Going offshore at Pickwick

The summer bite at Pickwick Lake is mostly offshore – no surprise to anyone who knows anything about that lake.

The summer bite at Pickwick Lake is mostly offshore – no surprise to anyone who knows anything about that lake, especially if you’ve paid attention to how tournaments there have been won lately.

BassGold has those tournaments in its database plus a few more, and a Pattern Report for the summer months of May through July shows this:

Main lake offshore: check! Then we can take a look at the Habitat Factors graph, which shows this:

Note the prevalence of ledges and “gravel/clay/sand/shells,” which at Pickwick means shellbeds.

So then if you look at the Baits graph, you understand why crankbaits are such a factor – though jigs are almost as effective in wins. The swimbait spike is curious, and if you take a look at the pattern details you can see that that swimbaits are mostly used in tailrace fishing.

The key will be finding the spots – a job made easier with BassGold’s awesome maps – and then being on those spots when those fish turn on. Because in a “riverine reservoir” like Pickwick, current is always key.

Weight-wise, BassGold shows that averaging in the mid- to high teens per day should be the ticket to a high finish. Good luck!

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