Harpeth River

[catman529]

Who all in middle TN fishes the harpeth river? It's small but long, and has a few really good holes with great fishing.

I went on my first fishing trip ever when I was 11 over 7 years ago and I still fish there now. Caught a catfish on my 18th back at the end of May this year. Never gets old. I prefer catching bait with a cast net in the shallow rapid areas and then fishing with them upstream in the deep holes. But for bass you sometimes can't beat a green pumpkin plastic lizard or crawfish or the occasional buzzbait.

Great little stream to fish, biggest largemouth was 18 inches (around 4 pounds?) biggest smallmouth was also around 18, biggest catfish was 21", biggest gar 37", biggest buffalo, I don't know, I've snagged a few buffalo and they run up to about 10 pounds...also caught 21" freshwater drum, winter stocked trout, plenty of bream. One thing my part of the river lacks is crappie...supposedly they used to be everywhere in there.

So who else likes fishing the Harpeth?

 

[Blount County Hunter]

Cool little river your fishing there, I fish the little river, townsend and rockford part, and its been quality for trout,smallmouth, and redeye, with my bigger smallmouth being caught from the rockford part, and trout mainly on the upper townsend end, but I also catch my decent share of crappie, stripe, bluegill, and drum, and I 95% of the time catch all of my fish on a 2" twister, with a weedless leadhead, and the other 5% coming on roostertails and live bait

 

[Blount County Hunter]

I wade the shallower areas during the summer and bankfish/canoe the deeper spots when its to cold to wade

 

[catman529]

Wading shallower areas is great for bass in summer, I have done it late summer in the past and caught a lot of fish. The deep areas hold big ones year round and that's where I catch em during the summer.

 

[Blount County Hunter]

I prefer to wade in the middle of the river if possible, and cast to the deeper holes and structure along the bank, but you really need to mess around with some 2" twisters, smoke,pumpkinseed, and purple, have been my go to colors, I havent found anything that catches more and bigger variety of fish, don't let the small 2" bait fool you about what size fish it will catch, I have caught my share of 2-5lb smallmouth on 2" twisters

 

[catman529]

Do you mean curl tail grubs? because I've caught tons of bass on those too, green pumpkin is my favorite color. A chartreuse jighead hook works really well with the grub. Haven't fished that way in a few years though. Usually it's just a lizard, hook and a couple split shots.

 

[Blount County Hunter]

Yes curly tailed grubs or whatever y'all call them, I just call them that because that's what I grew up calling them, but its always my go to bait in a river

 

[catman529]

Yep they do work great, I guess I just stopped using them after having success with lizards, crawfish and sometimes a buzzbait...but if I remember correctly, I still have a few grubs in a package lying around somewhere.

 

[jb3]

Been fishing the harpeth for a while. Me and a buddy float it a lot in the Bellevue area. We've put in off of Old Natchez Trace, Moran Rd, Hwy 100 access, Newsome Station. While in high school, the Little Harpeth (Edwin Warner Park) produced some decent fish from time to time. Also use to fish the South Harpeth (towards Kingston Springs) and Brush Creek (tiny creek with some holes). My favorite is Turnbull (Dickson County). It's just of the interstate (ex 182). I've been lucky the past 30 years to have access to it from a couple different properties and had great success. When floating, we carry two poles each. One has a spinnerbait, topwater, zoom lizard, grub or slider. Best bait is spring lizards or live crawfish.

And yes, the harpeth does still have crappie. Hard to find, but we do catch 1-2 each trip by accident.

 

[catman529]

Sounds good. I've been through the river around franklin and down to Old Natchez and Moran Road. Fished once or twice in the little harpeth at edwin warner but not enough to catch good fish. I'd like to find the crappie. I wonder how far downstream I'd have to go to find them.

What do you catch in Turnbull? Many big fish at all?

 

[jb3]

Turnbull has smallmouth, largemouth, spotted, redeye, bluegill. It has some pretty good ones. I've landed two smallmouth in the 20-21" range.

 

[catman529]

Sounds nice. Smallies are my favorite bass in terms of the fight they put up.

No catfish in turnbull? I always love to catch a good catfish too..

 

[Coach B]

Grew up fishing the Little Harpeth thru Brentwood. Used to catch some nice little smallmouth on topwaters in the summertime. Fish were not all that big, but looking back it was a lot of fun catching the bronzebacks on top in such a small stream.

 

[basset]

The Harpeth is less than forty yards from my back door in Bellevue... and I would have been about nose deep in water if I'd been sitting where I am right now during the May floods. Have caught some decent smallies and catfish in previous years, wading and fishing the holes.

Used to fish Turnbull, can't get on it at the 96 bridge or the water plant any more though. Pretty snaky, too.

 

[catman529]

Hope you got your house restored OK? The flood was insane...I took an inflatable boat through a street to a friends house that was only 2 feet above the water with the river in their backyard.

