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Photo from L to R: Paul Elias, Jimmy Smith, Jr., Jimmy Webb, Savanté Stringfellow, Richard Duease, Becky Vest(WLOX)

By WLOX Staff

Published: Oct. 25, 2023 at 12:23 PM MST|Updated: 22 hours ago

JACKSON, Miss. (WLOX) - The Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame proudly announced the selections for the Hall of Fame Induction Class of 2024 today. The newest group includes three NFL football players, a tennis professional, a track and field star, a basketball coach, a baseball Hall of Fame broadcaster, and the first-ever bass fisherman to be inducted.

The Class of 2024 is as follows:

Walter “Red” Barber – Born in Columbus, MS, Red Barber first started working in radio while at the University of Florida. He caught the eye of Cincinnati Reds General Manager Larry MacPhail who was looking to broadcast his team’s games. The first big league game he watched was his first MLB broadcast. Barber went on to broadcast for the Reds, the Brooklyn Dodgers, and the New York Yankees. He and his partner with the Yankees, Mel Allen, were the first two broadcasters honored with Induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He is credited with many unusual sayings during his broadcasts like “sitting in the Catbirds seat,” calling arguments “rhubarbs,” or telling listeners that “the batter hit that ball out into the pea patch”.

Richard Duease - Born and raised in Indianola, Richard Duease played many sports throughout his high school and junior college years. He attended Mississippi State and then began his coaching career at Manchester Academy in Yazoo City. He moved to Lee Academy in Clarksdale to coach men’s and women’s basketball. In 1982, he was hired at Madison-Ridgeland Academy, where he still coaches today. While at MRA, Coach Duease has averaged over 30 wins per season. His teams have won 33 State Championships and 15 Overall MAIS Championships. Now in his 49th season, he has a men’s basketball record of 1209-433 and a women’s basketball record of 592-271.

Paul Elias – A native of Laurel, Paul Elias is the first Professional Bass Fisherman to be selected for the Hall of Fame. Perhaps the greatest fisherman the state has produced, Elias began tournament fishing as a pro in 1979 and still competes today. In 1982, Paul won the Bassmaster’s Classic Championship in Montgomery, AL. In 2008, he set a record that still stands today for the largest four-day five-bass limit in one tournament of 132 pounds 8 ounces on Lake Falcon in Texas. Over his career, he has won six tournaments and had over 50 top-ten finishes. Paul is considered one of the top innovators and technicians in bass fishing.

Eli Manning – The youngest of the Manning sons, Eli began making his mark in football at an early age. He excelled as a quarterback in high school before following in his father’s footsteps to the University of Mississippi. During his time in Oxford, he set or tied 47 records to become the most honored offensive player in school history. He was the first player drafted in the 2004 NFL Draft. He enjoyed a 16-year career with the New York Giants, winning two Super Bowls and two Super Bowl MVP Awards. His #10 jersey has been retired by both Ole Miss and the NY Giants. He is in the Giants Ring of Honor, Ole Miss Sports Hall of Fame, Louisiana High School Sports Hall of Fame, and has been selected as an SEC Legend. In 2016, Eli was chosen as the NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year.

Jimmy Smith – Born and raised in Jackson, Jimmy Smith started his football career at Callaway High School as a wide receiver. His teammates nicknamed him “Silk” because he made big plays appear easy. He played college ball at Jackson State and then was drafted 36th Overall in the 1992 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys. In his rookie year, he played mainly Special Teams and took the Cowboys to a Super Bowl Victory. In 1995, Smith caught the eye of Jaguars Head Coach Tom Coughlin at a tryout camp and was signed by the team. He was a five-time Pro-Bowler and led the league in passes caught in 1999. He was a fixture for a decade in the Jacksonville offense. Over his career, he caught 862 passes for 12,287 yards and 67 touchdowns. He retired as the Jags All-Time Leading Receiver.

Savanté Stringfellow – A native of Jackson, Savanté Stringfellow attended Provine High School where he was a track and field star. He competed in the long jump, ran hurdles, and had a high jump of 6′11″. He went to Ole Miss where he was coached by Hall of Famer Joe Walker. Long Jump was his specialty and he claimed three NCAA Titles, as well as six All-American titles. In 2000, he earned a spot on the US Olympic team, where he won a Silver Medal in the long jump. He has won titles all around the world in the US, Canada, Australia, France, Monaco, and Hungary. He is a member of the Ole Miss Athletic Hall of Fame.

