When working the shoreline looking for bream beds, many fishermen will fish the entire stretch of weeds or pads. The key is again to look for something different along that stretch of shoreline. There may be a small pocket in the weeds or a hole in a thick mat of pads. One favored place is to find a log lying in the water in conjunction with a weedline in 3 or 4 feet of water. That combination will usually be enough to attract plenty of bream.

Local guides suggest using either spincast or spinning rigs to cast to targeted areas, or the 10- to 12-foot bream busters described in the Lake Barkley section above.

Typically, bream fishermen on Reelfoot will use crickets as bait. Often you’ll need to put the bait under cypress limbs or into small targets to be successful on the lake, so use the equipment that gives you the accuracy needed in terms of presentation of the bait. Even a few inches can make a huge difference between success and failure.

Prime bream-bedding months at Reelfoot are May and June, but good fishing action will occur through the summer months.

These are but a few of the great bream fishing opportunities across the state. But on each of these waters, you can expect to find sensational bream fishing. Get your gear ready now and fish the lake or lakes near you. Better yet, plan a trip to one of the other lakes in the state you don’t often have the opportunity to fish.

The month of May and bream fishing is a perfect combination in Tennessee.