An average Reelfoot crappie outing will turn up 40 to 50 papermouths this time of year, with a good day producing 50 to 70 crappie. On an average day, the fish will run from 1/2 pound to 1 1/4 pounds. The best days give up fish running from 3/4 pound to 2 1/4 pounds. As for the big springtime brutes, they may not come on every trip, but 3-pounders can be caught. The lake has a creel limit of 30 crappie with no size limit.

Top Reelfoot crappie baits are minnow rigs and tube jigs. Van Cleave said tube jigs and curlytail grubs work equally well as long as they're either red and chartreuse, black and chartreuse, or at least blue and white in color.

DOUGLAS LAKE
There was a time not long ago when it looked as if Douglas Lake was slipping out of the top crappie destinations. Thanks to a comeback, however, the lake has maintained its spot among traditional crappie hotspots.

The springtime crappie action is good, the summer trolling is very popular, but for veteran crappie man Roger Swatzell, December is the time he loves to go after crappie. That four-week span from the first of the month to the end of the year is when he wants to be on Douglas.

"There's just a better run in the wintertime," Swatzell said. "In the spring, they're real moody and scattered." And believe it or not, he said he catches bigger crappie in December than in March and April. They're feeding real hard and can bunch up in the thousands from what he's seen.

The weather isn't really a factor as long as you can get on the lake, and early-season snow won't stop Swatzell, though high winds will. If water temperatures are in the upper 40 to 50 degrees, Swatzell wants to be on the water for sure.

The best December fishing is in areas different from the spring and summer months' hotspots. Swatzell said he finds most of his December and winter crappie on mud banks. A few will be on points, but the big schools will be on mud banks with 15 feet of water or less.

Douglas is more of a numbers lake for crappie than it is a trophy destination. Swatzell said you could expect to catch a limit of 15 per angler on any given day in December. That doesn't mean big crappie aren't still found here and again. He boated one last year that went over 3 pounds. Swatzell added, however, that the 2- and 3-pounders aren't as prevalent as they once were on the famed crappie waters.

Swatzell's style of crappie fishing is simple. Put a 1/8-ounce fly 7 or 8 feet below a bobber and work it slightly to attract a strike. He also said color isn't a real big deal because if they're there, they'll bite. Still, Swatzell said he does best on blue, green or orange flies.

PERCY PRIEST LAKE
Cloudy, overcast spring days with a little wind to break up the surface are the best time to be on Percy Priest, guide Jim Duckworth said. Last spring, he said he limited out with 30 per angler every day. A great year-class matured last year: The fish had good size and plenty of keepers were available. This year, Duckworth expects the best crappie season they've seen in a long, long time on Priest.

Trolling the main channel with 200 Series Bandits is a prime activity in the summer, but with live bait, the springtime numbers come off the numerous stakebeds placed in the lake by the TWRA.

Duckworth credits the stakebed placement effort with helping to keep angler success alive on this Middle Tennessee lake.