OH Lake

[Texas_Rig]

I'm over it! I haven't been a bass fisherman all that long but I did cut my teeth so to speak on OH. When I purchased my first boat about 5 years ago I fished OH exclusively. Why? Because it is convenient to me. I live about 5 minutes from Bledsoe creek. Actually it runs through my property almost. But about 5 minutes to boat access. When I first started I didn't know anything about bass fishing. I was lucky to catch 2 or 3 fish a week in several fishing outings. For all I knew every lake had about the same amount of fish and about the same size.

Eventually, I gained enough courage to travel to other middle Tennessee lakes and realized that there are much better lakes around more suitable for me to catch bass. I don't fish the hick much anymore at all.

All that said brings me to this week. I've spent quite a few hours on this lake in the last week because I agreed to fish a tournament with my sister this Saturday. I just can't figure this dang lake out. I'm catching plenty of fish but catching quality has been a major struggle for me. I probably caught 20 bass today and had 4 keepers and 1 may have went 3lbs. I have no plans to fish this dang lake anytime in the near future after this Saturday. I've got one more long day of practice on Friday and then the tournament Saturday.

Sorry for all the crying and whining! Not really lol. Ok rant over. Wish me luck for Saturday and maybe even say a prayer for me if that's your thing. PLEASE? Lol.

[skillet]

Suck it up buttercup!!! It’s the tough lakes that make great fishermen! The fish on old hick are like none other, it’s hard to pattern them, and find the right ones. With that being said, a limit of fish with a kicker will take you along way on this lake. Fish are supposed to be spawning now, lake level is fluctuating like crazy right now and is throwing everything and body for a loop. Fish your strengths, fish the moment, and most important HAVE FUN!

Did you see any beds?? Water temp??


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[Flatline]

I almost took you seriously as I felt your pain. Then I noticed you kept referring to it as "This Lake" , not once have you mentioned which lake that has you so buffaloed... This means your just blowing smoke or you are afraid someone like me that couldn't catch a fish if it jumped in the boat... might mosey on down and show you up... Hahahahahahahahaha


Big low pressure system coming might have something to do with it.





I fished OH once, put in at Luguardo southern end and I was freaking out when I found myself at the mouth of the river with all those stumps sticking up at water level... Felt like I was in a mine field, and here I was in my brand new boat. If that is representative of OH you can keep that lake.

[Texas_Rig]

Originally Posted by skillet

Suck it up buttercup!!! It’s the tough lakes that make great fishermen! The fish on old hick are like none other, it’s hard to pattern them, and find the right ones. With that being said, a limit of fish with a kicker will take you along way on this lake. Fish are supposed to be spawning now, lake level is fluctuating like crazy right now and is throwing everything and body for a loop. Fish your strengths, fish the moment, and most important HAVE FUN!

Did you see any beds?? Water temp??


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I haven't seen any beds, but the water is so stained that hasn't surprised me. There are definitely fish spawning because I set the hook and missed just as many as I caught yesterday. Yesterday I fished from Drakes Creek to the dam and saw big fluctuations of water temp. It was anywhere between 58-76. There are a couple small areas that I haven't fished but I will in the tournament. They are areas that historically hold a big fish or 2 this time of year and I don't want to catch anything on them before the tournament. I have one area that I found that I have a little confidence in. I caught 2 decent fish in that area and then used a bait with no hook to fish the rest and got several more bites. I had a friend with me and let him fish normally and he caught a 3.5lber in the same spot. I have higher spirits today and was just a little dejected last night.

Also, your right Skillet. OH makes good fishermen. I have just a fraction of the experience that most serious bass anglers in the area have but I can compete on most lakes. A lake like OH takes much more experience than I have to consistently catch a good bag of tournament fish.

[Buzzy15]

Originally Posted by Texas_Rig

I haven't seen any beds, but the water is so stained that hasn't surprised me. There are definitely fish spawning because I set the hook and missed just as many as I caught yesterday. Yesterday I fished from Drakes Creek to the dam and saw big fluctuations of water temp. It was anywhere between 58-76. There are a couple small areas that I haven't fished but I will in the tournament. They are areas that historically hold a big fish or 2 this time of year and I don't want to catch anything on them before the tournament. I have one area that I found that I have a little confidence in. I caught 2 decent fish in that area and then used a bait with no hook to fish the rest and got several more bites. I had a friend with me and let him fish normally and he caught a 3.5lber in the same spot. I have higher spirits today and was just a little dejected last night.

