Old Hickory, Short Report and Some Questions

Dad and I took advantage of the free fishing day in TN to head down to Old Hickory. First time that he had fished there and first time in a long time that I had. This past year I did have a duck blind on the lake and got to where I know a section of it pretty well so that is where we fished.

Tried the deeper lay downs with jigs in a couple different colors. Fished marked brush in 10-14 fow and didn't do well at all. No crappie. Water temp was 72 when we started and I suspect fish would be pulling back out to the first drops and points. Didn't work that way.

We ended up drifting for catfish and caught two nice blues so we didn't go home empty handed.

Question time, I hear about the steam plant. Can see it on the water and looked it up on navionics and google. Is there enough water flowing out of there this time of year to attract skipjack up in there? I have heard it is not the easiest area to get a boat into as well. Any pointers there? What about down below the dam in the river, decent fishing, can you catch skipjack down there? (You might have guessed I am a crappie fisherman with a catfish problem.)

Thanks.

90% of my crappie fishing on OH is shooting docks, I've spider rigged with about every kind of bait there is with poor results. I've trolled crank baits with the same results as well. Docks in the 10 to 14 depth range are the best right now. Steam plant is during the winter months, not summer months, the discharge water during the winter is warmer and it will attract bait and the fish eating the bait. Hope this helps.

Good luck,
Ray

Thanks for the info. That does help.