I had about 4 hours to fish yesterday so I headed back to the Hill to try to pick up where I left off last week for Rick Jr.’s best friend coming in to fish this week WRONG! I squeaked out 2 Smallmouth and I Largemouth  out of that area and 4 short Spots on my way back to the ramp. We will see come Thursday.  I only  got bit on  2 things a  VMC Weedless Finesse Jig and soft plastics www.vmchooks.com and a Moss Back #9 Rapala Rip Stop Hard Swim Bait www.rapala.com  and just a side note it was flat cold yesterday morning-it felt like winter again. Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

I fished in Ken’s boat today and Ron fished in his by himself. We met in a cove and took the pictures above. I’m not sure how many total that Ron caught and released (atleast as many as Ken & I)  which was 15 total with the 6 above being our best. Alabama Rig–Swim Bait– and Soft Plastics rigged on a VMC Finesse 3/32oz Weedless Jig was our best choices for the day. www.vmchook.com– Sufix Braid and Fluorocarbon. www.sufix.com 61 to 63 water temp and good color. That’s it for this week, Rick Jr. has his life long best friend coming in for a week and I will be taking them fishing. I think we are going to a combination of Bass/Crappie while Terry is here-I will post our results as we go. Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

I fished NAJ with good friend Ron today and we had a good numbers day. Rapala DT6 Baby Bass www.rapala.com and Soft plastics fished on a VMC 3/32 Weedless Finesse  Jig www.vmchooks.com  Water temp 62 early warmer as the day progressed. Sufix 10lb Braid with a 6lb Sufix Fluorocarbon Leader.  Rick McFerrin  www.tennesseebassguides.com Hope to be on Center Hill Friday if I don’t get stormed out

6 of 12 on thee Hill yesterday. Everything on a swim bait and Sufix 6lb Pro Mix mono www.sufix.com  Hope to get back on Friday if I don’t get stormed out. I believe I needed to readjust my boat positioning and depth-We will see. Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

I fished Center Hill this morning for 5 hours. I caught and released 6 Smallmouth (Big Fish 20inches) 2 Largemouth 2 KY’s and last but not lest 1 11 inch Black Nose. Not a great numbers or keepers but it was my first trip back to the Hill since the flood-so I was glad to figure something out for next week.  Every fish came on a swim bait. Take a look at the 2 Rapala Rip Stops on the Rapala logo. If your not familiar with the Rip Stop it’s a multi-featured hard bait. I don’t know if you can see the boot  tail on the Rip Stop. Right now we are in a “Jerk Bait” “Swim Bait” time frame and the Rip Stop is a combination of both. Using it as a Jerk Bait it stops on a dime-shimmies slightly then slowly raises it’s head a slowly begins to rise. The way that I used it today was by starting out in the Jerk Bait mode pause for a few seconds and then bring it back as a swim bait. The boot tail creates a  great wobble and the VMC fine wire hooks are as sharp a needles. The Rip Stop comes in 14 colors and 2 sizes a 3 1/2 inch with 2 trebles  and a longer 4 3/4 inch with 3. I used the smaller one today. Check them out and get a couple for your tackle box you will be pleased. www.rapala.com  www.sufix.com Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

Best of 7.   It  started out sloooow this morning . I fished from 7am until 11am with only 1 bite. I was just about ready to load out when I caught the ones you see above on a VMC Fineese 3/32 ounce jig and soft plastics. www.vmchooks.com  I talked to 3 other guys fishing in 2 separate boats–1 boat had 1 and the other zero. It was just plain tough. Sufix 10lb performance braid and 6 pound Sufix Fluorocarbon leader. www.sufix.com The bite was so soft  and the Sufix Braid sure helped in detecting the bite. More in a couple days Lord willing. Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

Best of 8 this morning on Tim’s Ford. Water temp 53 degrees and good color. All on a Rapala DT6 Redcraw and DT6 Caribbean Shad 6lb Sufix Clear Blue Pro Mix Mono. More next week Lord willing. Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

Good 5 1/2 hours this morning on Tim’s. Water temp 53 degrees-15mph wind and Rapala Jerk bait what a great combination. For the last 2 weeks I’ve been saying it’s Jerk Bait Time with no results until today.  The picture at the bottom is the 2 baits that I used today. A Rapala Deep Haymaker Shadow Rap and a #7 Shad Rap.  The Shadow Rap will slowly rise and turn left or right on a pause and then snap back into action. And the bass “LOVE” the Haymaker color on Tim’s.  www.rapala.com I used Sufix 10lb Mono on the Jerk baits and 6lb on the Shad Rap. wwwsufix.com  Pick up some Shadow Raps before you come to Tim’s beause Jerk Bait time has just started. Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

Tough for me on NAJ today. I’ve struggled down here over the last couple trips. They Corp is still pulling over 100,000 CFI the lake has dropped some and there is still a lot of color to muddy from the damn to the bridge. I caught these on a Rapala DT6 Demon www.rapala.com and a Luhr Jensen Hot Red Crystal Speed Craw www.luhrjensen.com  all on 6lb Sufix Clear Blue Pro Mix Mono www.sufix.com  I lost 2 others on soft plastics flipping some lay downs other that that not much to tell. Chickamauga Today-I’ll keep you posted. Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

This has been a tough week for me on the water. What you see is the best from Normandy & NAJ.  Ronnie and I had 2 Largemouth and 4 Spots yesterday and Billy and I had 4 Largemouth on NAJ today. Billy talked with several guys today and no one he talked to was on fish on NAJ today. Misery Loves Company I guess. We found clearer warmer water nearer Shell Mound almost 50 degrees. River channel was muddy and the Corp is releasing over 100,000 CFI so the river was moving right along. Normandy was muddy with high 40’s in water temps. No excuse we just couldn’t find any consistent pattern with no more than 1 fish at a time. Better day ahead. Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com