Blue Bank Resort professional crappie guide Billy Blakley (731/538-2212) has fished Reelfoot for years. “The water’s down (in 2007), but it really hasn’t hurt anything. We caught good fish around a pound or a pound and a half all year and 2008 looks to be even better for us. I’d say it’ll be one of our best years ever,” he said.

Fishing Reelfoot is largely a matter of fishing stumps and cypress trees. Of course, in Reelfoot, that’s about like telling someone to fish the water. There are thousands of stumps and at least that many cypress trees. But it’s also true that there are crappie everywhere. The trick is to find the big ones.

The best strategy is to hire a guide -- every stump and every cypress tree may look the same to you, but they don’t to the fish or the local fishing guides. If a guide is not an option, your next best choice is to slowly drift or motor around, fishing minnows, until you find a magic spot. Then, when the bite slows down there, drift and motor some more. A day of this and you’ll have a mess of crappie.

The third hotspot for 2008 crappie action on the west end of the state is Kentucky Lake.

The Tennessee waters of this massive lake offer some serious crappie fishing for those anglers willing to do their homework.

One of the best spots is Ginger Bay, just south of the state line. Head south and it’ll be the first big bay off to your left. This hotspot is best described as one brushpile and stakebed that covers several acres. There are so many that it’s almost impossible to tell where one starts and the other stops. They literally touch in some places.

Nevertheless, Ginger Bay crappie fishing is fantastic in the spring and the fall. According to most local anglers, including longtime Tennessee professional fishing guide Bobby Gentry (www.bobbygentry.com), old-fashioned, traditional methods work best here. Small minnows under a bobber should be your mainstay.

Move around if the bite isn’t what you want it to be. At times, Ginger Bay crappie can be very particular about where they want to live. Bait placement is critical. Moving your minnow less than a foot can make all the difference in the world.

On down a ways you’ll find Panther Bay and Dry Fork Bay. Both fish much like Ginger Bay. They’re covered over with brush and stakes.

Most Kentucky Lake crappie run around 9 or 10 inches, but there’s always the chance for a giant. Many times, they school by size. Catch a 9-incher and chances are the others you catch will be close to that. If you want a monster for your wall, keep moving until you find him. Be patient.

REGION II
Region II, in the middle of the state, has some respectable crappie-fishing opportunities. The better locations are Percy Priest and Tims Ford. Percy Priest will give you numbers, Tims Ford will give you size.

Percy Priest, just a short ways outside Nashville, is not a difficult lake to fish if you follow the right formula -- and that’s what it is, a formula.

During the winter, the Corps of Engineers will typically

drop the water about 10 feet. Most of the shoreline cover and structure will be exposed. Then, beginning in early spring, they will allow it to rise, ever so slowly, until it reaches normal pool. (They have very precise controls over the water levels in this lake.)

The crappie tend to follow the water up the bank as spring progresses. Savvy anglers fish brush and rock before it is completely covered and then fish it after it’s covered. At times, the fish will hold at 2 feet; other times, they’ll be closer to 5 feet.

A local technique -- quite effective, as a matter of fact -- is to flip and pitch minnows, weightless, into this structure. Find a likely looking spot, then toss your minnow out and let it swim around, freestyle without being encumbered by a sinker or a bobber. If the crappie are in an eating mood, you’ll know soon enough.

Tims Ford is very different and must be fished differently. Start your search on this one in Kitchens Creek or Graves Branch. Both are well-known local hotspots, easy to find, close to the state ramp and have produced stringers of eating-sized crappie for years. Kitchens Creek is located along the south shoreline, Graves Branch along the north.