Super Midges in Unique Colors

I was at our local fly shop the other day and notice these unique midges. The thing that impressed me about these little guys was the color combos that the flies possess. Randy at the fly shop told me that he has landed nice trout on all of the colors, especially the red and blue. I will be getting all colors to try out on the tailrace in the next couple of weeks. Some of the individuals I have talk to say the size 18 is their favorite. I think both sizes have their place just as the different colors will work better on certain days.

I did promise a post on my trout fishing trip below dam at Smith today----“BUT” the constant flow was off meaning there was no water movement at all, which makes it really difficult to attract a take. Alabama Power gave no reason why the water was not moving. So no trout today but trust me I will be back. Have a great week everyone.

Has anyone used these bugs??

Reversing a Slow Day on The Lake

The closer it gets to cold weather here in the South the harder it is to find and land a quality fish on any body of water. That was the case Monday when I ventured out on Ryan Creek which is one of the main creeks that Smith Lake possesses. I was going to fish for crappie under the docks in water 30 to 35 ft deep using a small spoon jigging it up about two feet and letting it flutter back down, but that proved useless. The only thing I landed was a small spot that hit the spoon on the fall. So I decided to change tactics and go with the 5 wt. fly rod, which I had rigged with the 6 size Boogle Bug. This setup was the only thing that saved an otherwise slow day. I was fishing right before a cold front that was pushing through that night so there was a bit of top water action for a couple of hours after lunch.

This will be my last warm water fishing trip for this year. I will retire my bugs and rods until next spring. I intend to continue my trips below the dam for trout, so keep an eye for those post. Have a great weekend everyone.

Still after the Boogle Bug even in water temps 70 degrees

This Spot inhaled this Bug as if it was Spring Time--I need to work on building up my right arm because I know come Spring I will be landing Spots larger than this guy.

The weather was even warm enough for this guy to get some sun.

Enjoying Some Fall Fishing

Well for the past couple of days a couple of my fishing buddies and I have fished some of the local waters near home. The trips were more of getting outdoors and enjoying the great weather we have been having here in Alabama, than landing fish. The fishing this time of year in the South can be slow for the gills and bass, and the recent trips prove that to be true. I am looking forward to next week's trips because we should be able to get into some crappie deep around the floating piers on Smith. This time of year the crappie move up under the piers and feed on the minnows and small shad that are found there. The long crappie poles and tube jigs are excellent for fishing the deep water in confined quarters.



This gill buried this popper down deep

A little variety here with the catfish on the olive bugger. It put up quite a fight on the 4wt.

Jeff landed this nice one on the same colored bugger on the 4wt.

Fluorocarbon Leader/Tippets a Winning Combo For Me

I have got into the fluorocarbon thing as far as leaders and tippets are concerned.  I like the fluorocarbon leaders and tippets much better than anything I have ever used because of the stealth technology and its strength. Another thing that impresses me about this leader is the non existence line twist that the tippet possesses. On most of the leaders I was using especially when fishing larger poppers for bass was the tippet twist. Most of the poppers I fish are the number 4 and 6 with the concave face. These type poppers will twist most conventional tippets when working them back to you. I switched to the fluorocarbon tippets recently and eliminated the twisting effect with a 3 and 4X size. Not only did these tippets work to perfection for me but I get the added bonus of the stealth technology. I am referring to the Fluorocarbon Mirage Leader/Tippet combo from Orvis. I really like the loop to loop connection for added ease and quickest of the setup. Orvis has got these combo’s at a great price right now for 9.00 instead of the 19.95 original price. When researching leaders lately I discovered Orvis offers a great Guide Chart to help you determined the correct leader and tippet size for any type fishing you might be doing. Check the chart out it is well worth the look. Have a great week everyone.

Why Didn't I Catch Fish The Last Couple of Days???

I spent the last three days this week in Mississippi, crappie fishing with my brother. The fishing was tough to say the least. We fished for two days using the Spider method, and were able to land only five crappie.  For those of you who not familiar with Spider Fishing check out the link for a trip I did with my brother back in the summer.

When one makes a trip like I just made and only lands a few fish in a number of days it makes you wonder why wasn’t the fish biting? Well there are lots of factors that can affect the fish bite, and usually it is not the lure alone. Wind out of the east, high barometer, lake falling, approaching cold front, and cold water temps and last most all the fish were under lily pads located all around the lake and covering the back area. So when some of you guys are out on the water and not landing any fish, you might want to consider some of the factors mentioned above before blaming it all on yourself.