I grew up fishing on Reelfoot Lake. You're right, if you go on the Tennessee forum, you will get biased reports....and many of them will tell you NOT to go fishing there. Truth is, they just want to keep it for themselves. I live in Eastern KY now, so I don't get to go to Reelfoot much any more, but I will tell you it is one of the premier crappie lakes in the country. I learned the art of spider-rigging on Reelfoot. Many of the guides used to fish that way back years ago, but always used huge floats on each pole. A friend of mine and I were some of the first ones to stop using floats and just tightline. As you troll, you'll encounter many of the cypress stumps and logs, but it's fairly easy (if you watch your poles carefully) to simply lift your line over and around the logs as you troll. Size and health of the crappie on Reelfoot will amaze you. I once had a Fisheries Biologist from TWRA say that Reelfoot Lake was a natural hatchery for crappie, better perhaps than any other lake in Tennessee.