Fishing on Old hickory has been pretty good over the last several weeks for both bass and crappie. With the unseasonably warm temps the fish have become more active and we have started catching some fish on some typical staging areas. Right now with the changing weather conditions, fishing off instinct has been key. What you did today may not catch them tomorrow and being versatile and open minded yields results. Right now we are catching fish as shallow as a 1-2 fow and as deep as 30 fow. This doesn’t mean any shallow/deep water will produce results as the fish for us seem to be bunched up in specific areas. Remember to pay attention to your channels as the fish use these as travel corridors as they head into and eventually out of spawning areas. Later in the day check shallow water close to deeper areas and try and find the most wind blown areas you can. This time of year bass will surprise you how shallow they will get later in the day. Remember, all the fish are never doing the same thing this time of year and coming to the lake without any preconceived notions is the best approach to take.

            Our most consistent pattern for bass has been focusing on channel swing banks in the creeks and fishing slow with jigs and shakey heads.  Keep the color selection simple and depending on water color, choose a green pumpkin variation or black/blue. Finesse jigs are catching more numbers and quality of fish with weights ranging from ¼-5/8 oz. When fishing wind blown shallow areas, Strike King Red Eye Shad and 1.5 squarebills have been the ticket and depending on conditions we have been rotating between red, chrome and natural shad patterns Jerkbaits have been catching fish as well using natural patterns with chartreuse.

            The crappie bite has been a bit hit or miss for us and the fish have really seemed to scatter out over the last week or so. As the water temps hit the 50s the crappie will begin heading toward their spawning areas and finding good groups can be challenging. Minnows and 1/16oz jigs have ben the best producers for us in a range from 5 fow- 20fow being the best.

Here at OHGS we use brand new high end fishing equipment from Denali Rods, Lews reels, Vicious Line, Fish Terror Baits, Strike King, 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.

The fish have moved off deep and the bite is ON!!! Fishing has been very good for us over the last several weeks with the fish moving out to both river and creek ledges by the droves. I haven’t seen the consistent quality we have had so far this summer on the ledges in several years and the numbers are showing up as well. There are both good numbers as well as quality on the drops right now and with the forecast of warm days and a bit of rain, the bite should not change and hopefully get even better.  The TVA has been generating good current for the most part this summer and it has really helped the bite and the water quality stay good.

The key for us has been to graph until we find a school and after that it is all about managing that school. Instead of having one great day where you catch them until they stop biting if you manage them you can have that school for several weeks by just catching a few out of it every day. There are schools on the ledges right now up and down the lake and with the right knowledge you can find them and have a lot of fun!

Our primary baits have been the typical ledge baits including ½ oz Strike King Football Jigs, ½ oz shakey head woms, C-rigged creature baits, swimbaits,10in worms and Strike King 6xd crankbaits in shad patterns and blue/chartreuse. We like to keep the color selection simple and stick to variations of green pumpkin and black/blue.  

Right now the key to catching fish and having a lot of fun is all about knowing your electronics. We have the experience and knowledge to teach you how to find offshore fish and are able to give you the confidence to do it yourself. We have put in the time and work for you and can shorten the learning curve dramatically. On our graph trips we teach you how to eliminate the unproductive waters by just looking at a map and teach you how to find those higher percentage areas. We will primarily ride and graph up and down lake and interoperate what we are seeing and make sure you fully understand what you are seeing. We will teach you exactly what a school of bass look like on a ledge and how to differentiate between the different species of fish. We have many satisfied customers that have learned to use their electronics and it has changed the way they fish.  We will be more then happy to get you in touch with some of our customers that have taken our trips and hear from them how much they benefitted from one of our graph trips.  Take one of our trips today and if you are not satisfied with what we have done, we will give you a 100% refund, no questions asked!

Here at OHGS we use brand new high end fishing equipment from Denali Rods, Lews reels, Vicious Line, Fish Terror Baits, Strike King, 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. 

Fishing on Old Hickory has remained good for both bass and crappie over the last week or so with really good numbers and quality. Both species have headed to the banks for their annual rituals and are up shallow for the catching.  With the full moon last week I think the biggest push of fish have hit the banks and there are lots of fish on bed right now.  We are starting to see more and more empty beds with just the males up guarding and have been catching more and more post spawn fish.  The weather over the last week or so has been ideal and looking at next week the stable weather will only help. Water temps are pretty similar throughout the lake right now ranging in the low 70’s with water clarity varying depending on your location.

