Fishing has, for the most part, remained good over the last week on Old Hickory.  It still remains hit or miss but when you hit them you can catch quality fish as well as good numbers. The fish have remained in a lot of the same patterns they have been in and some days for the most part have been pretty predictable. Weather has remained consistent over the last week with several days being beautiful. Water temps have remained pretty steady in the mid 40’s on the river with the pockets being slightly cooler.

 Our patterns and techniques have remained the same over the last week with the A Rig, jerkbait and jig getting most of the work.  The fish have not necessarily been deep but there has to be deep water close by with channel banks, bluffs and any 45 deg bank close to a channel being productive. We have kept the color selections pretty simple keeping everything natural with the water being nice and clean.

 Here at OHGS we use brand new high end fishing equipment from Denali Rods, Lews reels, Sunline fishing line, Santone Jigs, Fish Terror Baits, Bass Kandi soft plastics, and other top of the line equipment. I am a United States Coast Guard licensed captain and 100% dedicated to making your trip the trip of a lifetime. 


After a couple weeks of extremely cold winter weather Old Hickory has rebounded well in the last week. 2 weeks ago the temperatures were down right frigid and we were breaking ice leaving the boat ramp as we were headed deer and duck hunting. As typical Tennessee weather would have it a week later we are in for almost short sleeve weather!!! The weather has turned beautiful and the fishing has been pretty good with some days better than others.

 We have been fishing from mid lake down towards the dam and water temperatures are pretty varied. The main river is consistently in the mid 40s with creeks varying from the low to mid 40s.  Water clarity has been good throughout the entire lake. Remember this time of yr a couple degrees can make all the difference. 

 We have primarily been fishing main river points and bluffs and when there is current we have been fishing the breaks. We have also been catching fish in creeks on channel banks and up on shallow rocky flats close to deep water. Once you find the shad grouped up you will find the fish then its just figuring whether they are suspended or are on the bottom. Don’t try and over think Old Hickory in the winter time as not all the fish push deep and shallow active fish can always be found.

 Our primary baits have been the A Rig, jerkbaits, jigs and shallow running crankbaits.

 Here at OHGS we use brand new high grade fishing equipment from Denali Rods, Lews reels, Sunline, Santone Jigs, Fish Terror Baits, Bass Kandi soft plastics, and other top of the line equipment. I am a United States Coast Guard licensed captain and 100% dedicated to making your trip the trip of a lifetime.

 


Fishing has remained hit or miss for us over the last several weeks with some days being better then others and the quality bite very difficult to find. Most of the same patterns that have been productive over the last month or so are still catching fish with not much change. I have not been able to be on the water the last 4 days but am anxious to see if this cold snap has pushed the fish more toward the late fall/early winter type pattern which would be a blessing considering how poor our fall has been!!! The weather this week looks to remain pretty cool so hopefully it will help the bite for the boys in town fishing the ABA national tournament.

 Our top producing baits have been Bass Kandi Sweet Sticks, shallow running crankbaits, jigs and spinnerbaits. More natural colors in cleaner water and add some chartreuse around any stain.

 Here at OHGS we use brand new high grade fishing equipment from Denali Rods, Lews reels, Sunline, Santone Jigs, Fish Terror Baits, Bass Kandi soft plastics, and other top of the line equipment. I am a United States Coast Guard licensed captain and 100% dedicated to making your trip the trip of a lifetime, I still have dates available in June so lets go fishing!!!

 


This report is for the last couple weeks on Old Hickory. Fishing over the first half of the period remained pretty tough overall. With the cold front we had at the end of last week, the fishing has picked up just a bit from what it was and we are starting to catch a few more fish. Seems like in the fall after the first couple snaps the fishing picks up some before the water temperature falls and the fish get lethargic. I think after a few more cold fronts the fishing will defiantly improve.  There are still massive schools of shad hanging around everywhere and clients are amazed at the amount of shad in Old Hickory. The schooling activity is picking up with both stripe bass and largemouth mixed in. Depending on the particular school, this can be a good way to catch numbers of fish quickly with some quality fish mixed in.

 Our most productive baits over the last couple weeks have been shallow running crankbaits, 1/8 oz Bass Kandi Sweet Sticks, ½ oz Santone Jigs and 3/8ox Santone spinnernbaits with natural colors on the crankbaits/spinnerbaits and green pumpkin jigs and shakey heads. Flipping Bass Kandi T Craw’s around shallow wood in pockets and flats has also produced some fish but has not been consistent. 

 Here at OHGS we use brand new high grade fishing equipment from Denali Rods, Lews reels, Sunline, Santone Jigs, Fish Terror Baits, Bass Kandi soft plastics, and other top of the line equipment. I am a United States Coast Guard licensed captain and 100% dedicated to making your trip the trip of a lifetime, I still have dates available in June so lets go fishing!!!


