BLUE BANK RESORT OFFERS HOLIDAY FUN

Duck Hunting on Reelfoot

EDITOR'S NOTE: This holiday season, take your family to Blue Bank Resort in Tiptonville, Tennessee, for an outdoor experience they won't forget. You and your family can fish, hunt and bird watch with some of the greatest guides in the Southeast. Jackie Wayne Van Cleave, of Samburg, Tennessee, guides for crappie, bluegill, bass, catfish and ducks at the resort on Reelfoot Lake.

QUESTION: Can you tell me about your duck hunting at Blue Bank?
VAN CLEAVE: Duck hunting is great here on Reelfoot, and it always has been. The lake is a natural habitat for waterfowl. Since the lake was created in the 1800s, many types of waterfowl have been coming here.

QUESTION: What kind of ducks do you take mostly?
VAN CLEAVE: We have about 20-different species, but mallards make up about 80 percent of the population.

QUESTION: What time do you get up to go hunting?
VAN CLEAVE: We get up about an hour and a half before sunrise and meet down at the ramp. Then we'll head out about an hour before sunrise to get in the blind and get set-up.

QUESTION: Do you call in the ducks?
VAN CLEAVE: Yes, I do all the calling. I have a yellow lab retriever who does all the retrieving. The blind is over 24- feet long and over 8-feet wide. The blind has gas heat, a gas grill, a gas oven and a stove. It also has electric lights, padded seats and a recliner.

QUESTION: Do you cook in the blind?
VAN CLEAVE: We also cook breakfast in the blind.

QUESTION: Explain an average day of hunting ducks at Blue Bank.
VAN CLEAVE: You know it is hard to say how many you will take in an average day because it is up to the shooters. It is up to the people you are guiding as to what you are going to take.

QUESTION: How many ducks will you usually take in a day?
VAN CLEAVE: Around 10 -- the limit.

QUESTION: What kind of ducks can you take?
VAN CLEAVE: Mainly mallards, gray ducks, greenwing teal, bluewing teal, pintail and black ducks.

If you want to spend the holidays at Blue Bank Resort on Reelfoot Lake, call
(877) BLUEBANK, or check out the Web site www.bluebankresort.com.

TOMORROW: BASS FISHING ON REELFOOT LAKE