Old Hickory Lake 12-18-11

[whrizob]

Ok guys, My wife and I decided to head to Old Hickory Lake yesterday. We arrived at 11:45am and began to fish transition banks. Water temp was 50.5 when we arrived. It took us a little while to find them. They were on transition banks that had more vertical cover on them. We had 10 bass, 20 white bass, and a couple blue gill! We ended the day with a 3 keeping bass, biggest one being 3 pounds. The cold front from fri just had the big ones shut down. We caught fish on cranbaits, jerkbaits, and jigging spoons. Most of the fish came on jigging spoon, including the white bass. My wife has knee surgery the 23 and want be out for awhile, but we were lucky to have another great day on the water! She had a blast, as did I. We ended the day at 4pm and water temp was 51.7. Make sure you where warm clothes, bring plenty of gloves, and keep life jackets on. Good luck to all! MIke Davis Outdoors Fishing Guide, Robert Hunter


Will post pics tonight!

[fairweatherfisherman]

Thanks for the report. Could you tell us how the water clarity was?

[whrizob]

Water was pretty clear! For old hickory, I would say clear! Just a green color to it! Used all natural looking baits and colors to catch them. The key I believe was being able to see the bait fish flicker. I have a pair of numa optics sunglasses, that I believe are the best ever made! The lenses are so clear, almost like glass. But I would just look for thst slight flash about a foot down and when I seen the shad, I caught fish! It was a great day in dec for sure!

Were you in a light blue stratos boat?

[whrizob]

yes, that was me! Good to meet both of ya'll!

Same to you...

[hogdawg]

What do you consider transition banks?

[whrizob]

Transition banks are what there named. Its a bank that is used inbetween patterns. For example, bass spend cold months in winter in deep water. Usually relating to vertical structure, like bluff walls, or sharp drops. Then in spring they start migrating to shallow water to spawn. But the bass just don't go from deep, stait to shallow. They use banks in between to stage untill its the right time to go all the shallow. That's called the transition banks. But it doesn't always have to be banks. It can be secondary points, under water points, rip rap banks, or chunk rock banks. Its all based on the structure around and how the fish relate to it. Bass use tranistion banks 4 times a year. From winter to spring, spring to summer, summer to fall, and fall to winter. Its a in and out thing. A staging area kinda. I fish a lot of transition banks, almost year round, bc fish are constantly using them. Right now, with the water temp still holding in 50s, most fish haven't moved deep for the winter. With that said, you have to have deep water near by! That's the key to transition banks, they have to have deep water close by. And when I say deep, It doesn't necessarily mean 50 foot of water, or even 20 foot. As matter of fact, most of the transition banks I fish are only in 5 to 10 feet. But a 18 ft channel is close by. Its just whatever the area you fish offers. Another thing, as cold as it gets for us in these tn lakes, its still the south and fish will stay shallow year round! But that another lesson, hope that helps!

[hogdawg]

Thanks for the info whrizob!

[whrizob]

No problem!