ALICEVILLE RESERVOIR
Aliceville's fishery has attracted national attention, Larry Pugh said. Lots of Crappie USA tournaments take place on this impoundment. "They may actually be holding the tournament on Columbus Lake just above Aliceville," he noted, "but it's legal to lock through and fish Aliceville, and a lot of the competitors will do that."

Larry Higginbotham, a Mississippi Conservation Officer who regularly fishes Aliceville, explained, "I like to go there in March and April, when it's time for the fish to start spawning."

Early in the season, he finds fish holding on structure just offshore. The crappie relate to brushtops in the water, and even twigs and tall grass. Later they'll move into what he calls the "spawning banks" -- shallow stands with weeds, woody structure or other cover.

Higginbotham fishes almost exclusively with jigs. He likes black and green plastic versions, but he sees lots of other anglers using squirrel hair jigs in dark colors such as brown.

The difficult part: just finding the fish. "They're hard to predict," Higginbotham said. "You might find them in 10 feet of water one day and in 8 or even 3 feet the next day if they're in the process of moving to the banks."

Don't expect to find one magic spot that'll enable you just to load the boat. "You kind of have to move down the banks," Higginbotham emphasized. "You might catch five or six fish in one spot and then move down the bank 100 yards and catch one or two more. You have to be patient."

Around the first of April is among the prime times. The time of day at which you're on the water doesn't matter a whole lot, but as Aliceville gets a substantial amount of fishing pressure, Higginbotham likes to get out early. But he's had good luck in the middle of the day, fishing around 11:00 a.m., too. "There's very little night-fishing on Aliceville," he tossed in.

Portions of the lake are treacherous for boating, and a newcomer to the fishing at night might just be asking for trouble. "There are a lot of stumpfields," Higginbotham said. "A lot of the best fishing is on the old Tombigbee River run. That's where the bigger fish are found."