The last 2 mornings I fished with Ronnie Wooten and Terry Hicks on Tim’s. It had been a while since I have been there so I looked back into my notes from prior years to see what I did and what part of the lake produced.  My records show that it’s just about now  that a couple areas I like begins to provide some great Rapala Skitter Walk www.rapala.com  top water action and what do you know it proved true the last 2 days.  The Skitter Walk is 1 tough bait that imitates a life like bait fish that is trying to get out of dodge which at times results in explosions that are nothing short of brutal.  The top water bite lasted a short period of time each morning  but should continue to get better and longer through out the day  over the next few weeks. Hard to beat the Rapala Skitter Walk www.rapala.com teamed up with Sufix  30/8 Braid www.sufix.com.By the3 way  Sufix Braid is a rounder, smoother, thinner and quitter braided line that works well on a bait caster or spinning reels. These are all separate fish no double pic’s. Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

Ronnie and I had a good couple hours early on Normandy today throwing soft plastic jerk baits rigged on VMC #7311 Fastgrip  2/0 Wide Gap Hooks www.vmchooks.com. These hooks have a 15% greater penetration than that of most ordinary hooks on the market today because they have a 3 point Microbarb. They are also 1x strong and made from vanadium steel.   We  both used Sufix 8lb test Mono www.sufix.com.  We lost a couple good fish that we got hasty on and had 3 or 4 short ones as well.  “But” when it was over it was over for us. I had to laugh at Ronnie this morning he was throwing a centipede  got hung up and pulled and pulled trying to break the 8lb Sufix. He said man I have never had line as good as this before!! Quote unquote.  If you haven’t tried Sufix  and VMC hooks your missing the best mono/hook combo on the market today in my humble opinion. Thanks for visiting my site Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

Back several weeks ago I was asked to do Rapala Crankbait seminars for the Music City Center Sports Festival in Nashville. This is a great event that incorporated all types of out & indoor sports that kids could be involved in, instead of spending their time with a Phone or mouse in their hands. I had the opportunity to talk with many young folks and their parents and frankly I was impressed with what I saw and experienced.  Two young men are on their high school bass fishing team and was soaking up everything I said to them. It was also a joy to see how many young girls and their mothers are into fishing-Randy from Murfreesboro Out Doors did a great job setting up the booths and demo area and as always was a pleasure to work with.  Independent stores like Randy’s is a dying breed I’m afraid-when you walk into his store you will talk to men that live and breath hunting-fishing etc. They know what is hot-they know what is going on in middle Tennessee-it’s not a hourly paid job for them it’s their life.  We need to support them as much as possible. This was a good day for a good cause-Thank you for visiting my site. Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

I met Ronnie at the ramp at 5:30am and he and I fished for just 2 1/2hrs before he had to leave. We started out with 2 short Smallmouth and 1 short Largemouth on a Storm Smash Shad www.stormbaits.com and 6lb test Sufix mono www.sufix.com. We moved for some deeper banks and picked up the 2 good Largemouth that you see above on Senko rigged on a VMC 1/0 worm hook www.vmchooks.com and 10lb Sufix mono. We also had 2 or 3 short fish on the deeper banks as well.  Ronnie had to leave so I took him back to the ramp and I fished for another couple hours and had 3 Spots and another Largemouth and the Walleye pictured above which I caught on the same Smash Shad. That’s it-lock stock and barrel.  Thanks for visiting my site Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

What a fun 4 hours on Old Hickory today with good friend Ken Jenkins catching and releasing at least 75 Blue Gill with many as big as your hand. (What you see in the net is 50) which we released and then we kept count on the remainder.  Ken knew exactly where to look and before I got rigged he had 3 or 4 in the boat. These fish wouldn’t hit a float rig so we used the drop shot method which kept our baits up out of the snags . VMC makes a great drop shot hook called the “Spin Shot” in sizes #8 to 2/0  and Tungsten Drop Shot Ball Weights from 1/8ounce to 1/2 ounce.  www.vmchooks.com . We used nibbles and red worms for bait and truthfully they both worked well. Combine this set up with 4lb or 6lb test Sufix mono www.sufix.com and a ultra light rod and you are in for some great battles.  Thanks Ken for a lot of fun-by the way by 10:30 in was already HOT in capital letters-be  careful on the water-it was 10 years ago that I had a heat stroke on Old Hickory and I have never been the same when it come to heat. Stay in the shad-drink liquids and there is always another day….Rick www.tennesseebassguides.com

I have been on vacation over the past week or more and this was my first trip out since I got back. Ronnie and I fished Tim’s today and kept busy most of the 6 hours that new were there. We caught fish on a Terminator Spinner Bait www.terminator.com a Rapala #12 Husky Jerk a Rapala Skitter Walk www.rapala.com and soft plastics rigged on a VMC 1/4ounce Shaky Head Jig. Ronnie and I both use Sufix mono and braid depending on what technique we are using www.sufix.com We caught 15 and lost 8 or 10. That’s it for this week, thanks for visiting my site. Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

I fished Center Hill today with good friend Ken Jenkins . Ken and I had been talking about doing a top water trip there for several weeks-and we tried but just couldn’t get them to come up in the areas that we fished-BUT they would hit a crankbait. The Rapala DT6 Silver/Blue  www.rapala.com was the best for me and when they hit it there was no mistake. We also had a couple other smaller bass, one big gar that has a X Rap of mine still in his mouth (broke off while I was trying to get the hooks out) and a 15lb Drum………..everything except the kitchen sink.  Ken has been a long time Sufix user as well using a variety of mono test sizes. www.sufix.com If your headed to the Hill and don’t already have something figured out-Throw a Silver/Blue DT6-I believe you will get bit to…..Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassgides.com

I met long time friend Terry Hicks in Manchester at 6am and headed to Nick A Jack. For those of you that live in Tennessee I don’t have to tell you about that deep cold front that settled in on us last night. It was 41 degrees by my truck thermometer this morning and the wind got up to 25mph out of the NW. We struggled around for a while but finally put a pattern together and caught 15 Largemouth with the 9 above being our best.  Rapala X Rap www.rapala.com and a crankbait did the trick today for us.  Terry and I both use Sufix mono & Braid on our spinning and bait casting reels for different applications – Here comes the broken record-YOU CANT GO WRONG WITH SUFIX-folks this is dynamite lines that is processed with what is called a G2 winding system that all but eliminates memory-has fantastic knot strength-super strong and handles better than any line I have ever used through the years. Try iy I guarantee that you will love Sufix. Thanks for visiting my site Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

I fished Normandy this morning until the lighting made me put the boat on the trailer and caught 15 Largemouth. Several about the size of the smaller one. I did manage to put a few good ones in the boat as well on something new that Rapala is going to unveil soon (which I cant talk about now) but you will like it. Sufix mono 8lb test www.sufix.com. Sorry I have to be evasive …..Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

Ken and I made a quick trip to Nick A jack this morning and managed to put 25-30 (lost count) Largemouth in the boat with the ones above being our best of the bunch.  Swim baits and shallow running crankbaits like the Rapala DT4’s did the trick. www.rapala.com The great thing about the DT series is they are made of Balsa Wood  which gives them a side to side wobble that is not found in plastic baits. They also have an internal rattle and VMC  super sharp hooks. I threw the swim baits on 10lb test Sufix mono and Ken was using either 10 or 12lb Sufix on his bait casters.  That’s it for the week-Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com