I fished today with Scott and Mike Kasick of Franklin Tennessee on Old Hickory Lake. Action got off to a little slower start than Monday but we used a little patience in one area where we have been catching a lot of bass and it finally paid off. The bait fish moved in and like turning a switch on we were on fish. For the day we caught and released 47 Largmouth-4 Big Crappie and a Sauger. We had 12 keeper Largemouth and no picture size fish. 44 of the bass were caught on the Speed Trap and everything else on a spinner bait. Scott and Mike Thanks for a good trip your great to fish with and I look forward to the next one.
Rick McFerrin
Old Hickory June 2-04
All I can say about the morning that my youngest son Daniel and I had on Old Hickory is WOW!!!!! The top water bite was explosive and when that died down the Crankbait bite kicked in. Daniel and I managed to catch and released 61 Largemouth and 2 white bass in a short 6 hour period between 5:00am and 11:00am with the vast majority of the fish actually being caught in the first 4 hours on the lake. Recently I found a shallow bar that is about 2 foot deep on top that runs better than 75 yards or so that is flanked on one side with 4 foot water and on the other with 10 foot. These fish have been holding on the crest of the bar somewhere up and down the 75 yard span. Today almost before the Fluke would settle in the water a largemouth would nail it so hard they would almost hook themselves. Daniel and I just continued to work the bar back and forth over and over. We also caught several fish in other parts of the lake on the same baits. By 11:00am the sun was beginning to bare down so we packed it up and headed home. I don't guess I got more than 5 miles from the lake when Daniel was sound asleep. Great day with my son....great day on the water...what more could a dad ask for.........Rick
Awesome trip and to have a trip like that with your son had to make it even better.
Fished the Hick w/ my wife for her birthday. We started around 5:30 AM in Spencer Creek and ended up w/ 6 fish on Flukes. No fish on Crank's in Spencer Creek. Moved down the river and fished some new millfoil I found a couple of weeks ago. Pulled 6 out of there that were reall nice quality fish in the 16-17 inch range. Mover to the steam Plant and I missed a really good fish off the flats as well as did my wife. We ended up w/ 29 fish out of the Steam Plant and 41 for the day. We even managed 2 double ups, and she had 6 fish w/ 6 casts. Not to bad for a first timer using worms. Best 5 was around 9-10 pounds. Nothing huge, just good quality fish. All fish were released unharmed. It looled like the lake was being drawn down while were fishing. It had gotten lower by the time we left oround 11:30. Hope this helps. Lip'm and let'm loose.....Shay Doming Tennessee Bass Guides
Reports Compliments of Mike Dial
A double report for both Sunday and Monday on Old Hickory. Had a trip with good friend Brian Durdin on Sunday. The day produced 33 largemouth with 11 keeper fish. The largest was a five pounder giving us about 13 pounds in the largest five fish. Lots of solid fish but only one good one. Crankbaits flukes and worms on shallow feeding flats was the key.
Had a great trip yesterday with Mr. Meade, 29 fish and several more that released themselves on there on good behavior. Worms and cranks mostly for these. Fish are still shallow and we are actively searching for some of those post spawn females. God bless hope it helps.
Jon Simmons
Tennesee Bass Guides
Jon Simmons and I had a super time fishing with a great family from Oklahoma City on Old Hickory Lake today. Annie & Terry Haney-James Romo and Bob Brown drove 12 straight hours from Oklahoma City to Nashville yesterday arriving in Nashville late last night and still got up and met us at the ramp about 15 minutes before daylight. Talk about troopers. Action started out steady and remained that way up until we loaded the boats at 11:00am. All our fish are still coming out of 5 foot of water or less and today seemed a little more scattered than they have been recently. All were caught on one of 3 baits (1) Fluke (2) Speed Trap (3) Shallow Shad Rap. Over the 6 hours of fishing beteen the 2 boats we caught and released over 60 largemouth with 20 keepers. We thought Bob had hung THE BASS of the day but it turned out to be a 10lb Catfish. Annie-Terry-Bob and James all caught some good solid fish and everyone had a great time. Plans are already being made for a return fishing trip next year about the same time when they are here again for a family reunion. Jon and I look forward to fishing with you again...
Rick McFerrin
http://www.TennesseeBassGuides.com
OHL 6/11/04
I met up w/ fellow guide Jon Simmons today and started looking for some schooling fish on flats. It wasn't long before we found what we were looking for. It was perfect conditions, over cast, low winds, and good looking water next to deeper water. By 8AM we were in the fish pretty heavy. There schooling fish were hitting on flukes, Zara spooks, and Pop-R's in a shad color. What a blast!! There were at least 8-10 fish that were hooked up and came un buttoned thet were in the 2-3 pound class not to mention the other dozen or so that were missed due to bad hook-ups or the fish spitting out the lure b/f we could set the hook. Again as Rick as mentioned in prior reports, these fish are still coming out of water less than 5 ft. deep. Between the schooling fish and the other fish that were caught in Spencer ,Station Camp, and the Steam Plant, we brought 70 plus fish over the rail by 11AM.
JPP 6/11/04
Fished Priest for a few hours out of 4 corners from 5PM-midnight. Fish activity was a little slow. Had 1 on a Carolina rig in Suggs, and the others came off deep drops near the main lake channel on worms T.rigged. Tried a black Spinner bait and red crank bait, no luck!!
Total fish brought in was 5, nothing huge. Had one that was around 2.5#'s.
JPP 6/12/04
Fished club Tourney in the pouring rain until it was called off due to the lightening and rough water. Fished around Poole Knob and we had 5 fish w/ one keeper @ 15.5 inches on a Senko. Our fish came in water b/t 2-3 feet.
Wheeler 6/13/04
Left the house @ 3AM for Wheeler, picked partner up around 3:45AM. Put boat in @6AM and off to one of our honey holes, Lilly Pads!!! There were bass running shad all over in the pads. Fished the pads just about all day. We both had fish on that went over 6lbs. easily, but managed to get wrapped up in the pads b/f we could get to them. Those are some mean bass back in them pads. They would pop our Sluggos on the pad and wait for us to pull it off and nail it w/ all they had. We threw buzzers, but no hits like those sluggos!!! Folks let me tell you, If you want some great top water action right now, give me a call and you will also be able to experience the same thing my partner and I did. We had 15 fish that were good quality fishand about another 20 that were not able to be caught due to getting tangled in the pads or setting the hook too soon. When fishing these pads one has to let the fish run w/ the bait and set the hok as hard as possible. I even let the fish have line @ times and then set the hook. I will be back out there this week to bring in another report from this wonderful Lake.