 When bass fishing we have been targeting shallow rocky flat areas with crankbaits, spinnerbaits, wobbleheads and rattle traps producing well with some wind and the trusty shakey head when theres not. This time of year I will also focus on lead in banks/areas catching both pre and post spawn fish using primarily jigs and t-rigged creature baits. If you can find that bank/area the fish are using to travel to and from an area, you have found a spot that will replenish each day. Flipping wood has also produced some quality fish, as it typically does this time of year, with the Strike King Rodent doing most of the damage.

 The good crappie bite is finally here and the crappies are making a good showing! We have been focusing on brush piles and stake beds in 4-9 fow with 1/16^th and 1/8^th oz jigs producing best. We have been experimenting with some Strike King baits over the last several weeks and found the Joker and Slabalicious to be awesome baits!!! Our top color for the two have been blue/white and popsicle.  Typical crappie colors have been productive along with the two including white, white/chartruse. Chartruse, blue/white, blue/chartruse and motor oil. If you have been waiting on the crappie bite to get here, it time to hit the lake!!!

 Here at OHGS we use brand new high end fishing equipment from Denali Rods, Lews reels, Vicious Line, Fish Terror Baits, Strike King, 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.

(I apologize again for the lack of photos. I dropped my phone in the lake AGAIN and lost several good pictures from trips!)

Fishing has been good on Old Hickory over the last several weeks for both bass and crappie. The weather has finally stabilized and the fish have responded as they are in full pre-spawn and spawn mode. The shallows are full of cruising females and males who are willing to bite anything in from of them making for a fun day of fishing. The weather over the next week looks to be very good so the fishing should not change and only get better. Water temps are quickly on the rise and have been in the low to mid 60’s first thing in the am rising to upper 60’s by the afternoon. Water clarity has varied over the lake from stained to clear depending on where you are.

You can catch fish pretty much any way you want right now on Old Hickory fro 20ft -1ft. For better consistent quality fish we have been focusing on lead in banks in the main creek and pockets and have primarily used 1/2oz jigs and shakey heads to catch fish. When fishing shallow we have used search baits when there’s wind and shakey heads when there’s not. Docks are holding spawning fish right now and we have caught plenty of fish flipping around the poles and floats. Like I said, fishing is good right now so fish your confidence baits and you will catch fish.

Get ready, the crappie are getting ready to be on!!! We are having good days with some days the fish are making us work mixed in.  The crappie we have been catching have been in less the 8fow and most are still prespawn fish.  Most crappie are coming on 1/16^th and 1/8^th oz jigs and tube baits with white, chartruse/white, blue/white, blue/chartruse, and motoroil being best.

Our primary baits while bass fishing have been ½ oz jigs, 1/8^th and ¼ oz shakey heads, squarebill’s, medium running crankbaits, spinnerbaits and c-rigs. Green pumpkin and black/blue have made up the majority of our plastics colors with rootbeer and shad patterns being best on our crankbaits.  Topwater has also been very productive in the mornings and best when we have had a bit of wind.

Here at OHGS we use brand new high end fishing equipment from Denali Rods, Lews reels, Vicious Line, Fish Terror Baits, Strike King, 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.

Spring has finally arrived and with it has come good fishing and beautiful days! Fishing on Old Hickory has been good over the last several weeks for both bass and crappie. The bass fishing has proven to be more consistent with crappie fishing showing good signs of the approaching spawn. The water temperature had been on a nice steady climb until the last couple weeks where unstable weather has dominated the area once again. Water temps have ranged anywhere from mid 50's all the way into the mid 60's with water clarity ranging from dirty to clean depending on where you are. The weather looks to be a bit unstable again this week but hopefully wont affect the bite too much and the good fishing continues.

Bass fishing has been good over the last several weeks and fish have been caught super shallow all the way to super deep. It seems a lot of the fish are defiantly pre spawn and we are starting to see fish cruising pretty heavily in the shallow water looking for a place to spawn. I still think we are a couple weeks away but fishing should only continue to improve. We have been fishing primarily shallow rocky flats close to deeper water and using squarebills, spinnerbaits, rattle traps and dragging 1/8 oz shakey heads have been most effective.

Crappie fishing has picked up over the last several weeks and the best should be just around the corner. We are focusing on depths between 7-12 fow and have caught all our fish staying back off the brush and casting 1/16^th and 1/8^thoz jigs. White, chartreuse/white, chartreuse,  blue/white and blue/chartreuse have been the best colors

Here at OHGS we use brand new high end fishing equipment from Denali Rods, Lews reels, Vicious Line, Fish Terror Baits, Strike King,  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. 

*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.

Fishing on Old Hickory has remained about the same as it has with the fish slowing down maybe just a touch. Typical Tennessee winter has come to visit again after about week worth of nice warm weather we were hit again with some nasty cold snowy weather. The snow and cold have caused a pretty significant drop in water temp from low 50’s to low 40’s and the water has been slightly stained. Towards the end of next week the weather appears to be breaking again and temps look to be trending upwards.

