The 5 Smallmouth & 1 Largemouth  that Robert is holding was the best of 16 Total for us today 3/32oz . VMC Weedless Finesse Jig www.vmchooks.com  and soft plastics and a Rapala Fire Tiger DT6 www.rapala.com did what damage we did. Water temps in mid 50’s and normal winter Tim’s color. The 1 picture is friend Jason Freeze holding 2 of his good fish this morning on Tim’s as well.  I wish everyone a great Thanksgiving. I know that I have so much to be thankful for.  Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

2Day Report: Good long time friend Tim White came over from Georgia to fish with me this week for 2 days. 1st day on Normandy then tomorrow on Tim’s . The fish that Tim is holding was our best for the day and the 1 picture of me was a good fish I caught last week there as well. DT 6 was our best over all this morning-Tim and I both throw our crankbaits on Sufix mono—Tim was using 8lb test and I was using 6lb. www,rapala.com  www.sufix.com  Water temp has dropped down into the low 60’s which should help with the crankbait bite. Tim and I fished Tim’s from 6:30 until noon-he then had to leave to drive back home-VMC Weedless JOg and soft plastics best today www.vmchooks.com  Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

Fished Center Hill this morning and had 8 Smallmouth and 1 Largemouth all on a VMC Finesse Weedless Jig and soft plastics. www.vmchooks.com 2 Of the Smallmouth above were 18 and 18 1/4 inches  the other one was in the 17 inch range . Water temp when I put in at 7;30 was 68 degree and warmed to just above 70 degrees when I left this afternoon. Wind got up to 20 or more and I thought I would connect with a Rapala DT6  or  a X Rap but it didn’t happen. More this week but from Tim’s Ford.  Thanks for visiting my site. Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

Ronnie and I had a decent 4 hours this morning on Normandy. Water temp 74 degrees at daylight. The 7 above was our best of 10 Largemouth & Spot mix.  Everything this morning on soft plastics. I know I’ve talked about this before but if you like throwing a Finesse Jig into cover-You can’t beat the 4 pack  VCM Weedless Finesse Jig that you see above. They come in the following weights  3/32–1/6—3/16—1/4. The 3/32 & 1/8 has a 1/0 light wire hook and the 3/16-1/4 a 2/0 light wire hook. The weed guard is stainless-The jig body is hollow on the back so your plastics will snug up tight (Which helps greatly in cover) and the wire keeper is adjustable up and down to accommodate bait size. 2 glitter finishes Black and Green Pumpkin.  www.vmchooks.com  If you try 1 pack you will buy more-Thanks for visiting my site. Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

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