All fish were released unharmed on all trips. Lip'm and let'm loose.......Shay Doming Tennessee Bass Guides
Put in around 07:30 and fished upper and lower ends of the lake and ended up w/ 27 fish for the day,8 of them would have kept, w/ the best 5 aound 13 #'s. All fish were caught on a flippn tube and on top water. The top water bite was really great when I got there, but tapered off around 10:30-11:00. I missed several good fish on a Pop-R. They just wouldn't hang on to it. Cloud cover and rain kept the fish hanging around the top chasing shad. I did see several schools of fish running shad off points in about 18-20 ft of water. All fish were released unharmed. Lip'm and let'm loose......Shay Doming Tennesseebassguides.com
Yesterday Daniel and I had the privilege fishing with a good friend Mr. Timothy Ford. I was excited to get to the lake because the weather forecast was perfect. Rain-heavy clouds and the mid 70's. Action started out quickly and stayed rather constant throughout the day. We fished from 5:00am until 2:30pm and put 60 largemouth in the boat. All were released unharmed. We fished 11 spots upriver and found fish on all 11. Most of our fish were caught in 5 foot of water or less. We caught fish on a variety of baits from the Luhr-Jensen Speed Trap-Zoom Fluke-Bitsy Bug and a 200 series Bandit. Water conditions were good and temp's ran in the 80 degree range. One quick story on Daniel. Daniel made a great cast over a fallen log with the Speed Trap and appeared to get hung as he cranked the bait back. I looked over at him-his rod was bent and then the drag began to scream! For a brief period of time Daniel had on a huge Largemouth that would very easily had been his first trophy bass. To much excitement and not enough experience took it's toll this time. When he got up this morning he said Daddy "I dreamed about that big fish getting away last night!" Let's go back this week and try to find him again. 8 years old and he is hooked already. Another great day on Old Hickory.....Rick
Yesterday Jon and I fished with seperate clients on Old Hickory and our results were almost the same. Jon had 25 largemouth with 9 keeper fish...Jim Barber and I had 25 largemouth with 7 keeper fish. We fished through severaL rounds of HEAVY (let me say again) HEAVY RAINS. It was the slowest day we have had on Old Hickory for some time now and the fish were scattered. It was interesting that there was almost zero bait activity which is unusual lately. All fish were caught between daylight and 11:00am when we both loaded the boats for home. I fish O.H. again today I'll give you a update this week end.....Rick Mcferrin Tennessee Bass Guides
Made it out to the Hick again, for what I thought would be perfect conditions. Started around 7:30 AM in Spencer Creek and had 7 fish off grass patches. Moved to the end of spencer Creek and noticed a lot of bait activity, so I stopped and fish for about an hour, and picked up 6 more chunky fish, 9:30 AM. I figured since Rick and Jon were bothe out doing trips, I would not fish the areas they were probably going to be in, so I headed for new water and ran down river from the rain. I did manage to p/u 23 fish out of the steam plant w/ one @ 19 inches on the nose. Left the steam plant and headed toward Spring Creek, but something drew me to a cut off the main channel that looked like it could have some good potential. Well it did. That cut gave up 5 nice healthy fish in the 16-18 inch range. i did't have much time b/f the weather caught up to me, and I ran for shelter until it was over. Total catch for the day was 41. Best 5 was around 12-14 lb. All fish were caught on a zoom fluke,pop-R, rattle trap, flippn tube, lizards and worms, and a Secret weapon spinner bait. All fish were released unharmed for another day of fighting. Lip'm and let'm loose..........Shay Doming Tennessee Bass Guides
I fished Old Hickory today with Tim Provo from San Francisco California who will be moving to the middle Tennessee area after retirement. Tim and I fished 3 creeks today and experienced fish being scattered in each creek. Action started off slowly catching most of our fish on a Fluke-working it just about as slow as you could work it. As we progressed up into the morning I decided to change to a top water bait and selected a ghost colored Heddon Tiny Torpedo and immediately the action picked up. This same type of pattern happened last year in July around the various grass beds that we were fishing. Lately the Fluke bite has been either vicious or extremely light-when this happens try changing to some type of medium to small top water prop bait. I was using the jerk and pause retrieve and the largemouth would unload on the bait and would have both sets of trebles firmly attached. What started out to be a slow day finished rather strong with over 40 largemouth coming over the rail for the day. No real big fish but several good ones and a whole lot of top water fun. Tim your a good fisherman and a great guy to be out with-I look forward to our next trip.
Rick McFerrin
Jon Simmons and I teamed up with Mr. Pat Camm-Mr. John Jones and Mr. Glenn Gentry on Old Hickory June 29th for what turn out to be a fairly tough day on the water. For most of the day we had mile high sky's-no wind and scattered fish. Totals for the two boat combination was 40 largemouth with 15 of the fish being in the keeper category and a couple running in the 3 pound range. For the first time on Old Hickory my partner fished solely with a fly rod which was very interesting catching several bass on flies that he tied himself. The majority of the fish were caught on crankbaits in water less than 5 feet relating to a variety of structure. Pat-Jon & Glenn we had a great time hopefully the bass will be more cooperative the next time around.
A big thanks to Mike Dial for the report!
Laurie
What a difference a day makes!!! Yesterday Jon and I struggled to catch 40 bass between our two boats. Today under a good cloud cover and moderate winds Mike Shirley (Murfeesboro)-Bud Morton (Atlanta) and I caught 36 Largemouth and would have had well over 50 if we put everything in the boat that we hung. Today the fish were far more bunched up and far more eager to slam a variety of different baits that we used. We caught fish on White Buzz Baits-Speed Traps-Shallow Shad Rap's-Flukes and Tiny Torpedo's. The majority of our fish were relating to the grass and all came out of 5 feet of water or less. Wind seems to be playing more of an importance than it has over the last couple summers. Looking at my log's from last year we caught fish steadily throughout the summer with little to no wind, but it's doesn't seem to be the case so far this year. My suggestion is try to utilize what wind there is to your advantage. If you have fished an area that you know fish has been on and you don't do any good-try it again if the wind picks up in that area...it has worked for me on several trips so far this summer. Hope this helps.
A Big thanks to Rick McFerrin for this report!
Laurie
I fished Old Hickory today with the father son team of Jerry a Marty Hall from Fayetteville Tennessee. At day light we had a fairly heavy fog and the action got started out slow. But as the fog lifted the action picked up some and by the end of the day we had a 30 fish day with many lost. Bait of the day by far was the Speed Trap and Shallow Shad Rap. Once again the fish were scattered and not particularly aggressive. The largest fish of the day (which were very aggressive) was 2 big flat head catfish that slammed the crankbait-not the right species but fun none the less. All and all not a bad day and it was great to see Jerry and Marty together. Marty just returned from Afghanistan and is home on a short leave before being deployed to Iraq. Marty I want to thank you for your commitment that you have made to keep us free here in the United States. You and all the soldiers deployed in foreign countries are in our prayers and thoughts everyday. When you get back home give me a call, I'll take you fishing again and the trip will be on me.
Thanks go out to Rick McFerrin for his great reports!
