I kinda felt this way. I bass  fished for 15 years in Florida. Started at about 22. Always had moderate success. Never caught the big ones ya hear about there. But avidly fished. Moved to the Midwest. Totally different game. Never fished the seasons really. Never lived in snow. In Florida we year round fished. And just slowed the presentation a lil. So I got pretty discouraged. The ponds and lakes here don’t. Have hydrilla, cat tails, fields of lily pads. In my head I was like how do I fish a pond with no cover!!!??? I ended up switching to much smaller finesse presentations. Spinner baits, jigs, plastics. Everything smaller than I’ve ever thrown before. And wow has it paid off. I got my PB of almost 4 pounds here In iowa. Another thing that helped me was picking a lure. I picked the jig. It’s almost all I fish. I’ll mix a lil something else in there but the last 2 months basically has been jigs. And it helped so much. Downsize and keep it simple. 

5 hours ago, WRB said:

Your pressure is coming from within, not others.

If you can find a friend to share your boat who knows how to bass fish. A partner you learn from each other and it helps to stay focused plus enjoy the days on the water.

Smallmouth fisheries are very from LMB, different locations and presentations that requires down sizing or finesse lures.

Good fishing,

Tom

Sound advice, I always enjoy trip with others and am always looking for friends to take with me.  Over the years I have learned more from watching them than I have taught others.  I great way to learn, and have fun sharing.

10 hours ago, Don Harris said:

There is no question it is harder. So how do I best adjust to make the shift to larger lakes?

 

Bass bite is great. Bass are in spawning patterns and can be seen shallow. Anywhere between 3 -10 feet can be productive depending on the day and how the fish are moving. Anglers are using a variety of techniques to catch their fish. Lures like lipless crankbaits and single swimbaits are productive. Target offshore humps, points, and river ledges with 1 oz. spinnerbaits, Alabama rigs, suspending jerkbaits, jigs, rattletraps, and grubs. Good electronics are a must for the off-shore bite. Live minnows/shiners are also good bait choices. 

Fishing Report - 4/29/2025 MDWFP Pickwick Lake (JP Coleman State Park)

https://www.mdwfp.com/fishing-boating/lakes/pickwick-lake-jp-coleman-state-park

13 hours ago, greentrout said:

Bass bite is great. Bass are in spawning patterns and can be seen shallow. Anywhere between 3 -10 feet can be productive depending on the day and how the fish are moving. Anglers are using a variety of techniques to catch their fish. Lures like lipless crankbaits and single swimbaits are productive. Target offshore humps, points, and river ledges with 1 oz. spinnerbaits, Alabama rigs, suspending jerkbaits, jigs, rattletraps, and grubs. Good electronics are a must for the off-shore bite. Live minnows/shiners are also good bait choices. 

Fishing Report - 4/29/2025 MDWFP Pickwick Lake (JP Coleman State Park)

https://www.mdwfp.com/fishing-boating/lakes/pickwick-lake-jp-coleman-state-park

I have looked for fishing reports for Pickwick for years. The TWRA list is always behind by over a month. Never saw this one. This is kinda my point, though. I see that report and go out prepared with those exact lures and don't even get a bite in 3 or 4 hours. I guess this is the solution, though. Just keep fishing with no expectations. And, by the way, I can't catch fish at small lakes anymore, either. I think I am going to go full on finesse and try for awhile. 

Fish with bait. I use lures because they're handier, but bait outfishes lures. When I have used bait, I always used 4 lb. or 6 lb. test. Fish get a good look at dangling line, so it's important to have the thinnest possible line.

I agree with @Swamp Girl - you can use live bait to locate fish and even locate the things bass are eating sometimes which can be immensely helpful.

 

 

Also make sure you troll from spot to spot on big lakes while figuring them out.  Sometimes you get clues that pay off for years to come.

1 minute ago, Pat Brown said:

Also make sure you troll from spot to spot on big lakes while figuring them out.  Sometimes you get clues that pay off for years to come.

 

So true. Some anglers understandably springboard off the pros, but the pros don't troll and so many bass anglers also don't troll, but if you're going from A to B, keep your lure in the water. 

2 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

So true. Some anglers understandably springboard off the pros, but the pros don't troll and so many bass anglers also don't troll, but if you're going from A to B, keep your lure in the water. 

 

Not being allowed to troll in a bass tournament is so anglers don't gain a competitive advantage over each other. 

 

I think trolling when you're trying to gain a competitive advantage over Mother Nature while trying to figure out how to catch very smart fish for fun on your free time is perfectly acceptable.  😂😂😂

 

Get ye below a dam…….. TVA best practice 

I have lost my mojo so many’s times fishing that I now keep it on a leash so I can recover it quickly. I learned how to catch smallies on Lake Erie by trolling crank baits & jerk baits. You can’t sucessfully locate bass on big bodies of water without a plan to divide the large expanse into smaller sections. General bass knowledge tells you that bass will be in shallow to forty feet depths. That helps eliminate the deeper water sections. So start your search shallow & expand to deeper water as needed. Once you find the right depth you can duplicate your search in similar areas as needed at the proven depth. Also look for bait & target those depths. Also look for structure like rock & weed beds & bottom changes. Ledges would be a great place to start in deeper water. And remember you can’t catch fish when they are not there. So keep moving until you do find them. Good luck & don’t get discouraged. 

