Richies Bayou Fishing Guides
A Coahoma County Delta bayou running between Clarksdale and the river levee, slow and stained, with crappie on the wood and catfish in the bends.
Guides on the Richies Bayou
Claimed profiles take booking requests. Unclaimed profiles are built from public records so the river is never empty; the guide can claim or remove one any time.
No guides listed yet
Guide or outfit this water? Create your profile. Listing is free, the commission is 10% or 7% with a premium profile, and premium profiles list first on this water.
About the Richies Bayou
Richies Bayou runs through the flattest country in Mississippi, the Coahoma County Delta between Clarksdale and the Mississippi River levee, and it is a fair representative of the bayous that lace that landscape. The gauge at Sherard reads stage and discharge, and both numbers matter more here than they would on a river, because a Delta bayou changes character completely between a wet week and a dry one and there is very little in the topography to buffer that change.
The setting is agricultural. Cotton, soybeans and rice come to the bank in places, and the bayou functions as drainage as much as it does as habitat. That has consequences an angler should know about. The water carries colour most of the year, the bottom is soft silt rather than sand or gravel, and flows can rise sharply after a rain on the fields. What saves the fishing is structure: the deeper bends, the fallen timber along the remaining wooded margins, and the culverts and road crossings that create scour holes where fish concentrate.
Crappie are the fish most people come for and they hold on whatever wood the bayou offers, which in spring means good numbers in a small amount of water. Catfish carry the rest of the year, with channel catfish common and flatheads reaching genuine size in the deeper holes. Largemouth bass hold against the same wood as the crappie. Bluegill, longear sunfish and warmouth are reliable, and bowfin, spotted gar, freshwater drum and carp are common enough that the day rarely produces only what was expected.
Access is from road crossings and from the bank, with a great deal of private farm ground in between, so permission matters here more than in most places. Pressure is genuinely light and local.
This water needs a real photo
The photo at the top of this page is not Richies Bayou.
It is a regional stand-in, honestly captioned but generic — we will not put a name to a river we cannot prove. Send us a photograph you took here and it replaces the stand-in, with your credit on it.
Add a photo of this water
Landscape, not fish — the water itself. Reviewed by hand before it appears. The first one published here earns the Pioneer badge.
Fished this water? Add a photo
Reviewed by hand before it appears. Pick the water, not the spot — we never publish exact locations.
Access
Clarksdale - the Coahoma County seat a short drive east, with lodging, food and tackle.
Sherard - the small community at the gauge, the nearest point of reference on the bayou.
Road crossings along the bayou - the practical bank access and small boat launch points.
Mississippi River levee - the western boundary of this country and a landmark for navigating it.
Moon Lake - a well known oxbow nearby with developed access and a strong crappie fishery.
Tunica - a regional centre to the north with full services and river access.
Desoto Lake - another Coahoma County oxbow worth knowing when the bayou is out of shape.
Seasons
Spring: crappie move onto whatever wood the bayou holds and this is comfortably the best fishing of the year.
Summer: catfish take over in the deeper bends, fished slowly, while bass work the wood early and late.
Fall: falling water concentrates fish in the holes and flathead catfish feed hard ahead of the cold.
Winter: the bayou runs low and clear, the fishing slows to the deepest bends, and few anglers bother.
From the water
No logged trips yet. Be the first to put this water on your map.
Log this water
Fished it or cleaned it? Log in or create a free account to log a trip with photos and earn the waterway badge.
Questions
What species can you catch on the Richies Bayou?
Anglers target Black Crappie, Blue Catfish, Bluegill, Bowfin, Channel Catfish, Common Carp, Flathead Catfish, Freshwater Drum, Largemouth Bass, Longear Sunfish, Spotted Gar, Warmouth, White Crappie on the Richies Bayou in Mississippi.
Where can you access the Richies Bayou?
Clarksdale - the Coahoma County seat a short drive east, with lodging, food and tackle. Sherard - the small community at the gauge, the nearest point of reference on the bayou. Road crossings along the bayou - the practical bank access and small boat launch points. Mississippi River levee - the western boundary of this country and a landmark for navigating it. Moon Lake - a well known oxbow nearby with developed access and a strong crappie fishery. Tunica - a regional centre to the north with full services and river access. Desoto Lake - another Coahoma County oxbow worth knowing when the bayo...
When is the best time to fish the Richies Bayou?
Spring: crappie move onto whatever wood the bayou holds and this is comfortably the best fishing of the year. Summer: catfish take over in the deeper bends, fished slowly, while bass work the wood early and late. Fall: falling water concentrates fish in the holes and flathead catfish feed hard ahead of the cold. Winter: the bayou runs low and clear, the fishing slows to the deepest bends, and few anglers bother.
Where are the fishing regulations for the Richies Bayou?
Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Mississippi agency site: https://www.mdwfp.com/enforcement-education/general-fishing-rules-regulations