For those of you that visit our site that might not be familiar with Old Hickory Lake, at normal pool the lake has an area of 22,500 acres and a shore line of 440 miles. All the way from Old Hickory Lock and Dam at Old Hickory Tennessee to the Cordell Hull Lock and Dam located in Carthage Tennessee the lake provides an almost unlimited variety of structure for the Largemouth Bass fisherman. If you like to fish current Old Hickory has it. If you like to fish channel drops Old Hickory has it. If you like to fish wood or grass Old Hickory has it. The lake for several years now has literally been a bass factory for those that take time to unlock some of it's secretes. There are times when the shear number of bass that you can catch in a day is almost unbelievable. It's not uncommon if you know the lake to catch 30-40-50 or more bass of all sizes in a eight hour period. It is also not uncommon if your looking for big fish to find a few of them as well. It's fun to catch a bunch of bass "But" it's also fun to look for just a big fish bite. That was the mind set my youngest son (Daniel) and I had for our trip today on Old Hickory. We decided to roll the dice and see what would happen. We launched our boat at 5:15am and loaded back up at 2:30pm. In that 9 hour period we had just 12 bites and managed to put 10 in the boat. The good news is that all 10 were nice fish-the bad news is one of the bass we lost was a legitimate monster! There's nothing like seeing a big fish come up and attack a "Big Buzz Bait" or a "Big Spinner Bait" (like the Secret Weapon Spinnerbait pictured) ran just under the water surface. I have to admit that going hour or more between bites can seem awful long at times. And keeping a 9 year old focused that long isn't easy either. But when a bass like the one's that Daniel is holding comes up and blasts your bait those in between hours just don't seem as long. As much as I like to use light line-today wasn't the day for it. Every fish we caught came out of thick heavy cover in 4 feet of water or less, and all were very aggressive. I hope this will help you on your next trip to Old Hickory.....Rick McFerrin Owner/Guide Tennessee Bass Guides.com
This is going to be a combination report for the last three days. I have just had a new computer built and have been struggling with some of the new software-so here go's I hope it all works. On Wednesday the 22nd I fished with Mr. Jason Anthoine and Mrs. Heather Coulombe of Atlanta . Jason and I had fished together on August 28-2004 and had a great trip (see report below) But today was a different story. Most of the creeks that I have been fishing up river were very muddy and the action was very slow. Jason-Heather and I tried just about everything we knew to do-but almost to no avail. We boated three keeper largemouth which is about as bad of a day I have had on Old Hickory for a very long time. I must admit I went home a whipped puppy. But as it happens on Old Hickory things can turn around fairly quickly which is what happen on Thursday when I fished with Tommy and Robbie Gill from Baton Rouge. I decided to fish a different area of the lake and as it turned out it was a good choice. Things started out slow but we finally got on a crankbait and tube pattern in the middle portion of the creeks. Tommy and Robbie are holding the largest fish we caught and released yesterday and as it turned out it was by far better than Wednesday. Friday Tommy-Robbie and I fished Tim's Ford and had a pretty fair day considering the blue bird skies and no wind. We caught and released several Smallmouth-Spots and Largemouth plus a walleye and a channel cat fish. All these fish we were caught on a tube-crankbait and a tiny torpedo. All these folks I fished with this week were just great......
Thanks to each....Rick McFerrin
Old Hickory Lake 9-28-04
I hI have been trying for two years to get Tennessee Bass Guide Billy Campbell to fish with me on Old Hickory and yesterday I finally succeeded. With water surface temps in the mid 70's and a good overcast sky and a North East wind headed us back up the river to the areas that had been so productive for me prior to the last influx of muddy water we experienced two weeks ago. I was happy to see these areas are almost back to the normal water color-but we had one very noticeable problem right away. "NO BAIT FISH". As many of you know Billy guides Center Hill for TBGI, and in the right time of the year loves to throw a little bait made by one of our sponsors the famous "BUCKEYE SHAD" Billy tied on a chartreuse Buckeye while I was hard at work with my Bleeding Shad and Fire tiger crankbaits. Billy was the first to put a good 4lb largemouth in the boat and several other smaller fish. As action slowed down to a complete stop, I headed the boat back down the river and into some other areas that has been producing in the mid-lake region. To make a long story short over the course of the day we landed 16 Largemouth with 4 being keeper fish that weighed in around 11lbs. And before Billy can get on our fish report board and tell on me I'll do tell on myself...I lost another fish in the 5-6lb range that almost knocked the rod out of my hands...How can a fish hit so hard and still get away! Woulda-Coulda-Shoulda-but if this fish was just 5lbs we would have had 5 fish in the 16lb range for the day. We are getting ready to do an extensive Lure Review on the BUCKEYE SHAD. Billy is going to share with us some interesting techniques and tips. This bait will be coming into it's own in the next few weeks and you don't want to miss the scoop on this fantastic little bait..I just love learning some of Billy's secrets!.....Rick McFerrin
Old Hickory Oct 13-04
I hI had the pleasure of fishing with Bill Johnston and his grandson David today on Old Hickory Lake. This was the second time this year that we have fished together The first outing was this summer when it got so hot that we quit early. Today was the opposite with air temps in the high 50's low 60's rain and 15mph wind out of the Northwest. Our first stop was in the same area that has been giving up some good fish over the past several weeks and today was no exception the only difference this time was they were holding extremely tight to cover and it took pitching a worm to put them in the boat. We also caught fish on the Luhr-Jensen Speed Trap and a Case Fluke. For the day we landed 10 Largemouth and 1 White Bass. All in all we had a good day together and you will never fish with a finer person than Mr. Johnston. Off for a little vacation the rest of the week with my family. I will have more Old Hickory updates several days next week.......Rick McFerrin Tennessee Bass Guides
I spent the day yesterday fishing with one of my sponsors and good friend Mr. Joe Haubenreich President of Secret Weapon Spinnerbaits. We met at Flippers at 6:15am the lake was up and dingy with all the logs-trash and debris floating in the water that you would every want to deal with. My strategy was to run back up toward the 231 bridge but with all the trash in the water I opted to stay close. We started the day off by loosing two big fish...one largemouth and one striper on a worm and a crankbait. As the day progressed the bite never really picked up until I found actively feeding fish in one very small area. We finally boated 10 largemouth-Joe is holding the two largest. I'll be on Old Hickory for the next 3 days and will keep you updated.
