Entry 241-2

Fishing Reelfoot Lake with Billy Blakely for Bass and Catfish in March

Part 2: Timber Hunting the Lunkers

Question: Billy, what’s another technique you’re using to catch bass at this time of year?

Blakely: If I have clients with me who just want to catch a really-big bass, we’ll tie on a 1/2-ounce Strike King Premier Elite jig with a big Denny Brauer chunk on the back of it and flip to every tree and stick up on the lake.

Question: Billy, why do you find your War Eagle boat is good for flipping up on Reelfoot?

Blakely: One of the features not often talked about is the boat’s stability. Yes, we generally talk about how stable the boat is in rough water, or when you get it up on a plane. However, stability is also critically important when you’re flipping. You want a good, solid platform to flip from when you’re flipping these trees here at Reelfoot. There are plenty of boats very stable on the bow. However, I’ll often have two fishermen in the boat with me, and because we have so many trees up here, we’ll all be flipping to different trees at the same time. So, I have to use a boat that’s stable from one end to the other. Also, because we’re flipping in relatively-shallow water, I need a boat quiet enough to allow three fishermen to flip without spooking the bass we’re trying to catch.

I’m a big guy, and I can stand on one side of my boat or move to the other side without disturbing the other fishermen. If one of my fishermen sets the hook on a good bass, he doesn’t cause the other two fishermen to fall out of the boat. I must have that stability throughout the boat if I’ll have three people flipping for bass all day. Remember, I make a living in this boat.

A businessman who sits in an office in a chair all day will have the finest chair he can afford because he has to sit in it most of the day. The same is true of my boat. I must have a boat I can fish from all day, every day, and not only be comfortable, but make sure my clients are comfortable, too. That’s the reason I like my boat.

Question: Billy, are you only fishing live trees or are you fishing stumps, too?

Blakely: I’m flipping around everything sticking out of the water.

Question: Are there many people flipping on Reelfoot in February and March?

Blakely: No, not really. Most people don’t start flipping until the spring or the summer. But I’ve found that at this time of year, the bass relate to the trees and the stumps in the water, especially the big females holding up under those stumps and tree roots, preparing for the spawn. These big females are just waiting for the right water temperature to move into that shallow water and spawn. As the month progresses, the big females will move closer to the trees nearer to the spawning flats. Many times the best trees will be just off the bank.

Question: What’s another strategy you use this time of year?

Blakely: This is a good time of year to use a spinner bait, especially after a rain. When we get a rain up here at Reelfoot, we’ll have current coming through the manmade canals, which we call ditches. If this area has a rain and resulting current, fishing those spinner baits in the canals around current breaks can be a great tactic for catching bass at this time of the year. Any type of current break can be effective. After a rain, the bass will hold in trees, cypress knees, grass or anything that will break that current and create an eddy. If you swim that spinner bait around those current breaks and into those eddies, you can have a great day of bass fishing.

To contact Billy Blakely, call him at 1-877-BLUEBANK, or visit www.bluebankresort.com.

Next: Open Water for Big Spring Bass

Contents:

• Part 1: Go Shallow for Bass the End of February Through Mid-March
• Part 2: Timber Hunting the Lunkers
• Part 3: Open Water for Big Spring Bass
• Part 4: Raging for Spring Bass
• Part 5: Catch Kitties Now