1st trip Reelfoot

[mess]

Planning a trip to Reelfoot lake for the first time on March 13.
Three of us are going and we will be fishing for anything that is biting. Does anyone have any advice about how to catch crappie, bluegill and bass here? Any help is appreciated and I will post results later.
Thanks

[ljmess21]

The results are in, not proud of them, caught about twenty crappie the three days I was there. I found it hard to fish a lake that I have never been to, especially without the right equipment. The weather was cold and windy, which made it hard to fish spots really hard. Most of the poeple that had been before did a lot better than my group. Spider rigging seem to pay off in the wind and made me realize that a rookie crappie fishermen needs all the help he can get in a new environment, with bad weather. Did not bass fish much, seemed like the only bite there were the crappie. Stayed at Eagle Nest Resort and the poeple were real nice there. Reelfoot lake is a real pretty place and I will definitely be back there to try it again.
Let me know if anyone has other reports of Reelfoot

[ronemmons]

Thanks for the report. We have been going to Reelfoot for a few years now and have had a couple of trips like yours. We started out in middle to late May and pretty much had to Gill fish. Not that I'm complaining we caught a boat load and the size is great. We got it in our minds for a couple of years that we wanted to crappie fish and were told to come earlier. Tried March a couple of years--BAD weather--Froze our butts off. Did catch a few but not sure it was worth it. One guy with us caught a 3 1/4 pounder. Even had the boys at the dock lookin it over. We have stayed at eagles nest since the second year. Love it.

[tracker4stroke]

i will be down on the weekend of the 7th for the first time ever going seems like this is a really good lake to go to i have only heard good things from it

[ronemmons]

IT'S A LOT OF FUN AND YOU SHOULD CATCH SOME FISH. IT'S A ALSO A NATURE RESERVE. lOTS OF EAGLES AND SUCH.

[mperry]

I have not been to reelfoot in several years but was thinking about going back this year. I seem to remember reading an article about 3 years ago that said Reelfoot was drying up. Any truth to this. I seem to remember that they were having an issue at the spillway but can't remember exactly what it was about. Even though I have not been there in a while I always enjoyed going there and we used to go every year.
Mike

[ronemmons]

We go down once a year in the Spring. I heard the same rumor I think was a future projection way down the road. The lake was in good shape last year...

[somegoodfish]

Have you noticed how everyone tells you how good the fishing is.
No one gives info about where they are catching these fish.

[Songdog]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Mar-08-06 AT 01:02AM (EST)[/font][p]Try trolling around fishing with minnows or jigs with minnows be sure and fish around the duckblinds thery can hold some good fish If the weather stays good it's not going to be hard to catch them just about anywhere great lake

[stratosjoe]

for bass try the east bank with small grayshad culprits with 1/8 worm weight pegged. My wife tears em up bouncing them down the cypress roots. I use large white with twin blade spinnerbaits. hope this helps...

[ronemmons]

Thanks Joe,
We've been coming down to Reelfoot for a few years now but we mostly pan fish. Might give bass a try this year.

[shoalrunner]

We will be going April 5-9 this year. You can expect a good crappie bite if the weather holds close to normal and winds are light. Check out ALL the reports before you go, but obviously that is just a hint. Jigs and jigs tipped with Crappie Nibbles are good bets and minnows are just plain hard to beat. Bass will be slow unless the temps stay warm and the water continues to rise. Good luck.........Shoalrunner