Also, your right Skillet. OH makes good fishermen. I have just a fraction of the experience that most serious bass anglers in the area have but I can compete on most lakes. A lake like OH takes much more experience than I have to consistently catch a good bag of tournament fish.

Now Im being serious. Do threads like these ever get traction?


Can i have your best spots just for this weekend????

I wish I knew cause I'd give ya some

[Texas_Rig]

Originally Posted by Buzzy15

Now Im being serious. Do threads like these ever get traction?


Can i have your best spots just for this weekend????

I wish I knew cause I'd give ya some

Sorry buzzy but I'm having trouble understanding what you are trying to say

[Texas_Rig]

Originally Posted by Flatline

I almost took you seriously as I felt your pain. Then I noticed you kept referring to it as "This Lake" , not once have you mentioned which lake that has you so buffaloed... This means your just blowing smoke or you are afraid someone like me that couldn't catch a fish if it jumped in the boat... might mosey on down and show you up... Hahahahahahahahaha


Big low pressure system coming might have something to do with it.





I fished OH once, put in at Luguardo southern end and I was freaking out when I found myself at the mouth of the river with all those stumps sticking up at water level... Felt like I was in a mine field, and here I was in my brand new boat. If that is representative of OH you can keep that lake.

Lol. Yes Flatline that is OH in a nut shell. Stumps, logs, trees, rockpiles, etc. You wouldn't think that stuff would be right in the middle of the lake in 2 feet of water but that is Old Hickory Lake in a nut shell. You better keep it between the bouys or have a very good detailed map on your electronics.

[XxthejuicexX]

Originally Posted by Texas_Rig

Lol. Yes Flatline that is OH in a nut shell. Stumps, logs, trees, rockpiles, etc. You wouldn't think that stuff would be right in the middle of the lake in 2 feet of water but that is Old Hickory Lake in a nut shell. You better keep it between the bouys or have a very good detailed map on your electronics.

One reason I stay off OH. I'm not joking when I say I have fished it maybe 5 times out of my bass boat and 3 times I ripped the transducer off the back after debris hit it.

[Flatline]

Originally Posted by XxthejuicexX

One reason I stay off OH. I'm not joking when I say I have fished it maybe 5 times out of my bass boat and 3 times I ripped the transducer off the back after debris hit it.

You can imagine to my dismay when I saw these boats flying by me but way over to my left and I'm thinking that is awfully strange. I look at map to see why and literally find myself in the middle of mine field of stumps. I don't know how I didn't hit one... So I turned around and followed my trail back out and headed back to Laguardo. I haven't been back.

[skillet]

Originally Posted by Texas_Rig

I haven't seen any beds, but the water is so stained that hasn't surprised me. There are definitely fish spawning because I set the hook and missed just as many as I caught yesterday. Yesterday I fished from Drakes Creek to the dam and saw big fluctuations of water temp. It was anywhere between 58-76. There are a couple small areas that I haven't fished but I will in the tournament. They are areas that historically hold a big fish or 2 this time of year and I don't want to catch anything on them before the tournament. I have one area that I found that I have a little confidence in. I caught 2 decent fish in that area and then used a bait with no hook to fish the rest and got several more bites. I had a friend with me and let him fish normally and he caught a 3.5lber in the same spot. I have higher spirits today and was just a little dejected last night.

Also, your right Skillet. OH makes good fishermen. I have just a fraction of the experience that most serious bass anglers in the area have but I can compete on most lakes. A lake like OH takes much more experience than I have to consistently catch a good bag of tournament fish.

Deezltek and I both still have problems consistently catching fish. The lake changes soooooo much because it is a river impoundment and like I said, the USACE has the lake fluctuating so much it’s hard to do. What we have been doing is going to the pockets and creeks that consistently hold fish, and throw the boat at them. Good luck tomorrow and let us know how you do.


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[Texas_Rig]

Originally Posted by skillet

Deezltek and I both still have problems consistently catching fish. The lake changes soooooo much because it is a river impoundment and like I said, the USACE has the lake fluctuating so much it’s hard to do. What we have been doing is going to the pockets and creeks that consistently hold fish, and throw the boat at them. Good luck tomorrow and let us know how you do.


