"Bream beds!" your buddy announces, having caught a whiff of the sweet, fishy smell that lets bluegill anglers know they are getting close to the target during late-spring panfishing outings. About the same time, you, too, catch the scent, and both of you go into bird dog mode, trying to home in on the aroma's source while peering hard through polarized glasses for visual clues.

Despite your most careful searching, it's your friend's cricket rig that ends up finding the jackpot. A cast beside a small stickup results in an immediate strike, with the bobber plunging out of sight before the bait has time to settle. As your friend sets the hook with a grin and begins battling a brute bream on his ultralight rod, you fire a cast to the other side of the same piece of cover. Same result! You've found a nesting colony and are likely to be busy for a while.

Panfish don't earn a tremendous amount of acclaim, but that surely isn't because Tennessee anglers don't value them. Anyone who questions that notion needs only to visit virtually any Tennessee waterway during the spring and look around. Chances are good that several anglers both on the banks and in boats will be casting crickets under corks for bluegills, dunking redworms for shellcrackers, swimming flashy little lures for white bass or dropping grubs to rock bass.

Most panfish group up, so they tend to produce very fast action. They also are quite predictable in many situations, especially during the spring. Both attributes make them outstanding targets for outings with youngsters or other newcomers to fishing. While none of the panfish species grow huge, some are very hard fighters for their size and provide great sport on light tackle. Of course, it should not be overlooked that most panfish are indeed well suited for the frying pan.

With panfish having so many fine attributes and right now being prime time to go after them, it seems fitting to explore some of the best places in Tennessee to find fast panfishing action.

REELFOOT LAKE
Bluegills Tennessee's earthquake lake offers good fishing for a variety of species, and anglers travel to Reelfoot to fish for bass, catfish and crappie at times. Bream, however, are the main attraction in this shallow, stump-filled lake, and May is prime time to target Reelfoot's jumbo bream.

Reelfoot resembles a giant farm pond, with its endless cypress trees, stumprows and stands of lily pads, and the bream fishing is undeniably pondlike, with bluegills growing to big sizes and a mix of other panfish species available to keep things exciting.

During May, the bluegills typically will be on their beds, so an angler can "follow his nose" to find good fishing -- sniffing for beds along the lake's shallow edges. Anglers also can find beds simply by working along rows of docks or through cypress stands with live crickets fished on cork rigs or small jigs cast and retrieved. Any time a spot produces a heavyweight bluegill, the angler should slow down. More big bream are likely to be nearby.

It's worth noting that Reelfoot is no place for a fiberglass boat. The lake's shallow bottom is absolutely loaded with stumps and downed timber, and there's no rhyme or reason to running the lake. The best way to get around is in an aluminum boat and at a low speed. Fish camps offer rental boats that are well set up for the lake, and some include boat use in lodging packages. The folks who run the fish camps also can provide good guidance regarding where the bream have been biting and how far they've been beneath the surface.

For more information about fishing Reelfoot Lake, contact Blue Bank Lodge at (877) 258-3226 or check them out at www.bluebankresort. com. In addition to a Tennessee fishing license, anglers need a Reelfoot Preservation Permit, which ranges from $3.50 for one day to $17 for the year.