Pickwick is a beast. It can produce glorious days, but it can humble you too. It's possible to catch fish any way you want, but Pickwick changes by the hour. Just when you think you have it figured out...everything changes. Part of it fishes like a current driven river. Part of it is shallow grass & structure. Part of it is a deep lake with feeder creeks that are like rivers on their own. Part of it is untouched nature. Other parts are lined with yachts, and McMansions. The depth can rise/fall by 8-10 feet in a couple of days, and flow ranges from 5,000 cfs to 180,000 cfs depending on the amount of rain in the area (the area being east Tennessee to northeast Mississippi). You can be cruising along the edge of the channel in 40 feet of water right next to a gravel bar, stump field, or rock ledge that's 1 foot deep, and not even know it. Not to mention that there are hundreds of boats pressuring Pickwick all day, every day...winter, spring, summer, and fall. These variables make it quite a challenge.

 

All of that to say, don't get discouraged. It is not easy to learn. I have fished Pickwick from beginning to end with @roadwarrior who's a legend on this site (at least that's what he tells me 🤣). I've learned so much from him, but Pickwick makes a novice out of me most of the time. Even the best fishermen get beat by Pickwick. You have to adjust as it does, and keep with it. You will eventually have one of those glorious days, and you'll see why so many love Pickwick.

1 hour ago, Fishlegs said:

Pickwick is a beast. It can produce glorious days, but it can humble you too. It's possible to catch fish any way you want, but Pickwick changes by the hour. Just when you think you have it figured out...everything changes. Part of it fishes like a current driven river. Part of it is shallow grass & structure. Part of it is a deep lake with feeder creeks that are like rivers on their own. Part of it is untouched nature. Other parts are lined with yachts, and McMansions. The depth can rise/fall by 8-10 feet in a couple of days, and flow ranges from 5,000 cfs to 180,000 cfs depending on the amount of rain in the area (the area being east Tennessee to northeast Mississippi). You can be cruising along the edge of the channel in 40 feet of water right next to a gravel bar, stump field, or rock ledge that's 1 foot deep, and not even know it. Not to mention that there are hundreds of boats pressuring Pickwick all day, every day...winter, spring, summer, and fall. These variables make it quite a challenge.

 

All of that to say, don't get discouraged. It is not easy to learn. I have fished Pickwick from beginning to end with @roadwarrior who's a legend on this site (at least that's what he tells me 🤣). I've learned so much from him, but Pickwick makes a novice out of me most of the time. Even the best fishermen get beat by Pickwick. You have to adjust as it does, and keep with it. You will eventually have one of those glorious days, and you'll see why so many love Pickwick.

This is more what I was hoping for - someone who knows the lake a little bit. I realize I didn't say that. However, my next question, @Fishlegs and @Dwight Hottle, is when it comes to fishing deeper water, do you really need to have spot lock or some way to stay still on your spot? I don't have that. The wind plays havoc with staying on a spot. Should I take that off of my list of areas for right now? I have always been a bank beater. I've never learned off shore fishing. What I see at Pickwick is a crap ton of boat docks. I have ok electronics. I have a Lowrance Hook Reveal Tripleshot (Side Imaging) at the console and a Humminbird Helix 9 GPS MDI G4N at the bow. I'm just throwing information out there to see if anyone has any additional comments. 

I’ve only fished Pickwick Lake 4 times, years ago we’d visit my wife’s parents in NE Mississippi.As a visitor to the lake I got some good information from a bait and tackle shop to fish around State Line Island. Caught some good smallmouth and largemouth on the backside of it.also there’s a duck blind down off the lower end of the island that seemed to hold fish .Beautiful lake.

2 hours ago, flatcreek said:

I’ve only fished Pickwick Lake 4 times, years ago we’d visit my wife’s parents in NE Mississippi.As a visitor to the lake I got some good information from a bait and tackle shop to fish around State Line Island. Caught some good smallmouth and largemouth on the backside of it.also there’s a duck blind down off the lower end of the island that seemed to hold fish .Beautiful lake.

Bet you got a good woman. NE Mississippi is a hidden Gem and is God's Country.

Good Fishing

This post is from 2010, but it is still great info.
 

Like you, I don’t have much experience fishing offshore. I’d love to learn more about it too. Spot lock is a game changer IME, but people were fishing offshore long before it existed so it can be done.

 

The Tennessee side of the lake does have a lot of docks, but the Alabama side has far less. It’s more current, and underwater cover/structure oriented. You may be focused on the Tennessee side because of the license. If you have an Alabama license you can fish the whole lake. A Tennessee license gets you access from Pickwick dam to the Bear Creek/Waterloo area.

 

https://www.outdooralabama.com/freshwater-fishing-licenses/ala-miss-tenn-reciprocal-fishing-license-areas

 

53 minutes ago, Fishlegs said:

This post is from 2010, but it is still great info.
 

Like you, I don’t have much experience fishing offshore. I’d love to learn more about it too. Spot lock is a game changer IME, but people were fishing offshore long before it existed so it can be done.

 

The Tennessee side of the lake does have a lot of docks, but the Alabama side has far less. It’s more current, and underwater cover/structure oriented. You may be focused on the Tennessee side because of the license. If you have an Alabama license you can fish the whole lake. A Tennessee license gets you access from Pickwick dam to the Bear Creek/Waterloo area.

 

https://www.outdooralabama.com/freshwater-fishing-licenses/ala-miss-tenn-reciprocal-fishing-license-areas

 

I bought the Alabama license this year. I fished Waterloo once. I'm going back to AL Tuesday.

@Fishlegs that old article on Pickwick is great! I learned a lot from it. Thanks!

I lose my mojo every January and February. You'll find em, I have no doubt. I have nothing technical to offer, just attitude