UTER
Photo: Mike Cline, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Micropterus coosae
How to catch Redeye bass
Redeye bass feed in 50–82°F water and bite best at 60–74°F. Fish Scouter's season calendar follows them in 3 waters; in October they are at their peak in Alabama fresh water, Georgia fresh water, South Carolina fresh water.
25 pts · trophy at 12"Feeds 50–82°FBest 60–74°FIn season nowCreek / streamRiver
About
The little bass of the Southern Appalachian creeks — bronze, red-eyed, white-edged on the tail — in the clear, cool streams of the Coosa and Savannah basins. A pound is a trophy, and a creek full of them is a secret worth keeping.
How to fish it
Wet-wade a clear mountain creek with an ultralight or a 4-weight; cast to the plunge pools and the undercut banks.
What it eats
small poppersinline spinnerscrawfish imitations
Live bait for it
CrayfishHooked through the tail on a #2 to 2/0 hook and dragged slowly along rock and gravel — the smallmouth bait, and good for catfish and walleye.
NightcrawlersWhole on a #6 to #2 hook under a bobber or on a bottom rig; threaded on a spinner harness drifted for walleye. The bait that catches everything in fresh water.
What to fish it with
the sizes that fish itLeader10–20 lb fluorocarbon
Hook#2–3/0
Jig head1/8–1/2 oz
Braid10–30 lb
The rule
not confirmed hereRules differ by state — check your state's fish and wildlife agency before you keep one.
The current rule →Where it is, month by month
PPeakSSpawningAArriving·AroundLLeaving
Fresh water by state