Becky Vest – Becky Vest grew up in Jackson and attended Provine High School. While in junior high, she won two State Championships in tennis. In high school, she won three more State Championships. Becky chose to attend Odessa Junior College and then Trinity University in Texas because they offered women’s tennis programs at the time. After college, Becky turned professional and played on the Virginia Slims European Tour. She played in the French Open, US Open, and Wimbledon. She has taught tennis all over the mid-south in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. In 1998, she was inducted into the Mississippi Tennis Hall of Fame. Her mother, Dorothy Vest is also an inductee of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame, making them the first mother-daughter duo to be inducted.

Jimmy Webb – Dr. Webb grew up on a cattle farm near Florence, MS. He was an outstanding student and athlete at Florence High and went on to Mississippi State University. While at MSU, Jimmy attained All-American status, All-SEC honors, and All-Academic Status. He was arguably the top defensive lineman in MSU history, while also studying Veterinary Medicine. He was the first-round draft choice by the San Francisco 49ers and played for six seasons. In 1981, he played with the San Diego Chargers and they won their division and first-round playoff contest. Although the league didn’t keep defensive stats for sacks, tackles for loss, or assisted tackles until 2001, one sportswriter claimed that Jimmy spent so much time in the opponent’s backfield that they should have charged him rent. Dr. Webb and his wife settled in Turlock, CA where he worked in embryo transfer and ran his family farm. He has been inducted into the MSU Athletic Hall of Fame, selected as an SEC Legend, and selected to the 75th Anniversary Sun Bowl Team in 2008.

This impressive group will be formally enshrined next summer during the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame Induction Weekend on August 2nd-3rd, 2024. Tickets will go on sale in January 2024.

The vegetation is dying off, and you can fish many of the areas close to the bank that you’ve not been able to fish when grass has enveloped the lake. Also, this time of year is when the bass are feeding heavily on shad to build up their bodies for the winter and to get ready for the spring spawn.

The lures I’ll use in October include a bladed jig, a swimbait, a Mann’s SpringR worm and a Mann’s Super Frog. The bass will be near the banks in shallow water and holding in or on the edge of the dying grass or under the cypress trees. My main target in October is the dying grass. As nights become cooler, the baitfish will move in even closer to the bank and into the dying grass. The bass then will follow.

In the fall, you’ll also spot numbers of schooling bass.

The Jig/Swimbait

The first two lures I’ll fish on the east side of the lake are a white bladed jig and a white swim bait. I like white because that’s the color of the shad the bass are eating. I prefer a 3/8-ounce bladed jig and fish it on a 7’6” FX custom cranking rod with a 7.3:1 gear ratio Bruin ELS reel and 14 pound test White Peacock fluorocarbon line. I’ll reel the bladed jig fairly fast to keep it out of the grass and rip it off the dying grass. I’m primarily looking for bait and bass chasing that bait.

I like to fish the back 1/3 of the lake where I’ll locate coontail moss and patches of lily pads. When I identify a spot where I can cast my bladed jig, I’ll start retrieving it as soon as it hits the water. These places will also be where I’ll fish a white swimbait.

A Super Frog 

Once I see the bass chasing shad back into the shallow grass on the lake’s east side, I’ll switch to fishing the Super Frog. I’ll start off with a white Super Frog because the shad are white; however, if I’m not getting as many bites as I think I should, I’ll switch to a black frog. I always let the bass show me what color of frog they’ll most actively attack.

I’ll fish both Super Frogs on a 7’3” FX custom rod with a 7.3:1 Bruin reel and 50 pound test bass braid. I’ll walk the frog over the tops of the grass and stop it in an open pocket or an open hole. I’ll also be casting to the lily pads and stopping the frog in any openings in the pads. I like this tactic for bass that are chasing bait in the grass and the pads.

A Spring® Worm

I like to fish this lure in a Junebug color that I’ve wacky rigged with a weed guard hook around the cypress trees on the east side of the lake. I’ll skip the worm under the cypress trees and attempt to get the worm as close to the trunk as possible where there’s shade. On most of the grass lakes I fish, the Junebug color gets the most bites in October.

I’ll fish this worm on a 7’4” medium action FX custom rod with 15 pound test bass braid line and a 12 pound test, 6 foot long fluorocarbon leader. I’ll tie the fluorocarbon to the braid with an Alberto knot. Once the worm hits the water, I’ll let it fall all the way to the bottom, shake it, move it a short distance and allow it to fall to the bottom again. 

I’ll also fish the SpringR Worm around cypress knees and the cypress trees’ root systems.

After I’ve moved the worm two or three times, I’ll reel it in, make another cast and fish the worm all the way around a tree. I’ve found that most of my bites usually occur right after I skip the worm to the base of a cypress tree, and the worm begins falling. On most Mississippi grass lakes, you can fish these techniques and these baits successfully until December. 

