Old Hickory Lake Fishing Report by TWRA Fishing Forecast

TWRA is now publishing fishing forecast for area lakes:  The TWRA wants to build a comprehensive report each week of the state’s lakes. If you do not see a report for your favorite lake and you are someone who can provide a report please contact us at Ask.TWRA@tn.gov and provide us with your contact information

Fishing Forecast 

Old Hickory Lake Fishing Report:    18 Feb 2022

Old Hickory

Forecast Contributor Brady Duncan – Follow on Instagram: @brady_duncan9

Old Hickory has been fishing great the past two weeks with the water temps are in the mid 40’s. Mid-lake down to the dam is the best area in these colder months.

Largemouth are being caught in large numbers on a Jerk Bait and Alabama Rig. It is becoming a great time of year to catch some quality fish with the chance to catch a big one!

 

 

 

17 Dec 2021

Old Hickory

Forecast Contributor Brady Duncan – Follow on Instagram: @brady_duncan9

Old Hickory has been fishing well the past two weeks with the water temps getting down into the low 50’s. Mid-lake down to the dam is the best area in these colder months.

Baits would include Alabama rigs and jerk baits, but with the rain over the past few days the river will get muddy and flowing. Crank baits on any rock or current break will be very successful over the next week!

 

 

 

Mid Nov 2021

Old Hickory

NOTE- We need a new reporter for Old Hickory. Please contact us at Ask.TWRA@tn.gov if you can help.

Bass are on the bank chasing large pods of bait.  Get in the creeks.  The fish this time of year relate to bait more than structure.  So, find the bait and you will find the fish.  Good lures include, buzz baits, spooks, spinnerbaits, chatter baits, and rattle traps.  Also, now is the time when the Alabama rig starts to really shine, again.

Crappie are biting really good right now on the bank in the creeks.  Find structure in 10-12 ft of water and fish jigs.  Some big crappie are being caught.

 

 

 

 

22 Oct 2021

Old Hickory

Bass are on the bank chasing large pods of bait.  Get in the creeks.  The fish this time of year relate to bait more than structure.  So, find the bait and you will find the fish.  Good lures include, buzz baits, spooks, spinnerbaits, chatter baits, and rattle traps.  Also, now is the time when the Alabama rig starts to really shine, again.

Crappie are biting really good right now on the bank in the creeks.  Find structure in 10-12 ft of water and fish jigs.  Some big crappie are being caught.

 

 

 

 

17 Sept 2021

Old Hickory

Most of the bass have left the ledges and have moved into the creeks. Try small finesse baits around docks and laydowns. Using topwater and any bait mimicking shad will produce the best results. Fish are also coming fishing grass with hollow bodied frogs in the early morning and by flipping the grass with heavier weighted creature baits after the topwater bite dies off.

 

 

 

 

03 Sept 2021

Old Hickory

Downsizing is key when you get into the latter part of August and into September on Old Hickory. Try small finesse baits around docks and laydowns. There’s still some action on ledges but you have to slow way down and finesse them into biting. Fish are showing up on shaky heads around cover on the bank and still on drops close to the river channel. Fish are also coming fishing grass with hollow bodied frogs in the early morning and by flipping the grass with heavier weighted creature baits after the topwater bite dies off.

 

 

 

 

27 Aug 2021

Old Hickory

Downsizing is key when you get into the latter part of August and into September on Old Hickory. Try small finesse baits around docks and laydowns. There’s still some action on ledges but you have to slow way down and finesse them into biting.  Fish are showing up on shaky heads around cover on the bank and still on drops close to the river channel.  Fish are also coming fishing grass with hollow bodied frogs in the early morning and by flipping the grass with heavier weighted creature baits after the topwater bite dies off.

 

 

 

 

 

20 Aug 2021

Old Hickory

Downsizing is key when you get into the latter part of August and into September on Old Hickory.  Fish are showing up on shaky heads around cover on the bank and still on drops close to the river channel.  Fish are also coming fishing grass with hollow-bodied frogs in the early morning and by flipping the grass with heavier weighted creature baits after the topwater bite dies off.

 

 

 

 

13 Aug 2021

Fish are still coming out of the grass.  Shaky heads on deep ledges, shaky heads around shallow cover.  Also, topwater action around grass.

 

 

 

 

06 Aug 2021

Old Hickory

The pattern remains consistent on Old Hickory with fish still on the ledges and can be caught a number of ways but some of the best seem to be a shaky head, heavy wobble head jig, or on a drop-shot.  Another way to catch fish this time of year is by punching the bank grass with heavy tungsten weights.  The heaviness of the weight will depend on the thickness of the grass.  Best baits for this technique are any small creature lure like the Berkley Pit boss or Strike King Menace.

 

 

 

 

30 July 2021

Old Hickory

The pattern remains consistent on Old Hickory with fish still on the ledges and can be caught a number of ways but some of the best seem to be a shaky head, heavy wobble head jig, or on a drop-shot. Another way to catch fish this time of year is by punching the bank grass with heavy tungsten weights. The heaviness of the weight will depend on the thickness of the grass. Best baits for this technique are any small creature lure like the Berkley Pit boss or Strike King Menace.

 

 

 

 

23 July 2021

Old Hickory

Fish are still on the ledges and can be caught a number of ways but some of the best seem to be a shaky head, heavy wobble head jig, or on a drop-shot. Another way to catch fish this time of year is by punching the bank grass with heavy tungsten weights. The heaviness of the weight will depend on the thickness of the grass. Best baits for this technique are any small creature lure like the Berkley Pit boss or Strike King Menace.

