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In the Magnolia State there is no end to the variety of options available to the avid anglers. From bass to catfish, and bream to crappie the state is full of great fishing destinations.

How about saltwater fish? Well, this one we have to qualify. We know they are plentiful off the coast in the Gulf of Mexico, but what we don’t know at the time this story was written are the lasting effects of the BP oil spill of 2010. In fall the trout, redfish, king mackerel and even sharks were biting. We just don’t know about the future. For the most part, we have left them off our calendar.

JANUARY
Largemouth Bass – Lake Bogue Homa
Our first recommendation is based more on history, and the success that the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks has had when it renovates, restocks and reopens one of its state lakes to fishing. Bass fishing explodes in those lakes from Day 1, and improves for a couple of years.

Lake Bogue Homa at Laurel was reopened in May 2010 and began producing good numbers of quality Florida largemouths, but this is a lake that historically has been better in the winter. The MDWFP cut a lot of new channels and gave old ones new definition during the renovation. Fish those drops and also along the new dam for big bass.

Other Options
Another option for January is a similar situation for largemouths, only a few years older. Lake Okhissa near Bude in the Homochitto National Forest is a U.S. Forest Service lake in its fourth year. Its bass are peaking and they are plentiful.

Any of the Mississippi River oxbows still connected to the river provide excellent crappie fishing, despite their reputations of being dead during the winter.

FEBRUARY
Crappie – Lake Chotard
Our No. 1 choice for the coldest month of our winters is crappie fishing in Lake Chotard north of Vicksburg. Magnolia Crappie Club president Paul Johnson is one of the fishermen responsible for opening the door to this type winter oxbow crappie action.

“For years they told us you can’t catch fish there in the winter, and guess what? They were wrong,” Johnson said. “Locate the fish with your fish finder, pin-point their depth and you can catch them on a fairly dependable rate.”

Other Options
Lake Bill Waller is an excellent choice for the second month, and again, this is a recently renovated lake where the original stocking of Florida largemouth bass is still growing. Fish in excess of 10 and even 12 pounds are showing up in surveys. Another pick for February is on the Gulf Coast, fishing the coastal rivers for speckled trout that migrate into the bays for the winter. The Pascagoula River is a good bet.

MARCH
Largemouth Bass – Ross Barnett Reservoir
Finally we get to head north, and our first stop in March is at Ross Barnett Reservoir for largemouth bass. What makes it good for bass in March there is that many areas of shallow flats with pad stems are adjacent to deep waters.

“They start moving up to feed on a pre-spawn pattern and you can start hammering the buck bass in early March and the bigger females in mid to late March,” said Pete Ponds, a BASS Elite Series pro from Madison. “Learn how to throw a swimming lizard on an 1/8-ounce weight, and reel it back through the stems like slow-rolling a spinnerbait. They will kill it.”

Target the Rankin County side of the upper, main lake, to the north of the islands.

Other Options
Head to Lake Washington near Glen Alan for the best pre-spawn crappie action. All you need to know is to fight the urge to get into and around the cypress trees. Stay out about 50 to 100 yards and drift with several poles offering a minnow-and-jig combination in water 6 to 10 feet deep.

Farther north, go to Enid Lake, launch and run up the river from the main lake. Look for white bass in the channel. Deep holes hold the biggest schools and the action is nonstop.

APRIL
Crappie – Ross Barnett Reservoir
If you are thinking spawning crappie for April, go to Ross Barnett Reservoir, which year-in and year-out is Mississippi’s best spawning crappie lake.

“You can bet the house on it. The peak of the spawn on the main lake will be a day or two either side of tax day,” said Rabbit Rogers of Brandon, the lake’s foremost crappie authority, regarding April 15. “The exact day varies by moon phase and water level, but it will be in that window. Depending on the water level, you will want to fish either the stumps in 5 to 6 feet of water, or, if there is enough water, move up into the flooded grass on the Rankin County side to fish the sawgrass and pad stems.”

Other Options
Grenada Lake is the current “in spot” for crappie fishing, but still ranks as No. 2 to Barnett Reservoir. Follow the creeks back as far as possible and fish any flooded cover, like grass, brush, trees or stumps in 4 feet of water and less.

Our first bream pick is for redears at Trace State Park between Tupelo and Pontotoc in northeast Mississippi. Look for bed-dimpled bottoms of coves in the smaller of the park’s lakes.

MAY
Bluegill – Lake Okhissa
We’re headed back south to Okhissa again, and this time for bedding bluegill on the new and full moon in May.

“When we designed this lake we built over 600 gravel beds for bream,” said Rick Dillard of the U.S. Forest Service. “They are in obvious places, like points and cove banks, and they are in not so obvious places, too, where you may have to smell out the fish.”

Lake maps with bream bed locations are available from the Homochitto National Forest headquarters in Bude.

Other Options
We can never leave out the catfish action on the bluff banks of Pickwick Lake in the far northeast corner of the state in May. Channel cats move up on the rocks below those banks to spawn in the cracks and other cover. Follow the cracks down the banks and fish near them. Nightcrawlers are all you will need with light tackle to fill a cooler.

Our next choice takes us to the Tenn-Tom Waterway at the Columbus Pool for outstanding post-spawn largemouth action. The big fish are still shallow. Find a wind-blown bank and use a white spinnerbait with just a grub and
no skirt.

JUNE
White Bass – Lake Ferguson
It may have been the best kept fishing secret of 2010, but word did get out after the fact how good the white bass action was in June on Lake Ferguson near Greenville.

“Probably had the best white bass fishing ever in Ferguson and it lasted the entire month,” said Clyde McGee of the Sportsman in Greenville. “My son and I wore them out on crankbaits. You could find them easy enough feeding on the surface, but you could also just fish the sand bars and points.”

The Sportsman in Greenville is the best place to get the latest local fishing information. Check them out at 1511 Highway 1 South or call (662) 335-5018.