New to TN lakes

[Foundationman 1]

I moved to TN in 2000, I am orginaly from TX, I held a guide license for Lake Livingston, Toledo Bend, Sam Rayburn, Lake Fork, and Falcon Lake.
I am fairly new to small mouth bass fishing as well as Walleye/Sauger.
my question is what do the small mouth bite on here as well as what are the stripers hitting on?
I have had GREAT luck with large mouth bass in TN, but have yet to land a small mouth or striper.
any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

[Scott715]

There are some great striper guys on this forum who I'm sure will give you some advice on catching them. I have caught some big ones on percy priest during late April on topwater (when they're in pre-spawn and chasing bait shallow). My favorite lures are the super spook (bone/white color), top dawg, and cordell redfin. Many striper fishermen I talk to do very well down rigging with live bait. These next few months can likely produce some good fish as the temps get cooler and oxygen builds up.

I haven't caught a ton of smallmouth on JPP, but those I have caught were on crawfish-style baits (crankbait & plastic). I know jigs are commonly used on area lakes for the smallies as well. I'm not big on the smallmouth, but I'm sure others can chime in.

[txnative]

Welcome to tn. I'm from west tx, and moved here in '98 and immediately fell in love with tn due to the abundance of fishing opportunities.

First off, will you be bank fishing or do you have a boat ? A boat obviously provides advantages, but you can catch pretty much anything that swims from the bank, if you know where to look. Secondly, are you after numbers or size? Most people here will share info on numbers, but trophy holes are nearly impossible to get, especially for stripers and trout. Lastly, what types of water are you familiar fishing (lakes, rivers, tailraces) ? I prefer moving water, but i have fished percy priest lake for stripers and hybrids extensively.

Smallies aren't my area of expertise, but i have caught several in the 5-6 lb range while striper fishing in tailwaters, mostly in spring, but occasionally in fall and winter. Walleye and sauger are easier, as they school up in tailwaters and near warm-water discharges (winter).

If you'd like a on-the-water experience, we can hook up sometime. For a challenge, we can use kayaks. I have a spare fishing kayak with rod holders, depthfinder, etc. that is always available to anyone interested in trying the sport.


Chris

[Boles]

If you have a reliable boat and you're careful you can find everything you're looking for fishing the Cumberland River below the various dams in Middle TN...Cheatam/Old Hickory/Cordell Hull. There are miles of good river that you can fish as well. You'll need a lot of lures because you'll loose a lot to snags and such...but you can catch nearly anything if you focus your time there. Our lakes are great but you'll spend more time hunting down productive areas...focus on the river and you'll be on top of hungry fish...but you're also at the mercy of the flow.
-Take Care

[Travis C.]

Smallies.... fish either threadfin imitations like a Strike King Series 5 or 6xd around main river ledges, humps, bluffs in channel bends and tails of islands. Some islands can go on quite a bit underwater downstream so be sure to drag them cross current around those. Also, they LOVE hair jigs and the Strike King bedbug or any other small compact jig to resemble a crayfish. You can catch them on crayfish lures in the Cumberland but the jigs and shad pattern cranks will out fish them if current present.

Live bait..... creek chubs free lined or with a split shot around main river bluffs or chunk rock.

[Foundationman 1]

I really thank all of you for the advice, serveral have asked if I fish from a boat or bank, I do have a small 10' boat thats set up to get me where ever I need to go (6 hp, 40lb trolling motor, livewell, etc..) I am only mintues from Cordell Hull and fish this lake at least twice a week, i have has great luck on this lake with all types of fish except small mouth and stripers (havent caugt one) my largets large mouth that i took went 9 lb4 oz, took several pics and threw her back. I have bank fished under teh dam but have not put the boat in, the boat is a double hull pelican modifided V so it is very stable. would this type of boat be alright for taking out on the river? It does have enough power to run about 18 + mph at wot and planes out well with all gear. I have a pretty extensive map that I have made of Cordell Hull with all my "honey holes" every time I go out on Cordell Hull I end up with at least 5-10 large mouth that go 1-5lb's. I hate to say it but its getting a little boring with teh large mouth and I know this lake has more fish to offer, i would like to hook up with someone and share some spots on where to catch the large stripers and small mouth, I also have always wanted to try fly fishing but I have no idea were to start. any advice on where, how and what equipment I would need to start fly fishing would be great.

thanks again to all for the advice, I look forward to meeting some of you sometime and sharing some storys and fishing spots, I only work and fish so i'm sure well run into each other some time.

Thanks again.

[Travis C.]

Do you fish Defeated Creek much on Cordell?

Striper hang in that creek pretty much year round. You can usually find them back past the campground towards that public ramp on the left heading back into it. I haven't been up there in a few years but we camped at Defeated every year for a long time and they were always back there. Usually spotting them was easy just before or little after daylight for a couple hours as they busted bait.


Check you pm's

[Foundationman 1]

I do fish Defeated Creek in the PM just before I load up the baot, most of my time is spent on the main lake and cut's or channells that run off the main lake.
Thansks
Foundationman 1