Billy Blakely at Blue Bank Resort said April is a real good time to crappie fish at Reelfoot Lake. It’s the time of year that the fish start to move out around bedding logs. He said by mid-April, you’ll find them anywhere in depths from 30 feet to 19 feet. It’s also a time that you can enjoy a variety of crappie fishing.

The veteran guide said you can drag minnows in deeper water with eight- or 10-pole rigs, or you can move shallow with them and jig around trees with a single pole. Regardless of which method he’s using, Blakely will be employing the famous Reelfoot double-minnow rig.

During the first part of April, the fish will be out in deeper water; then, after the middle of the month, they’ll be around trees in 3 to 5 feet of water in a pre-spawn mode.

Blakely said once the water temperature starts to warm above 62 to 63 degrees, the action will pick up with the rise in the temperatures. Areas like Walnut Gap and Forked Pond in the mid-lake section will hold good crappie, as will stumps on the shorelines. If there isn’t much wind on the day you are fishing, Blakely suggested that you concentrate your efforts in the open water around bedding logs.

If the wind runs you off the open water, you can head to the shoreline and do equally as well.

A good April day average will see anglers boat 50 to 60 crappie. Two people can easily catch a limit. The daily limit at Reelfoot is still 30 crappie per angler. A big crappie on Reelfoot will go over 2 pounds in size, and the biggest Blakely has seen was a 3-pound, 11-ounce whopper.

Anglers can expect to catch both black and white crappie at Reelfoot. Blakely said anglers will usually find black crappie around stumps and bedding logs on windy days and white crappie on the calm days in open-water areas.

If he had to pick a single area to fish in April, Blakely said the best crappie fishing is found in the Lower Blue Basin. It has both shallow and deep crappie habitat. Blakely said anglers can put in at the ramp at Blue Bank or any of the state ramps for good springtime crappie action. To fish with this veteran guide, call (877) 258-3226.