The rules

Bogue Homa has a 15 inch size limit on bass. You may catch and release 15 bass in a morning or an afternoon of fishing with seven or eight of those 15 inches long or longer. But Bogue Homa has some very nice-sized bass in it too, and you may hook up to an 8-9 pounder. 

Bogue Homa is home to a number of 3-5 pound bass.

Lately the sizes and numbers of Sardis Lake bass have rebounded. I like to fish Sardis in September because the lake usually floods in the spring, bringing in new nutrients and an abundance of food that causes bass to recover quickly from the spawn. I’ll primarily locate bass on cover in the creek and river channels

First half of September

The lures I’ll fish during the first half of September in underwater creeks and on river ledges include a Carolina rigged plastic worm, a deep diving crankbait and a walking lure.

• Fish a Jelly Worm: On a Carolina rig, I’ll use 40 pound test bass braid and a 1 ounce bullet weight up the line with a plastic bead beneath it. I’ll tie the braided line to the top of a barrel swivel. On the other eye of the barrel swivel, I’ll tie 3 feet of 19 pound White Peacock fluorocarbon line to a 5/0 wide gap Gamakatsu hook. I’ll Texas rig either a 9 or a 10 inch Mann’s plum colored Jelly worm. I’ll cast this rig on a 7’10” heavy action FX custom rod with a Bruin ELS 8:1 gear ratio reel.
• I’ll drag the Carolina rig along the bottom slowly to feel when the weight hits the cover before the worm reaches the structure and get prepared for a strike. My boat will be sitting on the deep side of a channel or river ledge, and I’ll cast to the top of the ledge. When the lead reaches the lip of the break, it will fall off from the shallow water to the deep water, and this is the second place I’ll expect to get a bite.
• Use a deep diving crankbait: I’ll fish a Mann’s Gray Ghost colored 20+ crankbait on 14 pound White Peacock fluorocarbon line that I’ve spooled on a Bruin 6.2:1 reel. I’ll use a 7’6” medium-heavy FX custom cranking rod to burn this crankbait on the bottom by casting it onto the shallow side of the ledge, cranking it down and bouncing it off the underwater cover. When the crankbait comes over the lip of the break, I’ll reel it quickly back to the boat to get a reaction strike.
• Have a walking bait like a Zara Spook: Tie a Spook to a rod on your casting deck. You can pick it up quickly and cast it to schooling bass on the surface. I’ll use a 7.3:1 reel, spooled with 20 pound bass braid and a short (8 – 10 inch) monofilament leader. Even when the school goes down and quits breaking the surface feeding, you almost always can continue to catch bass for about 10 minutes with a walking bait.

Mid to end of September

• Fish the backs of creeks and pockets: I fish every piece of visible cover I can find — with a C4 crankbait with a brown back and chartreuse body, a SpringR Worm in watermelon red or a Mann’s Classic spinner bait. I’ll start fishing from the back ends of creeks and pockets up to their mouths. If I’m catching bass in that creek or pocket, then after I fish one side, I’ll fish the other side. The shady side of these creeks or pockets is where I’ll locate the most bass. I’ll make repeated casts to all visible cover and use my Wiley X sunglasses to look for underwater stumps, logs and trees to see wood just barely underwater.

I’ll start off fishing a C4 crankbait and bouncing it off cover to get a reaction strike. I’ll also alternate fishing the crankbait with the spinner bait. I can fish both these lures fast, cover a lot of ground in a short time and determine how many and what size of bass are holding on that cover, and whether or not they want a fast moving bait.

If the bass are hitting the crankbait and the spinner bait but missing them, or if I’m not getting as many strikes as I think I should, I’ll slow down my fishing and start picking the cover apart with a SpringR Worm on a weedless wacky hook. I’ll be fishing with a 7’4” FX custom spinning rod, 15 pound bass braid and a 5-6 foot White Peacock fluorocarbon 10 pound leader. I’ll let the wacky worm wiggle down beside and through the cover. Once it hits bottom, I’ll twitch it a couple of times to make it wiggle. If I don’t get a bite, I’ll reel the worm in and cast it to another part of the cover.

The bass you can expect to catch

In September, I’ll enjoy catching 8-10 bass, averaging 1 ½ to 3 pounds each per day, at Sardis. When fishing a school of bass on the ledges in the first half of September, I may double or triple that number of bass. I may even catch a 5 or a 6 pounder.

Photo by Moore - SPRING CITY, Tenn. – Being on the Toro Cut Line is one of the most stressful situations in a Bass Pro Tour event. Every decision makes a difference between going home or going big. Fortunately for Mississippi pro Paul Elias, he made the right choices at General Tire Stage Five Presented by Covercraft on Monday and landed above the cut line when it was time for lines out. 

