Friday, September 20, 2019

Quality Trout Landed Fishing the Sipsey Tailrace

We finally get a break from the tremendous heat we have experienced here in Alabama. Today's high was 87 which is quite a contrast from the 100's we have been experiencing. As I left the house this morning for the Sipsey a cool breeze was blowing with no humidity. One of my fishing buddies was going to meet me at the pump station near access five. With fly rods already rigged, we headed for access six. As we enter the gorge we were met with some really cool windy weather, which made me glad I was wearing my long sleeve shirt. To our surprise there was no fishing, so we had the place to ourselves, which is unusual. There was no surface activity at all so nymphs fishing deep was the choice to begin the morning.
This crystal clear tight seam produced the first trout of the morning. I was fishing one of Alan's Soft Hackles drifting it through this seam when it was inhaled. I was standing above the seam and letting the hackle drift through the fast water. I really like to fish this pattern because there are very few ways to screw up the presentation. Just cast out and let it do the work. 
I'm glad I was fishing my 4 wt. because I don't think I would have landed this trout fighting it through the fast water. Thanks to Charles for netting him and getting the pic. A big thank you to Alan for tying up some killer patterns that is working for me on the Sipsey. 
The trout were released to fight another day. I lost two other trout that was this size simply because of hook set and fast water. The hackle proved to be the fly of the morning, after a really slow start. No trout for the first hour and a half, then this beauty made my day!!! 

8 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing this success, Bill. Nice catch. Your smile says it all! Let's bring on the autumn fishing!

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  2. Bill congrats on a beautiful rainbow. It's amazing how such a simple fly can turn on fish. Don't you just love the fact that it's hot and still you needed a shirt to ward off the chill created by the cold water in the river.

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  3. Thanks Rowan---glad we're getting some quality trout released in Sipsey the past six months---

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  4. Alan
    As stated in the post, the hackle is so easy to fish, in fact you get takes when you've not getting a good mend. Thanks for making Thursday's trip a success

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  5. Walt
    The fall and winter is when the Sipsey fishes best. The pressure on this place lately has been unreal. To land a trout like the one I touched on Thursday made me my day! It takes time and patience to fish here now.
    These bigger trout are the last that will be released in the Sipsey until next March. Starting in October Dale Hollow Hatchery out of Tennessee will release trout for the next 6 months. Those trout are in the 10" to 12" range with more being in the smaller size. So I may go back to my 3 wt. for the next couple of months to compensate for the really smaller fish.Thanks for stopping by and for commenting

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  6. I'm sending you an email with info about the tomatoes.

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