PAA Prefish....

I don't know where to start. I was really excited when Elite Series pro Russ Lane invited me to ride along with him and fish during the three day official practice period for the PAA event on Old Hickory. We talked Sunday night and agreed to meet Monday at Sauders Ferry Ramp on the lower end of the lake around 7:00 am. We were starting late because the tournament would not be taking off until around that time. Monday: Russ pulled out of the ramp area and immediately started idling around on some deeper ledges just studying the sonar. He told me his two main goals during practice are to eliminate water / patterns and to locate four or five potential winning schools of fish in a manageable area. We left the deep water area and headed into a major creek to try the bank grass deal. We moved around for a couple of hours, but we only had one bite in the grass. From here, he moved out to some secondary points in the creek that had a hard bottom and relatively deep water nearby. Russ managed to catch a 3 1/2 lb fish in the middle of a cove on the crankbait, and I also caught a keeper here. He'd seen all he needed to, so we continued to run that pattern for a while. When we got out to the mouth of the creek, Russ caught the big fish pictured here on the crankbait. Next, we moved out to the main lake and concentrate on roadbeds on long flats. We found two more good schools of fish and hooked several more keepers during the day. Russ could have probably culled to around 15 lbs that day, so he was fairly confident he was on to something. We stayed out until around 6 pm. The biggest lesson I learned on day one was how much the pros rely on their electronics to find productive areas. Also, it was obvious that he was looking for more subtle feeding places that would not recieve a ton of fishing pressure during the week. He stressed that he needed to fisn places that would hold up over three days and that the more obvious places would not last. Tuesday: We met at Station Camp Creek, and Russ planned to practice in Spencer and then run upriver to check Spring and Barton's Creeks. We struggled to find anything shallow in the morning, but we did find one promising area near the mouth of Spencer that would be free from much fishing pressure during the week. The common theme for the productive areas that we found was that they all had a hard bottom, and the magic depth seemed to be 8-15 ft. After we hit Spencer creek hard, we made the long run upriver. We fished the backs of Bartons and Spring Creeks, and we found a decent bite on a squarebill and flipping a creature right on the bank. We probably caught 10 keepers up there, but we never hooked a good fish. Russ knew that he could run up there and scratch out a limit if he needed to, but those fish would not win the event. From this point on, he would concentrate on finding those good offshore schools with the crankbait. We found one decent school of fish just down from the powerlines near the mouth of Spencer, and we left the lake around 5 pm. Wed: We met back at Saunders Ferry, and his plan was to work the offshore ledges near the ramp and try to find three or four more areas within a 3-4 mile stretch of river so that he could manage them during the event. We started a bit earlier on Wed since it would be a short day due to the meeting in the afternoon. We hit some marina slips for a little while, but we only had one bite here. Next, we moved out to the main lake and started covering water with a spook and trap. Russ landed two solid keepers on the spook, and I nailed a 3+ lb fish down near Lock 3 on the trap. After the early morning feed died down, we moved out wide and started checking for schools on the main lake. We fished all the way from the ramp to the dam and back. We located four or five decent schools along the way, including three or four bass in the 3-4 lb class. We headed in around 2:30 so he would have time to organize his boat and tackle and we could make it to the meeting at Bass Pro Shops on time. I can't tell you how awesome it was to spend three days getting inside a touring pro's head and watching him break down the lake. I learned a ton, and I would love to try it again sometime. Russ ended up fisnishing 16th with around 21 1/2 pounds in two days. He caught fish in most of the areas where we found them, but the big ones just never showed up. I ended up finishing 16th on the co-angler side. I fished with two great guys- David Hendrick from NC and Elite pro Greg "The Rooster" Vinson from AL. Greg ended up in 19th I think, and David was around 30th. It was a great week, and I have a real appreciation for how much work these pros put into their job. Until next time, tight lines!

JPP Weekend Series pre-fish 4-27-12:

Friday the 13th (4-13-12) JPP...

Cumberland Bassmasters 4-7-12- J Percy Priest...

