Waiting For CoolerTempertures

 When is the best time to land fish using the fly rod? August stands out as the least productive month, particularly for warm-water species. Bass and Bluegill tend to retreat to deeper waters during the hottest times of the year, typically July and August when surface temperatures can reach a scorching 87/88 degrees. However, as the water begins to cool in late September and October, the fish become more active, marking a significant shift in behavior. 

The tailrace gets most of my attention during these summer months. I would rather stand in 58-degree water than sit in the boat and wipe sweat from my forehead. 

This past Tuesday's trip on the tailrace was my first outing to fish the tailrace in a while. Why? It is hard to leave landing the spotted bass and super-sized gills on the lake during April, May, and June, the prime times to fish the lake. 

I arrived at the parking lot at 6 a.m. and discovered I was the only one there. Great, I will fish a couple of holes near access six. Before I suited up, I walked down the metal walkway to check the water lever and saw the generators had been on early that morning. I knew then I would have to wait at least an hour or more for the water to recede before I could wade anywhere near the areas I would fish. So I sat in the truck and reorganized my five fly boxes while listening to my sevenies songbook on my flash drive. 

Finally, the water receded, and I reached access six to fish my first pocket hole. The water was lower than I expected. Neither pocket hole produces any trout. I used my Euro nymphing 10' 4"  fly rod paired with my Orvis fly reel. I'm still learning to detect a take, especially in a slow current. I soon discovered I was battling two enemies: the bright sun lighting up the areas I was fishing and a tremendous amount of fishing pressure the week before. So I looked for shade, which was above access six. I sit up in a hole and run. I had fished many times before. I am now into my fourth fly change. I selected a size 12 pheasant tail as my point fly and added a size 18 green midge as my upper fly. My tippet ring was tied about 16" above the point fly. I use the tippet ring so I don't have to keep tying knots when changing flies above the point fly.

Cast after cast, in the first run, didn't produce a trout, but I didn't lose hope. Moving to deeper water, I finally landed my first trout. The take was light, but I was proud of detecting the hit. I am still learning to land a trout using the long Euro rod, but I am getting better with every trip. This form of fly fishing will be my mode of fishing in this place because of the amount of fishing pressure it endures. The rest of today's trip enabled me to practice my casting technique mainly because the trout developed lockjaw. As I was leaving and walking up the incline back to the truck, I remembered this hit song by "Three Dog Night" in the seventies, "One is the loneliness number," which might have been the feeling of the lone trout I landed today. But for me, it was a great way to spend the morning. 

Fly Fishing in The Wind

 I've often said that the two worse enemies of a fly fisherman are the sun and the wind. That is one of the reasons why I like to fish during the daylight hours and on into the mid-morning. Once you have fished all the shaded areas, getting a hit, especially on top, becomes difficult. If you are dealing with wind, don't bother to fish dries or poppers, but you can fish subsurface flies such as nymphs and streamers, which I used on the Sipsey Tailrace this morning. As I entered the gorge, I noticed a slight breeze and a feeling of being lonesome, " I WAS THE ONLY FLY FISHERMAN THERE!" A first for me, which gave me my choice of which pocket holes I would try first. 

This trout was the first I landed in one of the pocket holes above the steps at Access 6. Notice I am wearing gloves now; most of the time, I am on the water. I have had two small cancerous growths removed from both hands this year. All those years in the sun have caught up with me. My gloves were wet because I didn't want to handle a trout with a dry glove. The gill plate and fins on this trout had some color, unusual for a stock trout. 

I always fish the Sipsey now using a wading staff because of this type of surface one encounters when fishing here. 

I had 30 minutes by myself before guys started showing up to join me. I would see five other individuals fishing before I left. This stretch of surface rock can be challenging to navigate because of the slim covered surface of the stones. One misstep, and you fall. I have seen guys take a fall because they get in a hurry trying to move from one spot to the next. 

When I landed this trout, the wind had started blowing so hard I almost lost my hat; the hat strip had saved it from blowing across the tailrace. I was to the point I would wait for a pause in the 20 mph wind gust and make a cast, and even then, I had difficulty placing the nymph. 

I arrived at eight and left by ten. I found the parking lot empty when I walk back to my truck. I kept telling myself I would land a few more trout, but it would not happen. The wind had taken over and killed the bite for the morning. 

