THE TENNESSEE RIVER
Lou Williams (731/989-5367) fishes and guides along the Tennessee River and knows it about as well as anyone. He considers it to be one of the premier summer largemouth venues in the state.

“The area around Birdsong Resort, Marina and Campground is about as good as it gets. Last year (2006), I caught several largemouths between 6 and 7 pounds from there,” he said.

The area he’s referring to is at mile 104 on the river. That’s about 80 miles from the dam at Kentucky Lake and about 100 miles from the dam at Pickwick. The most convenient place to launch is at Birdsong Resort, back in the creek. As well as modern launching and parking facilities, they offer licenses, fuel and just about anything else you’ll need for a day on the water.

Williams suggested anglers begin their day at the mouth of the creek where it enters the river. As you exit, there are two points, one on each side of the mouth. Both offer hot July largemouth fishing. They are characterized by drops, flats, stumps, rock and wood.

To fish the points effectively, Williams positions his boat out in deeper water -- 25 to 30 feet -- and throws crankbaits up on the flats so he can cover the drops with his bait.

“Don’t be surprised if you catch a lot of spots along with your largemouths. They like these points and drops about as well as the largemouths, sometimes better,” he said with a chuckle.

In his opinion, the style and running depth of your crankbait is more important than make or color. He believes that to be effective in the Tennessee River a crankbait must strike the bottom, and careen off the cover, from time to time.

“I like ‘em to run just a little deeper than the water I’m fishing. That way I get good contact with the bottom and whatever else is there,” he said.

Another place that often produces respectable largemouths is the Highway 70 bridge. It’s at mile 100.5, a short four miles downstream from the mouth of Birdsong Creek. (It’s called the Hickman-Lockhart Highway Bridge on most maps.) Note: Downstream is north.

Williams points to an area of submerged chunk rock on the right side of the bridge facing downstream as being the best spot here. Now, he’s not talking about the riprap along the bank; he’s talking about massive pieces of rock under the water’s surface. “Fishing the riprap is a waste of time,” he said.

Williams reminded anglers that this is river fishing. Drops, debris, weeds and baitfish matter, but without current, and something to break it, largemouths will be hard to find. “The big ones want some water movement and a place to get out of it. Find that spot on the spot and you’ll catch ‘em,” he said.

Tennessee’s rivers suffer from a lack of respect among some largemouth anglers. Don’t be one of them.