Rick McFerrin Tennessee Bass Guides
Old Hickory
W Way To Go Shay!!!!! TBGI Guide Shay Doming had a much better day on Old Hickory Saturday than I experienced the two days prior. Shay and a friend from Murfreesboro caught and released 14 largemouth fishing from 11:00am to 6:00pm on Luhr-Jensen Speed Traps-Secret Weapon SpinnerBaits-Worms-Flukes and a Jig. Naturally since Shay is one of the TBGI guides we share information freely one to another. It seems that several of the fish that Shay caught came from some of the same areas that were dormant the two days prior. That just prove that on Old Hickory you just have to have that "I won't give up" attitude. I have seen this happen more than once over the years and it can get discouraging when you have a couple tough trips in a row.....Don't get discouraged just keep working. One suggestion that Shay wanted to pass along was to change up on your lure retrieves. Don't fall into the chunk and wind pit...vary your speed-twitch your rod..yo-yo your baits when times are tough, it just might make "That" difference.......Good Job Shay
Rick McFerrin
Tennessee Bass Guid
Old Hickory Oct 25-04
I fished today with Mr. Don Leach and Mr. Larry Leach from Indiana. A cold front moved into middle Tennessee mid day Sunday and left us with 47 degree air temps at 6:00am-no clouds-no wind just blue bird sky's. We finally found fish in two locations chasing shad and managed to catch 10 total for the day on rattle traps. These fish were so shallow that the trolling motor would kick up mud and you had to stay as far off of these fish as possible so that they wouldn't spook. One good thing about the fish we caught was that 6 of the 10 were keeper fish-no monsters, with the largest weighing 2 3/4lbs. It shall get better-I'll keep you posted.....Rick McFerrin Tennessee Bass Guides
Old Hickory Oct 30-04
No fog, allot of overcast and wind was the ticket today for Cory Smith and Lee Gray today on Old Hickory. We caught well over 20 bass (7 Keepers)-4 Walleye's and one Stripe today on Case Super Salty's-Luhr-Jensen Speed Traps-Secret Weapon Spinner Baits-and jigs. Cory had a couple heavy fish on tossing a jig but both of them pulled off. It's good to see the fluke type bite back on and they would hammer the bait. The bite stayed constant in two different creeks and all the fish came out of very shallow water. All and all a good day with two very nice gentlemen. Lee the next time you come be sure to bring your full body armor, those jigs come out of the trees from every where. Rick McFerrin Tennessee Bass Guides
Old Hickory 11-5-04
TBGI guide Jon Simmons and I fished Old Hickory today with 3 great guys from Hendersonville, Mr. John Zobl, Rick Dalton and Ron Patterson. This was the first morning that we needed to dress "Warm" this fall and the run up lake was a chilly one. Things got off to a slow start but as the day warmed up we were able to find several good fish scattered in various creeks. There was allot of bait in these creeks but we saw very little action in them. We caught fish on Jigs-Secret Weapon Spinnerbaits early but as the day warmed the Buckeye Shad and Luhr-Jensen Speed trap was the ticket. I don't believe that we caught two fish from the same spot-everything was scattered all day. With the weather warming up over the next couple days action should pick up dramatically on Old Hickory. John Zobl had the hot hand today with the Speed Trap and put us all to same...Way To Go John!...There was just one problem...John keeps swearing that the fish in the net is really a mutant strain of exotic bass that swam up from the gulf and managed to lock through into Old Hickory...John........ Rick and I know better-but we will never tell any one.......Rick McFerrin Tennessee Bass Guides Inc.
Old Hickory 12-18-04
sp I had a great day on Old Hickory with my good friend Brian Durdin today. We started out from Bulls Creek with heavy heavy fog!!! Being unable to run we started cranking main river channel points that had slack areas away from the heavy current. We caught our first 5 fish which were all over 2 1/2 lbs with the 2 largest over 4 lbs on our first stop. We then made our way to the warm water of the steam plant where we ripped them on top water and crankbaits. Grand total for the day was 33 largemouth with 14 or more of them being over the 14 inch limit. We caught fish on shallow running crankbaits and soft plastic jerkbaits. What a great way to start the winter season. Since I'm off work for the Christmas break I will have more reports over the next couple weeks. There is still "LOTS" of debris floating in the river so be careful and ware your PFD'S. Just a quick tip. The fish are very concentrate now....if you caught one be sure to work the entire area out for more fish. God Bless and hope this helps....Jon Simmons Tennessee Bass Guides
Old Hickory 12-21-04
What a great day to on Old Hickory. Daniel and I arrived at the ramp at 8:45am this morning and headed immediately to the steam plant area. No fog-low 40's, clearing water, a fantastic top water bite and willing largemouth what more could you ask for. Tennessee Bass Guide Jon Simmons (picture left) was already in the steam plant canal and had caught 20 largemouth between daylight and 9:00am with the largest 5 weighing right at 13lbs. We settled in and immediately found fish in several areas. The crankbait bite for us just wasn't there today but they would hammer a Salty Shad made by the Case Bait company (see link at bottom of this page) One thing I like about these baits versus competitive products is the weight of the bait. The Salty Shad is "Full" of salt and when you are fishing in high winds like today the extra weight comes in handy. I also believe that the fish will hold onto to he bait a little longer because of the salt. Jon, Daniel and I left Flippers right at 2:00pm.....Total for the day Jon caught 35 largemouth-Daniel and I caught 18..For a combined total of 53 Largemouth...The water between the 109 bridge all the way to the steam plant should continue to get better as winter set in.......Rick McFerrin Tennessee Bass Guides
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Old Hickory 3-7-05
I fished two mid-lake creeks on Old Hickory today with mixed results. Total fish for the day was 27 with seven bass being keepers. (no camera worthy fish) Total weight for the best 5 somewhere between 10-12lbs max. I caught fish on a Luhr-Jensen Speed Trap and the new Luhr-Jensen Radar 10 in Bleeding Shad and Chartreuse/Blue. Water Temps today ranged from 49 to 51 degrees with the air temp reaching the mid to high 60's. Looks like the temperature is going to drop down into the low 30's tonight with the possibility of rain and snow flurries tomorrow....so it looks like it's going to be interesting......I will let you know how it go's tomorrow night........
Rick McFerrin
Old Hickory 3-10-05
I had a good day with Kevin Stearman and Kevin Bell from Lebanon on Old Hickory today. Rattle Traps-Chartreuse and Blue crankbaits and Flukes did the trick with our 5 largest fish weighing in at 17lbs easy. Keeper ratio was very high at over 80%The creeks are warming up and with a little cooperation from mother nature action will continue to just get better and better as we move into the spring season. We found water temperatures anywhere from 47.9 to almost 52 degrees in several areas in different parts of the lake and a variety of water colors. Most of the fish we caught was in 5 feet to 8 feet of water and they just held on to the bait-no bone jarring hits like we have been experiencing with the Smallmouth on Tim's Ford. This is the time of the year when we have fronts move in and out-and we experience dramatic temperature swings. It's also the time when you can be on fish one day and then they seem to have disappeared the next. Just remember...bass have one primary thing on their minds now and it's finding a place to spawn as soon as the conditions are right. When you catch some good fish in shallow water-just remember even with big fronts moving in and temperatures falling several degrees in a days time....these fish are not going to go very far. Stick with your plan-slow down and be very methodical in working the areas where you have had recent success.....Small moves on your part can pay off big time this time of the year......