Old Hickory can sure fish tough in the fall, but this fall has been a bit tougher then others. We have been running several trips a week with mixed results ranging from good to super tough. The fish are defiantly active and feeding but are so keyed in on baitfish that it can be hard to get them to commit to anything else. It seems like this year everywhere you go there are massive balls of bait from 20ft deep all the way to shallow flats in the back of the creeks. Depending on the day you are still able to go catch some fish and enjoy the cooler weather this fall.

 Our best techniques over the past week have been flipping shallow wood with a Bass Kandi Texas Craw, Bass Kandi Sweet Stick on a 1/8 oz shakey head, Bandit 100 and 200 series crankabits, and ½ oz Santone Jigs on Channel banks. Green Pumpkin has been the best for soft plastics with natural shad colors on crankbaits.

 Here at OHGS we use brand new high grade fishing equipment from Denali Rods, Lews reels, Sunline, Santone Jigs, Fish Terror Baits, Bass Kandi soft plastics, and other top of the line equipment. I am a United States Coast Guard licensed captain and 100% dedicated to making your trip the trip of a lifetime, I still have dates available in June so lets go fishing!!!

 


               Well fall has defiantly arrived early this year on Old Hickory and the fishing has been consistently tough for the most part.  Fall fishing on Old Hickory is typically pretty tough and usually doesn’t start until September or so but this year it has decided to come a month or so early.  With all that being said we have been able to grind out a few good trips over the last several weeks with some fair numbers and some quality bites. The creeks and river flats are absolutely loaded with fry right now which has the fish scattered all over the place and very well fed! There are some schooling fish both on the river and in the creeks right now but can be super tough to catch and usually not worth messing with. There are still a few schools left on the main river ledges but it for the most part has been inconsistent with schools here today gone tomorrow.  The shallow bite has been fair some days to good on others and just overall tough. The fish are just so well fed on all the fry and shad right now that it is hard to get them to bite anything that doesn’t just swim into their mouths.

             Our best baits deep have been 1/2oz or 5/8 oz Bass Kandi Sweet Stik shakey head, ½ oz Bass Kandi T-Craw rigged on a swing head jig, ½ oz football jig and C-rigged Brush Buster from Bass Kandi. Up shallow a 1/8 or ¼ oz shakey head, small crankbait, and flipping baits have been the top producers. For colors, on my plastics and jigs green pumpkin if its clean water and black/blue in stain. Very simple!

             Here at OHGS we use brand new, top of the line fishing equipment from Denali Rods, Lews reels, Sunline fishing line, Santone Jigs, Fish Terror Baits and Bass Kandi soft plastics. I am a United States Coast Guard licensed captain and 100% dedicated to making your trip the trip of a lifetime. I still have dates available in September so call today and lets go fishing!!!

 

 

 

 


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Well another couple weeks are again in the books here at Old Hickory Guide Service and we have enjoyed every minute of it. We have stayed on the lake last couple weeks with mixed results and with the quality bite defiantly improving.  We have been pretty consistent catching fish this week and can usually find that one 4+lb fish each trip it seems. The action has been has been most consistent on the main river ledges still and best when Cordell Hull is releasing and Old Hickory pulling. The TVA has primarily been generating in the afternoons and evenings which is when I have been trying to book most trips.  The river fish are still highly reliant on the current and when its not there it can be brutal. The water temp on the river has remained pretty constant over the last several weeks hanging around the lows 80s which has helped keep the water quality good and kept the ledge bite going. Fish can be found right now anywhere from 5 ft on top of a drop all the way to 30ft with our most consistent being from that 15ft-20ft.

Our best baits over the last several weeks have been Bass Kandi Sweet Sticks rigged on ½ or 5/8 shakey heads, Bass Kandi T-Craws on ½ or ¾ swing head, jigs, big worms and crankbaits. As for the soft plastics and jigs green pumpkin or any variant has been best and for crankbaits shad patterns with some chartreuse has been good.

 Here at OHGS we use brand new high grade fishing equipment from Denali Rods, Lews reels, Sunline, Santone Jigs, Fish Terror Baits, Bass Kandi soft plastics, and other top of the line equipment. I am a United States Coast Guard licensed captain and 100% dedicated to making your trip the trip of a lifetime, I still have dates available in June so lets go fishing!!!


