Pickwick Lake

[milarhodes]

I'm from South Louisiana and catching smallmouth bass is on my bucket list. I've heard that Pickwick Lake is in the top 10 smallmouth lakes in the country. I'm about 7 hours away. I just booked a cabin at Pickwick Landing Campground for late April. Is this a good place to stay? Any recommendations for a guide? I plan to pull my boat to the lake and thought it may be beneficial to hire a guide for the first day then strike out on my on. Thanks for any responses.
Mike

[Coach]

Depending on weather you should have a really good trip. You picked a good place to stay with one exception. If you want to catch smallmouth, I feel like the other end of the lake is a better choice. You can run up the lake to the tailrace (about 40 minutes depending on your boat) or drive to McFarland and launch (about a 25 minute drive). If it we me I would get the guide the first day and fish a day up around McFarland and then a day down where you are staying.
Fish will be everywhere, some spawning and some already out on the ledges, all depending on the weather trends.
The fishing is good, there are some good places to eat in the area, folks are friendly, and it is a beautiful lake. I've see eagles, white river otters, deer, etc...
I'd be happy to give you an update on fishing closer to your trip.

[milarhodes]

Thank you a bunch for the reply. I'm running a Ranger RT198P, 19' with a 150 ProXS so I hope I can run around the lake but have no issues trailering to get to the fish. I may take you up on an updated report closer to April.

[JYarb]

I agree with Coach that you are on the wrong end of the lake. I would want to be close to Florence. As far as a guide, Brent Crow is very good.

[mdwhitten]

Some thoughts—
1.April is a TOUGH month for smallmouth on Pickwick. Most will have been spawned by then.
2. Florence, Alabama is a much better end of the lake for smallmouth.
3. Fish during the week, current is much better and will help the bite.
4. you only need an Alabama license to fish from dam to dam.
5. Watch the wind. 15-25 is not uncommon in April. It is 52 miles by water to McFarland Park. Would not want to run that in your boat in a 15 mph or more. Trailer and fish close.
6. It is more like an hour drive to McFarland Park from Pickwick Dam. No way can you do that drive in 25 minutes.
7. For guides— Jimmy Mason, Roger Stegall, Gary Harlan are good ones.

[Coach]

Milarhodes,
Listen to mdwhitten. He knows the lake and how to fish it. He doesn't know it but he helped me win a club tournament my first trip to Pickwick over 20 years ago with information from a board like this and a phone call.
He is also right about the drive time, I was thinking about Waterloo which is closer to halfway. That is where I put in if I'm not fishing around McFarland.
You can message me closer to time and I will tell you what I know, which isn't much.

[bbcman]

Fish Monday through Thursday if you can. Get a guide on Monday.

[wilsonlake]

Your best bet to catch Smallmouth is going to be late March or Early April. Usually by tax day they have spawned and moved. The upper end of the lake around Florence is the best area. Also if you stay in Florence you can also fish Wilson Lake which at times is better for Smallmouth than Pickwick. It just does not get recognized as much. Wilson use to hold the world record for a Smallmouth at one time. Biggest Smallmouth that I have seen the last few years have come from Wilson Lake.

[pacwa]

One top guide for smallmouth on Pickwick is Steve Hacker. His site is www.smallmouth.com. As you would expect, his dance card is probably full. Another smallmouth guide on the lake is David Allen. There is an article about him at www.fishingbama.com. There is also another article on the site about three guides, but I don’t remember the names.

[milarhodes]

Thanks for all the responses. I may just wait until summer to come. Have great day!

[elite-fishing]

Call David Allen if you are looking to catch big Small mouth

[Coach]

for me April is better than summer for smallmouth. I turn to largemouth on the lower end in late may early june and stay there the rest of the summer.