I took off boat #1 this morning out of LHSP and ran just a short ways to a small pocket at the end of the bluff to throw topwater. I was able to land 4 "club keepers" (12"+ fish) here on the small Zell Pop in the first 20 minutes. We moved down lake, under the bridge to the old school house cove and I finished out my limit and culled up a few times on the topwater plug. Duke had to back at the ramp at 8 am, so I dropped him off and headed down lake to Suggs Creek where I caught three or four more fish and culled a couple of more times.

I bounced around on the lower end for another hour with no luck, so I ran back to the mid-lake area. I was able to catch a nice 17" smallie on my favorite roadbed and then landed a nice 18", 3 lb fish on the "hamburger hole" (deep side).

I finished the day where I started near the ramp and was able to cull up one more time on the tube.

We checked in at 1:30, and my 11.10 lbs was good for second place.

Later-

RBK

OHBT Sat, March 31st...

We struggled today. The shallow fish were non existent, so around mid day we backed off and slowed down with jigs and rigs and managed three little keepers for 5.58 lbs. On to the next one.

Last two weekends- Center Hill Weekend Series & Cumberland Bassmasters openers...

3-17- Center Hill; ABA Bassmaster Weekend Series- Very tough for me- 2 keepers for 6 lbs and 34th place. Let's move on- enough said.

3-24- Percy Priest; Cumberland Bassmasters inaugural club tourney- Our new club kicked off our season on Priest this past Saturday. We had 6 boaters and 6 non-boaters show up at Hurricane Creek ramp at 6:15 am. My partner for the day was Steve Ahern.

My plan was to run some chunk rock transition banks for the first couple of hours to make sure we had a limit of 12"+ plus fish and then move off the bank and try to upgrade for the rest of the day. The plan did not pan out, as we struggle early to catch much of anything. By 10:00 am I only had 4 fish in the 12-12 3/4" range. The clouds started to roll in around 11:00 am, so we went back to our starting spot in a cove near the bridge, and I was able to land a nice 18.5" smallie on the shad rap.

I now had a limit good for around 7 lbs. I decided to finish the day off of the bank, fishing wind blown flats and points in the Four Corners area. On the fisrt stop we each caught a small keeper. Then, we moved to the south side of an island near Four Corners and I landed another good smallmouth that just missed the 18" limit. This fish put me up near 10 lbs. We kept moving around, but time ran out.

I ended up with 9.77, which was good for first place.

It was a tough day, but it's always good to start the year off with a win.

On to Old Hickory next weekend for our first Old Hickory Bass Trail event.

Later,

RBK

Center Hill pre-fishing 3-3-12

Carl and I hit the lake around 6:15. We launched on the lower end of Center Hill and spent the first hour and a half bouncing around a major creek trying to get a fish to eat. It just wasn't happening.

I pretty much eliminated the lower end from consideration for my Weekend Series event in two weeks. Around 9 am we put the boat in the wind and headed back to my normal waters in the mid lake area. Carl caught our first fish on a familiar bluff on the blade, but that was the only fish we would catch doing that deal all day.

We eased around the corner into a small creek arm near Floating Mill and I had a good bite on the second cast on the heavy Eakins Jig. I had her hooked for a couple of seconds and she came off. I'd have loved to have seen her, as I imagine she was big and brown. We caught two nice smallmouth on the same bank- one on the jig and one on a blade. From here we idled across the creek into a gravel filled drain and landed two nice fish on a blade in the off colored water. The key to getting bit on the spinnerbait all day was wind and off colored water. Many of the gravel bank drains we fished also had bait in them, which obviously was a big deal. This pattern might just play in two weeks on these pre-spawn fish.

Next, we moved across the lake to a larger creek near the bridge and I landed the one pictured here on the jig plus another nice largemouth that was around 15".

We decided to head home around 2 pm.

Not a bad start on my practice. Next weekend will be key to getting a pattern dialed in and committing to an area. I know the lower end is out, so now I'll start mid lake and head up a bit.

Totals for the day- 8 fish caught with four keepers for around 8 lbs. Water temps ranged from 47-54 degrees all day.

Until next time- keep them lines tight.