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This past week has been pretty typical for Old Hickory in July. We have had some good days but mixed in with those good days are the days the fish make us work. Every year around now the fish seem to get a bit tougher to catch, whether it be because the rise in water temp or decrease oxygen in the water, some July days can be tough.  With the water warming and the oxygen levels decreasing some the fish that were once grouped up nicely on the ledges begin to break up and scatter some particularly when there is no current. With all that being said we still had some good trips last week with both numbers and quality fish being caught.  The cool front we had push through last week has helped to drop the water temp back down into the low to mid 80’s as before the front I saw 90 in some places. Our best bite this week has still been on the main river ledges on both the lower end and mid lake. The key this week has been either to plan your trip around when they pull current and when there’s no current grinding it out picking a few here and there.  

            Our best baits this week have been a Bass Kandi Sweet Stick rigged on a 5/8 oz shakey head, Bass Kandi T-Craw fished on a swing head jig, c-rigged creature baits, ½ and ¾ Santone football head jig all in green pumpkin or a slight variant and dd crankbaits in shad or citrus colors.

Here at OHGS we use brand new high grade fishing equipment from Denali Rods, Lews reels, Sunline, Santone Jigs, Fish Terror Baits, Bass Kandi soft plastics, and other top of the line equipment. I am a United States Coast Guard licensed captain and 100% dedicated to making your trip the trip of a lifetime, I still have dates available in June so lets go fishing!!!

 

 

 


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We had a great week running several trips and catching a lot of fish on river and creek ledges. This week the fishing has remained good with a few slower periods throughout the day when the TVA isn’t pulling current.  The water temp has risen to 85 on the river and 85-88 in the creeks, which has forced lot of the fish to move to the river where the water is a bit cooler and there is more abundant food. The majority of the better fish we have been catching have come off river ledges while the creek ledges are still holding a ton of smaller fish with the occasional big fish. The river is absolutely full of bait right now almost to the point where it can be hard to distinguish between bass and bait on the graph.  I have talked to several friends who are still catching some fish up shallow and on the banks around docks but say that the river bite is defiantly more consistent. Early in the morning when there is still low light we are catching some fish out of the willow weed throwing frogs and flipping creature baits but the bite doesn’t last long and as soon as it starts getting light the fish pull out.  You can always find fish up shallow on Old Hickory but I believe that the majority of the better fish tend to pull off into deeper water until the thermocline breaks down later in the summer.

Our primary baits over the last week have been Santone Jigs football head jigs tipped with Bass Kandi T-Craws, Bass Kandi Sweet Stiks, 10in big worms, C-rigged creature baits and deep diving crankbaits. Green Pumpkin has been the best color when using soft plastic baits and shad colored crankbaits with a bit of Chartreuse mixed in has been the go to while cranking.  When there is a lack of current stick with slower techniques like a ½ oz shakey head, c-rig and a jig. When there is current always try a crankbait because when the fish are actively feeding a big crankbait can load the boat in a hurry.

This time of year can be extremely frustrating for someone who doesn’t quite know their electronics. Let me help you ease the learning curve and so you how to catch the fish on the ledges. Call today and lets catch em up!!!

Here at OHGS we use brand new high grade fishing equipment from Denali Rods, Lews reels, Sunline, Santone Jigs, Fish Terror Baits, Bass Kandi soft plastics, and other top of the line equipment. I am a United States Coast Guard licensed captain and 100% dedicated to making your trip the trip of a lifetime.  I still have dates available in June and July so lets go fishing!!!

 


Man o man has Old Hickory been on fire this year and last week was no exception. We had several trips this week and fishing is still excellent with great numbers and quality fish being caught on every trip. The fish have really grouped up well on the ledges and humps in both the creeks and main river ledges as well as on main and secondary points. Channel banks and any bank that has deep water close by is still holding fish as well. The ledges both on the main river and in the creeks should continue to fill up with fish and get even better as the summer pushes on. The TVA has continued to help us out and pull good current this week, at some point during the day, which will always improve the bite. I typically want at least 18,000-20,000 cfs to produce enough current to really get those fish positioned correctly but you can still catch fish when they are not pulling typically relying on slower techniques. You can check tva.gov to see the generation schedule for area lakes.   

We have primarily focused our time over the last week offshore structure fishing.  Graphing has defiantly been the name of the game so far and we have had some long, long practice days of just riding and riding before finding the fish and reaping the rewards. At times it can be hard to keep riding when you aren’t finding what you are looking for but when you find it, boy is it worth it!

Our best baits over the last week have been dd crankbaits in shad colors with some added chartreuse, 1/2oz jigs in green pumpkin color, t rigged big worms and c-rigged creature baits both in green pumpkin or red shad color.

Here at OHGS we use brand new high grade fishing equipment from Denali Rods, Lews reels, Sunline, Santone Jigs, Fish Terror Baits, Bass Kandi soft plastics, and other top of the line equipment. I am a United States Coast Guard licensed captain and 100% dedicated to making your trip the trip of a lifetime, I still have dates available in June so lets go fishing!!!