Elias moved to the upper section of Watts Bar Lake to fish some underwater vegetation and quickly posted three catches in Period 3. That one change in location gave Elias the edge he needed to qualify for the Knockout Round alongside Mark Daniels Jr., Gary Klein and Takahiro Omori.

The prespawn bass at Bay Springs Lake on the Tenn-Tom Waterway will be moving into shallow water to bed now. Throughout April, you can catch smallmouth, largemouth and spotted bass in three lake locations with four different lures: a Mann’s Classic spinnerbait, a jerkbait, a bladed jig and a SpringR worm.

Main lake points at the first of April

At the beginning of April, the first locations I’ll fish are main lake points, since bass will be migrating from deep water to the points before moving shallower.

• Jerkbait – I’ll start fishing the bank with a jerkbait that dives 6 feet deep and then suspends, generally in a color called Table Rock that features a purple back, bone colored sides and an orange belly. I like a 6’6” medium action FX custom rod with a 7.3:1 ELS Bruin reel and 8 ½-pound test White Peacock fluorcocarbon line. I’ll fish 50 yards above a point, all the way around a point and 50 yards below a point.

Some of these points will have grass, stumps and/or gravel on them. On the gravel points, you’re more likely to catch smallmouth rather than largemouth or spotted bass. The points with underwater grass that grows up to 3-4 feet from the surface or have stumps on them are where you’ll find all three bass species.

When fishing the jerkbait, let the bass tell you what presentation they like best. I’ll start off fishing a jerkbait fairly fast, pausing it occasionally. Because we’re fishing in April with water not as cold as March’s, the bass will be more aggressive.

• Classic Spinnerbait – I’ll next slowly roll this spinnerbait with a white and chartreuse skirt and one gold and one silver willowleaf blade on the shaft over the tops of the grass and around the stumps, using the same system I did with the jerkbait. I fish this spinnerbait with an ELS Bruin 6.2:1 reel, a 6’10” heavy action FX custom rod and 14 pound fluorocarbon line. I’ll make my second pass with the Classic and then next fish that same point with a bladed jig.
• Bladed Jig – I like a ½-ounce green pumpkin colored bladed jig that I’ll cast on 19 pound fluorocarbon with the same reel I use with a jerkbait and a 7’6” medium heavy action FX Custom Cranking rod.

Creeks running into the main lake in mid-April

During the middle of April, the bass will travel to the creeks on the main river channel and the bays that flow into the river channel. I’ll fish with the same rod, reel, line and lures at the points of the creeks running into the main lake and the points of the bays on the main lake. I’ll fish around any visible stumps or laydowns I find with those same lures. If any grass lines are present, I’ll fish also where two creeks meet and make a point or in points inside of the pockets off the main lake.

Backs of creeks and pockets at the end of April

At the end of April, the bass will move further up into the backs of creeks and pockets. If there’s clear water, you probably can fish for bedding bass by sight fishing. For sight fishing, I prefer a green pumpkin SpringR worm, hooked wacky style, with a Gamakatsu wide gap wacky finesse hook. I like spinning tackle and will have my reel spooled with 10 pound bass braid that I’ve tied 6-8 feet of 8 ½ -pound fluorocarbon leader to with a uni knot. I’ll cast the SpringR worm to visible bedding bass, stumps, grass clumps or any other spots where I think bass may be bedding. In the backs of these creeks, you’ll catch more largemouths than spots or smallmouths. In the pockets off the main lake, you’ll catch more bedding spots and smallmouths than largemouths.

Sizes of April bass you may catch

During April, you’ll catch numbers of male bass weighing 1 ½ to 2 ½ pounds. In a day, you may catch 10-15 male bass and 8-10 females, weighing 5-7 pounds each. In my opinion, Bay Springs Lake is the best April bassing lake in Mississippi. The bass are easy to find because they’re shallow. The lures I’ve described and the techniques I’ve suggested always have produced good days of April bassing at Bay Springs Lake.

Creeks and Ditches are migration routes for Fall Bass. #fxcustomrods #balsaxusa #aftcofreshwater

There are a lot of products on the market for bass fishing these days. But it seems as if I'm often guilty of finding something that works and then not looking any further. As the old saying goes, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

That's one of the things, however, that I love about my job. I'm forced to try new things. I simply can't write a product review each week on the same 5 baits I've used for the past ten years. I believe that makes me a better and more well-rounded angler.

Enter the Bruin Outdoors Paul Elias Legend Series Baitcast Reel (Bruin ELS). This is a product I would have likely never bought because I already have several reels I like. But it's a product I'm glad I got to use because it opened my eyes to a reel I would definitely recommend buying now. 

Here's what I've learned about this unique bass fishing reel throughout my testing.

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