# Reelfoot lake 4/10 and 4/11



## Saugeyefisher

Ok I've gone through an seen past posts. Lots of former reelfoot haters on here. An that's fine. Everyone has an opinion. 
What I'm looking for here is info from anyone that might have been down recently. Or anybody that has gone down in the past an done good on crappie/gills/bass. In that order.
I'm willing to fish for anything. But prefer to fish for the above going down there. 
Will be in a 16' boat with ok electroniccs and taking extra anchors.
Will be down 4/9-4/12. But only fishing 4/10 and 4/11. We are hoping to time it for prespawn/beginning of spawn. But we all know how that works.. 
From what I read it says to look for pads/cypresses for shallow fish. 
We love to jig fish. And dip structure. 
Any tips for that time of year would be grateful. We already booked up. So really just looking for fishing tips.


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## fastwater

Might outta give saugeye tom a pm. 
Believe he's fished Reelfoot a bunch in the past.


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## RMK

good for you! sounds like a great trip. i wish i could help, but havent been there. best of luck and looking forward to hearing how you do.


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## Saugeyefisher

fastwater said:


> Might outta give saugeye tom a pm.
> Believe he's fished Reelfoot a bunch in the past.


Yeah he's had the most positive posts on here about the lake. Def plan on doing that. 
Ive always been good at taking what the lakes willing to give. So not set in my ways for what I fish for and how. 
My biggy going has been down before. 
Will prolly run n gun likely looking spots we mark on maps before going hoping to find a spot to set up on an pound them! 
Lots of recent videos of good fish fishing from the last few years so we know the lakes not dead. And crappie fishing tends to go in cycles and it seems to be in a up cycle right now. 
Not expecting to go in a set the place on fire only having 2 days to fish. But hope will atleast be able to find a solid pattern early enough to enjoy ourselves catching fish.


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## fastwater

There is another member on here that fishes RF but can't remember who...Chaunc maybe???


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## bountyhunter

might take a spare prop ,


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## fished-out

Running? More like slow slog unless you want to take the bottom out of the boat. Broke a trolling motor there as well, so take care. Haven't been in awhile, but always did better on gills than crappies. Did better drifting and/or spider rigging when fishing for crappie, as opposed to shallow float fishing the cypress/pads. That said, every time we went, it was always cold and raining, so weather probably had alot to do with it.


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## Saugeyefisher

Lol ya decided to go with a rental cause of stumps... Brake there stuff I'm only out a 50$ deposit... Brake ours an we screwed....
I'm really hoping there's some shallow crappies but that's gonna be weather dependent....
Fished-out,
How did you go about targeting the gills? I love catching big gills as much as I do crappies.


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## TheKing

Saugeyefisher said:


> Lol ya decided to go with a rental cause of stumps... Brake there stuff I'm only out a 50$ deposit... Brake ours an we screwed....
> I'm really hoping there's some shallow crappies but that's gonna be weather dependent....
> Fished-out,
> How did you go about targeting the gills? I love catching big gills as much as I do crappies.


 My 9.8 Merc had a flexible rubber pinion instead of a shear pin. And it had a pivot kick out release. Not a problem.


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## fished-out

Saugeyefisher said:


> Lol ya decided to go with a rental cause of stumps... Brake there stuff I'm only out a 50$ deposit... Brake ours an we screwed....
> I'm really hoping there's some shallow crappies but that's gonna be weather dependent....
> Fished-out,
> How did you go about targeting the gills? I love catching big gills as much as I do crappies.


Depended on the year. One year, they were on the back side of the lily pads, the next year they were in a large bay, mid-bay, off some weeds. Float and fly tipped with a maggot worked well.


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## Saugeye Tom

Went for 12 years. Chipped 1 prop...I'll drop some pins for ya


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## Saugeye Tom

I know the lake


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## Saugeyefisher

Thanks Tom I was getting ready to pm you...


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## 23rd century

been there about 6 times. we liked it but it is a long haul. trolled or drifted in the shallows with minnows and bobbers. run your trolling motor barely under the water. take your time moving around. good luck


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## Doboy

You most likely did the same thing already, 
but I did a search just to see where your heading, & came up with a playlist that's very interesting.

