Nashville Fishing Guide Pro Tips and Tricks

Trimming Those Jigs
02/14/2012 16:44:24

Most jigs skirts are a little too long when you first purchase them.  Here is a tip that will help you prevent short strikes.
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Assembling a Multi Piece Rod
01/11/2012 08:43:32

When assembling a multi-piece rod, lightly twirl the tip to be inserted
(the male end) against the side of your nose. The oils on your skin
will act as a lubricant when assembling and disassembling. The oil is
naturally water resistant and very thin.

My dad taught me this
when I was very little. I thought everyone knew to do this. While fly
fishing a few years ago, the man fishing with me asked why I was rubbing
the rod sections "on my face." I explained why and he could not believe it. He had been buying some kind of special fly rod lube. A
few months later, he told me his nose worked way better than any
commercial product he had ever used.

Hope you can use this in
some way. You may want to reword it so folks don't try to rub the whole
section on their face. They only have to do the few inches that will
be inserted.

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Floating Fly
01/08/2012 05:39:36

The Floating Fly or Float and Fly is a great technique for large and smallmouth bass fishing in the winter months where the fish are along ledges, bluffs, and deep drops.   Check out the Floating Fly and give it a try. 


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Repairing Rod Guides
12/24/2011 11:48:59

The next time you bust an eyelet out of a guide on your rod, instead of paying to have a new one installed or you are on the lake in a bind, use a sewing kit and wrap the guide with the thread.  Wrap the guide until the inside of the guide is completely covered.  Pay attention to the thickness as you wrap to minimize line resistance.

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Cleaning Up Cork Handled Rods

After many years of sanding my old cork handles on my rods, I have recently found a new method that works much better. There is an ethanol based product called denatured alcohol that you can use. Just saturate an old rag with the denatured alcohol, and rub the handle with the rag with firm pressure. The grime and oils should come right off. If the grime is a little more stubborn, rub the rag on the handle again with some more pressure. Just be careful not to rub too hard as to break down the cork.

Time To Winterize Your Gear

This is a good time to sort all your fishing tackle, making a list of what you need to replace. Sharpen hooks, replace rusty hooks, repair any damaged plugs and replace stiff spinnerbait skirts. Store plastic worms in bags that will not deteriorate. Clean tackle boxes and refill with your favorite baits.

Rods should be wiped down with an oil spray and the reel seat cleaned and oiled. Check all guides for rough spots. Visually inspect them, but a cotton Q-Tip or piece of woman’s hose run through them will show tiny cracks that can cut your line.

Reels should be taken apart, cleaned and oiled, reassembled and stored. This is a good time to send a reel off to a good repair shop. Many will clean your reels for a small fee and replace damaged or worn parts for an additional fee.

Bass Fishing and Moon Phases

The moon phase has an effect upon bass, especially during the spawning period. Male bass will move to the spawning water on the dark of the moon first and them the females will usually follow on the full moon. It also effects them during the full moon as the fish see better on clear nights and will feed heavily when it is a bright full moon, during the night time hours. This makes catching bass a tougher during the day. Follow the moon phase on your calendar to keep up with the moon phase.

Stretch Before Fishing?

Do you stretch before fishing? You should if you do not! Fishing is not the same type of athletic challenge as playing football, baseball, or track, but you can still hurt yourself if you do not stretch out. You can develop chronic pain in your shoulder, arm, wrist, hand, fingers, elbow or back, and it is a timely and financial challenge to regain your peak fishing performance. I personally suffer from low back issues, along with issues in my neck and joints, so stretching is key for me to be at my very best.

To stretch, first, straighten your arm along your side, and lift your fingers so your palm is facing flat to the floor. Lift 5 to 10 times, and hold the stretch with your fingers pointing forward. Next, do the same stretch in reverse, curling your wrist backwards, and pointing your fingers behind you. Do this for both arms! This will stretch out your forearm and wrist, which is where a lot of the stress is felt.

Remember to stretch out your back! Bending over and touching your toes is a great start. After that, place one leg in front of the other and bend over. Switch your legs around and repeat. Next gently twist your torso from side to side and back and forth, just to loosen the muscles in the back and your abdomen. Along with your back and stomach, stretch out your thighs, calfs, hamstrings, and ankles. This will circulate your blood around and help while you are standing and moving around fighting a fish.

Other areas to stretch are your arms and shoulders. Take and move your arms across your body and hold for 10 seconds. Do the same with the other arm. Then hold your arm above your head and place it in the small of your back Pull down on your elbow and hold for 10 seconds. Do the same again for your other arm.

It is best to take a time out every once in awhile, and stretch out your hands, your arms, and back. The more you remember to take care of yourself first, the better you’ll feel, and the more likely you will be to keep up with the fish.

Buzzbaits

Buzz baits are an excellent top water lure for morning fishing, but may also produce great results in the heat of the summer, when no other bait in your tackle box seems to be working. If you want it to make a lot of noise on the surface, then as soon as you cast you need to start cranking it in and keep the line tight until you have a steady buzz action going at the surface. When a fish explodes on it, wait for the rod to load up before setting the hook. Loading up means that you feel the weight of the fish on your line. The buzz bait seems to be a great lure to use when bass are at their most active in the season. Using trailing hooks on buzz baits help to gain hookup from bites, especially when the fish are short striking the bait. Many people believe that the best place to use a buzz bait is in clear and calm waters. However, there have been many reports of bass being caught in current from wind and other current driven elements.

Fall Bass Fishing

Fall bass fishing can be some of the most exciting times to be out on the water when its fished right. As the weather is cooling off bass will start in the shallows and move to deeper water. Here are some great fall bass fishing tips to bring you success in this beautiful time of the year. As the water temperatures fall, bass move up from the deeps and become more aggressive, feeding on the balls of shad. Shallow water near good cover can be effective as the bass are in the feeding zone. During the fall months, bass are actually more active at noon and early evening as the sun warms the water up. Fishing with squarebilled crankbaits spinnerbaits, lipless crankbaits, as well as, buzzbaits along rocks and cover can trigger an explosive strike. Any place with good structure especially multiple structures can be dynamite!