Guys, I can't end this post without showing you a few video clips of Bryson, our oldest Grandson playing in last Sunday's Flag Football game. 

His team and his Brother Cash's team will be in the playoffs next Sunday, so guess where Pops

 and Meme will be?

Cash finding an open receiver and throwing a touchdown pass--great footwork and concentration!  

Survival of Stocked Trout in Tailwaters

 

I received an email the other day from one of my fly fishing buddies concerning stocked rainbow trout in the Sipsey Tailrace that we fish. The email contained a study conducted by an Auburn University student in partial fulfillment for a Degree of Masters in Science. 

Hypolimnetic discharge waters (the layer of water in a thermally stratified lake that lies below the thermocline, is noncirculating, and remains perpetually cold)  from reservoirs in the southern U.S. provides water temperatures cold enough to support Rainbow Trout fisheries in regions where they otherwise could not exist. The Sipsey Fork tailwater in Alabama provides such an opportunity and is stocked with Rainbow Trout monthly. In a recent survey, less than 25% of the Rainbow Trout stocked each month were harvested and few trout appeared to persist in the system for more than 3-4 weeks. The objective of this study was to describe post-stocking dispersal and the fate of the non-harvested Rainbow Trout. In March, June, and October 2017, and January 2018, numerous Rainbow Trout were radio-tagged and tracked to document movement patterns and to determine longevity in the tailrace. Tagged Rainbow Trout had dispersed an average of 4.1 km or 2 .54 miles with only 30% of tagged Rainbow Trout remaining alive five weeks after stocking. The extent of predation on Rainbow Trout was assessed using a bioenergetics approach. Electrofishing surveys and diet analysis of predators identified Striped Bass as the primary predators of Rainbow Trout in the Sipsey Fork. Bioenergetics simulations revealed that approximately 500 Striped Bass living continuously in the tailwater from March through October could consume all Rainbow Trout stocked each month. Knowledge regarding the dispersal and fate of stocked Rainbow Trout in this system can improve the management of the fishery.

This study proves what a lot of us who fish the tailrace have known for some time that the Striped Bass consumes a large number of the trout once they move beyond the pump station. I have never seen Striped Bass above the pump station which is where a lot of the fly fishermen wade. All the guide trips take place above the pump station. There is less than a quarter of a mile of prime trout fishing from where the trout are released to the pump station. The rest of the tailrace is much too deep to wade. I feel the deep water below the pump station is where most all the trout are consumed by Striped Bass. 1100 to 1200 pounds of trout are released in the tailrace each month which could equal to 1000 trout or below depending on the size of the trout. Consider how many trout would be left in the quarter-mile wading section if trout were released every couple of months.

I respect the findings of this study but see little chance of reversing the effects the Striped Bass have on trout that is stocked in the Sipsey. 

The Color "Orange"

Orange, red, green, chartreuse, and white are all colors that are used when fishing poppers for bluegill and bass. One would think brown or black would be dominant colors fishing for warm water species, but not the case when trying to get a hit from weary bluegill or bass. The primary color of almost all insects that touch the water surface on Smith is black and brown, but I get many more hits using bright colors as opposed to the insect colors. 

The fish were hitting orange on Tuesday morning. I tried other colors which resulted in no hits. As soon as I tied on the Orange popper the bass jumped on it. This Spotted Bass came out of the water to inhale the orange popper. This fish was the second landed on the popper off the wall in the background. The first bass on this same wall was larger and broke me off while I was trying to get it on the drag. Never let your fly line get tangled up at your feet while you are trying to land a fish. How I wish I could have touched that fish I lost!!

The following are some more orange lovers. The bluegill sucked the popper into its gills; it would be my only good bluegill of the morning. The depths on most all the walls now are 10 to 20 ft. as the drawdown continues getting ready for the fall season. The lake is well below full pool during the fall and winter.  I kept wondering what bug the fish thought this popper was? All the Spotted Bass today were respectable giving my 3 wt. a workout!

Who needs a ruler when one can simply have it tattooed on your leg. I think I will pass on this tattoo. Tuesday was another fun day on beautiful Smith Lake!!

