Heavy Rains, Flooding, Tornadoes and No Fishing

 Guys I can't begin to tell you how much I've been looking forward to this fishing season. Well, the weather here in the South has been so erratic that all my early season fishing plans have been washed, or shall I say blown away. We have experienced some of the worst flooding and destructive tornadoes in years here in Alabama. I like to think that this type of weather is a normal occurrence for this region, but year after year is too much to stomach. I can remember growing up as a young boy in Choctaw County Mississippi, near Mississippi State never witnessing a tornado. A little wind and heavy rain but never a severe tornado. We have already experienced 45 this season and may be on track to equal the 145 that hit the state in 2011. Of course, along with the tornados comes the heavy rains, flooding, destruction and we must not forget the loss of life occurring each time one of these monsters hits the state. I hate to be pessimistic but I feel we are going to witness even more destructive storms in the coming years. We can thank Climate Change for this misery!!

I have never seen Smith Lake this muddy with the lake at 522 ft. which is 22 ft. above full pool. Numerous piers broke free of their cables and floated south towards the dam. The entire parking lot and launches at Smith Lake Dam were completely underwater. The last time I've seen the lake this high was at 518 in February of 2019 but never at 522 height. There will be no productive fishing on the lake until the water recedes at least 10 to 12 ft and the water clears some. We are looking at weeks before this happens. I am thankful I have Walker Lake to fish because it never gets muddy. 

Another causality of the recent tornado we experienced this past Thursday was this house that Jason bought about three months ago in Greystone Farms. Cathey and I had been overseeing some work on the house before the tornado hit it. This house was lucky that its roof didn't collapse with this size tree landing on the roof. The base of the tree was at least 30 inches in diameter. He can be thankful that his house wasn't damaged as bad as a lot of the other homes in the subdivision. A lot of residents in Greystone lost everything including all their furniture. This one tornado stayed on the ground for an astounding 167 miles according to James Spann the main weatherman in Birmingham. He had heavy damage to his house. The tornado started in Columbia Alabama and ended in Rome Georgia. 

Even Jasons Alabama birdhouse which was setting on the top of this post wasn't spared the destructive winds. All the common areas along the street where Jason's house is was demolished. Some of the trees were spared but most huge trees were taken down. His house overlooks a 15-acre lake that had trees blown down in it. The mile and a half walking trail around the lake will be close until trees can be removed. One would never know there was a tornado by viewing the lake's southern end of the subdivision. Notice all the houses across the lake still intact. Funny how tornados miss some areas and destroy other areas. Cathey and I will be busy in the coming weeks dealing with storm damage and work on Jason's house. I hope to have a more favorable post soon involving landing some fish waiting to inhale a few flies. Everyone take care

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!!

 

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!!! 

Cathey's Largert Bass and Bluegill Fishing Ryan Creek

I've been fishing a lot since March and most of it was alone on Walker Lake and the rest of the time was on Smith Lake with some of my buddies. A few trips to the tailrace were worked in when the generators were not running. Hopefully, most of the rains are gone and the tailrace will start to fish well in the coming months. 
One of my fishing buddies couldn't make the fishing trip we had planned for this past Tuesday so I started looking for a replacement. To my surprise my wife said she wanted to go, so we headed to Smith Lake for four or five hours of fishing. It turned out to be a special trip for both of us because it had been 25 years since she had been in the boat with me. She wanted to fish for the bluegill using live bait in the form of crickets. The only rule I had to follow was; she wasn't going to bait her hook, touch the fish or touch a crappie nibblet. In other words, I was her guide which was fine with. I was just glad to have her on board!

This largemouth put up quite a fight. I was really proud of how well Cathey handled this fish. She finally landed the fish using a 7 1/2 ft. Microlight with 4 lb. test line. We released the fish to fight another day. 

Hopefully, I can get her into fly fishing in the coming months. She has agreed to give fly fishing a try---really a special day for both of us, one that I will remember!! 

Beautiful Sunrise Fishing With Jason on Smith Lake

Some of my best fishing trips are with my wife, son, son-in-law, daughter, and grandchildren. Today I spent some quality time fishing Smith Lake with my son Jason, who is home for a week. 

We left the house at 4:30 AM and started casting the big size 4 Boggle Bug popper close to 5 AM. At this time of day, there is practically no humidity and no heat. In fact, the air was a cool 75 degrees. Daylight fishing is the norm for me this time of the year mainly because of the heat and humidity. 

