Old Hickory on 11-13...difficult

[goreds.king]

Had a chance to get out for the first time in a long time yesterday (baseball season shuts down my fishing). Anyone else have a tough day? Fished out of Sanudersville from 10AM to 3PM targeting LM and only caught one short fish. I fished all the textbook techniques for this time of year and man it was discouraging.

Please tell me someone else had a tough day, if not then I’m off my game.

[Buccaneer]

Not just you I'm sad to say. I thought I was the only boat out there yesterday. I found what had to be the mother lode of shad fry in the very back of Bluegrass on the west side of the Marina. I kid you not there were 5+ pound bass crushing them and some had to be bigger than that. They were coming out of the water like great white sharks hitting unsuspecting seals. I threw everything I had from topwater, jerks baits, square bills, swimbaits, spinner baits, bandit 200's, and even a rooster tail. Could not get anything to hit an artificial. After three hours of utter frustration I ended up catching a dink on a flipping jig in a patch of grass.

[XxthejuicexX]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

Not just you I'm sad to say. I thought I was the only boat out there yesterday. I found what had to be the mother lode of shad fry in the very back of Bluegrass on the west side of the Marina. I kid you not there were 5+ pound bass crushing them and some had to be bigger than that. They were coming out of the water like great white sharks hitting unsuspecting seals. I threw everything I had from topwater, jerks baits, square bills, swimbaits, spinner baits, bandit 200's, and even a rooster tail. Could not get anything to hit an artificial. After three hours of utter frustration I ended up catching a dink on a flipping jig in a patch of grass.

I've been there before on JPP. I finally ended up catching them on a small rooster tail. Problem was the lightest line I had on a reel was 12lb. I think I might have got 20' out of every cast.

[deezelteck]

I have a couple of weeks like that every fall on OHL. There are tons of bait fish, and fish actively feeding on them. It just seems there's too much bait to compete with.. my lures of choice at this time is spoons, rooster tail and jerkbaits..

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[edm11]

I zeroe'd @ Fall Creek Friday from 7am-11am. Threw jigs/spinners/cranks etc...nothing. But I did get to scout out the lake @ lower levels to see terrain & enjoy a nice morning on the lake.

[SalmonDaze]

Went to the steam plant Saturday morning. Congrats to the kayak armada patrolling. Nice 10 Lber for the grill.

I threw as much at them as I could think of (no live bait) but nothing for me. Frustrating to get up to the barrier close enough to watch the big boys busting up next to the plant but far enough away to just be able to drool . . . water is still too warm in the channel; but soon . . .

[spottedbass]

How far up the canal can you go? Last time I was up there the barrier at the mouth was gone but the 'No Boats" buoys were still there.

[Texas_Rig]

The new barrier is all the way in the back by the steam plant. Whole canal is pretty much fishable now

[SalmonDaze]

Originally Posted by spottedbass

How far up the canal can you go? Last time I was up there the barrier at the mouth was gone but the 'No Boats" buoys were still there.

Que? No habla . . .

[thehick176]

The new barrier is up where the old metal gates are. My buddy caught a Tilapia on a crappie jig Sunday morning there.

[agelesssone]

NEVER go past the "no Boats" buoys!

There are automatic machine gun nests that are motion triggered to fire across the channel 18 " above the water.

If a boat makes it past the machine gun nest, there are snipers atop the new scrubbers who will shoot survivors.

As a last ditch effort to stop illegal boaters, there are underwater mines stretched across the canal twenty feet from the barrier.

For the unfortunate few that make it to the barrier, there are underwater frogmen who will reach up, snatch people out of their boats, and drown them.

I have provided a box, attached to the middle "no boats" buoy, where you can deposit your wallets and other valuables that I will return to your families should you not make the return trip down the canal.

Thanks for your donations!