The Versatile Soft Hackle Fly

My last trip Fishing the Sipsey was on June 5th. dodging rain showers most of the morning. This past Wednesday I was met with heavy fog thanks to the tremendous amount of humidity we have been experiencing here in Alabama. If you live in the South expect the humidity in the summertime. I've said it time and again summer is not my favorite time of the year.

I made my first cast looking up the tailrace from above access 5. To my surprise, there were only a few fishermen casting above and below me. I usually tie on a particular fly pattern in the parking lot before I ever step into the water, but this morning I wanted to check out the surface activity before I selected a fly. The surface film was super smooth but still had enough current to attract a take. With no surface activity visible I went with a soft hackle thinking I might get a reaction, no such luck. I've found that size and color in the hackle pattern makes a difference when fishing a calm water surface. 

First of the morning in what seemed like a while to get a hit using a cream color hackle. I was using my 3 wt. Streamflex 9 ft. I knew the size trout that was stocked in the tailrace a couple of weeks ago; all were in the 9 to 10-inch range, so the 3 wt. was the right selection.  These trout were having nothing to do with anything above size 18 fly pattern this morning, at least that was my opinion. In order to get a hit, I had to work an area slowly and have a tremendous amount of patience using a small soft hackle. One needs every advantage available when fishing this tailrace, because of the tremendous amount of fishing pressure it gets,. I would land this trout's twin before moving on up towards access 6.

    Another Dale Hollow Hatchery trout taken letting a size 18 hackle drift slowly over a couple of pocket holes. I was using a 6X fluorocarbon tippet to get a better presentation of the fly. I started with a 5X but soon discovered I needed a lighter presentation because these trout spooked easy and had been bombarded with endless flies for the past 10 days. 

My last of the morning near access 6 fishing right below the fast water that exists in access 6. This trout was a whole over from the last stocking either in June or May. It barely broke the surface to inhale a tiny soft hackle. There are very few of these trout left above access 5 now. So when you land a quality trout now consider it a prize. This size was the norm for me dating back to my first trip here in April. I guess I've become somewhat spoiled landing this size trout as opposed to the smaller ones I landed today, but I shouldn't complain because the 9/10 inch was a lot of fun on the 3 wt. 

P.S. I was going to fish fast water today but it wasn't possible, because------next Sipsey Tailrace post

Dodging the Rain Showers

This post today was supposed to be about a recent bluegill fishing trip on Smith. Scattered rain showers have put a dent in my bluegill quest today, so the Sipsey was the choice. I can deal with the rain on the tailrace much better than I can on the lake. A little hooded rain jacket is perfect on a rainy day when fishing the Sipsey. I didn't make it to the tailrace today at my usual time of 5:30, but instead at 9 o'clock. I was met with a huge crowd, I counted 15 vehicles all lined up along the road. I almost didn't bother to suit up but I was there, so I might as well join the crowd.  

 First of the morning, with an exposed gill plate. I have landed trout with this gill plate deformity before. It didn't affect its fight. 

A fatty that nailed one of the nymphs I was using in the log jams fishing deep. At times I added a little weight to get the nymph down to where the trout were holding. 

Another quality rainbow landed in and around structure. Notice my free spool Gloomis fly reel; the best of all the fly reels I own. In fact, I just purchased another one on Ebay a couple of weeks ago. 

I considered myself lucky today landing the number of trout that touched my hands for the morning; considering the number of fishermen on the water. It seems there are many more individuals fishing the Sipsey this year as opposed to years past. I wonder if the increased traffic comes from the virus causing more people to be outside more? 

Avoiding the Crowd

I wanted to take a break from my bluegill fishing from last week so I worked in a quick outing on the Sipsey. A good number of fishermen were on the water, which made me think that access 7 would be less crowded. This was the week before Labor Day Weekend, on a Friday and not a good time to fish the Sipsey. I knew they were going to stock the place on the following Thursday right before the holiday weekend. So I was going to try to beat the crowd. Most all fisherman know when they stock this place.  

Just above access 7 close to the dam, there is one guy out of camera range, close to where they release the trout. I was surprised to find no one near the steps at 7.  

One to hand right after I got in place. All the trout that are stocked in the Sipsey are extremely healthy.

