Reelfoot Crappie Legends

 I can't imagine a better way to learn about crappie fishing on Reelfoot Lake than to spend the morning in Ronnie Capps' boat and then spend the afternoon with Billy Blakley. That's exactly what I got to do today, and the education and fishing action if anything exceeded expectations. Ronnie, who grew up on Reelfoot's banks, is the winningest angler in the history of tournament crappie fishing, and Billy is the longtime head guide at Blue Bank Resort. Both are legends at Reelfoot.

We spent the day working stumps in the "deep water" (10-foot range), mostly fishing spreads of minnow rigs, also known as Reelfoot Rigs. Ronnie and I actually began the day fishing eight jig rods, and I was amazed how he wove through the thick stumps with all those jig rods out and presented his jigs with precision against the cover. The fish clearly wanted straight minnows, though, and the action almost immediately turned furious after we switched to minnow rigs.

Reelfoot supports one of Tennessee's most consistently strong crappie populations, with a nice mix of black and white crappie available and plentiful opportunities to catch fish a lot of different ways during the year. The current population contains the most big fish that Ronnie Capps ever remembers seeing in the lake. October marks the beginning of the fall bite, which in the minds of many local anglers is the best bite of the year. After today, I surely won't argue.

Catfishing is at the top of tomorrow's list of plans, although bass fishing isn't far down the list.