Cool nights and mild days make for better fishing at Reelfoot Lake Posted: Friday, September 28, 2012 12:00 pm
Fall fishing is getting better and better and so is the weather. Cool nights and mild days have settled in, which has caused the water temperatures to drop to near 70 degrees at the first of the week. By now, air temperatures have warmed and the water temperatures have risen up into the mid-70s.
Water color is also getting much better and this is due to the water cooling down and the small fresh drink of water the lake received a couple of weeks ago. Also a nice drink of water came late Wednesday. I had around .75 inches in Union City and the areas north and west of Union City had between 1 and 1.50 inches.
Water levels remain low. The lake is still some 24 inches low but his hasn’t stopped the folks from going fishing. Get out there and give it a try. There is going to be some good fishing this fall.
Crappie are being caught with decent size and good numbers. The size being caught now aren’t as good as they were a couple of weeks ago. Most folks are fishing in the Lower Blue Basin area of the lake, which basically is most anywhere on the southernmost part of Reelfoot. This also has the deepest of waters that Reelfoot has to offer.
Jigs are of preference for most right now as they are fishing around exposed stumps, which number in the thousands.
Try fishing with the Strike King Lure Company line of crappie baits. Some of our favorites are the Strike King Rage Tail Slab Hammer Crappie Grubs and the Strike King Tooty Fruity Tubes. Also, Strike King has released some of the new baits that are listed in the Strike King 2013 Catalog. New are the Strike King Mr. Crappie Jokers, Lightning Shad, Tubes, Grubs, Crappie Thunder and a line of jig heads.
Speaking of crappie fishing and Strike King, look who they recently signed they have recently signed as their top touring crappie professional — Wally Marshall. With that, the new lines of crappie tubes and baits have recently released as some of his new signature baits with Strike King.
Back in late July, Strike King — which is a Tennessee based company in Collierville — announced It has entered into an exclusive marketing agreement with Marshall, a famed crappie angler who is perhaps better known as “Mr. Crappie.”
“The collaboration with Wally is a strong statement about how serious we are about the crappie market,” said vice president of sales and marketing for Strike King, Doug Minor. “When it comes to crappie, there is no name bigger than Mr. Crappie.”
“In the 25 years that I’ve been in the fishing tackle industry, to have the opportunity to work with Strike King is the absolute pinnacle of my career,” said Marshall.
Strike King is now offering a new line of Mr. Crappie soft plastics and jig heads initially, with developing products in the near future. These products will be available at better sporting goods retailers most everywhere.
TWRA continues to do ramp repairs down at Reelfoot Lake. Last week and most of this week, the boat ramp at Walnut Log on the north end of Reelfoot Lake on the eastern side has been closed temporarily due to repairs on that ramp. Jeff Martin of the TWRA Reelfoot WMA office reports it was a good time to do the repairs with the low lake and in between the fall fishing season and the upcoming waterfowl season. Jeff went on to say unless something happens, the ramp should be open Saturday for the public use. This makes at least 5 ramps that have been repaired or replaced around the lake in the last 2 1/2 year and it is certainly appreciated by all that use the lake. Once again, thank you TWRA for doing the repairs and making the lake better accessible for everyone.
I also want to report that a new, long-awaited dock at the Gibson County Lake may be under construction this week. I made a phone call to the TWRA regional office in Jackson on Monday afternoon and efforts were being made to get something in place while the water levels are low at the lake. Once again, thank you to the TWRA folks in the Jackson office for getting to work on this. Speaking of Gibson County Lake, the lake water levels are extremely low and you have to be very careful when unloading and loading your boat. I would be willing to say that the lake is at least 5 to 6 feet low.
Last week, Dad and I had the opportunity to be invited to speak at the local Union City Kiwanis Club. It was our pleasure to share our love and concern for our natural resources and why we love the outdoors so very much. They were great hosts and we were so honored they asked us to speak to their group.
Next weekend, Oct. 5-7, the newly-opened Reelfoot Outdoors just across from the Blue Bank State Park on the southern end of Reelfoot Lake will be hosting their grand opening. Join them and meet Fowl Life’s Chad Belding as well as factory reps from Banded Gear, Simpson Jigs, Hobo Duck Calls, Ronnie Capps and many more. Enter also to win a Remington 870 shotgun from the Shriners. There will be seminars, demos, food and fun for all. There will also be a trap shoot that Saturday. Also on Saturday night, Leith Loftin will have a free concert.
Mark your calendars for the 23rd anniversary of the Reelfoot Lake Waterfowl Festival and Sporting Collectibles Show to be held at the Eagle Nest Resort in downtown Samburg Oct.13-14 from 8 a.m.-5 pm. For more information, contact Chris Bugg at 270-830-6505 or Bernie Forte at 615-646-5572.
Each year, the festival features many of the nation’s best duck, goose and turkey callmakers in addition to a large number of collectors’ exhibits.
Also exhibiting will be vendors specializing in hunting clothes and gear, boating and accessories, duck and goose decoys, wildlife prints, wildlife artists and other waterfowl and hunting related vendors. Nationally Sanctioned Duck Calling Competitions. Nationally Sanctioned Duck Calling Competitions Duck Callers and fans of the sport will be glad to know that the CCAA (Callmakers & Collectors Association of America) Reelfoot Lake Working (Hunting) Call Contest and the Reelfoot Lake National Metal Reed Duck Calling Championships will be held during the festival. Duck Callers of all ages and will find a place in this year’s competitions. Awards and Prizes will be awarded in many categories.
Also, the RLCC will conduct a Reelfoot Style Metal Reed duck calling contest. This competition is open to anyone blowing a metal reed duck call. However, the style of calling will be judged against the traditional Reelfoot Style of calling ducks.
Once again at this year’s festival, there will be a Duck Call and Sporting Collectibles Auction will be held that Friday at 6 p.m.. Items are being donated to the auction for the benefit of the Reelfoot Lake Callmakers & Collectors and all proceeds will go to RLCC, a non-profit, all volunteer organization.
For more information contact Bugg at 270-830-6505 or Forte at 615-646-5572.
Please remember to send me any information you may have to share or pass along to our readers.
Til next week’s column,
Catch ya on the water folks.
— Brent Published in The Messenger 9.28.12 | 
