THE MIDDLE TENN-TOM
The Tenn-Tom Waterway's middle lakes, known as Montgomery, Fulton, Wilkins and Amory pools, follow Bay Springs to the south.

"Nobody knows these relatively shallow lakes by their government names," Pugh pointed out. "Montgomery Pool is known as Lock D or Beaver Lake. Fulton Pool is known as Lock C. Wilkins Pool is generally called Smithville Lake or Lock B. Amory Pool is known as Lock A. These four man-made canal lakes were created for the Tenn-Tom waterway."

Pugh does not consider the crappie fishing on these small impoundments lakes very good when compared to the larger reservoirs along the waterway. In fact, he compares fishing in these lakes to fishing in a bathtub, because the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built them for navigation, not for recreational fishing.

"The productivity in these lakes for crappie isn't high," Pugh offered. "The shad populations are very different than the shad in the lakes at either end of the waterway."

You may find some big slab crappie in these lakes, but not abundant numbers of the fish. Most anglers consider Smithville Lake as the best for papermouth action in this group.

"Smithville is the best lake to fish because Bull Mountain Creek flows into it," Pugh explained. "The creek is a tributary of the old Tombigbee River. This creek brings a lot of fertility and productivity to the lake. Because of the creek, there's more diverse habitat than in the other man-made lakes. Locks A, C and D don't have any major creeks that flow into them. Basically, these other lakes are holes in the ground that are filled with water."

Like most impoundments, Smithville Lake has a cyclical crappie population.

"Every three to five years, we get a good crappie spawn in this lake," Pugh reported. "However, Smithville Lake's spawn won't be as good as those at Aberdeen and Columbus."

Smithville, however, does not have a complete monopoly on slab action in the midsection of the waterway.

"We do have quite a bit of crappie fishing at Amory," Pugh acknowledged. "This lake stands out because of its gravel pits and structure. Even though Amory is small, the crappie fishing is pretty good."

The water in these pits at Amory drops down to 10 to 15 feet deep in places. This provides better conditions for the papermouths.

During the spring, crappie can be found in good numbers in the gravel pits, but their presence is not a secret. Expect quite a bit of competition for catching these fish when the crappie bite happens.

Although Amory has some standing timber, most crappie are found swimming around aquatic vegetation. Several islands in this pool contain buckbrush and other weeds that crappie like.

"The average crappie at Amory weighs 3/4-pound, smaller than in Bay Springs or Columbus lakes," Pugh added.