According to TWRA Assistant Director Tim Churchill, "These hybrids have survived quite well and make up a large population of 7- to 8-pound fish."

In addition to the supplemental hybrid stockings, the gizzard shad population in Tim's Ford has recovered from its prior downturn and the result has been a return to what guide Don Schleicher refers to Tim's new glory days.

Tim's Ford is a deeper and clearer reservoir than Percy Priest. Schleicher said that free-lining shiners is still his go-to tactic in this clearer water, but insists that a lengthy fluorocarbon leader is necessary to convince the fish to take the live bait. It's important to match the hook with the size of bait used. For the 3- to 4-inch Arkansas shiners preferred by Schleicher, a size 1 or 1/0 Kahle, Octopus, or circle hook is hard to beat. As is the case in most striper lakes with clear water, planers and floats give the angler not only the usual benefit of keeping multiple lines separated, but also serve to get the baits well away from the boat, which can be a big help around wary stripers in clear water.

For the artificial bait enthusiast, Schleicher suggests trying a tactic shown to him by one of his mentors, Herbert Odom. The prevailing cooler waters of January on Tim's Ford slow down the metabolism of both stripers and the baitfish they prey on. Threadfin shad, in particular, have difficulty orienting themselves once water temperatures drop into the mid-40s. Odom's trick was to imitate a thermally stressed shad by tying a 1/8- to 1/4-ounce bucktail jig on a casting rod and casting the bait out and just letting it swim along with the slow troll speed of the boat. His preference was to use a jig tied with buoyant material and fray the ends of the jig so that it would sink slower. Schleicher contends that many times the first sign of a bite on the jig would be the rod bent double as the striper nailed the helpless "do-nothing" bait.

Favorite locations for finding Tim's Ford stripers this time of year include the mouth of Boiling Fork, Devil's Step, Lost Creek and Mud Island. While these are not exactly secret hotspots, they still appear to be the best spots on the lake: Don Schleicher points out that 80 percent of the striper tournaments won on Tim's Ford are from fish caught out of these areas. So even though a good many local anglers know and fish these spots, they simply continue to produce year after year. Schleicher confides if there are no birds working the area and you can't locate fish near Mud Island or Devil's Step, it's probably going to be a slow day. Access is available at the Fairview Devil's Step Campground located off Fairview Road, 1.1 miles north of Hwy. 50.

OLD HICKORY
When asked his opinion on where the next possible world-record freshwater striped bass would come from, TWRA's Tim Churchill claimed it might well come from Old Hickory.

"Old Hickory is without a doubt one of the best, if not the best, striped bass lakes in the country," Churchill said. "The lake is home to a large population of 30-plus-pound fish and there are some real monsters as well."