Monday, April 2, 2012

Chasing Trout With the 3 Wt. in Alabama


The Tailrace has finally got to the point where the average trout fisherman can wet a fly. Notice I said average or intermediate that is what I still consider myself as far as trout fishing in concerned. In my opinion I want make it to the advance stage until I can master nymph fishing much better. For today’s outing I tied on my favorite dry for this area which is the Griffiths Gnat in size 18 or 20. This little fly seems to always produce because most of the time the hatch is similar to its pattern. With a little floatant applied it will float high for quick a while. I arrived around 9 AM to find half dozen vehicles at the parking lot. After suiting up and pulling on my new Korkers wading boots I proceeded to the walk-in area and to my surprise there was no one to be seen. I just stood there for a few minutes and view the beauty of the place. The sounds of the birds, the scent of the forest, and the beauty of the moss on the rock beneath the water made me realize I am lucky to have a place like this in Alabama to fish. In fact it is the only place in the State to trout fish. I was using my 9 ft. 3 wt. Streamflex for the first time for trout and I was looking forward to least a hook up. There was no activity on top in the area so I move up stream until I saw some trout rising on the far bank. I fish the area for about 10 minuets and lost a couple of bows I should have landed, simple because I was late on hook set. I move close to the dam itself and finally connected with a bow on the Griffiths. It was my first trout with the 3 wt. and well worth the effort. The top action diminished shortly after I landed the bow and I switched to a size 18 scud  nymhing with little success. The guys I talk to on the way up to the dam area were either landing none or had landed one or two. I did notice that the flow was not as fast as it usually is and we all agreed if there had been more current the fishing would have been better. For me it was a good for me to be back on the tailrace for a few hours even with limited success.  
The lack of current with the glass surface made it difficult to connect--really needed some flow to cut down on glare.
Glad to bring this one to hand--hope things will improve as far as flow is concerned next trip--I am still working on image quality as you can see even if I didn't take the picture

17 comments:

  1. Bill, nice fish, don't worry you'll catch up to me ;)

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  2. That's OK if you didn't take the picture, you still have a picture. The creek looks like it could use a little more water. Nice fish, though.

    Mark

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  3. any day a trout come to hand is a good day in my book

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  4. Glad to hear you caught a few on your 3 wt. that's got to be fun.

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  5. Devin
    I hope to land some spots tomorrow to add to my totals. Thanks for the comment

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  6. Blake
    This tailrace has a tremendous amount of pressure on it. It is really good to even land one trout as I did. It is very unusual to fish here without having someone 50 ft from you. Thanks for the comment

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  7. Mark
    The big problem was no flow to speak of--Alabama Power controls the flow and they could care less about the trout fishing individuals below the dam. Thanks for the comment

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  8. Howard
    I am really liking the 3 wt, I use it for all trout fishing and some bluegill fishing. Thanks for the comment

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  9. Wow, with water so clear you really need camo and stealth.
    Nice job on the bow.

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  10. Brk
    What really made it tough was no flow, with water glass smooth and crystal clear makes it even tougher. Thanks for the comment

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  11. Good old Griffith's Gnat. I never leave home without it! Nice report Bill.

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  12. Ty
    Next to the Parachute Adams, the Griffith's Gant is my favorite. This is the dry fly for tailrace here. Thanks for the comment

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  13. It was so nice meeting you on Saturday. We really enjoyed our trout fishing adventure. I was the photographer of your trout; the subject matter made a wonderful photo.

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  14. I was fishing with my husband downstream from Bill was the photographer of the trout in his hand. It was very nice meeting Mr. Trussell, I think he probably has many fish tales to tell. We enjoyed the day and had a wonderful trout fishing adventure!

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  15. Anonymous
    Thanks for your help with the image. Hope to see you again on the Sip in the near future. Thanks for the comment

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  16. Excellent post. That stream is beautiful. Nice job hooking that bow. glad you were able to get out and chase some trout. Nice pics as well. Thanks for sharing. Tight Lines.

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  17. Trout
    Coming from you I consider that a compliment; why because you are the man when it comes to taking fantastic images. Thanks for the comment

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