Need info please???

[Bigboy]

I am planning a trip to Reelfoot Lake in June. Has anyone been there and could help me out with info about fishing and boating? I know it is an extremely shallow lake and I am taking my boat (pobably putt-putt everywhere I go).
Thanks
Bigboy

[markmac60]

Been there in March for the last 3-4 years.

PROS:
1. Unbelieveable size crappie, even with the heavy pressure.
2. Bass and cats are very good fishin.
3. Very unusual scenery, won't find anything like it.
4. Locals are great people, very friendly.

CONS:
1. If the weather turns bad and the wind kicks up, choppy water is soon to follow due to shallow conditions. Can get to the point that you must get off the water.
2. Prop eatin lake. Won't take my boat again. Will rent a lesser boat to avoid damage.

Careful on depth. Theres a hole in the south basin thats approx. 16 feet deep. Other than that, I think the average is about 5-6 feet deep. June should be much more stable than March regarding the weather.

[Bronze_Back]

I am not trying to ruin your trip but wished I had heard this before I went the first time. Water is the color of tea with lilly pads & allot of grass with trees cut off under the water 6"-12" everywhere. Good fishing trip with good scenery nothing else like it around here. Would go back anytime but I have learned my lesson.

I will never take my boat again. We where on the main lake and a little storm kicked up, on any other lake we would fish during storms like this, no lightning just rain and 10 - 15 mph winds. I looked around and everyone was gone, we wondered why and in about 5 minutes we found out. Waves and swells 4' - 5' came from nowhere and filled the boat with water to our waists my bilge could not keep up. When the boat went up we were above everything around us and when the boat would go down we would almost hit the bottom. Small diameter tree stumps and steel posts used to anchor duck blinds are sticking up higher than the boat, we are within 300 yards of the ramp and could not get there. We where lucky God was watching over us or something would have rammed through the bottom of the boat and maybe through one of us. Now what we learned was when the wind starts to kick up go to the grass canals behind the tree lines, thats where everyone else was and stay there until the storm passed. I bent my trolling motor shaft, scratched up my boat, and bent my main prop.

They have Real Foot rental boats there with a 5 hp briggs & straton engines that have a horizontal shaft out the back of the boat with prop half in and half out the water, they are made this way for a reason. I would strongly suggest you rent one of them and maybe take a cheap trolling motor & battery you don't care about with a good rope to pull it up when you need to and believe you will need to.

Knowing this ahead of time would have made my first trip much more enjoyable and allot less expensive.

[riverrat12]

Well everyones covered everything .....But the snakes....In june it might not be as bad ....Good luck ...chuck....just don't be surprised...

[PRO V LE]

You can't beat the package deals that they offer there, and in June it will be even cheaper. Lodging, boat,motor, fuel, bait, and ice all included. Everyone else has it pretty much covered.
DO NOT TAKE YOU'RE OWN BOAT

[fishbum]

I am planning a trip to Reelfoot Lake in June. Has anyone been there and could help me out with info about fishing and boating? I know it is an extremely shallow lake and I am taking my boat (pobably putt-putt everywhere I go).
Thanks
Bigboy

There is a prop made out of a composite material. Harvey up at Patoka Lake uses them on his rental boats.. WOULD Highly recommend you try to find one to fit your boat before you go. Will save you your lower unit if you hit something. The thing is designed to break in small pieces or large depending on what you hit. Works fine to get you moving and to sustain it.. and will save your lower unit if you find a hidden stump OR that elusive 500 pound turtle back... (That is a joke.. I THINK)