"When our club went up there from Jackson to hold a three-day weekend tournament, I spent a whole week at Pickwick before the event and never left Yellow Creek," said Brent Tucker. "I fell in love with it. We were there in May, and the only two days I struggled were the first two days. After that, when I had a better feel for it and had found some good areas, I caught fish. I didn't win, but I did finish second - and the guy who beat me was in Yellow Creek, too."

Tucker said his catch was dominated by largemouths, pointing out that he caught only five or six smallmouths during the 10 days he fished. By comparison, he was limiting on quality largemouths daily.

"I caught some bedding in the shallows that most of us who fish lakes like Barnett, Sardis and Eagle, would never recognize as spawning areas," he said. "I was sitting in 6 feet of water one day, moving slowly down this bank in the back of a cove. I was making a few casts and looking along the bank for fish and not doing so good. I was catching a few small fish, but nothing good.

"Then I looked down, and right there, in 6 feet of water, I spotted a male and a female bass sitting on a bed almost directly under the boat. I couldn't believe it - they were as clear as looking at bass in 18 inches of water in Barnett. I backed off, started looking for more and found some. It took some work, but I was finally able to make a few of the females bite."

But, Tucker went on, he couldn't depend on that pattern for a tournament, so he looked for patterns that could produce a quick limit and leave him time to try to target one or two bedding females to add to his daily weight.

"What I found were two patterns that were dependable," he explained, "one for sunny days and one for overcast days that would also work at sunrise. The sunny-day pattern was fishing around isolated islands and finding gravel bars, and fishing with a crankbait or worm; there was always a fish or two on every one. In just the short time I looked, I found about seven or eight spots, and three of those were hot.

"The other pattern that I started with every day was a buzzbait over shallow gravel right against riprap banks. It didn't matter where the riprap was - if there were rocks, there were largemouth. For the first 30 minutes every morning, I could count on catching at least two or three good largemouths, 2 or 3 pounds each. That's a good way to start any day. If it was overcast, this could last a couple of hours. If not, it was over pretty quick when the sun got above the trees."

BOOK A GUIDE To book a day of guided fishing for largemouth or smallmouth bass on Pickwick Lake, contact Roger Stegall in Iuka. Call him at 662-423-3869, or contact him via e-mail at rogstegall@fishpickwick.com.   Information is also available on his Web site, at www.fishpickwick.com.

Years of experience with finding perfect deep-water structure are what enable Stegall to specialize in targeting those bass. For those who lack that experience, it's still possible to find fish: Just try concentrating on those same Bear and Yellow Creek waters.

"It would be hard for someone to come up here and in a matter of a day or two figure out how to catch fish in the middle of the lake on the Tennessee River channel. They'd have to hire a guide, which is always a good idea, and then try to find the same spots in the future," he said with a smile and wink. "But both Bear Creek and Yellow Creek are microcosms of the main lake. You can find the same kind of structure along the creek channels in those coves that you can find along the river in the main lake. The only difference is that you will be looking in shallower water. The river channel is 50 and 60 feet in most places. The creek channels are 30 feet. The humps in the main lake you're looking to fish rise up to 15 or 20 feet, surrounded by 30 top 50 feet of water. The humps you're looking for in Bear Creek, for example, will top off at 10 to 12 feet and be surrounded by 15 to 30 feet of water."

Stegall prefers deeper open-water structure because his clients are mostly paying for the opportunity to catch that once-in-a-lifetime smallmouth. Largemouths, which are more comfortable than are smallies in shallower habitat, are more numerous in Bear and Yellow Creek.

"It still depends on current in the summer," Stegall noted. "If they're pulling water, the current will still be affected in the major creek coves. When you notice movement, start targeting the deeper structure along the channels. That's what triggers the bite."

Any cove on the lake, but especially those off Bear Creek and Yellow Creek, will yield up some largemouths during the fall. If they're not on the surface, take a crankbait and fish the gravel points and bars until you find one holding a big school.

"It won't take long," Pugh promised. "You hit two or three of them, and you're going to find one that has a big school of bass. It may have a mixed bag, but largemouth will dominate over smallies and spots."

Ramps are located in many areas, including a very serviceable one with a marina at J.P. Coleman State Park, near Iuka at the mouth to Indian Creek.