Tim's Ford February 6, 2014

Tim's Ford February 6, 2014

Words cannot describe how cold it was on Tim's on Thursday. The temp never got above 28 degrees. I had been watching forecasts for Winchester for several days and most had the temp 37-41. The forecasts lied.

This trip had been planned for several months. My friend, Doyal Brown, drove up from Memphis to fish and then go to the Nashville Fishing and Boating Show. The last three years we have gone to Dale Hollow so this year we decided to fish Tim's Ford, one day with a guide and the next in my boat. So I booked a cabin at Tim's Ford Marina and Mid-South Bass Guides, Jake Davis on Thursday. Jake has an excellent reputation at Guntersville and Tim's Ford. We got to Tim's Wednesday afternoon, checked in and drove to Winchester to the Oasis Steak House for dinner. 

Thursday morning, 28 degrees, we layered up for the cold. We figured Jake would get a laugh at our outfits, me in my Santa suit, Doyal in a green frog suit. We were so layered we looked pregnant.  The water temp on the main lake was 38 so Jake moved back in one of the small creeks to find warmer water, 43-44 degrees. His side imaging electronic unit showed several big clouds of shad. He had us using a small smoke colored grub on a Spot Remover shaky head jig. Jake used a T-rig D-Bomb. 7 hours later none had a single bite. The problem...shad dying all over lake, thousands of gulls feasting while the bass had easy, natural bait drifting down. We were very pleased with our guide. It was simply circumstances, the shad kill, that hurt our day and of course the cold. We had planned to fish on Friday but with 24 degrees forecast and the lack of bites we decided...nawwww! We made our way back to Franklin. 

Saturday we picked up Jack Neal and went to Hardee's for breakfast. What, you expected someplace else? On to the Fishing show. It was great, many tackle vendors offering great deals, every body excited about the coming fishing season. I bought a spool of Vicious Pro Elite marked $15.99. They charged me $15 then told me to go pick up another spool free! Picked up a few more items, met a few friends and counted the day a success. Jack, Doyal and I chose the Cajun Steamer for a Cajun lunch. What a way to end this weekend. Doyal headed back to Memphis and I headed for the sofa. 

It was really disappointing not to catch some of those Tim's smallmouth but it was still a great trip. I can certainly recommend Jack Davis as a guide. He did a lot of the little things that make you appreciate him. He said the next two weeks will be tough at Tim's but then watch out. I hope to be on the lake then.

Percy Priest February 1, 2014

Percy Priest February 1, 2014

It's been a long time since I wrote one these reports. This isn't so much a fishing report as a boat report. My boat has not been in the water since late September when I hit the rock pile in Priest. I had over $4,500 worth of repairs. Since I have trip planned later this week to Tim's Ford, I wanted to be sure my boat was prepared. When I got to the ramp at Long Hunter, I saw that the water was very low but the ramp was OK and clear. However about 40 yards out was a band of ice. It was all shattered and sounded really strange when you got close to it, crinkling and cracking. The band was maybe 50 to 75 yards wide. After you idled through it the water was open to the channel. So, I decided to launch. 

The MOTOR STARTED and the BOAT FLOATED. Relief. 

After I let the motor warm up and put it on plane I headed down the lake looking for an optimum spot to fish. I noticed as I got out of the channel, many of the bays and flats were still iced over. Out on the main lake the wind was very hard to deal with. Finally ventured into party cove. It was partially iced over but I could fish here. I threw a jerk bait toward the shore and then at the edge of the ice out toward deeper water. About this time I noticed the water temp was 38.8 degrees. That is when I knew my chance of catching a fish was slim and none. I visited a few other spots observing the stumps, rocks and other cover exposed by the extremely low water. Tried a few more bays only to be turned back by ice. I should mention the air temp was in the 50s with sunshine but still very cold wind blowing. I was dressed warmly and could fish without gloves. After about 3 hours I had determined that the boat was in good shape so I decided to put it on the trailer.

Later this week my friend Doyal is coming up from Memphis. We will fish Tims Ford with a guide on Thursday, Feb. 6 hoping for big smallmouth. We will fish Friday in my boat. Saturday we will attend the Nashville Fishing and Boat show. 

Hopefully this will be great fishing year.