Help a new new fisherman

[noahtn]

Hey guys, I'm getting back into fishing after a long time. I grew up in Louisiana fishing private ponds stocked with largemouth bass, but have lived in TN now for 20 years and just getting back to fishing. I just bought a boat and am wondering where around here people go for decent bass fishing? I live in Franklin, so anywhere relatively close would be great to know. Thanks.

 

[ROUGH COUNTRY HUNTER]

I am not familiar with your area,but good luck

 

[JimFromTN]

Percy Priest and Old Hickory would be the closet big lakes. Old Hickory would be my preference of the 2.

 

[TheDuke'sBack]

Piercy Priest can be great fishing, but in my experience its a lot harder to find fish in the lake going in blind. Old Hickory is my preference as well, be careful though if your not in the channel its gets shallow fast and LOTS of floating logs. When in the channel be on your toes, this time of year with all the rain there are trees floating everywhere, and again stick to the channel!

 

[MidTennFisher]

Old Hickory is better for bass in my opinion but I definitely will agree with the floating debris. Be very, very careful with an outboard. I'm a kayak angler so I don't have those worries nor do I have to worry about the dirt shallow water but you certainly will have to watch for that. Percy Priest has much better Crappie fishing and there is also a fantastic population of Hybrids in there that can be a lot of fun.

Living close to Franklin, I'd recommend you go check out Williamsport. You are not allowed to use an outboard motor, only trolling motors, and man powered vessels are allowed. You can put a boat in there with an outboard but you're not allowed to use it. There are some nice bass in there and with the absence of outboards, it's nice and quiet. Great for me being a kayak angler as we often have close calls with the big boat guys not being considerate of us on the bigger lakes.

 

[noahtn]

Thanks for the replies. I heard about the Williamsport lakes and my son and I were going to try those out tomorrow morning. I'll have to give Old Hickory a try here soon too.

 

[MidTennFisher]

Thanks for the replies. I heard about the Williamsport lakes and my son and I were going to try those out tomorrow morning. I'll have to give Old Hickory a try here soon too.

There are some real trophies that show up every so often but the lakes also have a very healthy population of bass in the 3-5 pound class. Good luck!