Rick McFerrin
Tennessee Bass Guides.com
Old Hickory 3-18-05
I had a very solid day on Old Hickory today with Mark Menz and Mark Suiter. Our day got started out fairly shaky when we lost 2 fish in the 5lb to 6lb category almost back to back...that's the type of stuff that can mess with your mind if your not careful...if you lose your focus it can be down hill from there....but fortunately we hung in there and had a very respectable day. We had some good fish with the keeper ration running well above the 50% range. Bull Creek water temperature at 5:30am was 48.7 degrees and we eventually found 51.7 degrees in various pockets in the creeks in the afternoon. One good solid week of warm weather and Old Hickory should ramp up quickly. Most of our fish in the creeks were holding in the 4 foot to 6 foot range and you just had to slow down and work everything (from crankbaits to jigs) very very slowly. The only exception was one brief 5 minute segment when Mark Menz got HOT and put 3 largemouth that ranged from 2 1/2lb to 3lb in the boat almost back to back. I think it was on his 3rd consecutive fish that we decided not to help him...we caught fish in all but 2 of the areas we fished today and one particular spot was loaded...It's getting ready to happen...we should be seeing some heavy weights in the next couple weeks...
Mark & Mark...
your great to fish with.....
Rick McFerrin
Old Hickory 3-25-05
I fished today with Mr. & Mrs. Larry Marshall from Memphis Tennessee. Larry-Clare and I fished together just about this time a year ago and I was happy to send the day with them again. This started out fairly slow this morning catching one fish here and one there. This was the warmest day that I have fished Old Hickory this year and as the water temperatures warmed as the day went along we began picking up several bass in two to three feet of water on shallow running crankbaits. We did manage to find 4 and lost one in one pocket but the remained of the 14 bass we caught today came one at a time. The water temperature this morning at daylight was 49.5 degrees and warmed in some of the creeks to almost 54 degrees by the time we left. Larry and Clare it was good fishing with you both again and I look forward to fishing with you again this June...........
Rick McFerrin
Tennessee Bass Guides .com
Old Hickory 4-26-05
Sorry for the picture quality-I'll explain in a minute. I met Shane Scott at the ramp at 5:30am with over cast sky's, drizzling rain and cooler water temperatures. At our first stop we picked up two bass on our first two casts and the action stayed fairly constant until late morning and then it took a nose dive. Crank baits were the key for our early bite with very little happening on any type of jig-plastic, top water or jerk type baits. Truthfully we struggled for an hour or so until I found a pocket that had some active fish that would gladly take a shot at a Case Super Salty jerk bait. This is where perseverance and not giving up makes the difference between a good or bad day on the water. It would have been easy to put the boat on the trailer and say things just died and go on home........sometimes the action will die and you can't recover, there's no doubt about it...BUT...loading the boat and quitting is always my absolute last option. Shane is holding our best fish of the day....in total we caught and released 21 largemouth and Shane lost a legitimate 5 or 6 pound fish that jumped twice and threw the Super Salty back at him...Now back to the not so good pictures.....I started raining so hard you almost couldn't see. We had to get under the nearest bridge just to get pictures....the rain was coming down in sheet's that would leave a good sting on your face as we made our way back to the ramp......Shane I appreciate you hanging in there with me.....maybe our next trip will include some sunshine........
Rick McFerrin
Tennessee Bass Guides
Old Hickory 4-29-05
Brad Jolly and I met at the ramp at 5:30am with potential severe weather in the forecast. For most of the morning the weather remained fairly calm and Brad began picking up bass after bass on a 4 inch worm in our first two stops while I experimented with Case Super Salty's-Spinner baits-Crank baits and Buzz baits. We tried several other areas with very little results. We also tried a spot I fished two days ago where we had some good fish on top water but the area didn't produce either. We moved several times in various areas of the lake-Brad began catching fish again and I kept on experimenting ( you would have thought I would have got the message after he had caught at least 20) but nooo! As the weather began to change the wind almost died and yes it was the clam before the storm as high winds up to 40mph-lightening and rain began moving in from Nashville toward the Gallatin area. We headed in for safety not a moment to soon! For the day we caught and released 30 or more largemouth. Brad is holding two of our larger fish.....Just a word of advice for those of you that might not be familiar with Old Hickory...the lake can get nasty in stormy weather, particularly if the wind is out of the west......Thankfully there are docks in many parts of the lake that you can use as cover if needed....most home owners understand as long as you leave their personal property alone......A very enjoyable day......
Rick McFerrin
Tennessee Bass Guides.com
Easter Seals Program 5-7-05
Yesterday we had the privilege of helping out at the annual Easter Seals Fishing event on Old Hickory Lake. This is a wonderful event to participate in and we had the opportunity again this year to meet and spend time with some very determined and courageous people. This event is no small undertaking....from preparing the camp grounds and facilities to cooking 3 meals for 100-200 people to who knows how many planning meetings....the list go's on and on.....There was well over 200 volunteers-buddies and boaters involved yesterday and from my perspective it appears that everyone had a great time. Pictured above is Jon Simmons and Shay Doming with their campers....I had a young man named Zack Browder with Daniel (my youngest son) and I and he had a lot of fun cranking in Bluegill and Shellcrackers....Thanks to my Tennessee Bass Guides Team....Bill Champion from Bass'n Buddies for their support....Rick McFerrin Tennessee Bass Guides.com
Old Hickory 5-14-05
I met the father and son team of Jim Arnett and Jim Arnett Jr. at the ramp at 5:15am this morning. Water temps remained up over night at almost 74 degrees and the wind was light at 5mph. We knew from the forecast that we had the likelihood of thunderstorms and high winds which hopefully would help us as the day progressed. We didn't have to wait long to find out that the action was going to be very consistent and the quality and quantity of fish was going to be good. On our first stop we found allot of bait fish and the Large-mouth were actively feeding. Within 30 minutes we caught and released 10 or more from a stretch of bank no more than 30 yards long. These fish would nail the 1/8oz Luhr-Jensen Bleeding Shiner crankbait that closely matched the color and size of the shad the fish were feeding on. As we moved on to other areas the bite switched from a crankbait to more of a Case Super Salty fluke type bite around docks. For the next 5 hours we caught fish after fish in and around docks in 3 completely different locations in the lake. Most of the fish were tucked way back in and under the dock so you had to skip the bait as far back as possible.....but when you got in there BAM! For the day we caught 25-30 largemouth with the largest fish weighing near 5 pounds. We even had a 3 pound Smallmouth in the mix.....It was just a great day with two gentlemen that were fun to be out with.
Rick McFerrin
Tennessee Bass Guides.com
Old Hickory 5-20-05
Yesterday started out with me sitting in my Tahoe waiting for a thunderstorm to pass through the Gallatin area. As the lightening was striking the water around the boat ramp I could still see several fish chasing shad up and down the banks in front of me. All I could think of is "I sure wish I could get a Case Salty Shad in front of them....when the storm passed through those fish were gone but action in the grass/weed lines on Case Super Salty's heated up! I met Brad Jolly at another location and throughout the day we managed to put 32 Largemouth in the boat. We caught and released fish from three different creeks....all the fish were caught from grass in water depth that ranged from 1 to 3 feet.....many of these fish were all the way in the back edges of taller weeds and would hit when the bait fell in a open hole.....Brad was camera shy today so I got the honors posing with two of our larger fish.....
