“For that to work to produce more big fish, we need fishermen to take some of the smaller bass out,” Skains pointed out. “The last thing we want to do is for the bass to become overpopulated, which would stunt growth.”

LAKE TOM BAILEY
At Lake Tom Bailey in Toomsuba, between Meridian and the Alabama line, the MDWFP has a management plan in place to do exactly the opposite -- create an overpopulation of bass that will limit trophy potential.

“We’re managing Tom Bailey to create a trophy bream lake,” said biologist Larry Bull. “That means we want to develop a bass population that will be dominated by small fish that will feed on small bream only. I know that bass fishermen won’t understand or like the sound of that.”

Well, for now they should. In the first few years of the lake’s reopening, Phase 1 of the management plan actually creates a great bass fishery. It won’t last for very long, but for 2007 Tom Bailey should be a must visit.

A 234-acre lake, it shouldn’t be hard to learn in a trip or two.

“You don’t have to look too hard to see where you want to fish,” said biologist Clay Ready. “We did a lot of work during renovation to create cover and structure, plus we have a lot of vegetation that we really didn’t plan on. You can launch at the ramp and immediately see two or three options.”

In the spring of 2006, one pattern emerged quickly following the spawn.

“We had a heck of a run on bass on plastic frogs,” Bull said. “We had a couple of guys who kind of stumbled onto it when they saw fish moving around the shallow vegetation. They pulled out frogs and had great results.”

Bass up to 6 pounds were common in the catch, which means the lake is producing some good fish quickly.

“But, again, understand that this is not our long-term goal,” Ready emphasized. “It’s great to start with for bass fishermen and it will last a few years. But we’re working hard to create a high population of small bass, not big bass. We’ll always have some big bass, but not like we will for the first few years. There’s a 15-inch minimum length limit on bass. That is not to promote recruitment of bass to trophy length, but to protect the small fish which will dominate the population.”

Spring and fall topwater fishing is the top bass attraction at the lake, but there is ample opportunity for deeper fishing in the channels cut by the agency during the renovation process. Also, in the late spring, fish for bass around the many gravel beds built for bluegill spawning areas. Fishermen had excellent luck catching bass that congregated around the beds to feast on young-of-the-year bream. Spinnerbaits and soft-plastic jerkbaits worked really well.

NESHOBA COUNTY LAKE
When we pulled up to the ramp at Neshoba County Lake last October, lake manager Sherry Hazlewood gave us a tip that would pay big dividends.

“Hope you brought some topwater baits,” she said with a smile. “This is a topwater lake. That’s all my husband throws.”