OK guys, I need some help. Here's a little background for starters. I'm originally from Kansas. That means I have very limited experience on river run lakes like Old Hickory or TN river lakes. I've been here about 3 or 4 years and have figured out some things better than others.
I just read an article by Gregg Hackney in BASS TIMES where he was discussing fishing river type lakes. This got me to thinking about some of my questions and experiences on Old Hickory.
The type of situation I would like info or experience is primarily found in the upper end of Old Hickory. I am talking about upstream of Flippers and hwy 109. Let me try to describe the type of place I'm talking about.
Once you get out of the main river there are basically 2 different kinds of water. One type is the major creeks such as Barton's, Bledsoe, and Spring. The other type is what appears to me to be sort of low lying flooded backwaters. These areas are kind of like flats. Best I can tell they have muddy bottoms in general and are usually shallow as in 6' or less and usually 4' or less. In some instances there may be some hard bottom spots and a few rock outcroppings but as a whole they are shallow flats where the water has backed up.
There is also a 3rd type of water such as a mid depth hollow or cove.
The second type area is the one I want info on. Many of these type areas present a challenge to invade very far past the entrance because of lack of depth. Some of them may have a bit deeper water in some spots once you get back in there .
Are there bass back in these muddy backwater flats around the laydowns and such or is it just all dead water ? If there are bass back there would that hold true for pretty much all year or only certain times ?
I have been back in a few in spring and summer and have seen shad and minnow and carp in there but haven't really caught many bass from this kind of water. If I was choosing to focus on this type of water I would pick a location where it is open on both ends thus letting water flow through as opposed to one open only on the lower end and just being flooded with backwater.
Are these areas that are worthy of spending time in ?