Hello!

[tylerreid1234]

Im new here, im 17 and i LOVE to fish. Ive fished every single day this sumer whether it be for Bass, Bluegill, Catfish, etc. Fishing is in my blood and im hoping to contribute to this site as much as i can!

With all that being said... i do NOT have boat. :( ive been working with my dad, trying to find a good deal but at the moment i do not have a boat. Ive probably fished Old Hickory at every spot from the shore and im on the Hendersonville side. But i would love some advice on Catfishing cause im mostly a bass fisherman. Me and my friend have had luck at some boat ramps here and there, we went below the dam but didnt have any luck. Talked to a couple of people that said theyd had luck but i want to hook into a big one.. (20lbs+) any advice would be greatly appreciated (bait, good spots, time of day)

[FINNEY]

Right now it seems to me the Oxygen is too low in this end of the lake. I like catfishing in Drakes creek but I havent been able to do much there at all lately. Below the dam is best bet for any catfish big or small right now. They are keeping two flood gates open a little just to up the disolved oxygen. Last year I caught a flathead off the wall by the tailrace that weighed 23#. Cloudy days are good and evenings and through the night. I catch skipjack or shad, but catfish will eat almost anything you put out. Nightcrawler, hotdog, chicken livers make a mess and too hard to keep on hook. But this fall drakes creek will be on fire again.

[tylerreid1234]

Thank you so much for the advice, i hear and read skipjack is the best but i cant catch them to save my life. And ive been to the dam a couple times early in the morning and had no luck. I might try some night fishing and go a little bit closer to the actual dam. And would fishing the bottom be the best bet?

[agelesssone]

To catch skipjack, get as close to the generators as you can, Hendersonville side below Old Hickory dam. Cast out a sabiki rig or make your own out of jigs and tube bodies. I use five jigs on mine. I tie the jigs about 8 inches apart. Put about a 1/2 ounce weight on the bottom end of the rig and cast it as far as you can into the boils below the generators.

Reel it back with a twitching retrieve, keeping the baits close to the surface. Do this anytime they are generating current through the generators. It's not so effective when they aren't generating.You WILL catch skipjacks. I then cut the skipjacks into about 3/4 inch chunks. I keep mine small and catch a lot of fish. Don't put a big gob on. Use a number 5-6 circle hook.

[lforet2002]

Catfishing is my fishing of choice so heres a few things I know..One common misconception about catfish that has already been mentioned is that catfish will eat almost anything, sorry but thats not true..A hungry fish period will eat almost anything..Fresh bait is by far the best.While skipjack is probably by far one of the best baits for catfish, the primary food source of most cats is shad..While I have caught catfish with liver, chicken breast, stinkbaits and many other concoctions, i have found that these types of bait only attract little dinks and personally I only target big cats..I've found that a mixture of live and cut bait is what works for me..If I can't find skips or shad, its never too hard to find a few bream..Also theres a creek near my house that is chock full of stonerollers, creek chubs and golden shiners that the cats also love to bite on.Channel cats are probably the most commonly caught, blues get the biggest and flatheads are downright difficult to catch.Flatheads eat almost exclusively live bait...I fish for cats at night as they are generally nocturnal..I primarily fish bottom carolina rig style but during the heat of the summer I will fish under a slip cork..Here lately I have been catching a lot of flatheads as they are in there prespawn pattern and fattening up for bed..They have been in shallow water too almost up against the bank..Anyways, I hope that helps..Any questions feel free to ask..

[FINNEY]

I would not use a carolina rig below the dam. Use a 3 way river rig using a 3 way swivel if you do not how to tie one with out the swivel. I myself target Flatheads, Blues, and channels. I target smaller channels for eating, using a #2 to 2/0 max baitholder hook. For the blues I use carolina rig from a boat/drifting with skipjack fillets on a 5/0 circle hook. I beleive a hook needs to be JUST strong enough to hold up and not straighten out. I dont gain nothing by using a over 5/0 hook, miss out on more fish I think. Flatheads do love live bluegill or shad but I caught plenty on cut shad and gut pockets. Not going to compete over bait, but I assure you if you put out a hotdog or nightcrawler you will catch a catfish, just as likely as if you put out a cut piece of shad you will catch a drum. Catching the skipjack is fun and simple. Sabaki rigs work awesome but can be a pain to store, I use another approach that works good for me. Yesterday between 2-4 pm with generator #3 on I caught 30 skipjack and one crappie. I live real close to the dam, You may have seen me down there. Probaly be there today if it stays cloudy. PM me if you want my cell#

[FINNEY]

To catch skipjack, get as close to the generators as you can, Hendersonville side below Old Hickory dam. Cast out a sabiki rig or make your own out of jigs and tube bodies. I use five jigs on mine. I tie the jigs about 8 inches apart. Put about a 1/2 ounce weight on the bottom end of the rig and cast it as far as you can into the boils below the generators.

Reel it back with a twitching retrieve, keeping the baits close to the surface. Do this anytime they are generating current through the generators. It's not so effective when they aren't generating.You WILL catch skipjacks. I then cut the skipjacks into about 3/4 inch chunks. I keep mine small and catch a lot of fish. Don't put a big gob on. Use a number 5-6 circle hook.

