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Close to Memphis
- Thread starter memace
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spoon
Well-Known Member
Glen springs north of Memphis, whiteville lake hour east of Memphis, Sardis lake hour south of Memphis and Horseshoe 45 mins west of Memphis
easy45
Well-Known Member
Your not but 1.5 hours from Pickwick, go there so you can run it wide open.
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Crosshairy
Well-Known Member
I live in Bartlett, and it's a 2-hour drive to get to Pickwick nowadays with traffic. If you are close to the highway on the south end of town, you might be able to hit highway 72 and cut off some time by running across north Mississippi to Corinth.
Sadly, we've lost some of the better boating lakes over the last 10 years, such that there aren't many good spots on the Tennessee side that are within an hour. The best fishing is 2-hours out or so, in my opinion (Tennessee River/PIckwick/Kentucky Lake, Reelfoot, Carroll County 1000 Acre Lake).
If you want to run a gas motor, options get rather limited within your radius. For Arkansas, Bear Creek might be that close - Horseshoe Lake was already mentioned.
You could get to Sardis or Arkabutla in that time (Mississippi). I'm sure there are other Mississippi options to choose from, but I still haven't decided to start buying licenses for 3 states.
On the Tennessee side, you could go to McKellar Lake (oxbow of the MS River - boat ramp is in MLK Park just south of President's Island (exit at Mallory Ave on I-55). There is a consumption advisory for fish there, so it's catch-and-release unless you want to take your chances with whatever chemicals are in the fish. Also be careful of jumping silver carp - they can be downright deadly when going fast (no joke).
The Hatchie River has a few boat ramps on it. It's not big water, but it's scenic and there are decent fish in it. There are some oxbows that you can put smaller boats on on the Hatchie Refuge. Those can be fun, but I don't think gas motors are allowed at all. Haven't been there in years.
Casper Lake on Edmund Orgill golf course in Millington is trolling motor only I think, but had some pretty big bream in it the last time I was there.
Poplar Tree Lake in Shelby Forest is pretty decent, but is rather large for being trolling motor only. You can burn through a battery easy there, so consider bringing a spare. You have to buy a lake permit from the park office. The Shelby Forest General Store near the entrance carries bait and a small tackle selection.
Herb Parsons Lake, Glen Springs Lake, and Whiteville Lake all allow gas motors, but are TWRA family fishing lakes with no-wake zones across the whole thing. Whiteville lake is the smallest, by far. Glen Springs is the most interesting, but has very clear water and can prove challenging to those who aren't used to picky fish. Herb Parsons and Glens Springs both get a good amount of fishing pressure, since the are the closest lakes to Memphis that allow gas motor usage and have edible fish.
Dacus Lake is in Arkansas, but allows you to use a TN license since it's an oxbow of the Mississippi that is often connected (water gets in around 17 feet, I think). I went there a month ago or so and was pretty disappointed. Boat launch is $5 in an honor box. There were a lot of silver carp, but not much else. Good thing about it was that you can run your motor.
My advice is to pick a state (AR or MS), buy an out-of-state license, and drive just a bit farther to widen your options with those choices if driving a gas motor is important to you. Otherwise, getting a jon boat with a trolling motor or very small gas motor will suit you fine on the TN side.
Sadly, we've lost some of the better boating lakes over the last 10 years, such that there aren't many good spots on the Tennessee side that are within an hour. The best fishing is 2-hours out or so, in my opinion (Tennessee River/PIckwick/Kentucky Lake, Reelfoot, Carroll County 1000 Acre Lake).
If you want to run a gas motor, options get rather limited within your radius. For Arkansas, Bear Creek might be that close - Horseshoe Lake was already mentioned.
You could get to Sardis or Arkabutla in that time (Mississippi). I'm sure there are other Mississippi options to choose from, but I still haven't decided to start buying licenses for 3 states.
On the Tennessee side, you could go to McKellar Lake (oxbow of the MS River - boat ramp is in MLK Park just south of President's Island (exit at Mallory Ave on I-55). There is a consumption advisory for fish there, so it's catch-and-release unless you want to take your chances with whatever chemicals are in the fish. Also be careful of jumping silver carp - they can be downright deadly when going fast (no joke).
The Hatchie River has a few boat ramps on it. It's not big water, but it's scenic and there are decent fish in it. There are some oxbows that you can put smaller boats on on the Hatchie Refuge. Those can be fun, but I don't think gas motors are allowed at all. Haven't been there in years.
Casper Lake on Edmund Orgill golf course in Millington is trolling motor only I think, but had some pretty big bream in it the last time I was there.
Poplar Tree Lake in Shelby Forest is pretty decent, but is rather large for being trolling motor only. You can burn through a battery easy there, so consider bringing a spare. You have to buy a lake permit from the park office. The Shelby Forest General Store near the entrance carries bait and a small tackle selection.
Herb Parsons Lake, Glen Springs Lake, and Whiteville Lake all allow gas motors, but are TWRA family fishing lakes with no-wake zones across the whole thing. Whiteville lake is the smallest, by far. Glen Springs is the most interesting, but has very clear water and can prove challenging to those who aren't used to picky fish. Herb Parsons and Glens Springs both get a good amount of fishing pressure, since the are the closest lakes to Memphis that allow gas motor usage and have edible fish.
Dacus Lake is in Arkansas, but allows you to use a TN license since it's an oxbow of the Mississippi that is often connected (water gets in around 17 feet, I think). I went there a month ago or so and was pretty disappointed. Boat launch is $5 in an honor box. There were a lot of silver carp, but not much else. Good thing about it was that you can run your motor.
My advice is to pick a state (AR or MS), buy an out-of-state license, and drive just a bit farther to widen your options with those choices if driving a gas motor is important to you. Otherwise, getting a jon boat with a trolling motor or very small gas motor will suit you fine on the TN side.
