Another good early morning trip on Normandy with good friend Ronnie Wooten. Let me address the bottom right hand picture first, this is another friend Billy that sought us out to take a picture of a 5lb 13oz largemouth that he had this morning. Billy catches a lot of fish on Normandy and always seems to find a “BIG ONE”  Ronnie and I should have had 15 or more if we could have kept them stuck. You literally had to let them run & run & run with the jig then “Maybe”.  But they are still on the 1/4 ounce Terminator Green Pumpkin Jig www.terminator.com  Ronnie was using 15lb and I was using 10lb Sufix mono www.sufix. This stuff is tuff but yet is small in dia. and comes off the reel as smooth as silk.  I was using a 7′ All Pro m/h APX spinning and Ronnie a 7′ APX bait caster-He say the same thing every time we fish-I can almost feel them swim by because this rod is so sensitive. www.allprorods.com  8 to 20 feet of water and slow as she go’s on retrieve.  Rick www.tennesseebassguides.com

I spent 3 1/2 hours on Normandy this morning with Ronnie Wooten before he had to leave and we left them biting. We found a stretch of bank where the fish were holding in 8 to 20 feet of water and everything we caught was on a jig. I was throwing a 1/4oz Terminator Pumpkin Green jig www.terminator.com on 10lb test Sufix mono www.sufix.com and a 7′ AllPro m/h spinning  rod www.allprorods.com . Now for the rest of the story I had to miss at least 5 that I just couldn’t keep stuck—-operator error for sure. Hopefully more next week. Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

I thought I would give the Walleye another try on Normandy yesterday but had no takers. I talked with 3 other boats that never found them either-they have disappeared. But I did put a nice 4lb Smallmouth in the boat on a Rapala Silver/Black DT6 www.rapala.com  then I went looking for channel catfish and found a bank that was loaded with them. I should have taken another picture but didn’t-I know I had to have 17-18lbs total before I ran out of bait. Today Rick Jr. and I went just looking for the channels and had almost 15lbs from 5:30am to 8:30am. We had a blast catching these on AllPro M/L spinning rods www.allprorods.com 6lbs test Sufix mono www.sufix.com and VMC Bait Keeper Hooks www.vmchooks.com  and a small split shot. Nice change of pace with my oldest  and if you take time to filet them a tasty meal.  Rick  www.tennesseebassguides.com

This was my first stab at  walleye this year and I anchored down the back of Pete Hatchet’s boat this morning. Pete has been catching several good walleye lately with one over 6lbs just this week.  We found today to be a little tougher but the 2 that we put in the boat weighed in at 6 3/4 pounds and currently  reside in my refrigerator until supper time tonight. We also caught some Spots, blue gill and channel cats.  We trolled night crawler rigs  weighed down with 3/4 ounce sinkers to keep them on the bottom. VMC www.vmchooks.com  makes a terrific rig for this style of fishing (pic center) with your choice of multiple blade colors (some UV bright) and either a single or tandem kook set up.  Each rig has a 10lb 72 inch Sufix  Fluorocarbon leader and VMC Fast Grip needle point hooks. The blades on these rigs are called “Hydro Flow” and designed to let water through a small slit in the blade which creates increased vibration and you can use these at lower speeds and still get a great spin on the blades.  I believe this is very important when the fish are sluggish and not in the attack mode.  I like to fish these on a 7 foot AllPro APX Med/Hvy Casting rod  www.allprorods.com and 10lb test Sufix Mono. www.sufic.com  More next week Lord willing. I’m  still having some back and leg problems but hopefully I can be back in my boat next week.  Thanks for visiting my site. Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

I fished out of Ronnie’s boat today and we caught and released 12 total Largemouth and had 3 others that we didn’t put in the boat . We started right at daylight and loaded out at 10:45 and it was already getting hot.  All of our fish with the exception of 1 was caught on a 1/4 ounce jig. I was throwing the  1/4 ounce Terminator Pumpkin Green www.terminatorlures.com with a Trigger X Pumpkin Twin Tail www.triggerx.com on 10lb test Sufix Mono www.sufix.com  Our fish were scattered and in water from 20 foot to right up on the bank.  No real top water schooling activity at least in the area we were fishing.  Thank you for visiting my site. Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

This is pictures on my youngest son Daniels truck that flipped over and landed on it’s top in a creek bed this week. We are so thankful that no one was hurt,  only a few small scratches and bruises.  We are blessed.  Rick

I fished Nick A Jack this morning and had 9 total with the 5 above being the best. Everything came on a Rapala Skitter Walk and a Rapala DT4 Silver/Blue.  Pictured above. All the fish were in 4′ of water or less and would attack the DT.  I fished until noon but never had a bite on anything after 9:00am.  www.rapala.com  AllPro APX 7′ M/H Spinning  www.allprorods.com and Sufix 8lb and 10lb Mono www.sufix.com.  This is my first trip here this spring and normally the DT4 work exceedingly well. Thank you for visiting my site. Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguide.com

I met Ken Jenkins at the ramp on Old Hickory Thursday  morning and we had a great day together. Ken has a tournament tomorrow (Saturday) and asked me to hold up on posting this until late Friday night or Saturday morning.  About all that I feel I can tell you (incase your in that tournament) is we both used All Pro Rods www.allprorods.com  Ken 7’APX Casting and me a 7′ APX Spinning www.allprorods.com  and  8lb & 10lb Sufix Mono www.sufix.com. We caught and released est. 20 or so with our best 5 weighing in the 15lb range.  My back and legs are getting better but it still felt good occupying the back of the boat and not standing on the trolling motor all day.  Thanks Ken for the invite and good luck tomorrow I hope the areas we did well in will produce again for you.  Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com

I’ve had several people check to see if I was still kicking….yes just been having back trouble—back to 75=80%…………..Hope to go Thursday……Thanks Rick

For May the 1st it was cold early this morning on Tim’s-42 degrees when we put in.. I met Capt. Jake Davis at the State Park Ramp at 5:30am and we fished until 11:15am. Jake and I have been trying to fish together for several years and today we finally made it. The bite was slow and spotty but we still  managed to put some in the boat all on light line and finesse baits like the Triggerx 3  inch Flappin.Craw www.triggerx.com with the claws dipped in chartreuse.  As always when using light baits I was throwing 6lb Sufix Elite Mono www.sufix.com on a 7′ AllPro Apx med spinning rod www.allprorods.com. We saw some surfacing fish early and it appears that the shad hatch is just getting started. Next week should be great as the nights stay warmer and the day time temps get into the low 80’s. Thanks for visiting my site. Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebasguides.com