Rick McFerrin
Tennessee Bass Guides.com
Old Hickory 5-23-05
I met Charles Young and his neighbor Jim at the ramp at daylight this morning. Charles brother had given him a guide trip as a Christmas present. We had tried to get together this past winter but was iced out. So this was our second try and we finally was able to hook up. We launched the Strato's www.stratosboats.com and motored to out first stop where the action started out quickly. Within the first 30 minutes we caught and released 10 or 12 largemouth that would explode on a Case Super Salty www.madtom.com For those of you that haven't thrown this bait-your missing out. The Super Salty is a Fluke type bait but has the big advantage of being full of salt....not only will the salt help the fish hold on to the bait longer it also give it more weight for longer and easier casts. We caught the majority of our fish on the Perl Hologram color...although I don't think color played that much of a factor as aggressive as the fish were. After the quick early bite we fished 2 additional creeks and picked up fish in each of the on the same bait. The key locations was ANY STANDING WEEDS .........we simply motored in the creeks from patch to patch until we found active fish. We tried several other baits but the Super Salty was the best today by far. Total largemouth for the day was 27 and Charles is holding two of the larger fish we caught today. I hope this helps you on your next trip to Old Hickory....
Rick McFerrin
Tennessee Bass Guides.com
Old Hickory 5-26-05
What a great day on the water with long time friend and fellow Woodburyian (Is that a word?) Mike Francis. It didn't take long for us to put the first keeper fish in the boat (5 minutes) and from there on out it was some fantastic Fluke action in the standup weeded areas that are finally beginning to sprout up in various creek locations. This time last year many of these areas already have a full growth of weeds and grass and were producing heavily for me. The lake is running behind but the largemouth didn't know it today! To repeat myself from the 5-23-05 post...look for ANY STANDUP WEEDS and throw at them. you may hit 5 or 6 patches with no results and then, wham! You will pick up several fish out of an area half the size of your boat. Right now no patch is to small or to shallow or isolated. Let me say that this same pattern has held up from Big Cedar Creek all the way to Little Cedar Creek over the past couple weeks. All of our fish came out of less than 2 feet of water and many times less than that. Please keep in mind that today was a very bright almost 80 degree day and these fish were still in water that we could see the bottom. I think this is where many people get hung up on Old Hickory. Can you catch fish on the drops and deeper structure in hot weather on Old Hickory? Sure, and allot of them! But you can also catch quality and quantity in these shallow water areas all summer long. Today Mike and I only fished 3 areas and caught 32 largemouth with the largest five weighing over 18 pounds total....plus we both lost a big fish apiece...woulda...coulda...shoulda....but either of the fish we lost would have tipped our best five to near 25 pounds easy....and once again all with the exception of the fish in the lower left hand picture was caught on a Case Sinking Super Salty (see our links page) in the pearl hologram color. This fish hit a pink floating worm. Of the 32 largemouth today the keeper ratio held up strong with 16 being keeper fish-a nice 56% keeper ratio. It appears that maybe we are on the fringe of some normalcy on Old Hickory as far as patterns are concerned. I hope this will help you on your next trip to Olds Hickory, stay tuned for additional posts on all area lakes as our team sends them to me.
Rick McFerrin
Tennessee Bass Guides.com
Old Hickory 5-31-05
True to it's nature Old Hickory was almost muddy due to all the holiday boat traffic that beat the lake for 3 days. It almost looked like we had a big rain. I fished with Gilbert Graham today and found the bite to be a little tougher than last week. Gilbert is holding the largest bass we caught today a nice 6lb plus Largemouth that fell for a chartreuse buzz bait fished over a shallow hump adjacent to the main river channel. We found fish almost immediately and should have stayed put for a longer period of time. Here's a lesson for you younger bass fishermen. What's the old saying "Don't leave fish to find fish" Well that's exactly what I did and it was the bad call. We had active fish around us and I chose to move to the areas where all our big fish had come from the last two weeks. The only problem with that decision was they weren't there and we never really got back on a good bite again almost all day long. We did manage to catch 20 or more largemouth and our best 5 would have weighed 12lbs or so but we had to work double time to catch them. The grass bite today was soft but the majority of our fish were still caught on soft plastic jerk baits and the 4 inch worm soaked in JJ's Magic www.JJ'SMagic.com. If you look close to the bass Gilbert is holding you can still see a faint red area on her tail from the spawn...she was in great shape and we released her back after a quick picture. I hope this helps you on your next trip to Old Hickory....
Rick McFerrin
Tennessee Bass Guides. com
Old Hickory 6-3-05
Jon Simmons is experiencing problems with his computer so I'm making this post for both of us. Thursday Jon and I were on Old Hickory at the same time but in separate boats. Jon was fishing by himself and I was with friend Brad Jolly. Unless Jon and I are doing a 2 boat guide trip together it has always been procedure to fish separate areas on the lake so that we don't fish over the top of one another. We talked Wednesday night and set our plans for the next day. On our first stop I hung and lost a 3-4lb fish on a buzz bait then no then action. We moved quickly to another area that had literally 1000's of shad busting everywhere and not one fish in them....I couldn't believe it...we worked this area hard for at least an hour or more and caught 3 little fish. We moved again in to an area that I have been catching some very good fish, again nothing to brag about......are you getting the picture? By this time it was well up into mid morning and in a completely different area of the lake Jon was on fish! Jon and I found a particular area a couple years ago that produces fantastic numbers and quality of fish in the hottest times of the summer. If I told you the total number of bass that we caught in this area last year you might not believe me. I checked this area out the first of the week with no results---Jon checked it out today and it was loaded with fish...Jon caught and released multiple limits of quality fish up to 4lbs. Jon said that they were holding in a area about twice the size of his boat and if you threw outside of that area nothing! When the action died Jon checked out 4 other areas and had the same results that Brad and I was experiencing which was thin. Back at the ramp I talked with 4 other boats that was pre fishing for a tournament Saturday and only one of them had keeper fish.......One 40 by 20 area full of fish.....Right place at the right time.....that's why they call it fishing.....
Rick McFerrin
Tennessee Bass
Old Hickory 6-13-05
Jon Simmons and I had the pleasure of fishing today with three great guys on Old Hickory Lake. Jon and I met Mr. Scott Turner, Mr. Freddie Robertson and Mr. Tobe Bradsham at the ramp at 5:00am to get a jump on the top water bite and get ahead of the heat for a while (Which didn't last long) Within just a few minutes our two boats had landed and released 10 or twelve largemouth. This was the beginning of a 60 fish day with the majority of the fish being caught on Case Sinking Salty Shads-Luhr-Jensen Speed Traps www.luhrjensen.com and a four inch June bug worm soaked in JJ's Magic www.jjsmagic.com Between the two baots we had 15 keeper fish with Freddie holding the largest of the day. We had a good cloud cover early on and a moderate wind which helped things greatly.....when the wind died and the cloud cover diminished it got HOT!! At that point I'm not sure if the fish slowed down or the heat began to take it's toll on the four of us. At any rate Jon and I had a great day with these gentlemen and we are already planning a late fall early winter Smallmouth trip to Tim's Ford. Scott-Freddie-Tobe...Jon and I thank you for as very good day on the water with you......
