Old Hickory Crappie Questions

[TNBronzeback]

Somebody please take me to school on Old Hickory Crappie....
for all intended purposes, its a river, as most of the time it is moving...with that said, where would one start his crappie search? the various size creeks that empty into the main river? Can there be crappies caught out in the main river in the current? Is there any place over the length of the lake that the current slows enough to allow crappies to be in the main channel (i would assume if anyplace, it would be closer to the dam where it all widens out)
i wouldnt imagine a crappie wanting to fight current of any speed for a lengthy amount of time, but i could be entirely wrong. should i focus on wood or rock or weeds if O.H has any? i have no problems self proclaiming my ignorance on moving water crappies. lol.
Im looking to expand my crappie horizons to outside of my JPP comfort zone.
Thanks!

[Heiny57]

Yes.

[XxthejuicexX]

Everything that I have heard is that Crappie don't like current. I don't fish Old hickory for them so I have no real tips.

[brax0789]

OK TNBB: while OH is a river/lake, the current isn't always moving. In fact, most times you will not notice any current. Yes you can catch crappie on the main channel. That is, if you can find them. I look for trees, brush piles, stumps or anything else that might hold a crappie. You can catch crappie in current but you have to take a little different approach. Up until Christmas, I've been finding very good crappie on the main channel in 12 to 15 feet of water.

[Alphahawk]

I grew up fishing Old Hickory for crappie.....about 53 years ago. You can find them anywhere.....but I would be concentrating on brush...docks.....transition areas. While most don't fish heavy current for crappie if you find the right area in the current it can be great.....look for a transition zone or a cutback. Where I catch most of my crappie at Nickajack there is a lot of current most of the time in fall. The fish are there almost all of the time. I will sometimes fish below the dam at Nickajack and catch 100's of crappie in the tailrace under the handicap fishing pier......pretty heavy current. I have done the same below Pickwick in the tailrace...very heavy current. I read an article several years back about fishing current. It seems that fish don't expend as much energy as one thinks. The article stated fish would find certain spots in the current where they would basically be surfing in the current without using too much energy. So in short I would look at all of these areas until I found the fish. Try using electronics or a contour map. As brax said......you have to find them. I don't know what kind of electronics you have but if I am in my boat...and only out for crappie....I will cruise until they light up my si unit. It may take me 2-4 hours to find them sometimes, and I'll be the first to admit that it takes a lot of patience to do that....which sometimes I don't have. Best of luck.

Regards

[Halli]

Oh has Crappie
Look at the mouths or creeks and follow the creek ledges in.

Then again they run and hide most times I look for them haha.

Good Luck

[thehick176]

The first mistake most people make on OH is fishing to deep. One thinks since its winter time then you should start deep. More times than not, they are in 10 fow or less.
Check the little coves on the Hendersonville side of the river from Shutes Branch down to the dam. There are brushpiles in every one of them. They range from 2 -12 ft of water.

[TNBronzeback]

Thanks for all the info guys!
I will keep ya updated as i fish out there more!

[Heiny57]

I might have to try fishing there with this good info.

[Fishaholic]

Once I find them I use a junebug slider on a 1/16 oz jighead with a berkley crappie bite aka num-num and wear the little boogers out with a slow retrieve

[skillet]

We have been having good luck on deeper brush piles. Just as alpha hawk was saying, we troll around and find brush piles. Drop a bouy next to it and fish it. I like using minnows on slip float rigs. I do throw jigs also as my bobber is floating around. It's also a way to figure out where the fish are on the brush pile. I'm a firm believer in live bait when fishing for crappie.

Don't want to side track your post but how is the sauger fishing been lately??