why is oldhickory so weird compared to others

[ol 'rube]

this lake has some problems it seems like were you think 90 %of the fish will be there will only be 10 % why is this why does this lake not pattern like others all lakes change fro day to day but not like this lake does anyone know why this is

 

[ol 'rube]

i can go and catch some good fish one day and pattern them come back tomorrow and they will go to something completly different or were ever you think the fish are go to something else

 

[Crappie Luck]

Old Hickory is full of fish. It also has tournaments every day of the week and twice on Sunday. They just raised the size limit to 14". It's helped get larger fish, but now you catch a boat full of 13" 3/4.

Fish OH different. Don't pound the bank. Work the flats that drop from 3' to 25' quickly. Fish cut overs on the main channel and watch the generation shedule.

There's been two Pro tourny's in two weeks and rumors of another B.A.S.S. tourny being moved to OH due to weather, plus the regular 10 weekly tournys on that lake.

To be blunt. OH is one of the most overfished lakes in this state. The fish are there, but they are smart.

 

[HOOK]

By CL: "To be blunt. OH is one of the most overfished lakes in this state."

YOU GOT THAT RIGHT! and the number or tourneys has just made a pleasant day to fish a nightmare!

 

[bowriter]

Overfishing might be a problem. But I doubt O.H. gets more pressure than Priest and that lake, for the most part, produces every year.

I think the answer is that it is a river. As such it is subject to water level changes, current changes, temperature changes, etc. on a daily basis. All of those factors move the fish. It is also a strange lake in that the best fishing is usually during the middle of the day. Add to that, as it is with many bodies of water, some years just suck.

 

[ol 'rube]

i can find fish out there every day but the big ones come far between i always was told usually when you find a big one deep there are usually schools of them is this true or they just scattered in this lake so bad once you catch one big one you need to go

 

[Road Kill]

I have fished this lake for going on twenty years and SHE is and always has been hateful. She will love you one day and hate you the next. When we had a lake full of grass it was probably at it's best. But the CORP. in it's wisdom killed it almost completly out. They did the same to Gunnersville and almost ruined one of the best fisheries in the south. The grass came back on Gunnersville but for the most part is still absent on Old Hickory. The lake does get alot of pressure but has always been difficult to pattern. John hit the nail on the head it is basically a river and changes daily or hourly in some cases.

 

[Crappie Luck]

But the CORP. in it's wisdom killed it almost completly out.

I agree, but it was the result of a changing demographic. The number of recreational boaters, water skiers and (my favorite) the Jet skiers outnumbered the fishermen. Complaints of "Cleaning up the lake" prompted the grass kill. The grass was not pollution or the results of a dirty lake, but the politics of tourism and public opinion can out weigh the facts.

I miss the grass beds too

 

[Tubakka]

Taking out weeds doesn't ruin a lake...it just takes away a visible contact point between the angler and the fish. The weeds are nothing more than a breakline fish relate too...usually lakes without them are better because it means they have better water color...more shallow movements and consistent fish activity. Just fish the secondary and primary breaks and drop offs...the fish are there. You gotta get off the banks and fish deep. trolling is a great option as well...cover a ton of water on those breaklines on the CORPS lakes that just run miles and miles.

 

[bowriter]

And there you have the definitive answer from one who learned at Buck's knee. I am certainly glad he didn't have time to tell the guys fishing the Bass Elite to get off the banks.

But seriously Tubbs, how do you thnk we should fish the Cocodrie system late this fall. It was terrible this spring due to the election.

 

[bowriter]

I'm sorry. I'm in a pissy mood today. That was uncalled for.

But I am fishing the English River early this fall and would sure like to know what the muskies and walleye are going to be doing.

 

[B.D.]

Taking out weeds doesn't ruin a lake...it just takes away a visible contact point between the angler and the fish. The weeds are nothing more than a breakline fish relate too...usually lakes without them are better because it means they have better water color...more shallow movements and consistent fish activity. Just fish the secondary and primary breaks and drop offs...the fish are there. You gotta get off the banks and fish deep. trolling is a great option as well...cover a ton of water on those breaklines on the CORPS lakes that just run miles and miles.

Yeah, the water color on Old Hickory has improved SOOOO much since the milfoil beds were removed. And I'm sure those weed beds didn't have ANY positive effects like providing cover for bass fry, a concentration point for forage, etc., no siree.

bd

 

[bowriter]

Tribeless...It maybe I am the only one that caught that

By the way, how are your cadillacs. Seeing any better?

As of yesterday, they were catching a lot of O.H. fish on windy points and jigging spoons on dropoffs. But then, they were also catching them tight on the bank and some in the grass.

But that was yesterday.