Percy Priest

[tnbassman10]

Mine is strictly my comfort zone. I come from Lebanon, TN so Long Hunter or Fate Sanders is about the same drive. However, Providence marketplace in Mt. Juliet is a hassle to drive through so I usually try to avoid that. I like Fate Sanders simply b/c I feel more confident about the river fish compared to the main lake fish (it’s more like Old Hickory where I usually go).

[Brian]

Im on the upper end more primary because of the drive. I live on the north end of Murfreesboro. However, down lake is great and I will be down there more come spring.

[blockel]

Not to say you can’t catch ’em on the lower end of the lake but I do think that due to the layout of that particular area (more open and deeper). It can take a little longer to “figure out”. The further you get towards the upper section of the lake, generally speaking, the less water there is and therefore less area for the fish to hide, making them easier to find and catch.

Just my two cents.

[halfbass]

Thank you all…seems to me the best place to fish is the upper end of the lake. Make perfect sense that there is more 2-20 ft water up there and therefore easier to find fish…I need easy 🙂 🙂

[simplecircuit]

We fish the lower end because it is a shorter drive and I’m typically in a time crunch.
Depending on your boat, it might be faster for you to run in your boat to the upper end than to trailer up there. Also, Elm Hill no longer allows public access. So, on that side and end of the lake, you’re limited to Elm Hill 2 [just past the marina], Hamilton Creek or Smith Springs. One nice thing about fishing downlake is a lack of boat traffic and fishing pressure. Especially right now. It is a totally different deal though. It just depends on what you like to do.
j.

[jard]

This year I’m going to buy the season pass at Four Corners marina to launch because it is the closest ramp to me (that is open 24/7 so I can launch before daylight) and with the cost of extra truck gas to launch at fate sanders from the drive, i’ll actually save money and it will allow me to make more short trips, even though I hate the no wake zone being so large. I usually fish from there up to the weakley lane bridge in the “mid lake” areas. I have gotten much, much better at fishing deeper points on the lake and during the spring and summer and this area provides many of them. I love to flip cover and the river provides a lot of this, but I’ve never been successful up there. I have driven around on the upper end towards the dam but I find it packed with bigger cruiser style boats and have had very little success and just choose to stay away from them. After 4 years of fishing priest, I just limited my focus to the midlake and learned it well and I had my best year with numbers and size last year so I guess its paying off.

[halfbass]

quote simplecircuit:

We fish the lower end because it is a shorter drive and I’m typically in a time crunch.
Depending on your boat, it might be faster for you to run in your boat to the upper end than to trailer up there. Also, Elm Hill no longer allows public access. So, on that side and end of the lake, you’re limited to Elm Hill 2 [just past the marina], Hamilton Creek or Smith Springs. One nice thing about fishing downlake is a lack of boat traffic and fishing pressure. Especially right now. It is a totally different deal though. It just depends on what you like to do.
j.

That is where I have been putting in Elm Hill 2…cost $5.00

Thanks, Jim

[halfbass]

quote jard:

This year I’m going to buy the season pass at Four Corners marina to launch because it is the closest ramp to me (that is open 24/7 so I can launch before daylight) and with the cost of extra truck gas to launch at fate sanders from the drive, i’ll actually save money and it will allow me to make more short trips, even though I hate the no wake zone being so large. I usually fish from there up to the weakley lane bridge in the “mid lake” areas. I have gotten much, much better at fishing deeper points on the lake and during the spring and summer and this area provides many of them. I love to flip cover and the river provides a lot of this, but I’ve never been successful up there. I have driven around on the upper end towards the dam but I find it packed with bigger cruiser style boats and have had very little success and just choose to stay away from them. After 4 years of fishing priest, I just limited my focus to the midlake and learned it well and I had my best year with numbers and size last year so I guess its paying off.

Thanks…if you don’t mind me asking how much is a permit?

Jim

[tnbassman10]

quote jard:

This year I’m going to buy the season pass at Four Corners marina to launch because it is the closest ramp to me (that is open 24/7 so I can launch before daylight) and with the cost of extra truck gas to launch at fate sanders from the drive, i’ll actually save money and it will allow me to make more short trips, even though I hate the no wake zone being so large. I usually fish from there up to the weakley lane bridge in the “mid lake” areas. I have gotten much, much better at fishing deeper points on the lake and during the spring and summer and this area provides many of them. I love to flip cover and the river provides a lot of this, but I’ve never been successful up there. I have driven around on the upper end towards the dam but I find it packed with bigger cruiser style boats and have had very little success and just choose to stay away from them. After 4 years of fishing priest, I just limited my focus to the midlake and learned it well and I had my best year with numbers and size last year so I guess its paying off.

Maybe I should dedicate some time there. I’ve never been that successful in fishing the “main lake” portion of Percy Priest. It kinda is a tale of 3 different areas and 3 different ways to fish. Up in the river you’ve got flipping cover and shallower water. Down lake is much deeper and contains lots of main lake points, humps, and rocks. Mid-lake is kind of a blend between the two.

Is there really more boat traffic up in the river compared to the main lake? I figured as bad as the river is, the main lake would be much worse.

When you talk about fishing in the summer, how deep do you normally find bass? On Old Hickory if I’m fishing deep, I’m usually in the river sitting in upper20s/lower 30s throwing at 6-10 and bringing it back to me. I’ve always kind of thought down lake on PP to be kind of a smaller version of Center Hill in which you’d concentrate on bluffs and points. I’m probably wrong though and that’s why I stay in the river! haha

[jard]

I’m not exactly sure what the permit costs! Maybe $200 for a year. Its actually a monthly fee that gets prorated per month as the year goes. I too divide the lake in 3 sections 1) from the dam to long hunter 2) long hunter to weakley lane 3) into the river from weakley lane. My favorite ramp is fate sanders but with that extra drive and more the time on the water, its well worth it and I can make more trips. A lot of my stuff in the summer is about 10-12 ft on top and 20 on the bottom or they are shelfs where the channel comes off to a little flat, mostly with rocks under. But due to time and gas, I decided over the last year to only fish the middle of the lake from Long hunter to weakley lane.

I literally sucked it up the first 2 years I fished priest. Deep, river, and shear rock everywhere is not what ‘m used too. I grew up on KY Lake. I am very, very good with a shakeyhead, and just good with a jig. I literally tied these two on and went and fished my tail off in the mid lake over the last two years and I caught 15 fish over 5 lbs last year. I also caught a bunch on a carolina rig. I’ve caught exactly one fish on a crankbait and I’ve thown the hell out of it and I cannot figure it out. I’ve found about 10-15 “spots” that I can stop and fish and if they’re are there, its on. If not, I can move on. Plus, there are still numerous places that I have not explored yet and I plan to this year like Hong Kong island area. I’ve never fished around it and have never ventured behind it. There are many spots with submerged rocks and boulders that I want to fish. Plus, if and when it ever floods, there is some awesome flipping if the water stays up. There is a lot of boat traffic and the wind does get bad here because most of these spots are out in the open water and no where near a bank. Its also an area where I will see a lot of boats fishing my spots and it doesn’t matter, I can usually still roll over and catch fish after they have left. Its not like flipping cover and watching someone pull a fish off of it. For crappie, I stay up around jones mill and stewart creek area.

[david-littrell]

When Elmhill closed the ramp at the marina last year, I called Four Corners and asked the cost of an annual launch permit, and I was told $85 yearly.

[jard]

Sweet!! even better news for me. During the summer I do a lot of short early morning morning trips. like fish from 4 am -8 am and be home by 8:45.

[halfbass]

Just received a reply from 4 Corners…Annual rate for launch ramp is $80.00