Throw it right in that current, like allot of fish the eddies are good to fish too. Right where the distinct change in current is. I have tried twitching fast as can reel and bumping the bottom. It all works, I like to reel fast as I can just cause I can catch them faster and get out of the sun! LOL

[MNfisher]

What's your alls biggest blue below the Old Hickory dam? Do you target holes, or just drift the current?

[agelesssone]

I like to go below the dam (1000 yds. to be legal) and throw out about six to ten jugs baited with cut skipjack or shad, then follow them down river. I have 10-12 ft of line on each one, so sometimes you have to go release one of the jugs that will catch on the rocks in shallower water.

I usually cath a mixed bag of blues and channels, havent caught any flatheads on the cut bait.

And so far I have lost three jugs/noodles due to large fish making them disappear and not come back up. So I went to bigger noodles and jugs. Haven't lost any since.

Largest fish so far is 12 lbs. But I don't fish a whole lot or I'm sure it would be more and bigger.

Oh, and I did retrieve two of the jugs the next day. Apparently the fish got the line in the rocks and finally severed it. I'm using 30# braid.

[FINNEY]

I have never tried Jugging in the river. There was a guy doing it earlier below the dam on a pontoon boat. I imagine you could wear them out there jugging. If Im jugging it's normally in a cove or drakes creek at night or weekday, because all the boat traffic. My largest below the dam was 23# flathead on cutbait, there is a pic on my profile of it. My largest Blue was caught in the lake OH lake on the bank/slope drifting over the river channel using cutbait. I did not have a scale with me. Just snapped a pic and released. Pic on my profile too. I release the big ones, but will keep the smaller channels for eating. Below the dam I stand on the wall or bank some where. I have only took my boat below the dam once, I dont know any holes. I would imagine the first bend, the outter bank would be a good spot. Where Manskers Creek dumps out is deeper than area leading up to it. I think it was 15' hole right before you start up in the creek and everywhere else was averaging around 10' to 12'. But the water is low now too. I wish I did know of some holes on that end of the Cumberland. I fished under the Old Hickory Blvd bridge to get out the sun, but kept getting hung up there. I will try it again on a cloudy day or in the evening. I have caught plenty off the bank so I am confident I will catch them in a boat.

[tylerreid1234]

Thanks for the advice, everyone! Tore up the Largemouth today from about 7-10 on Poppers and Buzzbaits in Drakes! Thinkin about going below the dam in a little bit. Only problem is someone stole both of my tackle boxes. Vacuuming my car out, took them out and forgot to put them back in and left, went back and they were gone. Ive been kicking my self in the face all day.

[FINNEY]

Thanks for the advice, everyone! Tore up the Largemouth today from about 7-10 on Poppers and Buzzbaits in Drakes! Thinkin about going below the dam in a little bit. Only problem is someone stole both of my tackle boxes. Vacuuming my car out, took them out and forgot to put them back in and left, went back and they were gone. Ive been kicking my self in the face all day.

That SUCKS! someone got your tackle box. Glad to hear you caught some fish on Drakes Creek! I fished for about 30 minutes on Drakes Creek around 2pm, just too hot!!!! Im waiting for the sun to hide again! Good Luck!!!

[titansfan2104]

I put in at Davis corner and swore I would never fish that far down the lake again. Too much boat traffic. I40 in Nashville during rush hour didn't have anything on this traffic. After 4 hours and fighting wind and boat wake, I got out of there. I'm a wimp , lol . People think center hill is bad for boats , in all my years on the hill during holidays I have never experienced what I did today.... Maybe It will be better next time.
And you know its a bad sign when you have two ramps and a guy has to get out and pick his trailer up to straighten it up awhile his wife is trying to load the boat. 5 people loaded up and was gone and he was still waist deep trying to load when I left. He just kept telling her " its hard ain't it " Lmao. Go practice loading /unloading at a less populated ramp!!! Good lord help him!!!

[thehick176]

OHL is bad at some ramps but PP is even worse at ALL it's ramps. I think they collected ALL the idiots in middle TN and told them to put in at PP.

[Alphahawk]

Thanks for the advice, everyone! Tore up the Largemouth today from about 7-10 on Poppers and Buzzbaits in Drakes! Thinkin about going below the dam in a little bit. Only problem is someone stole both of my tackle boxes. Vacuuming my car out, took them out and forgot to put them back in and left, went back and they were gone. Ive been kicking my self in the face all day.

I did same on a ramp with one box for Trout Magnets...over 100 bucks worth of stuff. Left it at ramp and never lost site of ramp yet in the 5 minutes for me to get back there...it was gone. Feel your pain...LOL.

Regards

[tylerreid1234]

I did same on a ramp with one box for Trout Magnets...over 100 bucks worth of stuff. Left it at ramp and never lost site of ramp yet in the 5 minutes for me to get back there...it was gone. Feel your pain...LOL.

Regards

Haha yeah, definitely wasnt a good day for me. I hate losing stuff, ESPECIALLY fishing stuff. Lol

[agelesssone]

Sorry to hear about your lost tackle boxes. That sucks cause all of us fishermen know it ain't cheap to replace.

I left a box of 36 Bandit crankbaits on the back deck when I left Drakes Creek in a hurry to beat a thunderstorm. Box blew out and I didn't realize it til the next time I went fishing, looked for my box of Bandits and they weren't in the boat. Thought back and figured out what happened.

Sometimes it's better to NOT have a big outboard!!