PaperGod, Nickajack, Largemouth, 02/12/12, Hickorynut123 -- PICS --

[FishNews]

It's been nearly 4 years since I've posted a fishing report and I've felt like a total leach just lurking and not giving back, so I'll make an effort to get the camera out of my butt and get my reports back online on a semi regular basis (the prospect of possibly scoring some free tackle courtesy of the CFF didn't factor in at all). emoCool <br /><br />Bigun (Hickorynut123) & I slipped the ol' tin can into the wind blown waters at Sullivan's Landing right at high noon today. Mr. Lowrance reported the surface temperature at the ramp to be 48.8 degrees and the gusty breezes were blowing straight up Nickajack from the southwest. With the cold front conditions in full bloom, we didn't have high hopes for numbers on this bluebird Sunday, but I did tell the big guy that I thought we'd have a shot at a good fish if we stuck it out and fished jerkbaits hard.<br /><br />I aimed the bow down river, dropped the hammer on the Evinrude and almost immediately the oil alarm went off and I had to get off it. I cut the engine off, gave the oil primer bulb a few squeezes and started off down river again, but the scene repeated itself after just a few hundred yards. Once again, I killed it and checked for anything weird. Reservoir was full, no leaks, pump working, no signs of any trouble. Thankfully, the third time proved to be a charm as we didn't have another lick of trouble for the rest of the day.<br /><br />We came off plane about 1/4 mile down river where the channel hugs the Rte. 41 side bank. From there down to the Riverside Catfish House has been pretty reliable cold weather fishing for me & the large guy in the past, so we dropped the Powerdrive V2 and started down the bank in the chop. I fought the gusty wind and tried to keep the old wash tub lined up with the channel markers in about 17 feet of water, but boat positioning was a royal P.I.A. due to the conditions. Still, it didn't take long for PG to stick a slick on a Lucky Craft Pointer 78 SP in Aurora Brown (very nice new pattern on this "go to" jerk bait). The first fish of the day was a chunky 14 incher that fought a lot better than it looked - a pleasant surprise in the clear, chilly water.<br /><br />After about 30 minutes of futility, we kicked the big motor back on and ran the short distance down to the dock at the catfish house to try our luck down there. Again, PG had the "hot" hand and put two more in the boat, but they were both sub-legal and not deemed photo worthy. It was starting to look like it could turn out to be a cold, windy, "Slickajack" day, but we refocused and decided to head back up river and try some deeper haunts.<br /><br />On the way back up, Big'Un noticed a flock of gulls smacking the surface at the mouth of Brown's Lake, so we banked the little Lowe over to port and headed in there to chase the birds. After negotiating the shallow entrance, we started casting where the gulls had been diving and PG finally got on the scoreboard for real !! The day's first keeper inhaled a Megabass Vision 110 in Tennessee Shad and, after a classic cold water brawl (kind of like dragging in an old welcome mat), the 5 lb'er was in the net !!<br /><br />  <br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /> <br />It takes all 300 lbs of PG to make a <br />5 lb bass look THIS small !!<br /><br />Again, it was one & done despite some serious scouring of the Brown's Lake banks. We just couldn't get another bite so we put the boat in 4 wheel drive, mudded our way back to the main river channel and set sail for the bridge to Cummins' Lake. The wind had really picked up and it was around 4:00PM when we pulled up to the bridge. We worked the bank back down river for over an hour but hauled nothing but water. We threw cranks, jerk baits, spinner baits, grubs, and worms. We fished shallow, deep and everywhere in between, but we got nuttin'. emoBang <br /><br />We decided to run down to the day marker just up river from Sullivan's and fish our way back to the ramp as the sun was getting low and we were getting our clocks cleaned. We pulled up on the day marker and I tied another Pointer 78 - this time in MS American Shad - we both started casting. Big'Un was refining his technique with the TN legal umbrella rig while I plied the banks with my jerk bait, but we weren't getting anything to fall for it. We moved to the downriver side of the day marker and I managed another slick on the pointer. This one didn't measure more than 12" and looked really washed out like it hadn't been up shallow very long. The slick re-energized us and we continued down river. I hung another bass that fought well and definitely would have measured, but I took it casually and lost it boat side. emoAngry <br /><br />I popped two more slicks, then there was a rumble from the rear of the boat. I looked back to see a very unfamiliar sight - Big'Un was locked in battle with his first fish of the day!! Of course, he played it expertly and had the 3+ lb keeper in the boat in no time. Great job Big'Un !!<br /><br />  <br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /> <br />Big'Un bags a beauty !!<br /><br />As the sun sank beneath the mountain tops, I banged our 3rd keeper of the afternoon. This one was just legal and fell for the American Shad Pointer in a big way.<br /><br />  <br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /> <br />PG Pops another LM popsicle on the <br />Pointer !!<br /><br />All in all, we bagged about a dozen bass and had a pretty nice day out there in the face of some crappy conditions. Everything we caught was on on jerkbaits. 5 on Lucky Crafy Pointers, 6 on Megabass Vision 110's, and one on a vintage Rebel Fastrac with about 90% of the paint scraped off !! It's definitely jerk bait weather boys. Get out there and bang a few!!<br /><br />See you on the water,<br /><br />PG