Thread: Reelfoot lake in mid April

Hello guys. A friend and I are coming to Reelfoot for 4 days in mid April. It sounds like that will be a good time to go. I am in western Pa. where the spawn is in high gear late May, so we are guessing mid April should be good there. I have read a bunch of older posts on Reelfoot and have gotten some good info. We are staying in the south west area of the lake. Any help on locations to fish would be greatly appreciated. We will not be using a guide. My experience up here is to fish the wood. I know how us crappie fishermen tend to keep spots to ourselves, but any help would be great.

Mark

Mark, I am also from western Pa and am also thinking of planning a similar trip. I think that it would be worthwhile to try a guide for the first day--I think that would save a lot of guesswork and make the rest of the trip more productive. Where are you staying?

Mark -

Get a map, it comes in handy. I will be there 4/15-4/22. I can help you if you like. Lilly pads behind Eagles Nest, try lost pond, try devils race track....jig around the trees right off the bottom and hold on!

Are you guys bringing a boat or renting? If you need...PM me and I can send you a quad map of the lake.

As far as fishing the wood at Reelfoot, there is more wood in that lake than you could ever fish. They pulled the water down several years ago, and there were thousands of stumps you can't see and normal water levels.

April is a good month, might be windy but you can find spot out of the wind.

Originally Posted by Bails

Mark -

Get a map, it comes in handy. I will be there 4/15-4/22. I can help you if you like. Lilly pads behind Eagles Nest, try lost pond, try devils race track....jig around the trees right off the bottom and hold on!

Where is the devils race track? lol

to what bails and cracker are saying. Followed thier patterns during april last year and booked my 2007 trip before leaving.
Get a map, GPS is very helpful ( i have a handheld Garmin 76cxs)
If you bring a boat, leave half your gear at home, dont need it.
Watch for stumps, better yet go slow cause you are going to hit them anyway.
Bails has it all right in that area. Swan basin is good for driftin / spider rigging. I had considerable success at the mouth of the ditches and even a piece into them.
Green island point (think bails left that one out). I jig fish, same technique as bails, get jig down to the bottom and hold on.
Saw an intersting diagram of a cypress tree i wish i could pass along. Think of the roots of a cypress as an open umbrella and a straight trunk below the waters surface. Nothing more fun than jigging around the wood.

Oh, and be careful, the lake is big and weather is a factor. keep an eye on the weather and where you are so if wind or storm comes up, you are well oriented.

My .02
twister

Hey guys,
April is a good time to fish at Reelfoot. The spawn will be well underway. you can buy a map of the lake at fishinghotspots.com for about $10.00. This will help you get familiar with different basins, pockets, points, and ditches as well as some of the roads in the area. A couple of my favorite places to fish in april is swan basin and champeys pocket.
Most of the lake is not real deep and remember, there a lot of stumps just under waters surface so go slow when running your outboard.

Thank you all very much!!!

We are staying at Cyprus Pointe lodge. I hope its a good place. The people seem great on the phone. We have a Hot Spots map on order and a GPS on order just for this trip. I see the map has GPS coordinates on it. That should be helpfull, especialy if I get some hot way points. You guys are very helpfull and we appreciate it.

My relief is here, so I got to head home. Later,

Mark

I forgot to answer Crackers question. I am not bringing my boat. I have a 165 G-3, but we will use the 16 footer they supply at Cyprus Pointe. We figure it will do well for us......right? Gotta say we are getting pumped about this trip.

Mark

Just post the week before you go, and we'll get you some reports