Making the Case for a Wading Staff

As I looked out across the misty covered waters of the Sipsey Fork River Saturday morning with my son-in-law, something told me it was going to be a good outing.  I was right because my son-in-law had landed 6 rainbows in the first hour. I had landed one nice bow on the 3 wt. Why was I trailing, well my son-in-law was standing in front of a honey hole where the trout was feeding in a run on what we call tiny gnats, that was floating leisurely by. The ticket was the number 16 gnat, which I had success on the past week. So I would say the morning was eventful to say the least, notice I used the word eventful, because it was for me. I experienced what I have read about when someone slips and losses their footing while wading. That happened to me about two hours into the trip and it ended the trip for my son-in-law and me after I made it to the bank. I learned a valuable lesson in that I will never wade in water again waist deep trying to keep my balance without a wading staff. I knew better to try the wade I did but I wanted to get to those trout rising on the far bank from me, and I paid dearly for it. After peeling off the waders I discovered I had as much as a quart of water in the foot sections of my waders. When you slip once and go down, there is always a possibility you go down again, and again, and that is exactly what happened to me. So with all that said, I am making the case for a wading staff in my hand the next time I am on the Sipsey.  

First one brought to the net for my son-in-law

Yet another bow on the 4wt, really glad B.T. had a great morning on the Sipsey

The only bow landed on the Padams, this was right before I took the dunk

Still a beautiful place to fish even with the fog

Fishing for Rainbow Below Smith Lake Dam

One of my fishing buddies and I made another trip below Smith Lake dam this past Tuesday morning. We got on the water around 6 AM, and didn’t have much luck with the dries we were using, mainly because there was a tremendous amount of fog on the surface and we could barely see our flies. There was some trout rising to what you like tiny gnats, so we began to tie on different patterns, starting with the old reliable Parachute Adams, down to a Mayfly, with no success. After a couple of hours of going through some those dries and using a pheasant tail, and Hares Ear with an indicator, we decided to move up stream and get into some moving water which was not quite as deep as where we had been fishing. The faster water had some great stems and some depth too, which made for a better situation as far as the dries were concerned.  I say that because there was some activity on top so tried to match the little gnats on the surface with a size 18 dry midge Dun pattern which prove to be the ticket for the mooring. We landed 8 nice rainbows in this one area all on the Dun Midge pattern. The takes at times were what I would  call soft and sipping, not as violet as last week, but neither one of us was complaining as long as we got to land some nice bows.  The good out of all of this is the catch of course, and the bad was we almost got caught in the river with the water rising on us to the point we had practically run to get out of the river. We both had looked at the Alabama Power website and there was no mention of generation at all on Tuesday, but to our surprise the horn sounded and we knew what that meant----get to higher ground and we did. I guess next time we will have to rely on a face to face conversation at the dam with an Alabama Power employee.  
The difference in fishing the tailrace this year as opposed to last year is the access point that the power company has made for all the fishermen. Before the access point one had to wade through brush head high not to mention scaling down rock walls and getting out once you got the water was even worse. My hat is off to Alabama Power for the first of three access points that will be created on the tailrace. Another feature that has really improved the fishing is the constant flow of water as opposed to the so call stagnated areas that was evident in years pass. The only time water moved was when the generators were on last year, which was not a good situation for the trout that was stocked. With the constant flow one can dream or pretend he is fishing a stream out west, which at times is what the area reminds of now. There has been some quality trout landed this year, with some measuring 16”. I haven’t tied into one that large yet but I will be working on it now that the area has changed for the betterment of the trout and the fisherman alike. Thanks to Brandon at Riverside Fly Shop for working with Alabama Power for making this a better place to fly fish for trout in Alabama.

Sorry for the blur image, but my buddy has problems with the camera

What the tailrace looks like when the generators are running, too much current to try and wade

Nice bow, not good image of the trout, but just wanted you to see the quality compared to last year. Last year the trout would have been smaller. I can't say enough about the difference in this place compared to years past. In fact the area was so bad that I had stopped fishing the tailrace because of the water movement.

Need Some Input for a Big Popper Fly Rod

On my trip to Dismal Creek the other day I carried my 5 wt. fly rod along to see if I could entice some of those larger spots to take my big popper. As I told you in my previous post I had no luck. The top water action was nothing. I did discover while flinging the size 4 popper that it was a hassle to get any distance and to control my cast with any degree of accuracy using the 5wt. and popper set-up. I really discovered this little bit of news after the first cast, but continue on in hopes of hooking up with my trophy spot. As the morning wore on I saw that needed a longer rod 9 ft. with the weight being a 6 or 7. I don't want to go over kill here and I don't want to spend a great deal of money either, because by the time I select the reel and match the rod and supply the line I am talking a tidy sum. If any of you guys have a suggestion it would be appreciated. For those of you who have use a heavier weight rod with larger flies I would welcome your input. I have discovered when it comes to selecting fishing equipment it never hurts to get an opinion or two from your buddies.

The Cat and the Spot

Back to Ryans Creek today at daylight for some spots and a surprise Catfish or two. All the spots were taken on a dark turquoise Boogle Bug size 4, the lake was falling and I was lucky to land the four I did. With the lake falling I had to be a little innovative because of falling water. I decided to carry my 11 ft. crappie pole and drop a cricket with a white crappie nibbet tipped on the hook against the rock walls. The walls prove to be quite productive. I landed two channel catfish in depths of 15 to 18 ft. Lots of fun to land catfish anytime on any type rod---did I mention it was hoooooot and humidity was dripping wet.

  Nice Spot at daylight, if you are not on the water early, you lose out on the top water action

Nice Channel Cat using the 11ft. crappie rod, some kind of fun on the long rod. Notice I am holding the fish with both hands, if you know anything about a catfish you know that you need to hold the top and side fins down, if these fins stick you it can be painful.