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Thanks. I had to come in early today because of a battery issue. Which is fine because I think I have a pretty good game plan for tomorrow. No reason to catch any more fish anyways. I had 4 keepers in 3 hours today. I really feel like I finally have my head wrapped around what I need to do to catch a limit. I feel pretty good about that and if a limit has a chance then we'll be fine. I really feel like if we can catch anything in the teens we have a real shot. It's not like there is a 3lber on every log. I kinda got clued in Wednesday on something a little specific and ran just a little of it today and had 4 keepers with a couple nice fish

[Texas_Rig]

Well we sucked it up pretty good today. I knew the bite was tough but do-able. We only managed 3 fish for 6.4lbs. Very poor execution on my part today. I had 6 or 7 keeper bites and only managed to land 3 of them. A lot of the bites were very light and I was finding myself reeling a fish in that I didn't know I had. That led to very poor hook sets. I didn't expect much help from my sister but I really wanted to do well in this tournament so she would have some bragging rights for a year. The tournament payed 3 places and 8lbs got the last check. 2 limits were weighed in out of 18 boats but I'm not sure what their actual weight was.

Man I forgot just how much pressure OH gets. It seemed every time I would pull in somewhere there would be 2,3,4 or more boats that were already there. The first spot we fished was a pocket mid lake and I caught a keeper right off the bat then another boat pulls in 2 docks ahead of us and started fishing down the same bank! I idled around them to the next dock in front of them. I'm glad they didn't have anything to say because I'm sure I would have showed my a$$, and I KNOW my sister would have shown hers. I ended up just fishing random places that didn't have other boats.

All in all it was a fun day. I don't get to fish with my sister as much as I should and although we only had 3 keepers I caught fish all day and got to tease my sister for not helping the team out. That led to quite a few laughs and curse words directed to yours truly.

As far as the bite goes I could only consistently catch fish on a senko today. I caught a lot of fish on a buzzbait and a spinnerbait this week but with the lack of wind I couldn't get that bite going.

[oldhick]

Post cold front, bluebird skies was a recipe for a tough outing. And I found the same as you - everything you mentioned. Including fishing in a SMALL cove that has about a dozen docks, looking up and seeing a Two Rivers boat on plane run past me and stop in front of me in order to flip 3-4 docks and leave. Really, really bush league and I made sure they were given proper feedback. Don't know how they fared (there was a ABA team tourney), but I suspect those kind of moves are grounds for disqualification.

[Flatline]

Its not just the tourn guys.. I was too tired last night to elaborate my experience at the Cordell hull dam. I had pulled into the lock area and anchored where I could set my rods up and get things from the catfishing put away. Here comes 3 bozos in their 14' flat bottom boat, obviously over loaded with fatass. Of course I had my back to them, but kept watch out the corner of my eye to see just how close they would get.



Oh yea, finally I had to speak up when they got close enough I could cast over them if I wanted.. Final I ask them if they thought if they were close enough in not so friendly tone.



Then in front of the dam, two guys of to the side of the spillway, I parked it in my corner in front of it... It was all I could do to maintain position, but I kept it in a 20' space and away from the other 2 boats and we all were happy... Here comes more yahoos just creeping in thinking if they sneak in, father controlling the trolling motor while his older teenage boy was fishing.



You want to know where rudeness comes from, this is where it starts.. Finally the kid casts over my line which set me off. Again I told I've had just about enough... dad got the clue and move away.



What is it with people... ? I remember a time when people left you to your spot and kept moving to any area. Now they just park it feet away. To be honest its a wonder why you don't see people getting shot.



Anyhow yesterday just solidified why I fish weekday. I can find something else to do on weekends

[Texas_Rig]

Originally Posted by oldhick

Post cold front, bluebird skies was a recipe for a tough outing. And I found the same as you - everything you mentioned. Including fishing in a SMALL cove that has about a dozen docks, looking up and seeing a Two Rivers boat on plane run past me and stop in front of me in order to flip 3-4 docks and leave. Really, really bush league and I made sure they were given proper feedback. Don't know how they fared (there was a ABA team tourney), but I suspect those kind of moves are grounds for disqualification.

It's funny you say that because that exact same Two Rivers Ford boat did that to me and my dad a couple years ago. And we were fishing in the same tournament as each other. Dad and I were fishing down a bank and that boat pulled in a pocket and started fishing a point 50 yards right in front of us. I put the trolling motor on high and was headed to fish right beside them because that point was where we had caught all of our fish and we were letting it rest. Well it didn't take me long to get to them and they picked up the trolling motor and left. It made me happy at weigh in when the guys in that boat got the last money spot but were bumped out because of a dead fish penalty. I know who the guy is and he's pretty well known for fishing in this area But I'm not gonna put his name out there.