Tennesee Fishing Reports

Now, if you have never experienced the fight of a smallie in our Mid TN streams then you are missing the boat.

With Halloween around the corner it makes me want to be on one of our many miles of Middle Tennessee Streams. The last few weeks the smallie bite has been awesome. creekminnows have been the ticket. Artificial have not done very well. We start out in a hole with artificial and do not get the bites and then when the creekminnow hits the water hold on, for you are now in another dimension....
For example, last Thursday my client Charlie and I fished a good 10 plus hours for the greatest Middle TN fish swimming.(Bronze) We ended up the day with 10 fish over 15 inches the biggest being 17 inches, with several more in the 12 to 14 inch range.

Smallmouth in Streams are so much stronger than our reservoir fish and they ( to me ) are more aggressive.

This time of year all you need is structure close to current and proper lure or live bait placement you can catch unbelievable numbers from the same spot.

The greatest thing about wading for smallies is that you do not have to worry about other people. If there is an interruption, in your day it will be from "Mother Nature", and not from the crowds on our reservoirs. If you are looking for true outdoor therapy, solitude, and tranquility give me a call. The next few weeks the bite will be steady to awesome.
Mike Dial
Stream Smallmouth Guide


Cumberland River 10-8-2005

What a day Shay Doming and I had with Doug Markham on the Cumberland River here in Nashville yesterday shooting a show for Doug and Hugh Outdoors. When we met at the ramp at 6:00am it was still dark and was misting rain. As soon as we had safe light we shot the opening of the show unloaded the Stratos and ran to our first stop. Doug wanted to do a live bait show on the river so with 3lbs of shiners ready to go we started fishing. It wasn't long before we hit pay dirt catching at least 15 or more Smallmouth and Spotted Bass on the very first stop. The bass wasn't killing the bait like they were last week and patience was the key letting them have the bait longer than normal. When things slowed down at the first stop we moved on down river and was back in business in no time. We caught and released at least 30 or more Smallmouth and Spots plus 5 Sauger. With the show finished we turned to artificial baits for the next hour or so and caught several more on Prowler Tubes and a 3/32oz brown jig tipped with a Prowler watermelon seed chunk. www.prowlerlures.com . For the day we caught and released 50-60 bass plus the 5 Sauger and one huge rock bass. The Smallmouth in these pictures is just a small sample of the quality fish that is in the river....If your interested in a trip on the Cumberland River with Shay or I give me a call at 615-765-7303 for more information. Don't forget that the entire Tennessee Bass Guide Team will be holding seminars at the Nashville Bass Pro Shop on October 22-2005 from 10 am through 5 pm.....We will look for you there......Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com





Tim's Ford 10-5-2005

Yesterday fellow TBGI guide Jon Simmons and I planned to hook up for a trip to Tim's Ford-but during the night his little one got sick so I treked down there by myself. Just the day before Jon and his dad caught and released well over 20 Smallmouth and Spots most of which were caught on top water baits, TBGI Guide David DuVall had several good fish in just a couple hours Sunday morning. As you know from prior posts Tim's is getting better and better as we move into the colder parts of the year. Well I didn't have a banner day, but not a bad one either. I caught 2 Smallmouth and 10 Spots, most of which came on a Luhr-Jensen Radar 10 Crankbait www.luhrjensen.com and a 3/32ounce brown jig tipped with a Prowler Small Pro Chunk www.Prowlerlures.com. But here is what excited me the most...7 of the 10 Spots were between 16 and 17 1/2 inches and looked like footballs. This is probably the best Spots that I have caught on Tim's since late last winter, they had to weigh some where between 2 1/2 to 3 lbs each. Reminds you a little of Center Hill...If your interested in a great fishing trip for Smallmouth and Spots you need to contact us about our special winter offer rickm@dtccom.net or 615-765-7303....everyone that took advantage of it last year had a blast....Hope this helps....Rick McFerrin Tennessee Bass Guides.com