Weather conditions have changed drastically since I was a boy growing up in Mississippi years ago. We are seeing many more tornados and hurricanes today compared to what my brother and I used to call the good old days. The good old days are for another post. With tornadoes and hurricanes come heavy rains, wind, and flooding. It seems we have four or five days of great weather then all hell breaks loose for a couple of days with tornadoes in fact, as I type this post we may be under a tornado watch tomorrow. We are in this cycle through all of Spring.
The Sipsey Tailrace pictured here is an example of the last tornado we had here a week ago. This tornado produced some damage to homes and businesses but thankfully no deaths. After the aftermath, the areas affected must deal with the clean-up in the form of flooding and the debris left behind. The image above shows the tailrace flowing downstream at 8 ft. above normal flow. When heavy rains occur Smith Lake above the dam rises above full pool quickly and last year overflowed into the parking lot at the launch. This year we are seeing it rise again 11 ft. above full pool as I type this post. The Alabama Power Company which manages the lake has to release all the excess water so it flushes through the two generators at the base of the dam. When both generators are pumping at full force you see the results in this image. One can still trout fish using a spinning reel, but no wading using the flyrod will get results with water this high.
So, what does a weary fly fisherman do when he can't trout fish------the images above show the answer! I fillet 14 of these pre-spawn beauties and threw back a bunch of future bull gills fishing Walker Lake yesterday.
I have started wearing Orvis fishing gloves. I had two sunspots removed from the top of my hands in the winter months and one sun growth from the top of my head. My Dermatologist told me I needed to start protecting myself much more from the sunray when I'm on the water.
A lot of tree pollen covered the surface of the water on the lake yesterday causing me at times to use a dark popper to get the attention of the fish. All the bluegills were scattered and not in a spawning mode. The water temps are still well below spawning activity. The 2 and 3 wt. got all the work yesterday one rigged with a popper and the other rigged with a dry fly coated with Orvis Hy-Flote. It was my first time using this product and I have to say I was impressed. It is much better than any floatant I have ever used. Simply drop the dry fly in the bottle shake and remove blow the dust off and you are ready to fish a dry fly that will float high enabling you to land at least three or four fish. It becomes waterlogged once the fish inhaled it numerous times. You can use it again once it dries then repeat the process using the Hy-Flote.
I checked the lake level when I fished this overhang or cave last year and the lake level at the time was 497 ft. 3 feet below full pool. Today this area is covered with water resting in the trees above this rock wall. I am not a fan of fishing water this high on any lake, especially a lake as large as Smith Lake.