 

 

 

 

09 July 2021

Old Hickory
Not much has changed at Old Hickory with the ledge bite being the strongest for bass. Look for the larger schools to have a better chance to activate more fish. Try using small baits to activate the schools. The grass continues to slowly improve bite is also producing but pretty much shuts down when the sun comes up. Another key to the summer bite is fishing shade lines all around the lake. If there’s shade, its likely fish are there.

 

 

 

 

02 July 2021

Old Hickory
Old Hickory remains on a ledge bite with ledges holding large schools. Try using small baits to activate the schools. The grass continues to slowly improve bite is also producing but pretty much shuts down when the sun comes up. Another key to the summer bite is fishing shade lines all around the lake. If there’s shade it’s likely fish are there.

 

 

 

 

25 June 2021

Old Hickory
Not much has changed from last week as ledge fishing continues to produce bass with large schools showing up on everyone’s graphs. The bite is better sometimes than others with an angler’s ability to fire up the school being the key. The early morning grass bite is also producing but pretty much shuts down when the sun comes up. Another key to the summer bite is fishing shade lines all around the lake. If there’s shade it’s likely fish are there.

 

 

 

 

18 June 2021

Old Hickory
The ledge bite is hot right now. Good schools of fish can be graphed on the ledges. It is just a matter of hitting the right school at the right time. The grass bite in the early morning can be good until the sun gets up. Also look for fish biting crank baits in shade lines along overgrown banks.

 

 

 

 

11 June 2021

Old Hickory
Old Hickory is in the same status as last week with some bigger schools showing up on the ledges with better fish. The fish can be caught on a variety of baits such as 6xd’s, Carolina rigs, shaky heads, swimbaits. The ledge bite will be really good until the fish have been bothered enough by all the pressure to make catching them a little tougher. Pay particular attention to turns in the creek channels and river channels when looking for a good ledge. Also, if you don’t like fishing ledges, there are always shallow fish to be had on Old Hickory. Early in the day large fish can be caught working the willow grass with a popping frog, regular frog, or buzz baits. Some of the biggest fish in the system call the grass home during the summer. After the sun gets up, frogging the grass will get a little tougher and that is when most will move to a swim jig or move to banks with rock and submerged wood and begin throwing shallow running crankbaits.

 

 

 

 

04 June 2021

Old Hickory
Old Hickory is beginning to fall into its normal summer pattern. The bigger schools of fish are making their way out to the ledges and can be caught on a variety of baits such as 6xd’s, Carolina rigs, shaky heads, swimbaits. The ledge bite will be really good until the fish have been bothered enough by all the pressure to make catching them a little tougher. Pay particular attention to turns in the creek channels and river channels when looking for a good ledge. Also, if you don’t like fishing ledges, there are always shallow fish to be had on Old Hickory. Early in the day large fish can be caught working the willow grass with a popping frog, regular frog, or buzz baits. Some of the biggest fish in the system call the grass home during the summer. After the sun gets up, frogging the grass will get a little tougher and that is when most will move to a swim jig or move to banks with rock and submerged wood and begin throwing shallow running crankbaits.

 

 

 

21 May 2021

Old Hickory – Ian Huey, https://fisholdhickory.com/, https://www.facebook.com/FishTheHick reports that bass are in the transition phase with water temps in the mid to upper 60s. There is a little bit of a shad spawn starting and fish are being caught on spinnerbaits, chatterbaits and swimjigs especially on points of creeks. There are a few bass on the offshore ledges. Drakes Creek has water in the 70s. The water is clear, and anglers should check the grass. The offshore bite should start any day.

 

 

 

 

 

07 May 2021

Ian Huey with Old Hickory Lake Guide Service, https://fisholdhickory.com/ reports we are still seeing a lot of bass on the bed and getting a lot of those bedding type bites when we can’t see the fish when they swim off with the bait but aren’t there when you set up. We are trying to focus primarily just outside the spawning areas targeting staging fish. In these type areas you are catching fish coming and going. Last week it was difficult to get bit on moving baits for some reason and Texas rigged, Carolina rig, Shakey head, Ned rig was the deal. The crappie are not done spawning. Two days ago, I cleaned 20 crappie and everyone that was female had eggs in still it except for one. Our best steps for crappie have been any depth between six and 12 foot primarily fishing brush piles. The blue gill in shell cracker are starting to come on as well and should only get better as the water warms up. Nightcrawlers and red wigglers are the way to go for those.

 

 

 

 

 

30 April 2021

Old Hickory – Ian Huey, https://fisholdhickory.com/ reports the bass again are in all phases still. Numbers have been awesome this week and the quality has been somewhat hit or miss. After the cold front a lot of the fish pulled back to that first deep water stretch but the last couple days, they have been catching more and more up shallow by the day. He believes as this warm weather continues, they will get back into more of the springtime deal. He also believes this last moon put the vast majority of the fish that were not on bed on bed and is seeing a lot of fish suspended off points just as post spawn bass typically do leading him to believe more and more are post spawn. The best baits have been shakey heads, Carolina rigs, crankbaits, spinnerbaits, chatter baits, and jerk baits. Water temps are on the rise with the creeks in the low to mid 60s and the main river mid to upper 50s. The water clarity is about normal. The crappie bite has been pretty good, and they’ve been catching a lot of post-spawn fish mixed with some that had yet to spawn. He has primarily been targeting brush piles in that 6 to 10-foot range but has caught fish down to 25 or so as well as on the bank. Casting and reeling small jigs and jigs under bobbers for the ultra-shallow fish have been best and he looks for the crappie bite to remain good up until the end of May.