Old Hickory Lake

[Odawg]

I have an opportunity to move to middle Tennessee. Can you guys give me the scoop on this lake for bass fishing? How about crappie and stripers? From what I can find on the internet, it certainly doesn't have the reputation of the Chick but is it the dead sea?

[Buccaneer]

It's tough lately. When I first moved here in 1998 it was loaded with Hydrilla grass and now there is very little. Floods and spraying have just about cleared all the Hydrilla beds. It fishes like a river and a lake depending on whether you are on the upper or lower end. I'll say this about real estate options, you will get more bang for your buck in the Hendersonville and Gallatin area and you will have the added advantage of being within minutes of many boat ramps on Old Hickory. Tough or not, my choice was to be close to a launching spot to hit the water after work.

[Maddog10]

I have an opportunity to move to middle Tennessee. Can you guys give me the scoop on this lake for bass fishing? How about crappie and stripers? From what I can find on the internet, it certainly doesn't have the reputation of the Chick but is it the dead sea?

Beautiful lake but pretty tough for bass fishing. It's also very shallow outside the channel so use caution when making runs.

[dstep0]

Very shallow lake. It can be tough. But I enjoy fishing it because I can fish shallow and power fish year around there. There's some big fish in the lake and I've caught them but the average fish would probably be a pound and a half. Once you figure the lake out, it's easy to run up and down the lake running the pattern.

[C130]

Lots of much better lakes in my opinion. If you want to live near Nashville, on the lake, then it’s okay. I have family on the lake. I am from the area and never fished Old Hickory, I’d rather go a little further east to fish.

[bassRN]

Just drive up to Dale Hollow, Smallmouth are great there!

[mwtlsu]

It's a great crappie lake. The lake has a lot of diverse cover(boat docks, bank grass, flats, laydowns, rip rap, bluff walls and ledges). Good part about that area is there are a lot of great lakes and rivers to fish within a short drive. Overall I enjoy Hickory, but I like to fish shallow cover. Just don't expect 20lbs days, 10-15 is more normal.