A beautiful sunrise was one of the rewards that we encountered as we left the launch at 5 AM. The other reward was the banner morning we had to land some quality Spotted Bass along the huge rock walls located on the lake.

This Largemouth Bass was the only one that was landed during the early morning trip. The largemouth will not hit the popper as aggressively as the Spotted Bass. There is a big difference in the fighting power of the Largemouth Bass versus the Spotted Bass. The Spotted Bass is one heroic fighter!!! The Spotted Bass is Jason's favorite to land on Smith. 

One of many Spotted Bass which exploded time after time on the Boggle as Jason worked the popper inches away from one of the many rock walls we fished early. The face of this popper makes a popping sound that really gets the attention of feeding bass. Jason was using a bass bug line on his 6 weight fast taper 9 ft. Sage fly rod. The bass bug line made casting the big popper a breeze. 

The bluegill didn’t get left out on this outing. The Wiggle Tail nymph was used to land this nice size female gill. In fact, all four colors of the Wiggle Tail got the attention of the bulls and females. I didn’t count any the bluegill on this trip, because Jason landed most of the counters. This is the same nymph that Jason used to hook the trout he landed on Fuller Lake. Tightlines until we make another memorable trip!

Moving Back Home

My wife and I have been discussing for some time to move back to Jasper. Why, you ask, well we are lonesome for our friends and the small-town atmosphere that we had in Jasper Alabama.

For me, I’ve missed fishing with my buddies that I fished with for over 25 years. I’ve also missed my beloved Smith Lake and the Sipsey Tailrace. I didn’t realize until after we left Jasper that I gave up a fantastic fishing area. I could be on Smith Lake in 20 minutes and on the Sipsey fishing for trout in 25 minutes. The fishing in and around Spring Hill is limited to a few small lakes that are fished heavy and fertilized to the limit. The Caney was a great place to trout fish but driving an hour and a half to get there was a bit too long for me. In fact, I could actually see myself as I got older fishing less here because of the distance I had to travel to connect with bluegill, bass, or trout.

Cathey and I hope our house moves fast and we can be back in Jasper by the first of the year. We differently need to be back before the spring fishing season begins on Smith, Walker County Lake and the Sipsey.

Chasing Monsters Away

The best part of the holidays is getting together with family. Turkey day was spent with our daughter and her family. They were with us through Saturday and as always it was time well spent. After lunch Thursday my son-in-law B.T., Bryson, and I spent the afternoon touring the shoreline of Beautiful Smith Lake. The fishing on the lake is slow at this time of the year because of the constant drawdown of the lake. The lake level now is 12 feet below full pool.

Friday Pops spent the afternoon with Bryson and Laelyn at two different parks located a few miles from our house. The grandchildren love going to the parks and just being outdoors when they come to visit. 

Gamble Park is their favorite not because of the playground station; the live creek running through the park really gets the imagination going for a six and four-year-old. Feeding the small perch and chasing monsters from the creek by Bryson is more fun than playing a video game at home.

Picking up tiny pieces of fish food to throw in the moving water; the small perch would inhale it!!

This creek exploring just wouldn’t be any fun if you didn’t get your shoes and pants wet; oh how Pops loves to go exploring with these guys!!!

Driftwood Abundant on Smith Lake This Time of Year

This is the time of the year on Smith Lake one can find some really nice pieces of driftwood.  The lake is being pulled down now and driftwood is scattered all along its banks. Cathey and I like to place different pieces of wood in our yard. It adds character to areas in the yard that need a little pick me up. We’ve had pieces in our yard for years that hasn’t deteriorated with age.

This huge pine stump was taken from the shoreline on Smith a couple of years ago with the help B.T. my son-in-law. We got some strange looks at the boat dock when we motored up with this thing resting on the back deck of the bass boat. The top of the stump is buried in the ground more than a foot deep.

A different size cypress stump sitting upright

I found this cedar stump a few weeks ago buried in a sandbar along with one of the shorelines. Very unusual to have the inside hollowed out. The tree had been cut years ago.

Using rock alongside the driftwood adds to the landscaping

This is a piece of poplar driftwood that I found in the Blackhills of South Dakota on our recent trip there. Every piece that I have shown you here in this post has a memory.