 

[vanleerbuckbuster]

I catfish the harpeth where jones creek dumps into. good smallmouth fishin there to

 

[basset]

and good arrowhead hunting, or at least there used to be before it got picked over. That short loop between the last road crossing and the mouth of the river is a nice canoe float too, I leave a bicycle at the end and ride it back to the put-in.

Catman, we had water over the counter tops but the house is just about fixed up now... we were in an apartment for 4 1/2 months and rebuilt it from the bare studs and floor joists, we have everything done except the window blinds and those are on order.

JB, where do you get onto Turnbull? we used to park at the 96 bridge or the water plant, both of those are off limits now.

 

[jb3]

basset,

My best friend growing up lived on Deal rd and we had access (sneak) thru a wooded lot accross the street from him. Before they built the new bridge where White Rd crosses, it was there. Also, Doug Hill rd. I have a couple buddies that access it at Cliff View in Kingston Springs (make sure and get permission first). Those same guys still accessed it at 96 about a year ago. They asked the people doing construction if they could park next to their vehicles and they said that was alright. You could also try the parking area in Craggie Hope (Kingston Springs). Hope this helps.

 

[catman529]

So don't you all agree that river fishing is a lot more fun and interesting than lake fishing?

OK some can disagree but I love the fight of a river-grown fish better and I like how a river always changes direction and when it floods, there are new fishing holes opened up with new deposits of debris...never gets old. Lakes just mean lots of boats, lots of still water, fish don't fight as hard as river fish, and the same spots are the same all the time and there's no current. Yeah the current can be a pain sometimes but it's often where I catch many fish, especially baitfish.

 

[Blount County Hunter]

I like fishing the pigeon river for trophy smallmouth, I caught 2 over 4lbs my first trip to the river, I was hungover all day, but still had a blast catching those smallies

 

[jb3]

I like both. Both have their plus and minus. Honestly, when I waded creeks regularly, it was pretty easy to catchem, especially when using crayfish. No fish would resist them. I do love to be on the lake about an hour before sunset and fish till midnight. Love the glow of the fishing line while using a black light.

 

[basset]

we have gotten on at Cliff View several times, that's been our access since the bridge and the water plant closed.

I much prefer creek fishing, wading along and fishing different holes... reminds me of the comment some famous trout fisherman made about going trout fishing because he liked to be in the kind of places where trout lived.

 

[geezer]

Been fishing the harpeth for a while. Me and a buddy float it a lot in the Bellevue area. We've put in off of Old Natchez Trace, Moran Rd, Hwy 100 access, Newsome Station. While in high school, the Little Harpeth (Edwin Warner Park) produced some decent fish from time to time. Also use to fish the South Harpeth (towards Kingston Springs) and Brush Creek (tiny creek with some holes). My favorite is Turnbull (Dickson County). It's just of the interstate (ex 182). I've been lucky the past 30 years to have access to it from a couple different properties and had great success. When floating, we carry two poles each. One has a spinnerbait, topwater, zoom lizard, grub or slider. Best bait is spring lizards or live crawfish.
Yep, Itoo have floated some of those areas, Up until the may floods we could catch some good largemouth and a few brown fish. Ill still go several times a year but here lately have gotten addicted to ky. lake. Black and blue bitsy bug in the spring when the grass starts popping up out of the water=GOOD TIME!!!
And yes, the harpeth does still have crappie. Hard to find, but we do catch 1-2 each trip by accident.

 

[geezer]

OOPS I messed up that quote. Also use a rebel craw, and small black and blue spinner bait,and of course a shakey head, Thats a good go to bait if you aint doin well

 

[go_okfishin]

My favorite river,

 

[Kimberman]

I grew up fishing it. I lived in Franklin from '84-'91, and learned to fish on that river when I was a kid. I still make it back to fish it on occasion, but the river has changed alot over the years. The area I used to fish used to be wadeable, now its wider and alot deeper in those areas.

 

[catman529]

go_okfishin, nice fish and it makes me want the summer back that I didn't spend fishing this year....oh well I got next year, don't we all...

Kimberman you must know a lot of the spots...or at least spots that used to be spots, tell me some road names/locations on the river and I'll tell you if I've fished them.

 

[geezer]

okfishin that is what the harpeth is all about! Has anyone else noticed a change after the floods? Went several times this summer and couldnt seem to catch the size fish we used to, but it will return.

 

[catman529]

I barely fished after the flood, maybe once or twice, I did catch a decent catfish, but a friend of mine caught a 33 inch channel cat that still has me jealous (my biggest is around 21 inch). My suspicion is that some of the golf course ponds emptied their big fish into the river during the flood. And some of the river fish also came into the ponds. I caught some gizzard shad and a koi with my cast net in a retention pond that dried up after only a few days past the flood.