Anglers can get a good bite even when fish aren’t hungry

With our cooler almost full of bluegill and temperatures pushing past 90 degrees last week on Reelfoot Lake, f ishing guide Billy Blakley said those seven little words that always tell me my trips with him are just about over:

“I could really go for a cheeseburger.”

There have been times in my life — and certainly a few places — when I might have complained about leaving the lake early over something as trivial as a hunger pang.

But not now — and not with the restaurant at Blue Bank Resort waiting back at shore.

For a fishermen, the words “I could really go for a cheeseburger” used to mean grabbing a 75cent pack of gristle and goo from a vending machine that you warmed up in a microwave and hoped didn’t cause you food poisoning.

But at the Blue Bank Fishhouse & Grill, the words mean a Smokehouse Burger with smoked cheddar cheese, thick bacon and tangy barbecue sauce.

It’s worth a trip to the lake even if the fish aren’t biting — and luckily for anglers, it’s not the only place in our area where a fisherman can grab a firstclass meal near the water’s edge.

The days of fishermen surviving on Beanee Weenees and Vienna sausages — or just plain doing without — have been replaced by a dining experience that’s even worth mentioning while you’re exaggerating about all the fish you caught.

I know fishermen who drive two hours once a month from Memphis to Blue Bank for menu items like Bang-Bang shrimp, bacon-wrapped pork loin and Gulf shrimp brushed with butter and grilled over an open flame. If they have a chance, they try to do a little fishing in between meals.

“We understand that fishermen haven’t always been able to get good food on the water,” said Michael Hayes, whose family has owned Blue Bank Resort for more than two decades. “We’re trying to change that. We’re not only trying to offer them good food right here on the water, but we’re trying to serve it to them in a true restaurant environment.”

Besides a menu that is highlighted by weekend specials like crawfish étouffée and baconwrapped shrimp, Blue Bank has added new lighting, camouflaged tablecloths and other decorative elements, like taxidermy on the walls. They’re also planning an expanded drink menu in the near future.

If Reelfoot’s not a regular stop on your summer fishing tour, you can expect to eat just as well at other stops around the Mid-South.

The seafood buffets are legendary at Paris Landing State Park on Kentucky Lake and Joe Wheeler State Park on Wheeler Lake.

The restaurants near Pickwick Lake are too numerous to list in one column, and I’m sure I haven’t visited them all.

But I can tell you the ribs at Rib Cage Barbecue are as good as you’ll find anywhere — and certainly better than any can of deviled ham I’ve found in the front compartment of my boat. It’s a fine barbecue joint located in Counce, Tenn., across the street from the lake.

If barbecue doesn’t suit you, then try the Broken Spoke just a little farther down the road with a menu that fishermen could have only dreamed of 10-15 years ago.

The first time I stopped there, I actually had New England-style she- crab soup! It didn’t make me miss my grandfather’s menu of sardines and pork and beans, but it did make me stop by again for a togo order of soup the next day.

Although it doesn’t fall into the category of “on-the-water” dining, Top O’ the River seafood restau- rant in Michie, Tenn., is certainly a popular destination for anglers traveling back and forth from Memphis to Pickwick. It has a $22 seafood platter that is often more food than a man and his wife can finish.

All of this isn’t meant to serve as free advertisement for these restaurants.

It isn’t even intended to make you hungry.

It’s meant to illustrate just how lucky we are as fishermen here in the Mid- South compared with those who still rely on the primitive canned foods I’ve mentioned above to avoid starving on the lake.

Remember that — and count yourself lucky the next time someone asks you how you want your steak cooked instead of asking whether you want your sardines with hot sauce or without.