This was the best of 16 Smallmouth that I caught today on Tim’s. The 2 fish that I’m holding both happened at the same time….let me explain. I have been throwing a slip float some this winter with out much success. There will be a time yet that it will work fantastic and is a big help when the wind get’s up. Any way I had  thrown the float a few times with no takers so I decided to just let it trail behind the boat .  I got a hit on the free line, put him in the boat looked around and the float was gone -2 at the same time.  Love those brown fish!!!!!!6lb Sufix Mono www.sufix.com VMC Bait Keeper Hooks www.vmchooks.com and AllPro APX Rods www.allprorods.com  . All for this week……..Merry Christ to everyone. Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com  BE SURE TO CLICK ON PG 2  AT THE BOTTOM FOR MORE WINTER TRIP REPORTS

This has been the first time my youngest son Daniel and I have been out together for a long time.  Daniel has been in tech  school and just graduated last week. Proud of him and his desire to get started on his career. 49 degree water,  32 degree air temp and thankfully moderate winds. We fished for almost 5 hours in 5 locations and the ones above was our best. We also lost a big fish that just came undone.  All on minnows 6lb test Sufix mono…www.sufix.com  VMC Bait keeper Hooks www.vmchooks.com and AllPro 7’6″ M/L rods As you know Sufix discontinued the Clear blue Promix sometime ago.  I have always been a fan of the “Clear Blue Sufix Pro Mix” because if you were a “Line Watcher” like me or fished at night with a black light it was fantastic.  I am just about out of the 6lb Clear Blue here at the house so I have been trying the  Sufix Elite Hi-Vis Yellow and here is my findings so far. #1) It is super strong #2) It has great knot strength #3) it cast extremely well due to the G2 Winding Process that we use and #4)  The Smallmouth don’t seem to mind-this line all but disappears in the water but still gives you the ability to see that small tick in your line that happens live bait fishing at times.  If you liked the Clear Blue you will like the Hi Vis Yellow as well….That’s it for this week…………short week next but I anticipate being able to get out for a day maybe two. Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

I will be booking a few late December-January and February-March  light tackle “LIVE BAIT GUIDE TRIPS” on Tim’s Ford for Smallmouth and on Normandy for Smallmouth-Largemouth and Spots.  These trips will be Monday through Friday only. For details contact me at rickm@dtccom.net or on my cell phone 615-308-9936.

I don’t know how many people over the past year and  half  has asked me “Where Is David Honey”!  David has battled various physical problem and I was so happy to get back on the water with my Ol’ Fishing Buddy today.  David started out quickly this morning putting the first one in the boat in the first 15 minutes and the smile on his face tells the whole story. David and I were both rigged the same  with 6lb Sufix Mono www.sufix.com VMC Bait Keeper Hooks www.vmchooks.com and AllPro APX Rods www.allprorods.com  I may have 2 more updates this week…….stay tuned   Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

To my knowledge we only had 6 Smallmouth bites and the 4 above was our best.  I had out the father son team of Tommy and Lee and they were great to spend the day with even in these tough situation that we had today.  “Tommy” caught the big’n  Nice fish!!! And Lee probably heard about it all the way home! The water dropped at least 8 inches while we were there and the 5-7mph wind early this morning turned out to be 15mph plus at time….hard enough to white cap and Freeze your hands. Sufix 6lb Mono www.sufix.com  VMC #2 Bait Keeper Hooks www.vmchooks.com and  a 7’6″ All Pro Rods m/l rod www.allprorods.com  Thank You For Visiting My Site Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

How many different ways can you say “It Was Stuff Today”?  Not sure but Jim and I struggled all day catching and releasing may 10 total with the 3 above being our best.  WE did loose 1 big fish but that was it. We talked to a couple other guys that was out today throwing a variety of hard and soft baits and they experienced the same results….So the saying misery love company played out right before our eyes. We stayed with live bait all day and even with the meager results we had more total fish than those that we talked to which wasn’t anything to brag about.   Sufix  6lb test www.sufix.com VMC Bait Keeper Hooks www.vmchooks.com and ALl Pro Atlantis Series 7’6″ m/l rods……www.allprorods.com …More next week Lord willing.  Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

Not much to tell on Normandy today. Bob and I fished from 7:30 this morning until 2:00pm and had 11 total bites on live bait and put 8 in the boat. No good fish all Spots like Bob is holding above.   Hopefully I will have 1 more post this week from Tim’s. Thanks for visiting my site. Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

I had 2 dozen minnows left so I thought I would run down to Normandy and fish a little with Ronnie. We used all the minnows, had 7 bites and put 3 in the boat (pictured above) 1 big’n. Water temp was 49 when we put in and 50 when we left.  Sufix 6lb test mono www.sufix.com VMC #2 Bait keeper hooks www.vmc hooks .com Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

I fished with Andy and his son Daniel today on Tim’s and started out in heavy fog that hung around for the first couple hours before it finally lifted. We caught and released 8 in all  with the largest pictured above. We also lost 3 or 4 other good fish that we just didn’t have stuck. Big Smallie was another solid 3 1/2 to 4lbs which was Andy’s personal best.  Andy and Daniel was great to fish with and we are going to do it again this winter.  Every fish was caught on live bait using  Sufix 6lb test mono www.sufix.com VMC Live Bait Hooks www.vmchooks.com and a 7′ 6″ All Pro APX M/L rod www.allprorods.com.  I will up date you on my trips next week.  Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com ****If you are interested in a live bait trip this winter call me and I will fill you in on the details  615-308-9936

Good  Friend Ronnie Wooten and I was on fish from the get go. From 7:30 until noon we caught and released 19 Smallmouth-plus we  lost  a couple big fish as well.  Big Smallie was another solid 4lbs. plus and the one Ronnie lost was much bigger than that. Every fish was caught on live bait using  Sufix 6lb test mono www.sufix.com VMC Live Bait Hooks www.vmchooks.com and a 7′ 6″ All Pro APX M/L rod www.allprorods.com.  I will up date you on my trips next week.  Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com ****If you are interested in a live bait trip this winter call me and I will fill you in on the details  615-308-9936

I put in at the State Park this morning at 6:30am-the wind at that point wasn’t to bad but it didn’t take long to change. My intention was to fish Tuffy’s only (which I did)   and truthfully I struggled around trying to throw the fish them in several areas where I it has paid off in past winters but it was hard as the wind just continued to increase. I caught and released 10 Smallmouth today with the 5 above being my best.  As always I used Sufix 6lb Mono  www.sufix.com and a #2 VMC Hook www.vmchooks.com  on a AllPro APX 7’6″ m/l rod www.allprorods.com …………….More tomorrow, stay tuned-maybe the wind will cooperate a little more which makes fishing live bait much easier.   I am booking   live bait trips this winter on Tim’s and Normandy-if you are interested in the details  e-mail me at rickm@dtccom.net or give me a call at 615-308-9936….It will just get better and better as we progress into the winter months….Rick  www.tennesseebassguides.com