Thursday, November 12, 2015

Landing Rainbow in Logjams on the Sipsey

I finally made it back to the Sipsey Tuesday to connect with the new stockers that were released in the tailrace a couple of weeks ago. I was met this morning with a slight mist and cooler temperatures in the high 40’s, which is a drastic contrast from the hot humid weather I face here in the summer.

As I was suiting up I was wondering if I should wait to tie on a fly before seeing if there was any type of hatch occurring. I do love to land trout here on top and lately that hasn’t been the case, but that little voice kept telling me to suit up, and fish the nymph. My last outing here had me fishing high water and today was supposed to be different with no generating and the guys at the dam held true to their word, generators off all day.
I begin casting today at a set of logjams that span 30 to 40 yards in fairly deep water up the gorge. The water was super clear making it easy to see my prey with my polarized glasses. This area is not fished heavy, simply because most like to fish in shallower water here. This area has depths of 5 to 6 ft. The trout like to use the logs as cover and dart out and nail a fly pattern as it passes over.
Dead drifting nymphs over the logjams and letting it drop produced this dark-colored rainbow.
A deep cut on the gill plate of this trout tells me that there is more than trout swimming in this tailrace.
 I wish I had been using my video camera for this particular rainbow; lots of air jumps. No way was this trout going to let me whole it for the picture, but it did manage to stay still long enough for me to get this water image shot before it swims away to freedom. I landed a number of trout today, but what really frustrated me was losing so many fish on this outing. I guess it may be time to change from my 3 weight and go with my 4 weight on my next trip.  

15 comments:

  1. Bill lovely outing. That water is unbelievably clear. You used the right method in your pursuit of the trout.
    Love the photo of the bow in the water.

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  2. Looks like a fantastic trip! Can't beat that lunch view. It's a shame that you weren't able to stay hooked up with all of the others. I'm sure there were some good ones, but hey, that's fishing!

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  3. Alan
    I think that rainbow was mad as hell he got hooked, didn't want to cooperate at all--thanks for sharing

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  4. Justin
    I was sitting there eating lunch and wondering if anyone else had that view; can't beat a beautiful outdoor sense. thanks for commenting

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  5. Lester
    No way can I leave this place, couldn't get what we wanted for our house, which was good, will never consider it ever again. I have the best of both fish species here 20 minutes to the trout tailrace and 25 minutes to some of the best freshwater fishing in the U.S. Thanks for the comment

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  6. Mark
    I will be back next week after the big trout I lost, yes bigger will be better if I land some of them. Thanks for the comment

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  7. Wow Bill, that is pretty nice looking water and the trout look nice for being stockers.

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  8. Howard
    Some good size stockers were released there this month, makes for a lot of fun. Thanks for the comment

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  9. Bill, thanks for sharing the video of the beautiful stretch of water on the Sipsy. I agree with other folks here, those are some nice looking Rainbows for stockers. Landing the fish is the icing on the cake, the take of your fly is the adrenaline that keeps us coming back. Peace is where you find it!

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  10. Mel
    I landed some really colorful rainbow on Thursday afternoon, all looked like they had their fall colors on. Thanks for the comment

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  11. Bill, I like that kind of casting over log-jams that are fully submerged, especially with dry flies when the trout have an interest in rising up above them. Long casts are more easily accomplished, and usually there aren't many branches to snag the back cast, either. Glad you had some fun there on this outing with some nice catches, too.

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  12. Walt
    All the logs I fish and others fish were placed in one area along the tailrace six years ago when the upper tailrace was restructed, we are hoping to get the remaining 2 1/4 miles completed in the near future. We are all very lucky to have a place like this to fish for trout in Alabama. Thanks for the comment

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  14. Monower
    Glad you enjoyed the post, I try to give information that will help anyone who may be fishing the way I fish. Thanks for stopping by and thanks for the comment

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