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Richard Simms
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Tim Huffman
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Copyright © 2024 CrappieNow Online Magazine. A KMS, Inc. Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
Cover Photo Credit
Jeff Riddle is one of many outstanding guides on Tennessee’s Reelfoot Lake, a crappie fishing hotspot. But in this issue Senior Writer Tim Huffman shares some great reasons you should visit Reelfoot, whether you are a fisherman or not.
The Opening Cast
by Richard Simms
I live in a quandary this time of year. Do I go to the lake or to the woods?
You folks who turkey hunt know whereof I speak. It is turkey time in Tennessee (where I live, and much of the rest of the country).
For nearly 20 years I have been a fishing guide. That means virtually all of my springtime days were dedicated to taking clients fishing, leaving almost no time for me to turkey hunt. And when I did, my lack of experience caused me to do it poorly. Hence, I have dubbed myself, “The World’s Worst Turkey Hunter.”
Now I have retired from guiding fulltime and therefore I have many more days available to pursue one of the country’s wiliest game birds – the wild turkey.
But because I spent all those years springtime fishing, I know exactly what I am missing. Shallow spawning crappie and the post-spawners which gather en masse on deepwater structure.
What’s a man (or woman) to do?
As of this writing, I have opted this spring primarily for turkey hunting. All I have succeeded in doing so far is to cement my place as “The World’s Worst Turkey Hunter.” Surely sometime soon I will find a dumb one that will allow me to slay it. Then I can get back to chasing crappie and/or other fine game fishes, and be guilt free about it.
Until then crappie anglers, please do as I say, not as I do.
Odds are your freezer (full of filets) will be better off for it (unless you are a better turkey hunter than I, which unfortunately, isn’t saying much).
Good luck whether you are pursuing fish or fowl.
(Postscript: The day before publication, lo and behold, the “World’s Worst Turkey Hunter” (me) actually managed to put some meat in the freezer. Perhaps now I can resume Spring fishing with a clear conscience.)
Richard Simms, Editor
“The outdoors is not a place, it’s a state of mind.”
Capt. Richard Simms is the Editor of CrappieNOW magazine as well as owner of Scenic City Fishing Charters. Formerly he was a game warden for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency before becoming a photographer and PR guy for TWRA. That lead to a 30-year career as a broadcast journalist and freelance outdoor writer. Follow Capt. Simms other writings on his “Richard’s Ramblings” Facebook page.
