The Micro Swivel/Vanish Flourocarbon

 

This past Friday was another steller day fishing Smith Lake for bluegill and spotted bass. I was alternating between my 3, 4, and 5 weight fly rods. All the fly rods I use to fish the lake are nine feet medium to light action. I like to use 4X, 5X, and 6X weight leaders in 9 ft. and 7 1/2 ft. lengths. I always snip at least 24 to 30 inches of the tippet section off and add a micro swivel to the remaining leader. This tiny little swivel is a must when fishing surface flies and poppers. The swivel gives me the advantage of adding tippet to a leader that lasts me a couple of seasons. The swivel also keeps my tippet line from twisting, when casting different size popper. As soon as the tippet section reduces to 8 to 10 inches from changing poppers I tie on a new tippet line. By following this procedure I'm always fishing with a new tippet line. You may be thinking I am spending a bunch on tippet material; not so when I can buy 100-yard spools of Berkley Fluorocarbon Vanish 4lb. 6lb and 2lb. test line that will last me years. What impresses me about this line is its low memory and being super clear. The spooled Vanish line and the Micro Swivel are money savors for the fly fishermen on a budget and retired!

The orange Bea Popper is still the favorite of the bluegill and bass! I use the size 10 for bluegill and the size 8 for the bass. The next 5 to 6 weeks is prime topwater action on the lake using surface poppers.  Hopefully, I can make a trip happen soon on the tailrace. 

Meal Time

 The weather was picture perfect yesterday morning on Smith Lake if you were fly fishing. Those individuals fishing for striped bass, and largemouth bass were doing a lot of motoring. Which tells me they were searching for active fish. Jeff and I were the only ones fishing the rock walls. In fact, I've never seen anyone fishing the rock walls the way I fish these structures. 

The weather was perfect with a cool 68 degrees, overcast skies, smooth surface film, and "NO HUMIDITY" This type of weather in the deep south is unusual in August. One would think they were fishing in the Spring or early Fall. If you fly fish with poppers you want a silky-smooth surface for your surface flies or poppers to land on; most of the morning that was the case. Around 9:30 AM the boat traffic started and the bite slowed. One needs to make the most of the 3 to 4 hours you're given at daylight and beyond to land fish this time of year on Smith Lake!

 One of many bluegills taken off the walls using the 3 and 4 wt fly rods. Don't think you know what the fish will be hitting from one trip to the next. Last week the red poppers were working, this week the blue poppers were getting their attention. 

I am blessed as are all the guys that fished with me to have areas such as this to land the bluegill and spotted bass found lurking on these walls. This rock wall towers up at least 75 ft. which is a sight to see if you enjoy fishing this type of structure. The crystal clear water near its base is between 20 to 30 ft. deep this time of year. When the lake is full pool you can add another 5 to 10 ft. to that depth.  This one wall produced at least a half dozen meal size bluegill. Don't think one run on this wall has produced all the fish that is feeding there. On the sixth run, it was still producing fish. The only thing that stopped me from making a seventh run was the heavy boat traffic that sent us to the boat launch.

The results of Thursday's trip ending in me dressing 10 meal size gills that made the trip even more rewarding! Baked or deep-fried these fillets are special. 

Left-over fillets are delicious in a fish sandwich. Lettuce, tomatoes, pepper relish, Deion muster, two or three fillets and you have a hardy meal. The rewards of a fishing trip can always be topped off by enjoying the fresh catch of the day!!

 

Filming My Fishing Trips

I have been spending time this past week working with some Video Editing software. I needed a more advanced version than I've been using in the past. I'm still in the process of learning all the ins and outs of this newer version. I've decided I am going to film more of my fishing trips this year, especially on Smith Lake. Smith is the only place that I haven't filmed a video. The video below was filmed using my Contour camera. The camera is attached to a cap I wear and anywhere I point my head I get video action. One of the things I have to get used to is moving my head fast which will affect the quality of the video. So I'm posting a video I recently completed for you guys to view.  This video is from previous videos I've filmed on the Sipsey.

  

Fishing Fast Moving Water

My daylight fishing trip this week on Tuesday, May 8, fell through so the Sipsey Tailrace was my second choice, which proved to be the best choice. Here in Alabama we are finally getting those warmer days with some humidity mixed in. That is what Sam and I encountered Tuesday, a warm comfortable day with clear blue skies and a slight breeze in the gorge. Sam is the college student I met as I was suiting up. He told me he had never fished the tailrace; so I offered to let him fish along with me for the 4 to 5 hours we had to fish before the generators were turned on. I’m glad the trout were active and he got to experience landing a bunch of trout using his 6 weight and my 3 weight. He told me after we completed the trip that his next fly rod purchase would be a 3 weight.

One of many rainbow trout Sam landed before we left the gorge that afternoon; notice the two fly rods.

Reverting back to the title of this post, I showed Sam how to fish in fast moving water today. We fished some of the fast runs that I had fished before. The key to attracting a take when fishing water this fast is no drag at all. Some of the runs can be 10 ft. to 30 ft. long or more. I like to fish all the runs here standing where the fast water begins and letting the nymph float though the run as I release fly line to keep the nymph drag free. The current is going sink your indicator a lot in the form of false takes but the reward is when you connect with a true trout take. The lesson here is never take you eyes off your indicator when fishing any fast moving runs. I landed numbers of trout today in runs that was no wider than 2 ft. and as shallow as 2 to 3 ft. deep. I lost a lot of trout today because I had to play the trout back to my position at the start of the fast water. If I had waded to the trout to land them, then I would have scared the rest of the very trout I was fishing for. So to give me a landing advantage on my next trip I will be using my 4 weight to add a little more muscle to steer the trout to my net. The wading staff is a must when navigating the current to get into position to drift your nymph.

  Colorful gill plate on this bow; I remember hooking this trout at least 30 ft. down the run from where I was standing. It went airborne several times before I netted it.

What a fitting way to end the trip on this great tailrace today. We are blessed here in Alabama to have a place like the Sip to land rainbow trout!!

 

 

First Warm Water Fishing for 2018

As most of you know Walker County Lake is one of my favorite fishing destinations. I’ve landed huge bluegills here from its waters that equal those I’ve caught on my beloved Smith Lake. To say I was excited to fish its waters again after a two-year absence was an understatement.

Cathey and I are still trying to adjust to the move out of state and back to Alabama; in fact, it will take us the rest of this year to complete the cycle of the move. Our lot we are planning to build on is saturated with rain almost daily.  It will take weeks before any construction can start sometime in March. The building process will last at least 6 months if the weather cooperates. In the meantime, we will stay dry in our rental home, which houses my Pelican boat in the carport. No way was I going to store my Pelican and miss spring fishing on some of the smaller lakes I fish here. Sorry to veer off subject, back to Walker outing: This is the earliest I’ve fished this lake, but the forecast pulled me like a magnet to its waters today. A high of 80 degrees is somewhat unusual even for the northern part of Alabama this time of the year.

The water was somewhat stained because of all the rain making me think I was going to fish dark small to medium poppers. So I had a game plan and I hoped it would work. The water temp was 58 which is a long way from the spawning season for the big bull bluegills.

My first bull bluegill in one of the small nooks near the levee; this fish nailed a Betts popper sitting still. It was a hoot to land so many bluegills this afternoon after being absent from this lake for a while.

The warm temps have started to produce buds on some of the trees along the lake's bank. I have a feeling we are in for an early spring here in Alabama.

The blue Booglebug popper attracted a lot of bass today. It’s not your average popper; it becomes submerged when worked along the surface film. All the bass I landed today nailed it submerged. There would be no Redeye bass landed today.