Old Hickory Dam

[MNfisher]

lupanfreitag and I headed to the Old Hickory Dam last friday evening. We pulled up and instantly we were on fish! We missed several and caught 4 rockfish in about 15 minutes. Well the next 2 and a half hours did not produce anything but a small cat. We tried live bait, artificials, and cutbait. I did manage to get a few sweet photos, one of a Night Heron and one of a skipjack being caught! Out of the first few stripers we caught, we did each get one that was around 10 lbs or better. But they definitely were not thick up there!

[titansfan2104]

That camera/photographer takes some awesome pictures!!

[TNtransplant08]

Now thats a pretty AWESOME shot of the skipjack!! What kind of camera you use. Do you use a quick shutter kind of feature or something? I'd love to be able to take wildlife pictures for my personal collection. Always see neat things while out on the water.

[StriperFan]

Those are some nice fish, and the action photo's are top notch.

[MNfisher]

Originally Posted by TNtransplant08

Now thats a pretty AWESOME shot of the skipjack!! What kind of camera you use. Do you use a quick shutter kind of feature or something? I'd love to be able to take wildlife pictures for my personal collection. Always see neat things while out on the water.

Thanks guys! It is a nikon D90 with a 70-200mm f/2.8 nikon zoom lens. I set the settings where i want them with a really fast shutter speed to freeze the fish and water action. Then i put the settings so all i have to do is focus on the subject and hold the button down and it will take 4 images a second. There usually is one or 2 good ones out of about 50! HA!

Thanks for the compliments!

[Travis C.]

Awesome pictures and the fish aren't too shabby either.

[jad2t]

That camera sure beats my cellphone pics haha. Nice job on the stripers, I remember you saying it was your goal to get one this year. Mine as well, I haven't had the chance to get after them much this year other than a couple failed attempts below Center Hill. I know below Old Hickory is much more productive for stripers and I'll be spending a lot of mornings this summer fishing there.. my fiance recently moved about 10 min away from the Hendersonville side! If you want someone to hunt stripers with let me know.

[MNfisher]

Originally Posted by jad2t

That camera sure beats my cellphone pics haha. Nice job on the stripers, I remember you saying it was your goal to get one this year. Mine as well, I haven't had the chance to get after them much this year other than a couple failed attempts below Center Hill. I know below Old Hickory is much more productive for stripers and I'll be spending a lot of mornings this summer fishing there.. my fiance recently moved about 10 min away from the Hendersonville side! If you want someone to hunt stripers with let me know.

Thanks! A big striper is my goal, as that one was my personal best so far. But I am shooting for over 25 lbs for the summer! Good luck down at Old Hickory, I will let you know next time I head down there!

[jad2t]

Originally Posted by MNfisher

Thanks! A big striper is my goal, as that one was my personal best so far. But I am shooting for over 25 lbs for the summer! Good luck down at Old Hickory, I will let you know next time I head down there!

Have you ever managed to catch them from the shore at that dam? Or known of people being able to do it?

[nomad60]

Great pics, and nice fish too! I need to learn more about my Canon Rebel to start getting pics like that.

[MNfisher]

Originally Posted by jad2t

Have you ever managed to catch them from the shore at that dam? Or known of people being able to do it?

I have gotten them up to 4 lbs from shore, but have heard of people getting 30 pounders from shore there. While not common, definitely possible. I watched a guy last year catch 3 in a row from shore, all we're about 7-8 lbs each.

[txnative]

They are catchable. Use a 3 way rig with either a super fluke jr in white ice or a shad for bait. You'll need a generator running, preferably the one under the big yellow sign, but the one closest to the fishing platform works, too. Bring extra terminal tackle, and work the area from the front edge of the boil to about 40 yds downstream.


Chris

[jad2t]

Originally Posted by txnative

They are catchable. Use a 3 way rig with either a super fluke jr in white ice or a shad for bait. You'll need a generator running, preferably the one under the big yellow sign, but the one closest to the fishing platform works, too. Bring extra terminal tackle, and work the area from the front edge of the boil to about 40 yds downstream.


Chris

What kind of 3-way rig are you talking about? Got any examples I could look at online?

[txnative]

Use a 3-way swivel and tie 2 droppers, one 18-24" for your bait and another 12" for your weight. I use a 1.5 oz bank sinker for 2 gen flow and 1 oz for 1 gen flow. You may need to adjust according to bait size, where the fish are holding, etc, but 1-1.5 oz is pretty reliable. I use a sz 2 bait holder or gamakatsu wide gap finesse hook for shad up to 5" long, and a sz 2/0 straight shank worm hook for flukes.

There is some skill required to get the rig to drift correctly, so take plenty of hooks, weights, and 3-way swivels.


Chris