Fishing Holes Category
Sunday, May 18th, 2008 by Lead Jig
The bite at Reelfoot this past weekend was rough. We pulled in twenty one gills and crappie on Friday which was much better than most people at the cleaning stations. We would have had at least 40 but we threw back anything that was not worth messing with. Saturday was even tougher as we ended up with nine between the two of us. Nobody was catching them. Back at Samburg, most people had cats caught on crickets. In fact, three crappie were caught in the last hour, just before we drove back in.
We had a few factors working against us. Just before we came in to town a bad storm had hit which lasted two days. After that a high pressure system rolled in which cleared away all of the clouds by Saturday morning. To top it off, we found out they had been draining water from the lake through the spillways to bring it closer to pool. Some said as much as three to four feet.
Even though the bite was slow we had a great time. Two purchases were made however that turned our Saturday around. One was an 11 foot jigging pole I picked up for $22 at Walton’s gas station. This made jigging around stumps without a bobber much easier. The other was a $9.99 tape-playing AM/FM radio. It is a little know fact, but sleeping crappie are easily sent into a frenzy by the sounds of modern country music. Who knew.
Check out the photos of the trip. Also a few updates have been made to the awards section. Check out Smallest Catch and the two new awards Biggest Redear and Biggest Drizzum.
Posted in Reelfoot Lake | No Comments »
Monday, May 12th, 2008 by Lead Jig
Yes, I was one of them. I used to think fishing Lake of the Ozarks was a lost cause. I figured that being the hot-spot that it is that there was no way this lake could produce decent fish. I was wrong. This past weekend was proof that there is excellent fishing to be had at “The Lake”. Party Cove aside (which serves its own special purpose), much of the development on the lake has helped the fishing. With each new development, up comes a dock or two. In fact, there is a plethora of boat slips, docks, and other structure within each and every one of the lake’s fingers and inlets.
Minnows gave us the most success by fishing docks without bobbers just a few inches off the bottom, but by far the most fun was had with a Smithwick Rogue crankbait. When they were biting, it was on like, well you know. We caught quite a few bass over 14 inches and surprisingly enough a few crappie that pushed the one pound mark. Truth be told however, my fiancé skooled us all with a smaller sized (1/16oz maybe?) crank that mimicked a minnow. The only thing that did not work was the frozen shrimp for cat idea. Only one cat was caught on a minnow.
On Saturday before heading to the local establishments we fried up the catch. We used a live-well to keep them for the day instead of keeping them on ice. I’m absolutely convinced that ice makes the meat more al dente when it’s cooked. That’s right, I said al dente.
Side note, I need to find a better fish batter. The products sold at the Schnucks and BPS are awful.
Posted in Lake of the Ozarks, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Friday, May 9th, 2008 by Lead Jig
Lake of the Ozarks - land of drunken boat wrecks, STD infested coves and what could have been a sunken pontoon boat (more on that in another post). It is one of the few places in the world where the production and selling of hillbilly wallets still thrives. Not to mention the place where a few PVC crappie beds were installed around a dock owned by a friend’s father.
Because of this we are off to the lake we all love to hate - and to fish. I am taking a variety of gear from 12′ graphite crappie poles to an Ambassadeur 5000 rig for cats. According to my top-secret inside sources, the bite was on last weekend. Simple slip rigs with minnows did the trick.
The weather appears to be wet and rainy all weekend with chance for a break Saturday AM. I guess I will pass on the sun screen. .
Posted in Lake of the Ozarks, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008 by Lead Jig
The bite at Reelfoot was tough this past weekend. A cold front came in on Friday morning to start us off which kept most of the crappie in deeper waters. Everyone we talked to was catching them by drifting in the deeper parts of the lake, mostly spider-rigging; and they were catching them. Piles of crappie were stacked on top of each other in the fish dressing room. As one fisherman said, “Buddy, this cooler ain’t got ice in it.” I looked, it sure didn’t. It was filled to the lid with black and white specks.
