Old Hickory Lake Guide Service Fishing Report- Feb 14- March 1
*I WANT TO APOLOGIZE TO MY OTHER CUSTOMERS FOR NOT POSTING PICTURES FROM THEIR TRIPS. I HAVE HAD A COMPUTER ISSUE AND SOMEHOW DELETED THEPICTURES.
It appears spring is knocking at our door and it has brought the rains with it. Typical spring conditions have dominated our area over the last couple weeks and the dirty water, changing water temps and fluctuating levels have proven challenging. The good news is a strong warming trend and stable weather forecasted over the next 10 days should improve the fishing on Old Hickory and get both the bass and crappie ready to start the spring fed. Water temps have begun to rise into the low 50’s and clarity has fluctuated from slightly stained to just plain muddy. The TVA has been pulling 50,000-60,000 on a regular basis over the last several weeks and has really pulled a lot of trash, debris and muddy water into both the creeks and main river.
Bass fishing has been good when we can find some fairly clean warm water. As everyone knows, there’s no worst conditions then cold, muddy water so we have been focusing on temperature more so than clarity considering everything is dirty. If you can find fairly warm water, even if its heavily stained, the fish will push up surprisingly shallow and flipping cover or throwing a shallow running crankbait can be effective. There are still a lot of fish that are deep as well right now and we are starting to see groups of fish showing up at the mouths of bays and pockets hanging around the deep water. The fish we have graphed hanging off the deeper side of these places have proven somewhat difficult to catch so catching the groups as they pull up shallow to feed has been the deal. Deeper running crankbaits have been the best way to reach these fish with red and natural color/chartreuse being best. Shallow and medium running crankbaits have been good when fishing shallow and flipping dark colors like black/blue and black/red. Unlike last year, the A Rig and jerkbait bite has not been nearly as good and for one main reason; water clarity. For both these techniques water clarity is key and with out it the baits don’t fair nearly as well. If the water will clear and remain that way both these baits will begin to produce again but without it you may as well leave them at home.
Crappie fishing has been inconsistent as well over the last several weeks, but has defiantly improved the last couple days. I am really looking forward to fishing over the next week as I believe the crappie will be active and the fishing will be good! The crappies are scattered all over right now and it seems the shallower you go the bigger the fish but the fewer the bites. Hanging back off the brush and casting jigs have been the way to catch fish over the last couple weeks and paying carefully attention not drift too close to the fish has been important. Presentation has been key to getting bit and small variances are huge right now. If you can present the bait the right way, you can load the boat but if you are off by just a touch, you literally wont get a bite. Typical colors have been working with blue/white, white, white/chartreuse and chartreuse being good. Minnows are also a good way to catch crappie when they are a bit finicky but hard to cover much water with. We are using minnows when we know the crappies are there but just not biting.
Here at OHGS we use brand new high end fishing equipment from Denali Rods, Lews reels, Vicious Line, Fish Terror Baits, Bass Kandi Baits, Eco Pro Tungsten 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.
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