Crow’s Neck and in the canal above Crow’s Neck. 5/23/2007 A few quality bass are beginning to show up on the main lake points and humps. Several bass in the 4 to 5 lb range are being caught out of 20 to 25 feet of water. Best areas have brush piles on top of the points with deep water nearby. Best baits are Carolina or Texas-rigged plastics. The crappie bite has slowed, we haven’t seen that many crappie anglers on the lake in the last week or so. A couple of crappie anglers reported having some success targeting fish attractors in the 5-fingers area. We are also still getting a few reports of crappie being caught in shallow water in McDougal and Ashcraft. Hair jigs are bettor for quality fish; minnows are good for numbers. The catfish reports in the canal above Crow’s Neck are fair. Anglers are reporting success using trotlines and rod-n-reels. Night crawlers and liver have been best baits. 5/15/2007 The bass anglers are still reporting a good bite for numbers. Most bass are coming on secondary points in the hollows and main lake points. Carolina-rigged lizards have been the best baits. A good top water bite was reported over the weekend off a couple of main lake points. The crappie bite has slowed, we haven’t seen that many crappie anglers on the lake in the last week or so. A couple of crappie anglers reported having some success targeting fish attractors in the 5-fingers area. We are also still getting a few reports of crappie being caught in shallow water in McDougal and Ashcraft. Hair jigs are bettor for quality fish; minnows are good for numbers. The catfish reports in the canal above Crow’s Neck have been good. Anglers are reporting success using trotlines and rod-n-reels. Night crawlers and liver have been best baits.
The morning of June 24th 11 boats blasted off from the Cotton Springs Landing to kick off the 6th tournament of the 2007 season. The “run” through the cool morning air and the brief action of the “morning” bite would be the only relief for the hot day to come. The hot action of the morning bite experienced by some of those competing was short lived, as the bite seemingly tapered off by 9:00. There were a couple of boats who reported catching fish all day, but for most of the field the action found after 11:00 was short lived. One team reported catching their fish on secondary points and finding a school of better fish on one particular secondary point. “We were catching dinks everywhere else so we decided to sit on them.” Finding the “better” fish proved to much harder for the most of the field as 4 lbs. separated 3rd and 4th place. The “Money” teams ran out of Bay Springs to find the winning sacks. 2 teams stopped in the canal section of Yellow Creek to fish the rocks and the other ran to Pickwick to fish the river. One of the teams that stopped to fish the rocks reported catching fish all day on top water baits. “As soon as the sun went behind the clouds we start catching them again.” The 2nd team that stopped on the rocks reported catching fish, using the hottest lure on the market – the shaky head. The rest of the field reported catching fish using any if not all of the other tactics known by anglers. T-rigs, C-rigs, crank baits, jerk baits are just some of the tactics used to catch fish on Bay Springs. Bass were caught on points, ledges, timber, lay downs, and slick banks, all deep and shallow. One team reported catching fish up against the bank in less than a foot of water and in the same area catching fish in 22 feet of water. Bay Springs once again produced an enjoyable day of fishing for everyone, and Yellow Creek produced the winning bags for 2 of the top 3 teams. I am sure some teams will be trying to gain knowledge on the canal section of Yellow Creek in preparation of the fast approaching Pickwick tournament. Good luck and good fishing! See ya at Pickwick! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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