Cumberland River Bass Fishing Reports

[MotherNature]

9/24/04
I fished today with Mr. Doug Markham. Doug is a locally recognized host of both a radio and TV shows dealing with hunting, fishing and our great outdoor resources here on Middle Tennessee. Our day on the river started out with a bang when Doug quickly landed this 3 1/2 pound Smallmouth. Soon after we took this picture Doug lost a real monster that was substantially larger. We landed 3 more keepers and several more small fish. Not bad for three hours on a fall morning...We had a great time....

Tony Dodson

(Editors notes: You can hear Doug every Saturday morning 5am to 7am on 99.7 FM here in Nashville Tennessee and watch Doug and his co-host Hugh McNaughten every Sunday night frpm 7:30pm to 8:00pm on TV)

[MotherNature]

Cumberland River 9-23-25-04

9--9-23-04 I fished 5 year old Owen Kelly his dad Patrick and grandpa Pete. I love fishing with kids more than anything. This was the kind of day when a fishing guide really earns his money, but the rewards far outweigh the challenge. WE only boated 12 bass today but one of them was Owens first fish. Keep fishing Owen! 9-25-04  I fished today with Mike Hilderbrand of Nashville. Mike and I had a tough day partially due to the enormous amount of boat traffic from the $100,00.00 Strato's tournament held on Old Hickory Lake. We managed to coax 9 Smallmouth into the boat with a respectable average size...Sorry I forgot the camera....Tony Dodson

[MotherNature]

Cumberland River 9-27-29-04

9- 9-27-04 I fished today with Karl Kokko and his girlfriend Beth Rhode. WE enjoyed a great day of fishing on the Cumberland. We managed to land 21 Smallmouth and Spots. We didn't catch any lunkers, but had several fish in the pound and half category. Karl may not admit it but I think Beth may have out fished both of us. 9-29-04 What an incrediable day od fishing I shared today with Joey & Pam Fuqua of Fairview Tn. The Fuqua's own and operate Fairview Transmission. In just 5 hours of fishing we landed 44 bass. The fish were holding on vertcal bluffs loaded with bait fish. We tossed large shinners up within a foot of the bank to catch most of our fish. Heavy cloud cover extended our early morning bite. When the clouds thinned we switched to Tubes.....Tony Dodson

[MotherNature]

Cumberland River Oct 5-6-04

I fiI fished today (Oct 5th)with Todd Spann of Burns Ten and Richard Woodard of White Bluff. We had steady action throughout the day and the morning was the best. We found good size smallmouth feeding on rock humps. As the sun rose higher the fish moved out to the main channel drops with wood. Richard got a real bonus with a 17lb striper. For the day we had 18 bass with 3 being over 14 inches. All fish were caught on 4 inch smoke/purple Prowler Tubes. (Oct 6th) I fished today with Jimmy Trotter of Waverly and his son Forrest. We started out throwing top waters which resulted in 3 small spots. Jimmy has a 20plus striper hit short and broke off on a Pop R. Around 8:00am we began throwing the smoke/purple tube and caught several more fish including 3lb 8oz Smallmouth. What a beautiful fish. In 3 1/2 hours we landed 10 bass. Tony Dodson

[MotherNature]

Cumberland River Oct 8-04

I fiI fished today with Jay Williams of Brentwood Ten. Jay and I had an outstanding abbreviated trip this morning. We only had 3 hours to fish but made the most of it. Action started out with a 2 pound smallie that ate my shiner on the first cast. Soon after, Jay landed a nice smallmouth and a decent striper. Action remained consistent until 9:30am when we had to leave. No trophies but the fish per fish average was impressive. We landed 13 Smallmouth with 6 being keeper fish and the largest weighing 2 1/2 pounds. Tony Dodson Tennessee Bass Guides

[MotherNature]

Cumberland River Oct 11-04

I fi  I fished this afternoon with Bill Warfield and Rodes Hart both of Nashville. We pulled out of the ramp at 2:00pm with great expectations. Overcast, light breeze and comfortable temperatures set us up for a great afternoon of Smallmouth fishing. Sorry guy's it didn't happen. The afternoon was mediocre at best, but not a total wipe out. Rodes caught a borderline keeper Smallmouth. Bill and I both caught a few small fish. The catch of the day was this 5 pound Striper-it well could have been 20lbs plus Striper that hit Rodes bait just as he lifted it out of the water. Total for the day. 11 Bass and 3 small Stripers....Tony Dodson Tennessee Bass Guides

[MotherNature]

Cumberland River 10-7-2005

What a day Shay Doming and I had with Doug Markham on the Cumberland River here in Nashville yesterday shooting a show for Doug and Hugh Outdoors. When we met at the ramp at 6:00am it was still dark and was misting rain. As soon as we had safe light we shot the opening of the show unloaded the Stratos and ran to our first stop. Doug wanted to do a live bait show on the river so with 3lbs of shiners ready to go we started fishing. It wasn't long before we hit pay dirt catching at least 15 or more Smallmouth and Spotted Bass on the very first stop.  The bass wasn't killing the bait like they were last week and patience was the key letting them have the bait longer than normal. When things slowed down at the first stop we moved on down river and was back in business in no time. We caught and released at least 30 or more Smallmouth and Spots plus 5 Sauger. With the show finished we turned to artificial baits for the next hour or so and caught several more on Prowler Tubes and a 3/32oz brown jig tipped with a Prowler watermelon seed chunk. www.prowlerlures.com . For the day we caught and released 50-60 bass plus the 5 Sauger and one huge rock bass. The Smallmouth in these pictures is just a small sample of the quality fish that is in the river....If your interested in a trip on the Cumberland River with Shay or I give me a call at 615-765-7303 for more information. Don't forget that the entire Tennessee Bass Guide Team will be holding seminars at the Nashville Bass Pro Shop on October 22-2005 from 10 am through 5 pm.....We will look for you there......Rick McFerrin www.tennesseebassguides.com