Find That In-between Bite: Pickwick & Wilson

September on Pickwick and Wilson is that in-between bite where summer ledges are emptying out and the creeks are loading up, and if you catch the shad right, you can have a career day.

Baitfish first. Threadfin are the engine. Early September, with water still in the 80s, they’re still out on main river humps and the ends of long points, but the first cool nights and a little rain push them to the mouths of the creeks.

You will see them flicking on top in the first third of Bear Creek, Yellow Creek, Second Creek on Pickwick, and on Wilson in Town Creek and Bluewater. They are small right now, an inch and a half to two inches, so bass are looking up and corralling. By mid to late September, when surface temps slip into the mid-70s, that migration moves deeper into the creeks and up onto shallow flats with a ditch or creek channel close by. Follow the birds and the flickers, not just your graph.

Transition zones are where you win. Forget the very backs of the creeks until October. The field-tested spots are those first two secondary points inside the creek mouth, any channel swing that touches a flat, and any isolated rock or stump on that flat.

On Wilson, that is even more pronounced. Look for current breaks below Wheeler Dam, the shoals at the head, and the ledge that drops into the Town Creek channel. Smallmouth will set up on the downstream side of those breaks waiting for shad to get swept over.

On Pickwick, the offshore stuff still matters early. The humps and shell bars at the mouth of Bear and Yellow Creek will hold mixed largemouth and smallmouth until about 10 AM, then they slide up shallow. That 8- to 12-foot-to-3- to 5-foot move is your daily pattern.

HERE ARE LURE ROTATION IDEAS

Heddon Super Spook/Lucky Craft
Bone or shad
First Light 5:30-7:30

River2Sea, Whopper Plopper
Shad
First Light

War Eagle Buzz
Toad White
First Light with Chop

War Eagle 3/8 oz. Double Willow Leaf Spinnerbait
Silver Blades
Burn Over Grass and laydowns
Sun Up 7:30-10 AM

MOVING BAITS- Keep in Strike Zone

Keitech Swing Impact FAT 3.8″
1/4 oz. Head
Sun Up

Z-Man Jack Hammer, Green Pumpkin Shad
w/swimbait Trailer
Mid-morning Ditches

PRESSURED FISH CLEAN UP

Strike King KVD 1.5 Squarebill Crank
Sexy Shad/Chartreuse w/Black Back
Pressured Bite
Secondary Points

Carolina Rig w/ Swimbait
Clean Up on Point Big Bites

September lures are all about covering water and matching that little shad. For first light, topwater is king, and that blow-up bite you like is at its best right now. A walking bait like a Spook or Sammy in shad or bone, a single prop bait or Plopper for the flats, and a white buzzbait when you have a little chop in the creeks. Once that sun gets up, switch to moving baits you can keep in the strike zone. A 3/8 ounce double willow spinnerbait in shad with silver blades burned over grass or around laydowns, a 3.8-inch swimbait on a quarter-ounce head, and a green pumpkin shad Chatterbait with a small swimbait trailer around ditches.

When they get pressured, or you see them swiping but not eating, a squarebill in sexy shad or chartreuse black back banging the secondary points and a light Carolina-rigged swimbait to clean up the same points will get the bigger bites. Color is simple this month: keep it shad, keep it small.

A run this time of year is to start on Pickwick at a main-lake hump at the mouth of Bear or Yellow Creek until about 7:30, then push in and hit every secondary point on the way back with topwater and spinnerbait. By 10, move to Wilson, look for current, and do the same transition points in Town Creek. Early September equals mouths, late September equals halfway back, and always fish the ditch. That is exactly what you are waiting for after the summer grind.

Post Presented By Southern Fishing News
Veteran-Owned & Fishing Experienced

And These Sponsors:
Slider Lures (www.sliderfishing.com)
Neese Waterfront Real Estate (www.neesere.com)
Bass Assassin Lures (http://bassassassin.com)
EGO Fishing (https://egofishing.com)
Motley Fishing (https://motleyfishing.com)
Frankey & Monica Marine (https://www.facebook.com/FrankeysMarineService)
Bo’s Jigs (http://bosjigs.com)
RipaLip (http://ripalip.com?AFFID=702162) (http://ripalipuniversity.com)