The pictures above are from 3 separate trips over the past week. I fished by myself, with Braxton and today with Ken.  We caught and released several in the 3 trips but never hooked up on any good ones. Rapala Skitter Walk, DT6  Penguin, www.rapala.com Terminator 3/8oz Chartreuse and White Gold Willow blades www.terminator.com worked the best for me along with soft plastics on a 3/32ounce VMC Weedless Jig Head.  www.vmchooks.com  All on Sufix mono and braid www.sufix.  Hoping for better results later this week. Water temps in mid-70’s and headed down. Cold nights and cold rains will help. Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

Best 6 of 11 this morning on the Hill. Everything came on my favorite well worn Rapala Skitter Walk www.rapala.com  I added the “New” VMC Bladed Hybrid Trebel  for extra flash. www.vmchook.com these are 1x strong-Wide Gap-Inline Eye and as always needle point sharp. Water temp 80+ air temp in my truck when I got back to the ramp was 90—–and I was the only one left in the parking lot. More Friday Lord Willing

What your looking at is a 71 year old hand (mine) that has fingers that just don’t work like they use to and gets even worse the colder it gets. I just have a hard time tying baits on, so I use a VMC Crankbait Snap which comes in 5 different sizes as much as possible as long as it doesn’t hinder the action of the bait. www.vmchooks.com Where snaps don’t work as well for example is on Spinner Baits like my  favorite Terminator www.terminatorbaits.com  that is made with a R bend (open bend) because the snap slides up and down the wire and can become very frustrating very quickly to me. (I should have tried out for the Grumpy Old Men Movies)  So what I do is use medical tubing (see 3 small sections above) that comes in different inside dimensions cut off a small length and slide it over the tie area (see red area) of the spinnerbait . I take a small drop of super glue to hold the tubing in place and the spinner bait is now ready to be used with a snap.  I’m sure you can get tubing from many places but I do know that medical tubing is flexible enough not to collapse or pull the baits wire closer together which “could” hinder it’s performance.   Just something that works for me I hope it helps you. Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

Billy Campbell and I fished Old Hickory yesterday and the 4 above was our best of 7 or 8 that we put in the boat.  2 on top water and the others on a VMC  Weedless Finesse Jig and soft plastics. www.vmchooks.com If you like to fish cover of almost all types but still would like to do it more in a finesse way these VMC Weedless Finesse Jigs  may very well be what your looking for.  The 3/32oz and 1/8oz have a 1/0 and the 3/16thoz and 1/4oz have a 2/0 light wire needle point VMC hook. Even though they are light wire I have never had one straightened out on a fish. The weed guard is made of Stainless Wire and the jig head itself has a hollow back that allows the bait to fit snug against the head. The wire bait keeper is plenty long enough to help keep the bait secure. We have 2 colors to choose from a Black Glitter and a Green Pumpkin Glitter. I use these on every lake I fish-with either Sufix  High Vis Yellow 10 or 20 pound braid and a 6-8  or 10 pound Sufix Fluorocarbon leader depending on water clarity and cover.  Water temps ranged from 78 at daylight  to over 80 when we left at 2:00pm. Air temp was 95 plus and felt much hotter. More tomorrow Lord willing.

This is a 2 day report for Tim’s and Normandy. The 8 above was the best of 14 for the two days. I also lost 2 good fish both days that jumped near the boat and that was all she wrote. Just didn’t have them stuck good enough-which is on me.  Ronnie and I both use Sufix Braid and mono of varying lb tests www.sufix.com  VMC Fineness Weedless Jig and soft plastics www.vmchooks.com & a   Rapala Skitter Walk www.rapala.com  accounted for the majority. More Friday hopefully. Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

This is a 3 day report over the past 3 weeks or so. The top 3 pictures of me was my best on Nick A Jack Fish that I caught on a Rapala Moss Back Shiner Rip Stop and a Rapala Skitter Walk www.rapala.com  The 2 pictures below is Ken in a red hat was from last week on the Cumberland River we caught and released 5 Smallmouth and 5 Spots. The remaining 11 pictures are from my trip to Normandy this morning with Terry Hicks. All of these Largemouth and Spots  were caught on a 3/32oz VMC Weedless Finesse Jig  and soft plastics.  www.vmchooks.com  Terry converted to Sufix Pro Mix a long time ago and as always I was using Sufix Braid except this time I was using the “NEW” Sufix Advance 100% Fluorocarbon as my leader www.sufix.com I  Also have this on one of my cranking rods. The new Sufix Advance Fluprocarbon uses a Gel Phase Technology Process which results is a great handling line that is super sensitive, abrasion resistant and virtually memory free.  Another great addition to the Sufix line up.  I fished until 11:00am on NAJ-10:00 on the river and 9:30am today on Normandy…………………..another 104+ heat index day. I’ll be glad when things cool down and you can get a full day trip in.  “HOWEVER” I’m thankful for every day the Lord gives me.  Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

Place: Tim’s Ford Bass Club  When: September 21,2019  Time: 7am to 3pm Payout: 1st $1,500   2nd $750.00   3rd $500.00 4th $250.00 Contact: Jeff Phillips  931-222-0129 for additional info or Massonstrongfishing@gmail.com

They sent me a great flyer but I couldn’t get it to load up on my site. There is a WHOLE LOT of additional information, prizes etc involved in this…..Check it out.   Rick

Ronnie and I caught 35+ this morning on Normandy. 10 went in Ronnies freezer the other 25+ released to fight again.  We easily had 5 good keeper limits. I need to stop and ask a question. Do you like to throw finesse type baits? How about throwing them into laydowns-& heavy timber when they won’t hit a bigger bait? If you haven’t tried the VMC Weedless Jig your missing out. They come in Black or Grn Pumpkin with 4 weights–3/32–1/8–3/16–1/4oz sizes with either a VMC 1/0 or 2/0 light wire needle point hook-a Stainless Weed guard. 4 to a pack and the head has a hollow back that let’s you snug your bait up tight for a more natural presentation.  www.vmchooks.com  Team them up with Sufix Braid-Mono or Fluorocarbon www.sufix.com and hold on.  More in a couple days hopefully. A good friend of mine Terry Hicks is having Bladder Cancer surgery tomorrow so I will be at the hospital with him. If you believe in prayer I would appreciate you remembering Terry.   Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

Ronnie and I fished out of our own boats this morning but we did hook up to take pictures of what he and I had at the time. Everything on a VMC Finesse Weedless Jig www.vmchook.com and soft plastics. Ronnie and I both use Sufix Braid and Mono exclusively www.Sufix.com  I had 4 other sort Largemouth as well as what you see above.  Daylight to 10am——-then HOT-HOT-HOT. Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

I fished Tim’s this morning from 5am until 10:30am with the 8 above being my best. Everything on either a Rapala Skitter Walk www.rapala.com or a Luhr-Jensen 1/2 Krocodile Spoon www.luhr-jensen.com  8lb Sufix Clear Blue Pro Mix Mono www.sufix.com  86.5 water temp and 100plus air heat index. I had 4 other blow-ups that didn’t connect and something on the spoon that I couldn’t turn.  Short trips for me in this heat. Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com