Reelfoot Lake

Do you like to fish? Personally, I absolutely love to fish. Some of my fondest memories are centered around fishing trips! You just can’t beat the relaxation and beauty that you get to experience while casting a line. If you are into freshwater fishing, chasing after a cooler full of bluegill, crappie, bass, or catfish. You will not be disappointed in a trip to Reelfoot Lake.

Reelfoot Lake is located in Northwestern corner of Tennessee. Reelfoot Lake is a natural lake that was created during 1811-1812 earthquakes. These earthquakes birthed one of the best panfish fishing locations I have ever been to. The entire lake is shallow averaging just 5.5ft deep. Reelfoot Lake covers approximately 15,000 acres and is the only large natural lake located in all of Tennessee.

I promise you this lake is like nothing else you have been on. While navigating the shallow waters, you feel as if you are in the deep swamp. Lilly pads, and bald cypress trees are littered all along the waters, really giving a unique experience to fisherman. With the shallow water and fantastic structure literally everywhere, you can find fish all over this lake. It does not take a lot of searching to get on top of a bed of bluegill and easily pull out enough for a fish fry.

Southshore Resort

There is not a lot of frill at this lake. It is a sportsman’s lake specializing in fishing, bald eagle watching, and duck hunting. You not going to see a lot of pools, bars, or local attractions to go to. That is one of the things I love about here, I can just relax and fish without feeling like I need to go out and see the area.

My plan was to take the camper down and stay at a small campground for a recent fishing trip that my dad, brother in law, and myself went on. Unfortunately, in December of 2021 a tornado touched down and completely wiped out Cypress Point, where we usually would stay at. This left us looking for a new location to house our stay, leading us to Southshore Resort.

Southshore Resort is located right on the water of Reelfoot Lake. They offer hotel rooms and cabins. We stayed in the hotel room and I must say it was a lot better than I expected. The room was clean, well-stocked with plates, towels, and silverware. There was a full kitchen, coffee pot, full-size refrigerator, and cable tv.

Located on site is a bait shop, boat rental, and the boathouse restaurant. The restaurant is open early and closes late and actually has some really good homemade food. I suggest the country fried steak with brown gravy.

One of my favorite things about Southshore Resort is the fish cleaning service they offer. As much as I like to catch and eat fish, I just hate to clean them. Most of the time I throw the fish back just so I do not have to deal with cleaning fish. If you are like me Southshore has you covered. For a small fee Southshore resort will clean your fish, bag it, and freeze it for you. This small fee is money well spent in my mind!

Johnson’s Guide Service

I am going to share something with you that I am not very proud of. Even though I love to fish, I am not very good at it. Now, I can pull out a few good bass on a semi regular basis, but to be able to go to a lake I am not familiar with, go find a bed, and pull out 100 bluegills. Well, that is just not a skill I have ever acquired.

So, for this trip we wanted to reach out to a local guide to be sure we were able to make the most of our trip. After hours of searching online, there is no shortage of guides for Reelfoot Lake. There literally is a website dedicated to the guides of Reelfoot. What landed us on Johnson’s Guide Service was that they have a website. He answered an email within hours of me sending it and we would be on a 23ft War Eagle boat with high tech live scopes and top of the line gear for us to use. With 3 larger men going on this trip, I wanted a large boat that was stable to move around on. The live scope ensured we would find beds and be able to get on top of the fast.

Patrick is the name of the owner of Johnson’s Guide Service and he went above and beyond for us. He was incredibly friendly, got us on the water and on top of the beds immediately, had a lot of knowledge of the lake and surrounding area, and was a lot of fun. Patrick had a good time fishing with us, while making us laugh and enjoy our day. He taught us how to fish the lake and what structure to look for in order to be able to get on top of the fish. When we go back to Reelfoot, we will continue to use Patrick with Johnson’s Guide Service for the foreseeable future. Click here to book your guide service