Rick McFerrin
Tennessee Bass Guides.com
Old Hickory 6-14-05
I fished today with Mr. John Edens on Old Hickory Lake. This is the 5th time that I have had the pleasure to fish with Jon and as always not only did we find a few fish but we just had an enjoyable day as well. Our day on the lake began as usual 5:00am and by noon the heat had kicked in so we were ready to pack it up and call it a day. During that 7 hours we managed to catch and release 27 Largemouth.....none of the fish today we real big fish (Jon was broke off one time) but we did have a great keeper ratio. 12 of the 27 Largemouth or 44% of our fish were just good solid keepers. I guess the best 5 would have weighed somewhere around 10 to 11 pounds and were caught on Luhr-Jensen Speed Traps www.luhrjensen.com Case Sinking Salty Shad and a 4 inch June Bug worm once again soaked in JJ's Magic www.jjsmagic.com....I'm taking the day off today but will be back on Old Hickory this Thursday and Friday....I'll post our trip results each day.......
Rick McFerrin
Tennessee Bass Guides.com
Old Hickory 6-16-05
Have you ever met someone that it wasn't long before you felt like you had known them for a long time? Well that was my experience today with Dan and Angie Wagner from Levittown New York. The Wagner's trip to the Nashville area was two fold. First they are huge country music fans so they were here to attend fan fair. Secondly they have recently purchased retirement property in a cove near the 231 bridge and wanted to find it from the water. So our agenda for the day was about 40% site seeing and 60% fishing. Our day started out quickly with a good early morning bite on the Case Sinking Salty Shad and Luhr Jensen 1/8th oz Speed Traps in Bleeding Shiner and Sliver and Black. The early bite was good again but truthfully stayed fairly steady although our fish were still scattered. I'm still ouching from a 6-7lb largemouth that I missed on the Sinking Shad in no more than two feet of water. I saw the fish coming-he took a huge swipe at the bait and missed it...I could see the red in his gills-the kill in his eyes and everything...I'm going to have to take some PM's tonight just to be able to sleep after that......For the day 25 bass with the keeper ratio still staying right up in to 40% plus range. Dan and Angie, folks like you make my job a pleasure...I look forward to fishing with you again next year.
Rick McFerrin
Tennessee Bass Guides.com
Old Hickory 6-17-05
I fished today with Marshall's from Memphis Tennessee. This is the 4th time that I have fished with Larry and Clare and as always we had a great time together and put some good fish in the boat as well. This was another day of catching a couple here and there BUT by the end of the day we managed 26 largemouth for the day, with our largest 5 fishing weighing 19lbs easy....big fish for the day was a tad over 6 pounds and all the fish except 2 were caught on a Case Sinking Salty Shad soaked in JJ'S Magic www.jjsmagic.com All of these fish would unload on the Salty Shad and almost hooked themselves. Another astounding fact for this week is our keeper ratio today was still at 40% with 11 of of the 26 being exceptional keeper fish today. Here's the totals for the 4 trips this week....Monday 60...Tuesday 27...Thursday 25...Friday 26 for a total of 138 Largemouth...with 39 or 36% being keeper fish. (see post below for details) Larry-Clare and I are going to give the Smallmouth a try in December on Tim's...I'm looking forward to seeing them again....
Rick McFerrin
Tennessee Bass Guides.com
Old Hickory 6-20-05
Let me ask you a question. Have you ever caught 22 bass with 12 being keeper fish and your best 5 weighing in somewhere around 17lbs in one day and went home feeling just so so about it? Well that's what happened to me today on Old Hickory. I met Mr. Steve Stillwell at the ramp about fifteen minutes before daylight and within the next hour we caught 15 of our 22 largemouth and four of our larger fish.
I can hear someone saying Rick What's the problem, I would love to catch 22 bass in one day! The problem was that for the next seven hours we managed only 7 more fish. Can you say IT DIED! Steve and I fished 3 different creeks with the whole gambit of structure that was in them with all the baits that has been hot for us over the past several weeks and found it to be tough as nails....maybe I'm just whining....................Steve thanks for hanging in there with me today....great 60 minutes of action.........
Rick McFerrin
Tennessee Bass Guides.com
Old Hickory 6-23-05
Daniel and I fished with my best friend and his adopted uncle Leo Light today on Old Hickory. Leo and I have been fishing together for years and have planned this trip for months and months. Our intentions was to fish only NEW WATER on Old Hickory and have a laid back, take it easy, don't get to excited about anything trip, if you catch some great if not that's ok too, and I think we achieved our goal. When we arrived at the lake the fog was so thick that you couldn't hardly see from one end of the boat to the other and it hung on like that until almost 8:30am. To make matters worse the lake was a slick as glass and there was no sight of any fish moving or bait fish anywhere. We fished until noon then loaded the boat a headed to Cracker Barrel for lunch and 3 gallons of sweet tea. For the day we caught 5 Sauger like the one Daniel is holding in the picture to the left (all caught on crank baits) and 12 Kentucky's which were all about the same size. We found these KY's on a main river channel bluff and all were caught on the 4 inch worm. Sometimes it's just good to go and enjoy your self and be with someone that your as close to like Leo (and of course Daniel). A lot of fun for water that we have never fished on Old Hickory.......
Rick McFerrin
Tennessee Bass Guides.com
6-24-05
This will be a report that covers the past two days on Old Hickory Lake. On the 24th I fished with Brad Jolley keying on the lower end of the lake. We caught and released 18 Largemouth with the largest being the bass I'm holding in the picture to the left. We focused on fishing the drops in that end of the lake with marginal success. We finally found some good fish in various grass patches that would try to destroy a Secret Weapon Black Buzz Bait www.secretweaponlures.com ...This is a great new buzz bait that will be a valuable addition to the Secret Weapon family of lures. ...I'm currently working on a lure review on this bait and should have up in the next week or so. Today 6-25-05 I fished with a great young couple from Jackson Tennessee Justin and Dusti Moody. Currently Tennessee Bass Guides has been participating with the Coca-Cola Bottling Company in a series of sales contests set up for their salesmen. The winners in the various divisions win a full day guide trip on Old Hickory Lake. Truthfully today was a fairly tough day for us with no wind and no current and no bait fish. We fished up lake today trying to avoid the Saturday traffic and struggled until we found a section of creek that gave up several fish in a short period of time. Justin is holding the big fish of the day, weighing in right at 5lbs. Of the 12 largemouth we caught today 6 were keeper fish...5 about the size that Dusti is holding. All of our fish today were caught on either a Case Sinking Salty Shad or a Luhr-Jensen Speed Trap www.luhrjensen.com in a Bleeding Shiner finish. The only real aggressive fish we had all day was the big one and he blasted the Salty Shad when it was pulled over a log in about 3 feet of water. As I have mentioned in prior posts, I'm not sure who the heat is effecting more......me or the fish. All I know is the air conditioner in the Tahoe sure feels good on the way home..Justin and Dusti you both are great to fish with it was a pleasure........
