Micro-Light Fishing Deep Waters of 100 Feet Plus

This post today will deal with how I mastered the art of fishing deep clear waters well over a 100 ft. deep. Smith Lake in Alabama is the deepest lake in the state and is only twenty minutes from my house. I learned early on that I couldn’t fish this lake with the traditional casting rigs and heavy line, because of the crystal clear water and depths of 300 feet plus. So I knew I had to go light tackle. I started reading about ultra light fishing on line and begin to experiment with different techniques and tackle which lead me to what I call micro-light fishing. I kind of invented my own technique some to suit the water and the fish I was pursing. The Micro-Light rig I am referring to is a 7 ½ ft. long rod with matching reel for added balance. The reel is spooled with 4 lb. test line. Why the long rods??? I found after some experimenting I could get longer casts therefore covering more water and not to mention more play with the longer rod as opposed to a short 5 or 6 ft. rod. I feel like I am actually fishing the fly rod just in a different setting and technique. The play on this rod is awesome because you have to use all of your expertise in landing some of the Kentucky spots, bull bluegill and large mouth bass I have landed. The following are the lures that I have found to be extremely productive on these waters and any other waters I fish. One of best is the Bitsy crank bait by Strike King in the following colors below. This lure has only been on the market for 3 or 4 years. I rig all of these lures with a 1/8 split shot about 16” up from the lure, and fish it with a slow pull. You can fish it through brush and seldom get hung. Another favorite is the 1/32 oz. rooster tail with the horizontal blade, which has been around for years. These lures are deadly when the bite is slow. I rig this lure with the same shot method as the crank baits. Reeling it slow with one of the hooks tipped with a small crappie nibblet which makes it even more desirable, because the nibblet emits a slime stream that entices a hard strike. I have caught some of my largest bull gills with this lure. I use all the colors shown above all year round. The last lure is one that has been around for some time but is more commonly used in the large mode, it is the Rapala. The floating version is extremely good in the early spring and late fall. I like to fish the sinking lure in the summer time with a 1/8 oz. shot for added depth. I have caught bass, bream and even catfish at times on this lure. Smith Lake is loaded with high rock walls at depths of 100 ft. in places so I found that weight added to the line helps get the lure in the strike zone much quicker. A lot of fish that call a rock wall home may hang out on a ledge or a small pocket in the wall or even suspend on the vertical face. I very seldom get hits below 30 ft. Since I started fishing these tiny lures with the long rods I have double my fish catch ratio. I never go home skunked anymore. Check back for my next post telling how I fish the fly rod on this deep lake.

Great Distinations for Trout Fishing

With spring and summer coming on I thought I would give everyone an opportunity to take a look at some great destinations for some fantastic trout fishing trips. One of the best is the Rose River Farm Farms in Madison Virginia, this place has been featured on Fly Rod Chronicles a number of times, really a nice place to catch some large browns and bows, another great place is Harman’s Cottages in West Virginia you can spend the night in one of the cottages that look out on the North Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac River, this place was featured on the Fly Rod Chronicles show about a week ago. Spruce Creek Outfitters in Pennsylvania is a nice get away, which was featured on Fly Rod Chronicles this past month. The following are all great getaways for the coming months: Anglers Lane, Big Horn River, Fall Creek Falls -- this is where the largest bream on record has been caught in Tennessee; it is a great place to see some outstanding water falls not to mention the hiking expeditions, along with the great bluegill fishing on the fly. The Brigadoon Lodge in Georgia, Davidson River, Ashville Drifters, North Carolina on the Fly, Grizzly Hackle in Montana, this place was featured on Hunt Fish and Cook show last year. When my wife and I go to Montana this is the place we will fish—really a fantastic place to fish and see some beautiful scenery, Callaway Gardens yes this is a great place to fly fish for some monster bream and lots of bass, another place just recently aired on Fly Rod Chronicles is Elk Springs in Virginia and last Southeastern Fly, in fact my son-in-law and I will be fishing with David Perry in late March on the Caney Fork, I am really looking forward to fishing with David and learning more about this great sport I have come to love.

Where has all the Young Fisher Kids Gone?????

I don’t know if you’ll have noticed or is it just me, but I am seeing fewer and fewer young people on the water fishing these days. I find this disturbing because so many of our kids are not outdoors enjoying nature but instead inside the house playing computer games and watching T.V. I wonder if the fishing industry is aware of this situation or just blind to the fact that their fishing customers will last forever. In recent years there have been clinics, bass tournaments, fishing rodeos, and other events used to try to stir the interest of the young, without much success. The fishing industry has to compete these days with all the technology the kids have at their fingertips. How do you compete with the far fetched video games, the outrageous T.V. programs, and of course computer games??? I must admit I don’t have the answer and I really don’t think anyone else does at this stage. I would like to hear what your opinion is on this subject. I have added some interesting links to attest to what I am talking about. A great article from Fish and Boat. Check out this link Fishing With Your Child which talks about hunting in decline as well as fishing among the young.

Fishing Trips From This Past Year

I have just added a slideshow of some of my fishing trips from this past year. One of the photos is of my daughter who has become quite a bream fisher lady at catching large bream on the fly rod. My son-in-law is seen clowning around with a small Kentucky Spot he landed using a size 14 black gnat. He got quite a play from this feisty bass that is like landing a smallmouth. My brother is showing off one of many crappies he and I caught last month from a lake in Mississippi. We caught all the crappie that day off of the Bill Dance Porcupine Attractors, which we had planted a month earlier. Believe me these things really work. My son-in-law and I had a great trip this past September on the Caney Fork in Northeast Tennessee. That afternoon we landed over 20 browns and rainbow. They were not the biggest in the river but it was a lot of fun just to be out on the water and hook up with some beautiful trout. I always look forward to fishing the Caney Fork.

The Love of the Sport

This is my first post here on the blog circuit and I hope to add many more. I have been reading fishing blogs for some time now and have learned a lot about this great sport that I have come to love and enjoy. I can remember the first fish I ever caught with my Dad in our pond below our house. It was this small little bream and I thought I had caught a monster fish and was thrilled just to land it. But at that time a 5-year-old has big visions and large dreams and it certainly made an impression on me. It started a desire in me to fish often and as much as I could between all the chores that my brothers and I had to do every day around our farm. I can still see the pond today which at the time I thought was this gigantic lake but in reality, was no more than a couple of areas.

In the coming weeks, I will be reporting on fishing the tailwaters below Smith Lake in Jasper. The trout should be stocked in the next couple of weeks. This is the only place in the state of Alabama that one can trout fish. The area is stocked every three months with rainbow trout.