Old Hickory FLW Series

It was a pretty good tournament except for the second day, but I never really got on the right deal to win it, I didn't feel like.

I was fishing the lower end of the lake and I had a couple of things going. I fished a few boat docks with a spinnerbait, trying to catch some of the fish that were eating the spawning shad. We were just at the tail end of the shad spawn, and I'd only do that for about an hour.

I had a pretty good topwater pattern going on the middle of the lake with a (Berkley) Frenzy Popper and a spook, and I had another pattern fishing a jig and a little worm on isolated trees on the bank. I fished down about 15 feet on steep banks.

I was just kind of junk-fishing, running around fishing all kinds of stuff. This is really a classic junk-fishery and there were a lot of patterns going on. Most of my good fish came on topwater or on a Berkley jig with the new Berkley chunk trailer.

I don't really know how to feel about the tournament overall. I had two good days, but I was pretty disappointed about that second day. I didn't lose any fish – I just didn't get bit. I guess I just fished poorly that day.

I didn't see anybody in the places I wanted to fish all week. I wasn't on a lot of fish, but I was able to scrape together enough to make a check.

This is a fertile lake with a lot of fish, but it gets as much pressure as anywhere in the world. All of these fish have been caught a time or two. It's almost in downtown Nashville, and there are a lot of bass fishermen in Nashville and all over Tennessee.

I think the fish are moving out and just starting to kick into their summer patterns. It's a big transition time and the bite's been pretty tough. I think the tournament will be won fishing summer-type patterns, but there are so many patterns going right now that it's crazy. There's crankbaits, Carolina-rigs, spinnerbaits, finesse, flipping. Fish are in the backs of creeks, they're in the main lake and they're everywhere in between.

Several different techniques and baits will produce a big stringer, and the lake will fish big because of that.

My practice has just been fair. I've been struggling to catch quality fish. I caught a 5-pounder (Monday) and a 4 the day before, but it's just one here, one there. The key will be getting some of those type of fish.

I'm fishing for the bigger fish, but I'm still getting a lot of little ones. There'll be a lot of limits, but it'll be tough to get one over 12 pounds.