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Sardis Lake Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Sep 4, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

The first of the Delta crappie giants: Sardis' fertile flats grow the slabs that made north Mississippi famous, with a beach-town summer on top.

1/5
Tough. Pick your battles.Post-front sun and slick water make them sulk.
Water temp
~84 F est.
Air / High
99 / 99 F
Wind
NE 6 mph

Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
4
September 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

1/5Tough. Pick your battles.Post-front sun and slick water make them sulk.

Sardis Lake serves up more heat: the productive hours are the dim ones. Today brings clear skies, wind NE around 6 mph, rising pressure near 1013 hPa and a high of 99. Water sits around 84 F for the season (estimated). With the last quarter, the solunar majors run 5:39 AM-7:39 AM and 5:39 PM-7:39 PM: plan around them and beat the heat.

The plan, species by species

Catfish (blue, channel)Fair

Anchor on 20-30 ft baited holes with punch bait or cut shad. They keep biting through the heat when everything else quits.

Largemouth bassSlow

Topwater at first light on points and seawalls, then slide out to 12-25 ft brush and points with a Carolina rig, deep crank or drop shot. The bite is dawn, dusk or deep.

White bassSlow

Early schooling action over humps; slabs and small spinners under the birds.

CrappieSlow

Straight down on bridge pilings and deep brush at 15-25 ft. Minnows outfish jigs in hot water; move until the graph shows them stacked.

Tomorrow: Similar at 103 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Sep 5, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Water and weather

Live readings.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~84 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp99 F
High / Low99 / 74 F
WindNE 6-8 mph
Pressure1012.7 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 7%
Sunrise / Sunset06:34 / 19:21
MoonLast Quarter, 50%
Water temp (seasonal)~84 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Next 7 days

Tap a day for the detailed outlook.

Fri Sep 4 · Partly cloudy, 99/74 F, wind 8 mph, rain 7%

Fair or better. A 8 mph breeze puts a working chop on the banks it hits: fish the wind-blown side.

Species guide

The species that matter on Sardis Lake: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: spring and fall

The headline act on most American reservoirs. Relates to cover: docks, brush, grass edges and points. Topwater at first light on points and seawalls, then slide out to 12-25 ft brush and points with a Carolina rig, deep crank or drop shot. The bite is dawn, dusk or deep.

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: Nov-Mar

Brush piles, bridge pilings and standing timber. The fish fry favorite. Straight down on bridge pilings and deep brush at 15-25 ft. Minnows outfish jigs in hot water; move until the graph shows them stacked.

Catfish (blue, channel) illustration

Catfish (blue, channel)

Good year-round

The most reliable bite on most southern waters. Blues run big; channels fill the cooler. Anchor on 20-30 ft baited holes with punch bait or cut shad. They keep biting through the heat when everything else quits.

White bass illustration

White bass

Best: Mar-May run

River-run spawners and open-water schoolers. Fast limits when you find them. Early schooling action over humps; slabs and small spinners under the birds.

When to come: the Sardis Lake calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Largemouth bass
Crappie
Catfish (blue, channel)
White bass
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 84 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~84 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Sardis Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Sep 3

3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Catfish (blue, channel) led the card at good. High of 97 F, wind to 8 mph.

Wed, Sep 2

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Catfish (blue, channel) led the card at good. High of 98 F, wind to 9 mph.

Tue, Sep 1

1/5 Tough. Pick your battles. Post-front sun and slick water make them sulk. Catfish (blue, channel) led the card at fair. High of 99 F, wind to 7 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Mississippi requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Mississippi license. Crappie: 15/day with size rules on the triangle lakes: review current MDWFP.

Access

Sardis Dam ramps, John Kyle SP, Hurricane Landing, Sleepy Bend: Corps and state access throughout.

About this water

32,100 acres on the Little Tallahatchie, Panola/Lafayette counties, MS. First of the north-Mississippi flood lakes (1940).

Fishing Sardis Lake: the full guide

Delta fertility, engineered

Sardis impounds the Little Tallahatchie into 32,000 acres of hill-country water feeding Delta fertility: the crappie grow fast, thick and famous. With Enid and Grenada it forms the slab triangle: Sardis runs biggest and most balanced: bass on the riprap, catfish on the flats, and a summer beach scene at the state park.

Slab patterns

Spring: the buckbrush and cypress lines at 3-8 ft fill with spawners (jigs under corks, dipped tight to wood). Summer: spider-rig the 12-18-ft flats off the channel: the deep schools bite through the heat. Fall: minnow-tipped jigs on the re-flooding flats. Winter: the channel bends hold wads: the December bite off Clear Creek is the insiders' season.

Beyond the crappie

Sardis bass fishing works the engineered edges: the long riprap faces (dam, causeways) hold spring cranking fish, and the cypress-lined upper lake flips like a Delta oxbow. White bass run the Tallahatchie each spring; blues and channels drift-fish across summer flats; bream bed in every pocket come May: the full southern-reservoir menu.

Drawdown rhythm

The Corps' winter drawdown (10-plus feet) rewrites the lake annually: fish concentrate into the channels (December-February crappie stacking), and the exposed flats map next spring's cover. Rising water in March floods fresh brush and detonates the spawn bite: follow the water level like the locals: it is the lake's real calendar.

Common questions

How does Sardis compare to Grenada for crappie?

Grenada grows the 3-lb freaks; Sardis balances size with numbers and better infrastructure. Fish both: they are 45 minutes apart and share the same spring calendar.

When is the Sardis crappie spawn?

Water hitting 60-65F: usually late March into April: fills the buckbrush lake-wide. The two weeks either side of the peak are the year's easiest limits.

Is fishing good at Sardis Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Tough. Pick your battles. Post-front sun and slick water make them sulk.

Nearby waters

Enid Lake17 miArkabutla Lake30 miGrenada Lake39 miWhite River80 miBay Springs Lake85 miPickwick Lake106 mi
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