We decided to take a different approach and fish the gills in calmer waters. Pitching around tree stumps and avoiding overhead branches is most of the fun of Reelfoot anyway. However, to quote Tim Huffman, “there is nothing more exciting than a tug on the line.” This quote and many others we refer to comes from the Grizzly Fishing video and can be purchased at the Grizzly Jig Co. website.
There were definitely some LAB award winning bluegills caught on the cypress stumps, but one in particular was enormous. A 1.1 lb redear caught by Gill Slayer. However, the judges are still out as to whether a redear can be considered a bluegill and thus win the award for biggest bluegill.
The days were cold, rainy and windy but we kept at it and found the gills holding close to cypress stumps. Almost all of them were caught on meal worm tipped “Killer” Grizzly Jigs. It wasn’t until the clouds broke on Saturday afternoon that I busted out “Norman’s Rainbow” and took a few more in all tight lining with a 9.6 pole and a Pflueger automatic fly reel.
Leaving on Sunday was of course beautiful and in the 70’s. We made it home in record time and before noon which gave me just enough time to do eight hours of yard work. Ah it’s good to be home.
Posted in Reelfoot Lake | No Comments »
Sunday, April 13th, 2008 by Gill Slayer
A friend of my bro’s fished Reelfoot this past weekend (4/12-4/13) . Saturday was tough (and cold) he said, only caught 5-10 keeper crappie with only a few keeper gills. All were good size tho, especially the gills. Today he tore em’ up…he caught 25 keeper crappie, several over 15 inches. He also caught 35 keeper gills…and BIG ones too! He was fishing in about 4-5 foot of water using a Sains bluegill jig tipped with a wax worm. Can’t wait to get down there…we should get the tail end of the crappie & the start of the monster gills!
Posted in Fishing Reports, Reelfoot Lake | No Comments »
Thursday, April 3rd, 2008 by Gill Slayer
If you ever plan on fishing Reelfoot Lake in Tiptonville, TN…you will need (2) different fishing licenses. Depending on how many days in a row you plan on fishing there on a particular trip or how many trips you plan on making in a year, will determin exactly which licenses to buy. You can buy these licenses on-line and they will be mailed to you within a few days. You can print off a “Temp” license after you’ve completed the transaction if you are short on time before your trip.
Tenessee State license: (only choose one based on how many times you plan on fishing Reelfoot this year)
077 - NR 3 Day Fish No Trout $16.00 (for a 3 day trip)
081 - NR Fishing No Trout $40.00 (for the entire year)
Reelfoot preserve license: (only choose one based on the length of your trip)
090 - Reelfoot Preserve 1 Day $3.00 (for a one day trip)
088 - Reelfoot Preserve 3 Day $10.00 (for a three day trip)
089 - Reelfoot Preservation $16.00 (for the entire year)
Order your Reelfoot licenses here
Posted in Reelfoot Lake | No Comments »
Monday, March 17th, 2008 by Lead Jig
Fishing season has officially begun! I packed up the boat and went to Lincoln Lake for the first trip of 2008. It was about 48 degrees with wind gusts somewhere around 15 mph. On my way to the lake I stopped by S & H Bait & Tackle for two dozen minnows and bag of ice. They moved their storefront to the building next door. They may have moved, but they didn’t lose that crappy bait store feeling that brings me back time and time again. Tuna sandwich with hints of cricket wrapped in cellophane anyone? Delicious.
I started fishing around nine o’clock and caught three decent bass in the first half hour with the long pole and automatic fly reel. I didn’t realize it at the time, but the MDC is requesting you remove any and all largemouth bass caught from the lake. Is bassapetizer a word? It is now.
The rest of the day was slow. I did however manage to break an ultralight rod on what I’m going to say might have been the biggest catfish I’ve ever hooked. That or a stump.
Posted in Lake Lincoln | No Comments »
Thursday, March 13th, 2008 by Lead Jig
Found this posted on www.reelfootlake.com. Some sage advice for good old Reelfoot.
http://www.reelfootlake.com/fishing_secrets.htm
Posted in Reelfoot Lake | No Comments »
Reelfoot Lockjaw