Keep an eye on the indicator--after filming and landing this trout I got my trout fix for the morning. I enjoyed the fight as much as this trout did!!

My New Fishing Buddy

I kicked off my 2020 fly fishing season this afternoon, on Walker County Lake. Little did I know that this year's opening for 2020 would be a memorable one. Why, because I would meet a little guy that was as excited as me to land fish. This eight-year-old name James reminded me of my own grandchildren. James, his sister, and his parents were fishing for catfish and trout using redworms. The parents had landed a couple of catfish but no trout. When James saw me land a nice size trout he ran over close to me and wanted to get a closer look at the fish. His mom told me that he had never seen a trout up close and thank me for letting him touch the rainbow. I saw how excited he was so I told her and her husband that I would be happy to let him land the next three I hope to land. So James waited patiently while I landed my 4 limit trout per fisherman. 

James' little sister wanted to get in on the action; one proud little guy with his sister to offer encouragement! Congrats James on landing some quality trout.

Walker County Lake is beautiful this time of the year. We've had a lot of rain lately causing the water level to be quite high. Even with all the overflow the lake still stays super clear. I'm looking forward to landing some supersize bluegill starting early March on this outstanding bluegill lake!! 

New England Vacation+ Trout Fishing

Winter is a slow time of the year for me especially if the weather conditions aren't suitable to wet a fly. On those days that I'm cooped inside; my time is spent doing quick workouts at the gym, reading blogs, Ancestry work, watching fly fishing videos, and just maybe a trout fishing outing. This past Thursday was one of those rare fishing trips. Thursday was the only day I could go because of other jobs and things my wife had planned for us as Christmas gets closer. 
The caretaker at the lake told me he was closing Thursday evening after me and a few other fishermen left. The lake opens again in the middle of January. So Thursday would end my fly fishing on Walker County Lake for another year. I assured him I would be back in January if the weather would cooperate. 

This one rainbow made the few hours fished a success. Released back into the lake for someone else to land in 2020!!

Family time was spent in October traveling through the New England area. We scheduled the trip so we could witness some of the spectacular foliage that occurs each year in the area. Vermont top the list of states we visited with some of the prettiest foliage. 

In full form in Manchester Vermont. 

The scenic Batten Kill river flowing through the small town of Manchester Vt. Wish I could have fished this awesome looking river.

Portland Lighthouse in Cape Elizabeth Maine

Rock formation along the shores in Cape Elizabeth; the boulders actually look like petrified wood.

 The largest house on the Kennedy Compound where Ethel Kennedy still lives. Two other houses are on six acres of waterfront property on Cape Cod along Nantucket Sound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. We couldn't believe we got this close to the big house before security waved us away, quite an experience! This is a trip we had been planning for years and was glad we were able to make it during great weather. 

My Best Trout Fishing the Sipsey

This past Tuesday I spent a few hours fishing the Sipsey. I was fishing numerous flies trying different presentations in some of the familiar spots I frequent here. As I've said before the Sipsey gets tremendous fishing pressure being the only cold water tailrace in the state. So in order to land trout here, one needs to be persistent, have patience and a willingness to work for the trout you catch.   

The results of persistence, patience, and willingness to work enabled me to land this 20-inch rainbow, the largest I've ever caught on the Sipsey. A tremendous workload for my 10 ft. 3 wt.

High sticking or Euro Nymphing made it possible to work these pocket holes standing downstream and letting my nymph do its magic! Overcast skies helped conceal my presence as I worked in these areas. Sometimes one trout can make a trip and today it proved true for me!!

Practicing for Spring

The temp today was in the upper fifties so I decided to make a quite trip to Walker County Lake to land a few rainbows. I was fishing right before the temps were supposed to drop in the twenties overnight. In fact, we are supposed to get at least 3 inches of snow by noon tomorrow. Southern's go wild when they hear the word snow and crowd in the supermarkets to stock up on milk and bread. Hopefully, the snow will all be gone by Wednesday and we will back in the rain mode. In fact, I would much rather have the snow than the rain. The rain has slowed our house construction to a crawl, the inside will be finished before the outside. 

Healthy rainbow landed using the Flashback; no mending just making the long cast and a slow retrieve. I missed a few simply because I wasn't watching my line close enough. It seems fish always know when you're not paying attention, that's when they decide to hit. 

