Kentucky Lake 7-21-12

Kentucky Lake 7-21-12

Grass, grass, grass. The grass is back at Kentucky Lake and it is most welcome.

My friend Rob K invited me to pre fish with him for a tournament the following week. He had already located some productive spots but he wanted to add some more.

We left Nashville at 3:35 am heading for Mason's ramp in Richland Creek. We stopped for a great tenderloin biscuit at Hunt's Outdoors in Waverly. We were on the water around 5:30 am. Rob headed north for a grass bed on the main channel for topwater action. My second cast with a frog triggered a really good blow up but I missed the fish, a portent of things to come. We had about 8 blow ups that missed. Eventually Rob and I both scored with a frog. We had overcast and a cool north wind all morning.

We then moved further north to begin ledge exploration. I especially enjoyed viewing the Lowrance HD8 with a Navionics chip. I saw structure contours as never before with Rob skillfully interpreting what we were seeing. This was C-rig with 10" worms and jigs territory. We were fishing 6-10 foot ledges that dropped sharply into 20-30 feet. The best ledges were underwater points and humps in open water with grass. Great possibilities but the bass weren't cooperating today. We saw a lot of fish suspended in 25-30 feet. I finally picked up a 3 lber on the big worm. We continued to explore ledges even up to Big Sandy but essentially we were eliminating water for next week. Heading south now we picked up a bass here and there. We finally finished with only 7 or 8 fish, with maybe 4 that would be keepers of 15". There was no generation today, therefore no current that moves the bass up onto the ledge. Rob was able to add 4 or 5 spots to add to his repertoire of locations to fish next week.

It was really nice to see all the grass on both sides of the channel as well as the grass that was not topped out but growing in 6-8 feet. I have gained a whole new perspective of ledge fishing and I thank Rob for helping that. Now if I just had an 8-10" GPS/Sonar.

Percy Priest 7-18-12

Percy Priest 7-18-12

We were expecting to get wet. The last 2 times out we were in downpours. Picked Jack up at 4:30 am and launched at the Stewart Creek ramp. Headed upriver and stopped at the end of the bluff just past the bridge and threw topwaters. No hits. Proceeded upriver to a large flat where we threw crankbaits and swim baits. Jack caught a small crappie. I lost a nice 3-4 lb bass on a Red Eye Shad. Caught a couple of dinks and moved on. Fished down the next river bluff with no results until we turned into another bay. Then Jack began his assault on the fish. He caught 4 nice club keepers in short order on a football jig with KVD Rodent trailer. I got zip.

Headed up Spring Creek but a boat was sitting on the spot I wanted to fish so we motored up to the junction of the East and West Forks. Jack continued to smoke me good by picking up 4 more bass while I picked up 1. By this time the heat was beginning to be oppressive. And...we began hearing thunder moving our way. Discretion became the better part of valor and we decided to make long ride to Stewarts Creek. Fished one small cove near the ramp but thunder intensified so we put it on the trailer. Jack had 8 bass and 1 crappie. Only 1 bass was a dink, the rest were at least club keepers with 2-3 in the 14-15" range. He also lost a couple of nicer fish. I caught 4 bass, 3 dinks and 1 club keeper. Good day for Jack and for me, a good day guiding. But we didn't get wet.

Old Hickory 7-14-12 Tournament

Tournament day. Picked up Jack at 3:30 am. These middle of the night starts are killing me. Our club, Cumberland Bass Club, is joining with the Franklin Bass Club for our Old Hickory tournament. Actually we are not competing for the tourney but are all putting in $5 each for a big fish pot, winner take all. We blasted off at 5 am. My fishing partner canceled at the last minute so I fished alone. Jack just rode with me and was fishing with Steve.

I elected to fish what I call 2 coves. I learned that Tyler calls it Cow cove, 'cause it used to have cows. What it does have is an abundance of cane grass on the edges. When conditions are right, bass congregate in the grass and feed. Evidently conditions are not quite right except for a 1 lb bass that blew up on frog. Club keeper but I need a lot more. If you read my last trip you would know that it rained the whole time we were on the lake. That merely conditioned, at least Jack and I, for today because it also rained the entire day, at times really hard.

I started fishing a new place for me, the back side of an island with lots of cane grass. I was continuing to throw a frog twitching it gently in the grass. I swam the frog slowly out of the grass and paused. As I began to resume swimming, she exploded on the defenseless frog. Well not quite defenseless. The frog had a couple of fangs in the form of fish hooks. This was a nice bass who was not happy being hooked. She proceeded to jump and twist and shake her head, gills flaring but to no avail. Actually I did everything wrong when I tried to land her. Didn't get the net, big mistake. Reached down to lip her and dropped the rod. She is still jumping. Finally lipped her with my left hand...and she slipped out...and began jumping again. Finally lipped her again and triumph. She jumped at least six times. I measured her at 21". On our charts she should weigh 5.38. Got my live well going and placed her in it. For our big fish pot we have to bring the fish in to be weighed and it must be alive.

