Good catches expected at Old Hickory
Some pros think No. 3 FLW Tour stop will be good one despite cold
Yes, it’s cold. Yes, it’s windy. And, yes, snow flurries are in the forecast for Gallatin, Tenn., the site of the Wal-Mart FLW Tour event being held on Old Hickory Lake.
Yet, with all of this wintry weather, there’s not the usual amount of complaining among the pros about how bad the fishing is going to be. That, alone, is a sign that bass are biting.
“I think it’s going to be a pretty good tournament,” said Ozark Trail pro Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tenn. “For the middle of March, these are perfect conditions.”
Perfect conditions? Water temperatures are 49 degrees in the main river and 55 degrees in the creeks, and the forecast calls for a low of 27 degrees tonight. How can those be perfect conditions?
“This lake is more about stability than water temperature,” Morgan explained. “We had a big rain up here a few days ago and the lake got high and muddy. Before that rain, guys were catching some pretty good strings. Now the lake is stabilizing and returning to what it was like before that rain. The water is coming down, the water is clearing up, the water is warming up – there’s no major rain expected – so by Wednesday and Thursday, it will be getting right.”
And what about the frigid temperatures?
“You can throw cold out the window here,” Morgan answered. “I don’t care if it’s a high of 27 degrees, if the lake conditions are right, they’ll bite.”
Morgan sampled Old Hickory 12 days ago, before heading to the Lake Eufaula EverStart Series event. He said the main river temperature at that time was 42 degrees and the creeks were 45 degrees.
“Actually the water has warmed up 5 or 6 degrees over the last two weeks and that’s good,” he added. “Like I said, it’s going to be perfect here for a March tournament.”
Morgan thinks that shallow crankbaits, spinnerbaits and jigs will be the primary lures used by pros during the event.
“I’d say 90 percent of the field is going to be fishing shallow,” he said “That’s the nature of this lake, the fish live shallow most of the year.”
The nemesis: fishing pressure.
More than weather or cold temperatures, fishing pressure will likely be the biggest nemesis for pros this week. With 200 boats and 400 anglers slinging and winding for all they are worth, Old Hickory is going to be crowded – something Fuji pro Randy Blaukat is taking into consideration.
“This lake is small anyway, but the available productive water is even smaller,” Blaukat said. “Compared to Okeechobee and Atchafalaya, this thing is going to be crowded – it’s going to fish way smaller than the first two events.”
Specifically, Blaukat is talking about Old Hickory’s limited number of creeks. The riverine impoundment features only seven or eight major creeks. The creeks are at a premium right now because that’s where the water is clearest, warmest and where the fish are migrating toward for the spawn.
“It’s `take a number’ in all of the creeks,” Blaukat said. “When you go into a creek, there are four boats coming out, and when you leave a creek, there are four boats going in. It’s like that in all of them. I think the key in this event will be the ability to fish well in heavily pressured areas.”
The last time the FLW Tour visited Old Hickory was in May 2002. The top-10 cut weight for that event after two days was 23 pounds, 1 ounce.
Morgan thinks it will be about the same for this event.
“I’m going to say about 22 pounds for two days,” he predicted. “A 14-inch bass is a keeper here, and a 14-incher from this lake is pretty fat. If a guy has a limit, he’ll have at least 11 to 13 pounds. Guys that get a limit two days in a row should be in the hunt.”
Wal-Mart FLW Tour action on Old Hickory starts Wednesday at 6 a.m. CST at Bull Creek Ramp.
Links:
FLW preview: Old Hickory
Pundits’ Picks
Destination: Old Hickory Lake
Pre-tournament press release
FLW Live