A peaceful couple of hours until the wind kicked up and the temps started to drop. I'm missing fishing the tailrace and its tight seams and pocket water. I'm afraid it's out for now because of all the rain and generation. In the meantime, I will stay in practice with the lake trout. 

I thought I would share the family photo during our Xmas stay in Tennessee. The little creek behind the willow tree has small fish in it for the kids to play with. 

Just wondering if any of you guys have used fly clips. I read a short description the other day detailing how handy they are when changing flies. This one in the image is a size 1 which will handle size 12 to 16 flies. I don't know how effective it would be when using dry flies. 

Christmas 2018!!

Being with family and friends during this holiday season is what makes Christmas so special. I hope each of you has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

If one searches the internet you will find lots of fishing videos. Every once in awhile there are a few videos that really grabs your attention if you fly fish. The following video sums up why we love the sport so much!

Adjusting to Winter Fishing

My blogging takes a hit during the winter months, mainly because of the weather. I'm not a fan of cold weather and it's a good thing that I don't live in the colder regions of the U.S. My hats off to all you guys who brave the frigid temps to wet a hook.

The winters here in Alabama go through what I call the yo-yo effect; high temps for a couple of day verses extremely lows for a couple of days. On those warmer days is when I try to be on the water. I forget about those factors that may cause the fishing to be slow this time of year. I'm just glad to be enjoying the outdoors and sharpening my casting skills for the coming spring.

The Sipsey is getting a lot generation now due to the all the rain we are experiencing. Any trout that is released at the dam now is usually flushed miles down the Sipsey where a boat is needed to land a trout or two. The waters below the 69 bridge are too deep to wade and the banks are covered with trees and brush. When the generators are running the tailrace can rise 10 to 15 vertical feet in a matter of minutes, meaning lots water moving fast and furious down the tailrace. We are in the our third day of rain as I type this post meaning heavy generation for this next week. Three thousand rainbow is supposed to be released at the dam Thursday. I have a feeling most will be washed down stream, due to the heavy rains we are getting. The long range forecast for the deep south is living up to the projection, a wet winter!!

This may be my last trout to land on Walker County Lake until March 1st. The lake is always closed during the winter months. 

You never know what you'll land using the fly rod. Catfish are usually on or near the bottom of the the lake this time of year.  The Flashback Pheasant Tail was the fly that got the most attention. 

A First!!

Trout was released yesterday in Walker County Lake located a few miles from Jasper. This is the same lake I fish numerous times in the early spring. Late this afternoon was a first for me landing a number of rainbow using a tungsten bead-head copper john tightlining. 

A fun 30 minutes using my 2 wt. which I carry in my truck for a quickie!!

Reminising

Need I say more!!!!

Quality Rainbow Landed on The Sipsey

This time of year when one fishes the Sipsey they can expect high humidity which will produce heavy fog over its cool waters. I'll admit it adds beauty to the place but it also hinders one's ability to see a dry fly take. Sound most of the time is what you rely on to detect the hit. Fortunately, I was spared the blind dry fly take this morning because there were no rises in the area I was fishing. All the trout taken this morning would come from fishing a nymph.

This beauty was landed hovering close to the bottom, in fact, I was adjusting the depth of the indicator numerous times as I search for trout to take my offering. Getting a good drift was somewhat hard to achieve this morning because the release at the dam was slower than usual which gave a slower drift. I've found when the release is slow at the dam one needs to fish deeper for a take.

This trout displayed plenty of fight as it went airborne a number of times trying to throw the nymph. A trout tail walking along the water surface is water ballet at its best.

The two hours I had to fish this morning was very productive enabling me to land numerous trout this size. I'm having to plan ahead for the days I'm going to be fishing now because of the construction on the house has moved inside.

Notice the boots of another fly fisherman in the picture, he was willing to let me use his net to land this trout. Forgetting your net and leaving it at the truck is not being very organized. I lost 20 minutes of good fishing walking back to the truck and back to the tailrace to retrieve the net, hopefully, there's a lesson learned here.

 The net came in handy right after I got back on the water helping me land this colorful rainbow. It was good to take a break from the lake fishing and get to land some really quality trout!!