 Bass fishing has been inconsistent with good days mixed in. We are catching bass in about the same areas as we were before but have had to work a bit harder for bites. Fish have seems to be hanging off the edge a bit more then they were and their feeding windows appear to be shorter. I do not think the bass have necessarily moved out of these areas but I do think they are not nearly as active as they were. A change from upper 40’s to lower 40’s is huge for a bass and there is a tremendous difference between fish in these temps.  We are still catching some beautiful healthy fish and with the weather change next week the bite should improve.  The same baits that were producing over the last several weeks are still do so with jerkbait’s and A Rigs do most of the work. Natural colors with chartreuse for jerkbaits and swimbaits.

 Crappie fishing has been excellent through the cold front with the better bite moving a bit deeper. Minnows have been good since the cold front fished vertically either dead still or slowly moving the bait up and down paying particular attention when the bait is heading down for bites. Crappie fishing several days prior to the weather change was excellent as we were catching the majority of our fish in 8-12 fow right off creek channels. Fish should move back up to the shallower water next week as the water begins to warm and fish become more active again. The same baits are also still producing for the crappie as have been with white, blue/white, chartreuse/white and blue/chartreuse catching them consistently.

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.

Fishing on Old Hickory has been inconsistent over the last several weeks to say the least. Wild weather swings combined with fluctuations in water temp and clarity have made catching challenging at times.  Strong winds have also made it tough to fish spots thoroughly and slow enough to get bit while trying to keep from getting blown off an area. The weather forecast for the upcoming week shows some stability in temperatures which should help the bite. I will take the cool weather as long as things remain somewhat stable overall.

The bass seem to be in their typical winter patterns for Old Hickory with fish being caught shallow and deep for us. We have been catching bass up on shallow flats adjacent to deep water with the key being the deep water close and a pretty quick depth change. If the fish are not up on the flat they have been suspending right off the drop and paralleling the edge with jerkbaits and a rig being most productive. Water depth has been anywhere from 3-10 foot on top with a depth change of only a couple feet to 10+ in other areas. Depth is going to be relevant to the area that you are fishing and don’t think you have to be in super deep water to catch fish. If you are fishing a fairly shallow area a depth change of only several feet can be all you need as long as you are close to the channel, whether it be a creek or ditch, running out of an area being most important. 

The crappie bite has been inconsistent as well but the good days have been good. Crappie have been caught surprisingly shallow this winter and have been willing to eat better closer to dark. If the shallow bite isn’t there we have been tightlining over deep water in 20-30 fow with minnows and jigs being equally effective.

Jerkbaits and A Rigs have gotten 90% of the work for us over the last several weeks and natural colors with chartreuse have been the top producers. When crappie fishing we have had to change up colors about every day and relied on the crappie to tell us what they want. Our most consistant colors have been white/chart, blue/white, blue/chart and black/chart fish on an 1/8 or 1/16^th oz heads.

Winter can be some of the best fishing of the year if you know what to look for and its awesome to basically have the lake to yourself most days! Spring days are starting to book up now so call and get the preferred days now!

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.

The fall season appears to be here a bit early this year and with the cooler temps and shorter days comes a challenge! In typical fall fashion, Old Hickory is fishing pretty inconsistent right now with good and tougher days mixed in. Fish are scattered from 20 fow to just inches and are from the main river all the way to the back of the creeks. The only thing that has been consistent over the last several weeks has been the inconsistency.

We are still catching a few fish on some shallower offshore humps, but I believe the majority of the fish have made the push towards the creeks and are headed super shallow chasing fry. Some typical fall patterns that have been productive for us are shallow cranking, flipping shallow wood and grass, fishing light shakey heads on points and rocky banks, swimming a jig around shallow grass and an often overlooked pattern this time of year is fishing main river bluffs.

Our most productive baits have been medium/shallow running crankbaits in rootbeer or natural shad patterns, 1/8^th and 1/4oz shakey heads in green pumpkin, flipping a BKB Flipping Jig in Magic Craw or Sinus Infection, flipping a BKB T-Craw around wood or grass and swimming a Silver Shad or Natural Craw BKB Swim Jig around grass.

Bass Kandi Baits has come out with a new line of both swimming and flipping jigs that are out of this world. Elite Series Pro Casey Scanlon designed both of these jigs with less hang ups in mind and they have hit this one out of the park in both design and color’s.  Click on the above links and check out these awesome new jigs!

Here at OHGS we use brand new high end fishing equipment from Denali Rods, Lews reels, Sunline, Fish Terror Baits, Bass Kandi Baits, 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.