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!!

When Poppers Fail

Today's title is appropriate for this post because simply put no popper produced today on Smith Lake. The daylight trip started with a couple of true and tried poppers that usually get hits but the bass and bluegill were not interested. Smith Lake is on the drawdown right now causing the fish to move to deeper water. In fact before the drawdown is complete Smith will fall at least 12 to 15 feet before the water levels start to rise again after the first of the year.

Overhanging limbs hanging from huge trees growing on the top of the rock walls; small bushes and even small trees rooted in the rock walls produced a tremendous amount of food for the fish. In other words, this kind of bank is the Walt-mart supermarket for all the fish species waiting below.

This healthy spot exploded on the Moth as soon as it touched the silk smooth water surface. Notice I said Moth, not Muddler; my reasoning is it mimics the small moths I've seen stationed on some of the tree limbs here. The fight this fish put forth was worth getting up at 4:30 AM. He was released to fight another day!!! The colors on this Spotted Bass are the most vivid I've seen on any bass I've landed here. 

These four gills nailed the Moth in different ways making me think a couple were annoyed with the fly and a couple really wanted a meal; one will make the quest count.

I've fished a lot of waters in my years of fishing but when it comes to beauty and an abundance of fish Smith top them all!!!