ATLAS › SOUTHEAST › MISSISSIPPI
Ross Barnett Reservoir
Mississippi's most-visited fishing lake, a bass and crappie fishery beside the Jackson metro.
Depth & Structure
33,000 acres, 105 miles shoreline — shallow reservoir, average about 11 feet, max about 35 feet; much of lake under 6 feet with flats, stumps and flooded timber, old Pearl River channel holes to 50 feet, creek ledges and brush piles in 12-15 feet, thermocline forming at 12-13 feet in summer
Best Lures
Spider rigging with double-minnow rigs, single jigging on stumps, long-lining/trolling jigs along depth transitions and lily pad edges, dock shooting, Damiki rigs and soft swimbaits and deep crankbaits for bass chasing shad
Best Baits
Live minnows — small minnows in cold water for crappie on spider rigs, minnows fished at thermocline depth (12-13 ft) in summer; redworms/crickets for bream
Gear to Bring
Long crappie poles (16 ft class for spider rigging) and light spinning, 4-8 lb line; medium spinning/baitcasting for bass on channel points/drops
Local Tips
['Summer crappie lock to thermocline at 12-13 feet — minnows dropped to 14 feet die quickly from low oxygen below it', 'Winter crappie follow shad upriver to Hwy 43 bridge — fish pilings with little current, or the big eddy below bridge (14-20 feet) when…
Shop the Rig
Related Water
Fish photos: largemouth bass — Wikimedia Commons · crappie — Wikimedia Commons · catfish — Wikimedia Commons
Fishing regulations, seasons and limits change — always check the current rules for this water before you fish. Spot pins are approximate area markers, not launch or access coordinates.