Old Hickory to Cumberland

[sgiles]

Hey everyone new to the site. I just moved to Hendersonville area and I am looking for a few general pointers. I have fished Tims Ford all my life mainly for Stripers and Walleye but now I'm looking to start up here. I talked to someone on another site and they said up river from 231 by the old lock 5. My question is should I be using planner boards? and if so skipjack or shad? If skipjack how do you catch them. I can use a throw net to get shad. Sorry for all the questions but this big river fishing just seems different. I think I'm going to go out this weekend so hopefully I will post pictures.

[TNBronzeback]

Welcome!
there is a wealth of information here, as well as a wealth of pure bull$hit! LOL.
Planer boards are always a good bet for stripers.
If you can do it, put out a skipjack and shad buffet for the stripers and let them tell you what they want. Skipjacks are caught on rod and reel usually near dams. Lots of things to throw at them, usually anything shiny and fast/erratic moving will get smashed.
Good luck this weekend!

[sgiles]

Thanks for the info. I have a large bait tank that will keep shad alive for a little over a day, but I have heard it is nearly impossible to keep skipjack alive. How should I go about getting them from a damn all the way up to old lock 5 area? Sorry for all the questions but I have never used skipjack before.

[TNBronzeback]

Thats a good question.
i personally dont run a bait tank. I run very very very short distances with live bait.
But, my guess would be as long as you have a good tank and system you should be able to get a few hours out of them. Ive heard the same thing about skippies, but i would think they have to have some kind of a "shelf life" in tank since so many people travel different distances using them.

[sgiles]

Can anyone give me any tips about catching bait in the old lock 5 area? Or will I need to power down to main lake to try and catch bait. I have a large cast net for chad and a pole rigged for skip jack. Thanks again for all the help.

[sgiles]

Instead of fishing by old lock 5 would I be better of fishing closer to Cordell Hull. I know it is easier to catch bait closer dam.

[Adrian]

Finding Skipjack on the main lake is like looking for Sasquatch )
Get yourself a Sabiki rig and head to the dam. I haven't had any problems keeping Skipjack alive, Old Hickory Shad are another story. They roll over and die if you look at them the wrong way, especially the size shad that the Stripers seem to want exclusively this time of year.

[sgiles]

So in everyone's opinion would I be better off getting skipjack at Cordell hull dam and fishing that area of the river, or load the boat up and head down by lock 5. I have a 20ft boat with a 150 so I can move pretty fast. I'm not sure the distance from old lock 5 and Cordell Hull dam. Thanks again for the help! I'm getting pumped for the weekend haven't been able to hit the lake in a good 2 months with all the moving.

[agelesssone]

If you go to Cordell Hull dam and catch skippies, just put them on a hook and troll downriver a coupla miles to the Caney Fork river and go up there. This is where I'm hearing the big stripers are being caught now.

If you do want to fish around lock 5, put in at Hunter's Point launch at 231, and go right (upriver) a mile to Cedar Creek on the right side. Go back in there, 1st cove on the right, and catch all the shad you want. Lock 5 is 1/2 -3/4 miles upstream from Cedar Creek.

[sgiles]

Well I went up to Cordell Hull dam and caught some skip jack. I trolled 4 planner boards down to the Caney Fork and up for a while. It was a nice day out but no luck at all. Thanks again for all the info.

[Adrian]

You Caught Skipjack... At least you weren't skunked )