WHEN LINE COUNTS
Busting Bass on Reelfoot
 EDITOR'S
NOTE: Billy Blakely of Tiptonville, Tennessee, manages
Blue Bank Resort on Reelfoot Lake and also chief fishing
guide there. Each day Blakely and the other guides who
work with him on Reelfoot Lake take clients out fishing
for bluegills, crappie, catfish and bass. “We
have to depend on the fishing line we use to help us
be successful and to help our clients to catch fish,”
Blakely explains. “That’s the reason we’ve
all changed over to Mossy Oak Fishing Line. We know
that when a fish takes the bait we can depend on the
Mossy Oak Line to put that fish in the boat.”
This week Blakely will tell us how he and the other
guides at Blue Bank produce large numbers of fish each
day throughout the spring and summer. You may not believe
the catch numbers that Blakely reports, but if you doubt
that he and his other guides can produce as many fish
in a day as they say.
 We
catch quite a few bass during May and June here at Reelfoot
Lake. You can fish almost any way you prefer to fish
to catch these bass. When I’m fishing crankbaits
and spinner baits, I’ll use 12-pound-test Mossy
Oak Fishing Line. If I’m fishing soft-plastic
tubes and worms, I’ll have 15-pound-test Mossy
Oak Fishing Line on my reel. On my flipping stick that
I use to fish jigs, I’ll use 20-pound-test fishing
line. At this time of the year, the bass seem to be
biting best on spinner baits and crankbaits. I like
the Strike King Bleeding Series of spinner baits in
the chartreuse-and-white color and the 4S Strike King
crankbait in the shad color with a black back and a
white body. The trick to making the bass bite is to
reel those baits as fast as you can by the lily pads.
The bass really like a fast-moving bait at this time
of the year, and they’re willing to chase a bait.
So, the faster you can swim those crankbaits and spinner
baits, the better chance you’ll have to catch
bass. The secret to catching bass at this time of the
year at Reelfoot is to ride around and look at the edges
of the lily pads before you start fishing. When you
spot schools of shad there, start casting your crankbaits
and spinner baits. The bass will be there.
Another tactic that produces bass at this time of the
year is to flip Strike King’s tubes and jigs around
the base of the standing timber. When I’m flipping
the Strike King Denny Brauer jig around the base of
these trees, I’m using 20-pound-test fishing line.
The Strike King jig is a big-bass bait. When I’m
fishing with a 7-foot flipping stick, I want the power
 that’s
built in to 20-pound-test fishing line to help me get
those big bass out of those trees and limbs. We’re
flipping a lot of really-heavy cover here at Blue Bank,
and you’ve got to not only have a strong line
but also an abrasion-resistant line to fish productively.
If you don’t have the strength and the abrasion-resistance
in the line that you need, you can flip all day and
get plenty of bites. But you won’t catch any bass,
if you don’t fish with line with those properties
to get the bass out of the stumps and logs. Something
else that works to produce bass when you’re flipping
is to flip Strike King tubes around and in the holes
in the grass that’s so widespread here at Reelfoot
Lake.
My living depends on my ability to help my anglers
catch fish. I started fishing Mossy Oak Fishing Line
when it first came out about three months ago. I believe
in it so much that I now have it strung on every pole
and rod that I fish. Since the line has produced so
well for me and my clients, Jackie Wayne Van Cleave
and Mark Pierce, two of the other guides here at Blue
Bank Resort, they’ve also changed out the line
on all their rods and poles and now are fishing Mossy
oak Fishing Line exclusively. This  fishing
line is better than any other monofilament we’ve
ever fished. Remember, when you’re fishing, there’s
only one thing between you and the fish that’s
on the hook – the line. If that line’s not
any good, then you ain’t no good. So, we put quality
fishing line on all our reels and poles.
To learn more about Blue Bank Resort, go to www.bluebankresort.com
or call
1-877-258-3226. Blue Bank has a motel, restaurant, guide
service, rental boats, motors, fishing tackle and a
bait shop. You also can visit www.strikeking.com
to learn about the company’s baits for catfish.
For more information about Mossy Oak Fishing Line, go
to www.mossyoakfishing.com.
To learn more about Yo-Yos, go to http://www.rockingaltd.com/mfish.html
or contact Mechanical Fisher Division, P.O. Box 1170,
Diamond City, Arkansas 72630, (870) 422-7715.
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