Unless you are familiar with the lake, Reelfoot is one of those places where a guide or local angling companion is a virtual necessity. Not only do they greatly increase your chances of success, they reduce the odds that you will get lost in the twisting, swamp-like bays and arms of the lake.

Region I has other options, which include the bays and backwaters of the Hatchie, Forked Deer, Tuscumbia and Wolf river drainages. They may not be practical for the first-time visitor, but the fish are there and the local anglers know it.

Waters like Lake Graham (500 acres on Cotton Grove Road nine miles east of Jackson), a TWRA-managed lake, and Beech Lake in Lexington are easier to find and offer suitable access for most boats. Brown's Creek Lake on Natchez Trace State Park has already given up one state-record crappie, so it is hard to ignore as well. You can get information on them through the 2009 Tennessee Fishing Guide distributed by the TWRA.

REGION II
Todd St. John with the TWRA's Nashville office said, "Because of its location and the number of fishermen here in and around the metro area, the first thing most fishermen want to know is what is happening on J. Percy Priest. Because of some strong annual recruitment early this decade, there are still good numbers of crappie to be found. The down side of that is the poor recruitments in more recent years have put the lake at a below par status overall."

Veteran local angler and fishing writer Vernon Summerlin suggested that anglers start looking for fish above Hobson Pike Bridge in spring, and then move toward the deeper, cooler portion of the lake as things warm. Despite the pressure that goes with its location, Priest turns out some quality crappie even if not in the numbers that could make finding them easier.

Just across town, so to speak, Old Hickory Lake gets a different report card, according to St. John.

"Old Hickory has had some good spawning results lately and numbers are up there," he said. "The nature of the lake is such that you're able to concentrate on the places where most fishermen think that crappie should be -- shallow to moderate depths that have sufficient cover. Most anglers who fish crappie a lot find the fish in and around the creeks, especially those with dropoffs where they come into the main lake."

In terms of overall production, he adds that Normandy, Tims Ford and Woods are worth the effort to fish, with Woods possibly being the best game in town this year, though not the only one.

"The black-nosed crappie that were stocked there have really taken off and are now showing up weighing a pound and one-half and better. They're turning into a real reason for crappie fishermen to get excited," he said.

In terms of where to go this spring, the breakdown goes like this: Normandy Lake -- points in the Riley Creek area; Woods -- any structure along the creek and river channels. The crappie fishing success on Tims Ford is recent enough that no real annual hotspots have made it into common knowledge, although you can bet that the locals know. A call to the fisheries experts at TWRA could get you some up-to-date information at (423) 476-1404.

If there is a sleeper crappie lake in Region II, then both St. John and veteran angler David Lawrence of Nashville vote for Cheatham. St. John reports that pressure there is lighter than on any other body of water that close to Nashville and the current crappie population is in good shape. A specific where-to-go varies from day to day and one angler to another, but the general consensus for starting off the season is to concentrate on the abundant submerged cover along the channel edges.