Bass Fishing in Mississippi

Mississippi fishes two ways. Up north and through the middle of the state, it's freshwater: big reservoirs, the Mississippi River, oxbow lakes. Down on the Gulf Coast, it's salt: estuaries, bayous, and open Gulf water full of redfish and speckled trout. A guided trip on Ross Barnett Reservoir chasing largemouth bass and a charter out of Biloxi working the marsh are both Mississippi fishing, and they have almost nothing in common. That range is the state's quiet advantage.

The freshwater side leans on its reservoirs. Grenada Lake, Sardis Lake, and Pickwick Lake hold serious crappie, largemouth bass, and catfish, Grenada in particular draws crappie anglers from across the country. Along the western edge, the Mississippi River and its backwaters near Vicksburg and Greenville produce trophy catfish, paddlefish, and panfish in water that changes character with every rise and fall of the river. Guides here fish techniques built for the terrain: spider rigging for open-water crappie, picking bass out of submerged timber, running the backwaters a visitor would never find alone.

The coast, from Bay St. Louis to Pascagoula, is where the salt takes over. Inshore charters work the shallow bays and marsh for speckled trout, redfish, flounder, and black drum, with the water around barrier islands like Ship Island and Cat Island fishing especially well. Offshore boats run deeper for snapper, grouper, amberjack, and king mackerel, setting up over artificial reefs and natural bottom. The Mississippi Sound feeds it all, a fertile, protected stretch of water that keeps the coastal fishery producing across the calendar.