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

What a day!!!!!!! Good  Friend Ronnie Wooten and I was on fish from the get go. From 7:30 until noon we caught and released 20 Smallmouth-plus we had (5-7 ? not sure) hung and lost by them getting us hung up on something plus hits that we just didn’t get them stuck.  Big Smallie weighted 4lbs. 10oz. Every fish was caught on creek minnows with 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. That’s it for this week, going to sit by them fire and see how this weather is going to turn out.  I will up date you on my trips next week.  Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

This was my first Live Bait trip to Tim’s this year and over all I was very pleased. I caught and released 9 Smallmouth and lost 5 that I either didn’t have stuck good or they got me hung up in the rocks or stumps.   (just part of fishing live bait)  When fishing live bait I use 6lb test Sufix Mono www.sufix.com (unbelievably strong) a Super Sharp VMC Live Bait Hooks in either a #2 or #1 and a AllPro Apx 7’6″ M/L rod www.allprorods.com.   I’m going to get 1 more day in tomorrow before the deep freeze hits us Wednesday.  Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

                                     I just returned last night from fishing Lake Lanier and Lake Hartwell for 3 days  with long time friend Tim White.  Monday we had 29 degrees and thick fog when we got to the lake. The hand rails-walk ways and docks were ice covered and the fog didn’t lift for 2 1/2 hours. The other two days it began to warm up but we battled the cold front mile high blue bird sky’s except for a couple hours  Wednesday. Over the 3 days we caught and released 47 Spots and Largemouth. (all about like what you see above)  We didn’t have any “Big” fish with our largest Spot weighing 3lbs 6oz  and found out very quickly atleast for us that they WOULD NOT hit a swim bait-crank bait-spinner bait-jerk bait-grubs- soft plastic minnow type baits-spoons-blade bait- tail spinners or Umbrella Rigs. We had a brief top water bite Monday using Rapala Skitter Walks and a Rapala X Rap Prop www.rapala.com  but after that everything had to be slow and easy.  So we slowed down and used baits like  the 1/4oz Green Pumpkin Terminator Jig–  3/16th VMC Standup Jig  Heads rigged with a  3 1/2 inch Green Pumpkin Trigger X Hodad .  All in all I had another great time fishing with Tim and water that I don’t get to be on very often.  Hopefully I will do this again in the Spring-I’m still looking for that 6lb Lanier Spot.  Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

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

Live baits trips on these 2 lakes can be fantastic- If you interested give me a call and we will talk.  Rick

Yesterday and last night here in Tennessee was crazy with some very bad weather. Heavy rains, winds and even a funnel cloud or two moved across our state from one side to the other. When I got up this morning at 3:30am it was till pouring but I got the boat ready and at 5:15am headed to Tim’s. I spent the first 1 1/2hrs sitting in the parking lot at the ramp with the rains getting harder than they were when I got up. Finally there was  a little break in the rain so I put in and for the first couple hours didn’t have bite one. The lake was white capping and the heavy rains would come and go.  I kept changing baits and finally got 5 bites on the 4 inch Trigger X Watermelon Red Swimming Grub www.triggerx.com rigged on a 1/4 ounce  VMC Dater Head Jig www.vmchooks.com When the fish are deeper (15′ & down)  I like to fish these Wide tailed Trigger X grubs on a 1/4 or 3/8 VMC Dater Head because it keeps a great  balanced horizontal profile when you are swimming  them in deeper water. The width of the tails puts off a great vibration even when your cranking slowly like I was today. I threw these on 6lb test Sufix Mono www.sufix.com and a 7′ med AllPro APX Spinning Rods www.allprorods.com. When the weather changed and the high pressure moved in it was all over.  These fish came out of a entirely different end of the lake than the ones that I had last week. 70  degree rising water —–be interesting in the next few days. Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com