reelfoot lake

Spent the weekend here in a hunting/fishing lodge. Didn't have the greatest luck fishing, but the scenery was beautiful. The history of the lake is interesting as well.

Beautiful lake. All types of wildlife. Bald eagles are there all year now. Fishing is good all season. Many breath taking views on this like. You really need a boat to see the best places on the lake. There is a Reelfoot Preservation Permit required if boating, hunting or fishing.

The shore line is hard to get to in some area. We recommend going to a State Park. Good bird watching.

This was our first trip to the lake and the weather was very good on our visit. There were several great pull off places along the roads that circle the lake. The history is fascinating concerning the New Madrid quake and explorers in the area. We stopped at a great restaurant named The Boat House, located in Hornbeak, TN. It had home cooked food and a great view of the lake.

Beautiful vistas in this gorgeous little park! I only wish I had my fishing pole. In addition to the lake itself the approach offers a glimpse into the unspoiled Tennessee lowlands.

Great outdoor place and viewing a wildlife and scenery ! Make sure to bring your camera ! Visitor Center has several Bald Eagles, hawks and owls on display !!

I used to be an Eagle Tour guide years ago and always enjoyed fishing and birding around Reelfoot Lake. It is still a peaceful and remote site, especially in the wildlife management areas. Good local food around and the cypress trees and lake are impressive and a great place to take wildlife photos. The state park staff are nice and helpful, but their center needs some funds for renovation - the exhibits are old and dated - good information but need some funding. If you like the outdoors, it is a great area.

My husband found this lake on tv and thought he'd like to give it a try. I found a nice fishing cabin owned by Mallard Lodge. This was an individual cabin that was really nice and not part of any of the fishing 'resorts'. We were really glad that we had some space to enjoy since one of our fishing days was inside watching the 25 mph wind whip up the waves on the lake. We drove with our Triton bass boat 8 hours to get to the lake. We knew it was full of trees, but thought that there would be some deeper parts without trees. We were wrong. We started at the northern part of the lake out of Kirby's Pocket. A local fisherman told us to stick close to the 'stakes' or poles that had been put in the lake. Fewer stumps around the stakes so more or less a path for boats to use. We explored the cypress trees and the average depth was about 3 feet. Duck blinds everywhere!! Some with electrical outlets. Bird nests in the trees. Next day was windy city. Tried to fish off the cabin's deck but the wind blew my bobber back to me and then into the trees. Tried again the next day. Fished in the cypress trees with no luck. Fished next to other boats with no luck. Fished through two 'ditches' that are manmade through the cat tails that allow boats to move to one part of the lake from another. Our hummingbird said we were on dry land most of the time. One ditch was 5 feet deep and another was 3.5 feet deep. Lots of birds, but no fish. Tried again that late afternoon. 6 boats were out in the deeper part of the lake so we joined them. We put in and then drove across the deepest part (18 feet was the highest number that I saw). We could see branches or trees sticking out of the water and avoided them, but still were rocked by several trees that were just under the surface. We never went up on plane any time this week. We fished with the 6 boats with still no luck. We didn't see anyone else catching fish either. We fished with minnows and bobber, and my husband threw everything he had trying for a bass. Not even a bite. Wind was picking up and when some white caps started, we headed back across the lake. We put the boat back on the trailer and talked to another local. He had one fish so I actually touched and saw my first crappie. He assured us that this was really unusual and that during March he will usually have his limit of 30 within 3 hours or so. For kayaking it was a great lake. The other couple with us had two really nice kayak trips through the cattails and man made 'roads' through the northern part of the lake. We saw several Eagle's nests with sitting Eagles. We saw turtles on logs along the road but none in the lake. The cypress knees and trees were cool to look at too. Just wish that we had seen a few fish as well. DONT go online for a Tennessee fishing license. Many of the websites are 'agents' and will charge a huge handling fee for each license. We ordered our licenses 2 weeks before our trip and still don't have them even though we have been home for a couple of days. Go to ReelFoot Kwikstop and the owner will help you with your license and the special Reelfoot permits that you also need. He helped my husband find ours online, print them for us and charged 50 cents for each. As my husband said, expensive lesson learned.

Dismal and unattractive, except perhaps to sportsmen. I came because of the earthquake history, and was sorely disappointed. There is little to see but unredeeming featureless open expanses, and I did not enjoy the visit at all. I took a camera, but saw absolutely nothing I wanted to photograph,

Lake was beautiful this time of the year. Water level was a bit high but beautiful. Crappie were hitting and the view of the lake great.

First time. Oct 2013.. heard about great fishing didnot catch a bite. I guess it was in between seasons. Plenty to do. Went for craft fair Oct 4,5,6. Venders were friendly. crafts were great. All the traific made it difficult to get around visitor center and museum. Kids (age 5,8 ) loved the wilderness, trails, docks... It is an outdoorsman venue.. mosquitos were bad at dark.

The best lake to go to for your fishing day,weekend or week! Just as beautiful as always and I grew up going to this lake to fish and cook-out also with family. Such a peaceful place to visit!http://www.tn.gov/environment/parks/ReelfootLake/

Enjoyed our fishing trip here even if we didn't have much luck but hopefully we will next time. The lake is full of stumps so I'll always rent a boat when going there but the problem is it takes a while to get around so it's got it's ups and downs.

Reelfoot Lake is an awesome place to visit Jan - Mar. The bald eagles winter over from Alaska. Their nests are huge and it's so exhilarating to see a bald eagle in person. What majestic birds they are. Don't forget to visit the Nature Center on Sat night where you can see several wild birds up close. Another very enjoyable sight is the Canadian Snow Geese that also come down by the thousands (100,000 was the estimate) to rest at Reelfoot Lake. What a sight when they take to the air when startled by the hungry eagles that hunt them for food.Nature lovers delight. Get over there and see some eagles. Best place to stay (if you are wanting something more than an outdoorsman room) is the Hampton Inn in Union City - about 20 miles away. Very nice and comfortable.

I always like to visit this area during the wonderufl craft show in Oct. Then there is alwyas the nice places to eat, ther famous cat fish.