(3) REELFOOT LAKE CRAPPIE w/JACKIE VANCLEAVE- Full length eps. - YouTube

Take Care, & Have a great Time!


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## BMustang

fished-out said:


> That said, every time we went, it was always cold and raining, so weather probably had alot to do with it.


 WIND, You forgot to tell him about the wind.


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## Flathead76

Had a friend at work that fished it for a week. When he got back I asked him how it went. He said you may be a better fisherman than me but if you ever go down there rent a boat. That’s all that he said. He would not even talk about it. He must have had a terrible time.


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## Saugeye Tom

BMustang said:


> WIND, You forgot to tell him about the wind.


THERE YOU ARE !!!!!


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## Saugeyefisher

Well we timed it right. Showed up just as the crappies were starting to head to the shallow Cypress trees and Lily pads. But that didn't stop a cold front with constant 15-25mph winds coming through for the two days we was supposed to fish. 
We would of been better off taking our kayaks. The aluminium boat we had was just to light and got blown around like crazy. Tried anchoring up but had a hard time holding. Our boat was rented from a resort on the south bank. Crappie spawn was further along in the northern parts of the lake were the water temps was 4/5° warmer. And waves were to big on main lake to attempt to cross. We tried driving north to dip from the banks but couldn't find fishy water out of the wind. 
We caught fish and considering the conditions did not do bad. We only fished 1-1/2 days. Caught big gills,channel cats,yellow bass,and a few crappies. No big crappies. We caught just as many fish walking the banks as we did from the boat. Smalls jigs under floats caught everything. I like my kayak in situations like this because I can launch from anywhere an tuck out of the wind. I will go back. But it will be in a more low profile boat with the biggest baddest trolling motor I can put on it. We seen piles of big crappies from the guys that could get to them and stay on them. The lake is alive and well that's for sure. Only hit 2 stumps but didn't run around to much either.
Got to see the Mississippi River that was cool. Although what a muddy mess that was.
We really hoped we could of gotten down to the spillway and Target the yellow bass,those things flat out fight and was told they catch some bruisers out of there.. But we could not find any access. 
Thanks for the help guys and I'm looking forward to going back for revenge someday!


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## BMustang

BMustang said:


> WIND, You forgot to tell him about the wind.


Told you so!!!


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## Saugeyefisher

BMustang said:


> Told you so!!!


Yes indeed, you did. But we kinda knew this going in. We thought we could beat it. The original forecast was for less then 15mph. 
The day after we left it was dead calm. 
Like I said,I can't wait to go back one day, equipped with good wind beating electronics. And a full week to figure things out.
Thanks again for the info


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## Saugeye Tom

Saugeyefisher said:


> Well we timed it right. Showed up just as the crappies were starting to head to the shallow Cypress trees and Lily pads. But that didn't stop a cold front with constant 15-25mph winds coming through for the two days we was supposed to fish.
> We would of been better off taking our kayaks. The aluminium boat we had was just to light and got blown around like crazy. Tried anchoring up but had a hard time holding. Our boat was rented from a resort on the south bank. Crappie spawn was further along in the northern parts of the lake were the water temps was 4/5° warmer. And waves were to big on main lake to attempt to cross. We tried driving north to dip from the banks but couldn't find fishy water out of the wind.
> We caught fish and considering the conditions did not do bad. We only fished 1-1/2 days. Caught big gills,channel cats,yellow bass,and a few crappies. No big crappies. We caught just as many fish walking the banks as we did from the boat. Smalls jigs under floats caught everything. I like my kayak in situations like this because I can launch from anywhere an tuck out of the wind. I will go back. But it will be in a more low profile boat with the biggest baddest trolling motor I can put on it. We seen piles of big crappies from the guys that could get to them and stay on them. The lake is alive and well that's for sure. Only hit 2 stumps but didn't run around to much either.
> Got to see the Mississippi River that was cool. Although what a muddy mess that was.
> We really hoped we could of gotten down to the spillway and Target the yellow bass,those things flat out fight and was told they catch some bruisers out of there.. But we could not find any access.
> Thanks for the help guys and I'm looking forward to going back for revenge someday!


I always went for a week and got 3 or 4 good days in


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