‘Retreads’ dominate at Old Hickory

Tournament anglers call them “retreads,” or release fish. They are bass transported to weigh-in sites by tournament anglers, weighed and then released. Often times these transported bass take up residence at the marina site, and what results is “tournament stockpiling.”

While the concept of catch and release has undoubtedly saved the lives of thousands of bass over the years, tournament stockpiling is becoming an interesting factor during tournaments, especially on southeastern impoundments in early summer.

Many popular tournament-fishing lakes in the Southeast have one primary marina that hosts bass tournament weigh-ins. In early spring, bass tournaments of all sizes begin having tournaments. The bass from these tournaments are weighed and then released back into the lake, often right at the marina.

By April and May, tournament anglers have stocked the popular marina site and surrounding area with thousands of hungry bass competing for food. The result: excellent bass fishing.

Such was the case at the recent FLW event on Old Hickory Lake near Nashville, Tenn. Five finishers in the top 10 – Pat Fisher, Kevin VanDam, Koby Kreiger, John Sappington and Frank Ippoliti – all reported catching large numbers of fish within sight of Bull Creek Marina on the last day of competition.

Although eventual winner Basil Bacon was not right in front of Bull Creek, he said he was within two miles of the weigh-in site.

“Catching bass at release sites is beginning to be a lot like sight-fishing,” noted Pat Fisher, who finished second on retreads. “Is it ethical to sit out there and re-catch bass? I don’t know, but it’s certainly not illegal. And in some cases, if you don’t do it, you are going to get beat by someone who is doing it.”

Fishing for retreads at Old Hickory was especially productive for FLW anglers for several reasons. Bull Creek Marina is a popular site for bass tournaments all year long. Knowing this, FLW Tour officials made inside Bull Creek off-limits to FLW tournament anglers.

However, Flipper’s Bait and Tackle, located at Bull Creek Marina, in conjunction with C&O Fiberglass Repair, operate a live-release boat for major tournaments to take the fish back out of Bull Creek and put them into the main river to ensure their survival.

The heavy current on the main river congregates the bass along a steep bluff bank adjacent to Bull Creek. Due to the number of bass released over the last four months, nearly every crack and crevice on the bluff holds bass when the current is strong.

“Even when the fish are taken out to the main river in the live-release boat, they head for the bank to get out of that current,” notes Koby Kreiger, who fished small current breaks along the main bluff wall outside of Bull Creek to finish fourth.

Fisher changed his game plan when he saw the current on the final day.

“I had planned on going way up the river that last morning until I saw the current ripping down the river,” he revealed. “I knew all those fish that had been released had to be forced into the eddies.”

Additionally, a keeper bass on Old Hickory must be 14 inches long. Considering all tournament-released fish are legal keepers, the chances of catching a keeper is much greater in this portion of the river than in other portions of the lake.

Although Fisher did not fish for release fish during the qualifications, he had located an underwater rock along the bluff in practice.

“I pulled up to that rock on the final morning and had every fish I weighed in by 6:15 a.m.,” he reported. “It was unreal. I caught 20 keepers in 45 minutes.”

Kreiger got in on the release fish action on day three when he finished out his limit in front of Bull Creek. He then let his amateur partner, Hoot Gibson, catch four bass from the area, which ended up giving Gibson the co-angler victory.

Kevin VanDam did not pass up on the release-site opportunity, either.

“I hate to do it,” he said before the final round. “But at the same time, I am not going to get beat that way.”

VanDam reported catching a limit in 15 minutes around Bull Creek on the final morning.

“I probably caught eight to 10 keepers there before I left,” VanDam said. “But I eventually culled four of those fish with other bass from down the lake.”

Chances are that VanDam’s retreads are now living along the bluff bank in front of Bull Creek Marina.