Rick McFerrin
Tennessee Bass Guides.com
Old Hickory 6-28-05
I had a late cancellation on a trip today so Daniel and I decided to take advantage of it and look for more "New Water" on Old Hickory lake. We took our time getting up and getting to the lake today arriving at the Davis Corner ramp at 6:00am. (This is about 1 1/2 hours later than normal.) I must admit it felt good not getting up at 2:00am this morning. We put the Stratos in the water and headed down lake. We concentrated on as many channel points between Spencer Creek and Blue Grass as possible and found most of them dry until we hit the right one when we back tracked late in the day. In just a matter of a few minutes we caught and released 7 bass on a Luhr-Jensen 1/2 ounce Brilliant Silver Hologram Blue Shad Hot Lips with Daniel holding the largest of the 7. Later we caught 2 more bass for a total of nine for the day with 4 of the nine being good fish. This 1/2 ounce size Hot Lips will dive 15-18 feet on 10lb test....the thing I like about this bait is that it dives straight down from the get go.......and has a great wobble that you can feel all the way back to the boat. By 1:00am Daniel was begging for a Grilled Cheese from Sonic-so we loaded the boat-pigged out at Sonic and headed back to Woodbury. A short trip but it was fun being with Daniel and just looking around. I hope this will help you on your next trip.
Rick McFerrin
Tennessee Bass Guides.com
Old Hickory 7-1-05
I had a short 1/2 day trip today with Mr. Tom Donaldson and his son Ray on Old Hickory Lake. We met at Flippers at 4:30am and headed out to our first stop. It didn't take Tom long to catch one on a Secret Weapon Buzz Bait and we missed two others. The buzz bait bite died quickly so we headed to another area where we have been catching some good fish on crankbaits. Our first cast with a Luhr-Jensen Speed Trap yielded a good 3lb fish and several smaller ones over the next 45 minutes. With the clock ticking we made one other short move that gave us our biggest fish of the day that Ray is holding...and lost 3 other good fish. Our largest 5 fish would have weighed 11`lbs or so. I enjoyed fishing with Tom and Ray today. Ray is a very polite young man and is going to be a good fisherman. I've never hid my feelings about my sons. I have a great time with them every time we are out together and I could see the same thing between Tom and Ray......Take time to take your kids fishing.......you will build memories that will last forever...........
Rick McFerrin
Tennessee Bass Guides.com
Old Hickory 7-2-05
Some time ago Mr. Koji Nakayama contacted me to book a trip on Old Hickory lake for himself and a good friend and co-worker Mr. Kentarou Yasui. Koji and Ken work for the Bridgestone corporation. Koji (right) works in Chicago as a Engineering Manager and Ken (left) in the Budget and Finance Department in Tokyo. Both are avid bass fishermen and this was Ken's first trip to the United States to fish. We planned to meet at Flippers at 4:30am.....When I arrived at 4:15am Koji and Ken was already there getting their tackle ready for the day. I found out that Koji's plane was delayed in Chicago and he didn't arrive in Nashville until Mid-Night...to make matters worse the airlines left all his rods in Chicago and he had to make a mad dash to Wal-Mart to buy a couple for the day. I'm telling you these two gentlemen wanted to fish.....and it didn't take long to discover that they were very good at bass fishing. Other than the increased traffic on the lake, today was a carbon copy of yesterday....a fish here and there....We finally made our way to an area where we have been catching some good fish and had two big fish on...Koji lost his right at the boat ( a good 4-5lb fish) and I lost one on a Case Sinking Salty Shad-all I saw was the flash coming out of the weeds but it felt like a heavy fish. We had a great time and I enjoyed fishing with Ken and Koji....I look forward to their next trip to Nashville-we are planning to fish together again. 16 for the day....Ken and Koji are holding 3 of our larger fish......
Rick McFerrin
Tennessee Bass Guides.com
Old Hickory 8-12-05
This was my first day back on the water since returning from my Alaska trip and it was HOT! I met Mr. Ray Meyer (left) and Mr. Paul Merrick (right) from Alton Bay New Hampshire at the ramp at 5:00am and we had our first fish in the boat by 5:15am...We caught fish today on the Case Sinking Salty Shad-Lure Jensen Chrome and Blue Sugar Shad and Bleeding Shiner Speed Trap www.luhrjensen.com. Action stayed fairly constant all the way up to noon and then it died quickly. Every fish we caught came out of water no more than 3 feet deep or less...some on shallow docks-some on grass and some in the jumps. All three of us lost as many or more fish than we caught but still managed to hoist 15 or so over the rail.......Old Hickory still will give up decent shallow fish even in this hot weather if you are persistent in your approach. It's like anything else that is worthwhile doing....if you don't prepare a plan in advance-and then put it into action at the lake you will most likely go home disappointed.......The #1 ingredient for Old Hickory as far as I'm concerned is Persistence and keeping good trip records from prior years. It will make allot of difference..............Ray-Paul you were great to fish with, I hope our paths cross again.....
Rick McFerrin
Tennessee Bass Guides.com
Note: You can see a full line of Case Baits at Murfreesboro Outdoors....Randy and his team will be happy to help you if you have any questions....Phone 615-896-4745 for directions.
Old Hickory 8-25-05
I fished with Mr. Warren of Mt. Juliet today on Old Hickory and for the most part we had a fairly steady day on the water. We met at 5:15am at the ramp and left immediately to get a jump on the daylight. Water temps on Old Hickory had fallen to 81.6 degrees at 5:00am and the water color is in good shape. As we have talked about in prior posts the lake is full...no let me say it this way FULL of shad...It almost looks like you could get out of the boat and walk across the top of them and never get your feet wet. For anyone that chases bass you know that there is an upside and a downside to shad populations...we saw fish busting in shad pods almost in every area of the lake we fished today....but most of the schooling was short lived and sporadic at best. We did manage to catch 16 good largemouth and countless stripes on a variety of baits from Luhr-Jensen Radar 10 and Sugar Shad crank baits to the old reliable shallow shad rap. The Sinking Salty Shad bite was off some, I think we only caught two fish on them today. Most of our fish were scattered catching one here and there....We did have one stop where we caught 4 off a slopping rock wall that dropped off into about five feet of water.......Over all not a banner day....but not a bad one either............Warren is a good fisherman and a great person to share your boat with...It will get better on Old Hickory as the water temps cool and we move (soon I hope) into the fall season....I hope this helps....
Rick McFerrin
Tennessee Bass Guides.com