I continued to fish and hung a couple of fish but they were early released. And then the lightning and thunder began as a storm cell settled right over me. I hugged the bank and waited. Spotted a boat house about 1000 yards away but I would have go over open water not a pleasant thought with lightning crashing. Finally a slight lull and I headed for the boathouse. As I approached I realized another hapless angler had taken refuge. It wasn't large enough for my boat but I tied up alongside and stepped out on the walkway. Had a nice visit with my boathouse friend while I waited out the storm cell for an hour.

Finally made a run back to Spencer Creek to finish out the day. Lost another fish and broke one off in the incessant rain. Finally headed to the ramp 30 minutes early.

I only had 2 fish for our tourney but my big fish won the pot for $125. The fish actually weighed 4 lb 10 oz. The fish although big was somewhat skinny for a fish that size accounting for the discrepancy with the length chart. Either way, a nice fish and a great memory. Our two clubs met at Wendy's to share the day's events. Even though I had a big fish, I have seen enough of Old Hickory for awhile.

Old Hickory July 10, 2012

Some fishing reports are hard to do. But I have challenged myself to report good or bad and Tuesday was not so great. Jack Neal picked me up at 3:50 am pulling his boat arriving at Old Hickory at 4:45 am. Launched the boat and that's when our first trouble began. The motor was being stubborn about starting. After about 20-25 minutes Jack got it going. Did I mention that it was raining, but not too hard...yet. Jack had just updated the software on his Lowrance HD5. When he turned it on all the settings had changed and the screens were different. He worked with it for a while until we got sonar screen but the GPS still wasn't right. We finally went to a big grass bed and started fishing. Still raining.

Jack picked up a nice keeper in the grass on a buzz bait and a couple minutes later I caught a keeper on a KVD 1.0 Squarebill on the edge of the grass. Things are looking up. That's when the lightning and thunder started. That is also when we began looking for an empty boathouse or slip. We soon found an empty, covered slip, just in time while the thunder crashed overhead and the bottom fell out of the rain clouds. Jack checked the radar map on his iPhone and saw that storm cell was right on top of us. Two hours later it finally passed....but....Jack had plenty of time to work on the settings on the HD5. Forgot to mention, the trolling motor was having problems with turning left or right. It is programmable for straight ahead but you really need control. Handy Jack worked on the foot control and fixed it.

Back to fishing. Headed back to the grass but no bites unless you count the teasing nibbles of a Bream. We figured maybe the thunder drove the fish to the ledges. We found a favorite drop, felt gravelly bottom ( or a shellbed) but not bites. By the way, still raining. Fished a grassy point and stump beds near the mouth of Station Camp creek but still no bites. Fished the community hole near the duck blind in the creek. Lost something strong but it hung me up on something. Decided to head back into Spencer. Fished a bank that usually produces but today only a dink. We had picked up one other keeper somewhere along the way and Jack, the drummeister had caught a dink drum. Still raining. By now we looked like drowned rats. From 4:45 am until 12:30 pm the rain had not stopped one minute. Really thought the fish would bite but I think the thunder had an affect on them. That's my story and I am sticking to it. A total of 4 bass, 3 club keepers and 1 anemic drum and 3 million gallons of water was our haul. But...the motor was running fine, the trolling motor guided pretty well and the sonar/GPS worked fine. Back to Franklin for a short nap.

Editors note: We are pretty sure we know why all the problems today. Jack had brought a banana for snack not knowing that bananas are absolutely taboo in a boat. I think the banana did it. If you didn't know bananas are taboo, Google it. Jack has vowed to never make that mistake again.

Old Hickory 7-3-2012

I don't know what possessed me on Tuesday. I was piddling on my boat when I noticed the cloudy sky and the quiet wind. I thought about the fact that I had not been on the lake last week because of the heat (I know, I am a wimp). So at 10:30 am I decided to head to Old Hickory. Loaded up, got gas (2.99), and got to the lake at noon. Of course, the clouds were gone, the wind was up and brisk and my truck temp showed 96 degrees. Soon hit 99.

I headed for a ledge I had found a couple of weeks ago. Second cast with my C-rig picked up a nice 15 incher. Fourth cast, hooked another, about 13 inch. Man, I thought it's on, not. The lake suddenly remembered it was me out there and shut down. I tried a couple of my shallow spots and another couple of ledges. Picked up one dink on my first ledge. Finally decided to head back to Spencer Creek and try some of the deeper banks with a finesse worm. Caught a couple of dinks and that was that. Fished until 6:30 pm and loaded up. I know, I should have stayed longer for the late bite but I was worn down. Fighting the wind and the wakes from all the ski boats, tubers, pontoons, cruisers yachts, etc. I think I counted 800 boats and that was just in Spencer Creek.

My total was 4 bass, with 1 keeper and 3 dinks. I did lose a couple. Mainly, I wondered why I went. Even as I say this, I love being on the water and feel blessed that I can still do this. Until the next time.