Trophy bass in the fall?

[DolphinJay]

Hi all, I'm a new member, but a long time lurker. Lots of great people and info here

My (adult) nephew and I want to catch big bass. Preferably largemouth. We've done a lot of fishing since we moved here a few years back, but haven't had much luck finding big fish.

We are looking to hire a guide in the middle TN area. Anywhere between KY lake and Chickamagua would be ok. Fall would be best for us due to work schedules.

Any suggestions as to what lakes we should be looking at as the weather starts to cool off? Guide recommendations would be appreciated as well.

I'd also be open to striper, or maybe smallmouth if the bite is significantly better that time of year.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

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[frayedknot]

Dale Hollow, Percy Priest, good bass fishing, haven't ever hired a guide..I'm getting into fishing streams and rivers wading. but bass fishing big water was and is my first love lol. I've fished my home lake of center hill during every season and the smallmouth bite can get quite good there in fall. My biggest smallie came from center hill in November a few years back on a jig. She was around 4 lbs . The kentuckys are aggressive there and are a blast. I've found schools of them in cold weather and could've filled 3 or 4 boats. I've always done good in deep water fishing vertically with a spoon or around boat docks on the spoon. Dont know if you've ever been but a short drive will get you down to Guntersville where it's been good everytime I've been spring or fall. I'll try and find a few pics of that November trip.

[DolphinJay]

Dale Hollow, Percy Priest, good bass fishing, haven't ever hired a guide..I'm getting into fishing streams and rivers wading. but bass fishing big water was and is my first love lol. I've fished my home lake of center hill during every season and the smallmouth bite can get quite good there in fall. My biggest smallie came from center hill in November a few years back on a jig. She was around 4 lbs . The kentuckys are aggressive there and are a blast. I've found schools of them in cold weather and could've filled 3 or 4 boats. I've always done good in deep water fishing vertically with a spoon or around boat docks on the spoon. Dont know if you've ever been but a short drive will get you down to Guntersville where it's been good everytime I've been spring or fall. I'll try and find a few pics of that November trip.
We've both had our best luck wading in various creeks/rivers. We can catch 1-2lbers all day, but rarely anything bigger.

I've made the trip to guntersville once with a buddy last year. We didn't have any luck that day, but I know there are some great fish there. IIRC an Alabama license was fairly expensive if you live out of state, and it would make for a very long drive, but I won't rule it out.

Thanks for the advice frayedknot!

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[frayedknot]

Maybe the picture shows up but here's a good smallmouth I caught a few falls back on Center Hill, gonna try and find one of the bigger one too

[Texas_Rig]

Kentucky Lake has some giant bass and plenty of them. I haven't ever paid to hire a guide but I have had the chance to fish Ky Lake with one of its best guides and fisherman. His name is Sam Lashlee. Both times I've fished with him someone has caught a bass over 8lbs and both times our biggest 5 fish weighed over 30lbs. He is kind of a lot to deal with but no doubt he can find some big ones

[Texas_Rig]

It's also worth noting that when I fished ky lake with Sam it was late spring/early summer and we were catching fish on ledges and out of bushes

[DolphinJay]

Kentucky Lake has some giant bass and plenty of them. I haven't ever paid to hire a guide but I have had the chance to fish Ky Lake with one of its best guides and fisherman. His name is Sam Lashlee. Both times I've fished with him someone has caught a bass over 8lbs and both times our biggest 5 fish weighed over 30lbs. He is kind of a lot to deal with but no doubt he can find some big ones
That sounds like the kind of fishing we're looking for. I'll see if I can find Sam online. Thanks!

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[spottedbass]

Sam has a Facebook page you can get in touch with him there. I have gone with him on KY lake. He does catch some big fish. I have also gone with him on Old Hickory. What he is real good at is finding and catching fish on the ledges. He explains out he finds them and what to look for on your electronics. The last few weeks he has been on some big bass on Ky. lake.

[Headhunter]

I have never been with a guide, I would go with Rogne Brown. I thought about going with Sam Lashlee, just because I wanted to see how he approached KY lake, but he is way to expensive for me.

I have talked to Rogne a couple times and he seems like a great person.

[Pinwheeled]

I have never been with a guide, I would go with Rogne Brown. I thought about going with Sam Lashlee, just because I wanted to see how he approached KY lake, but he is way to expensive for me.



I have talked to Rogne a couple times and he seems like a great person.



That is the 45lb limit on Chick guy right?


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[Headhunter]

Yep and he had one limit that was over 49 lbs.

http://www.scout.com/outdoors/wired2fish/story/1468611-chickamauga-guide-catches-49-pound-limit-of-bass

[DolphinJay]

I just looked up Rogue's pictures online. Wow! Lots of monster fish on his Facebook

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[agelesssone]

Not trying to put a damper on anything, just a word of warning.
A guide cannot guarantee that you will catch big fish (or any).
I booked a trip with Rogne last year , March 2015
He, I, and Salty fished for 10 hours on a windy, overcast day and for the 10 hours we fished, we (I) boated one 5 1/2 lb bass.
Guides cannot guarantee fish, they can only put you in the right places with the right equipment /bait to catch those fish.
There are too many variables involved.
As fishermaen, we have all been skunked one time or another in our lives.

[Alphahawk]

Not trying to put a damper on anything, just a word of warning.
A guide cannot guarantee that you will catch big fish (or any).
I booked a trip with Rogne last year , March 2015
He, I, and Salty fished for 10 hours on a windy, overcast day and for the 10 hours we fished, we (I) boated one 5 1/2 lb bass.
Guides cannot guarantee fish, they can only put you in the right places with the right equipment /bait to catch those fish.
There are too many variables involved.
As fishermaen, we have all been skunked one time or another in our lives.

Right you are. Many recommend hiring a guide for 3 days in hopes of having one of those days be good. Hiring a guide for one day and expecting the world is just not realistic. I have experienced this when on guided trout trips in Arkansas.

Regards

Regards

[unkangler]

So True, ... many hundreds of hours are spent (even during prime times) to make those spectacular catches...

[DolphinJay]

I've been on a guided trip once and was skunked. And this was in an area I knew reasonably well and had caught many fish in. Sometimes the fish don't cooperate.

If nothing else, I hope to end the day a little more knowledgeable about fishing this area. But a couple pictures of bucketmouths would be nice 😉

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[agelesssone]

So true.
I intend to go back and do it again, and I'll hire Rogne again.
He did everything I expected from a guide and he even put in the extra hours trying to get us some fish.
And he got a hefty tip because of that!