See every public fishing venue in Mississippi on the map, with boat ramps, camping, parking and full rules for each one.
Pearl River is a public river in Pearl River County, Rankin County, Marion County, Lawrence County, Hinds County and Copiah County, Mississippi, managed by State of Mississippi (public / navigable water). You can fish it on a Mississippi licence, but bank access is only at road crossings, parks, MDWFP access sites and other public land; riparian owners control the bank on non-navigable reaches. Public access confirmed via marquee water.
The Pearl River — from the Ross Barnett Reservoir down through Jackson and along the Louisiana line to the Gulf. Largemouth and spotted bass, crappie in the oxbows, bream, and a serious flathead- and blue-catfish fishery, plus gar and bowfin. The lower river is a wild, braided cypress swamp.
It runs roughly 389 miles through the Gulf Coast & Piney Woods region. Anglers here mostly fish for largemouth bass, spotted bass, black crappie, bluegill; redear sunfish, channel catfish, flathead catfish, blue catfish are also on record. Live flow and gauge height come from the East Pearl River at I-59 near Nicholson, MS USGS station shown below. The nearest other mapped waters on PiscaMaps are Pretty Branch and Crooked Creek.
Species from MDWFP fishery-management data.
Night fishing: No statewide night-fishing closure in Mississippi. State, county and state-park lakes have posted hours and gate at night, and some have electric-motor-only rules — check the MDWFP page for that lake. Trotlines, limb lines, jugs and set hooks are legal on most public waters (not on the state lakes) with the gear tagged with your name and address.
Boats: The big Corps and TVA reservoirs (Sardis, Enid, Grenada, Arkabutla, Ross Barnett, Pickwick, the Tenn-Tom pools) have no horsepower limit; idle / no-wake zones are marked near ramps, dams and marinas, and the flood-control lakes can drop 10-20 ft in the fall drawdown so watch for stumps and shoals. Most MDWFP state and county lakes are electric-motor-only or have a small gas-horsepower cap. A Mississippi boater-education certificate is required for operators born after 30 June 1980.
Bank & bivvy camping: Camp at Mississippi state parks (many sit on the best lakes — Roosevelt, Legion, Trace, Lake Lowndes, George P. Cossar on Enid, Hugh White on Grenada, John W. Kyle on Sardis), Corps campgrounds on the four flood-control lakes and Ross Barnett, and the Bienville, Homochitto, De Soto and Tombigbee national forests, which allow dispersed camping on much of their land. Delta oxbow lakes are mostly day-use with private camps around them.
Tackle: Statewide black-bass daily limit is 10 (no statewide minimum, but many lakes carry a slot or minimum — the state lakes especially); crappie 30 per day on most waters with a 15-fish / 12-inch rule on Sardis, Enid, Grenada and Arkabutla in spring; white and yellow bass have generous limits; catfish limits vary. Check the current MDWFP fishing regulations for this water.
Boat ramps: 14 mapped — Boat ramp, Boat ramp, Boat ramp, Boat ramp, Logtown Boat Launch, Boat ramp and others nearby.
Camping: 20 sites mapped nearby — Lefleur's Bluff State Park, Campsite, Campsite, Campsite, Campsite, Campsite and others.
Source: OpenStreetMap contributors.
Loading live flow & gauge height…
Live from USGS gauge 02492511 — East Pearl River at I-59 near Nicholson, MS. Full gauge data →
Anyone 16-64 needs a Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks fishing licence — resident freshwater is about $14 (a resident Sportsman licence ~$32 adds the WMA and other privileges), non-resident annual about $60, and non-resident 3-day (~$30) licences are sold. Mississippi residents 65 and older, and residents born before 1 July 1946, fish free with proof of age. A separate saltwater licence covers the marine and tidal waters of the Gulf Coast. Mississippi has no trout and no trout stamp. Buy from MDWFP at mdwfp.com. A Mississippi fishing licence covers navigable rivers. The Mississippi River is fished on a Mississippi, Arkansas or Louisiana licence in the marked border reaches; the tidal Gulf Coast rivers need a saltwater licence.
Every water carries species, bank & boat access, current regulations and live water conditions — and members get Swim Mapper, Catch Logger and Trip Planner. It's the only US map with a dedicated carp-water layer.
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