Mike Organ

morgan@tennessean.com

In an effort to report the most up-to-date information on fishing in the Midstate, The Tennessean has asked for contributions from several avid anglers. They will report on their latest trips, as well as offer tips. To add a report, contact Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or morgan@tennessean.com.

• Melvin Stewart on Lake Barkley/Cumberland River: I along with a good friend fished a local bass club tournament on Sunday. The tournament was held on Barkley Lake with some die-hard contestants. We concentrated on the main channel looking for irregularities. There were miles of mud banks. We targeted a huge bend in the river full of riprap and boulders. We caught our limit within three hours all in the same area. I caught a three- and a four-pounder by dragging a 3/8-ounce spinner bait on the bottom of 15 feet of water. We ended up culling 10 bass around 16 inches. The water was in the upper 80s and at summer pool. We came away placing and the remainder of the day was brutally hot.

• Brian Carper guide service on Percy Priest: The last couple weeks have slowed down a bit. The temperature is in the mid-80s to low-90s and the bass have gone from feeding frequently throughout the day to just periodically. Humps, ledges and drop offs in 8-16 feet of water have been productive depths. Zoom Ole Monsters in plum or red colors fished on Texas rigs have been our go-to bait. We have also been fishing bluff walls with shade and had success with worms. The crappie have been biting well on 1/8-ounce jigs with pearl Crappie Magnets and live minnows tight-lined off the bottom in 10-20 feet of water. For more information on our guide service check out briancarper.com.

• Chris Snow on Center Hill: Bass fishing remained slow this past week. The majority of my fish have been coming out deep in 20 feet of water. Heavy spinner baits and 10-inch worms seem to be the most consistent baits to use right now. This week’s full moon has the fish feeding late at night. Walleye, catfish and crappie fishing remains slow. Surface temperature is 88 degrees and the thermocline is around 18 feet. For more information contact Chris at snowspinbaits.com.

•Tim Tighe on the lower half of Cheatham Lake: the main lake is in relatively good shape and the Harpeth River and the creeks are still stained. The water temperature is about 80 degrees in the main lake and about 83 degrees in the creeks. I’ve had most of my success this week in the main lake on the ledges. If they were near the bottom, I got the majority of them on Old Monster 10-inch plum worms on stand up jig heads and also football head jigs. If they were up in the water column, they came on Strike King 6XD crank baits or swim baits. The critical factor here is to find the location of the bait and the fish with your electronics first or you can potentially waste a lot of time. A real life example was this morning. I have been learning and fishing a ledge about 1.5 miles long and have found six significant humps with rock on them. I checked the whole ledge and found 3-6 humps had fish and bait on them and concentrated on them. The key areas were only slightly larger than my 21-foot Phoenix bass boat. Think how much more efficient this was than fishing the whole ledge. I got a good limit with a couple over four-pounders and then left them alone. It is easy to ruin a good spot by over-fishing it. I’ll go back and repeat the process when I really need to catch them. This is why you need numerous spots. My next adventure will be night fishing which I have never done here. I’ll let you know how that goes. The website to check the lake levels is tva.com/river/lakeinfo/index.htm. Once you get in go to the right of the screen and put the app on your phone it is much easier.

• Joey Monteleone on the head waters of Percy Priest: I caught largemouth bass and bluegill. Extremely warm water temperatures will move fish to predictable locations. Many species will roam the shorelines early and late in the day. This doesn’t mean that they will be feeding. After sunrise, off-shore structure and bottom contours will be holding fish of all species. The edges of aquatic weeds, wood or rock around well-defined bottom structure, boat docks and in-flowing creeks are all prospective fish haunts. For bass, soft plastics are best. Five-inch finesse worms rigged on a 1/8-ounce lead heads, Texas-rigged plastic worms, craws and creature baits around heavy cover are good for bass. Try multiple casts and slower retrieves for fish that are lazy because of the hot water temperatures. Crank baits for bass in the 8-20 feet range are producing. The Strike King 1.5 KVD crank (color Oyster) and deeper models continue to catch bass or light shad type shades are working well. The top water bite has slowed down a bit. The artificial frog bite should be good. Crappie and bluegill are hitting small curly tail grubs, small spinners and the tubes on light line (2-6 pound test on open face spinning gear). Live minnows and night crawlers also will draw strikes. Watch for the fry (little ones) from a recent shad spawn. Water levels in many areas are low from lack of rain. Water colors are clear to murky in most places. The aquatic vegetation is bursting out with the heat and humidity. Surface waters are soaring in the mid- to high-80s. The next major moon phase is the new moon, which occurs Aug. 3.