A Work in Progress Using The Bomber Dry Pattern

This post is dedicated to rest of the summer and into the fall fishing. I am referring to the tailrace fishing below Smith Lake. For the rest of the summer and late September I will be trout fishing the tailrace below Smith Lake. I will forgo the lake fishing until fall. The lake this time of year is extremely slow due to the tremendous generation and extreme heat and humidity. One can just take a look at the parking lots on the lake and figure out right quick that there is very little action.

The tailrace fishing will give me a chance to hone my skills for trout and at the same time learn more about some of the different areas on the Sipsey. I am going to devote more time to fishing the extremely slow water below the pump station where bigger rainbow have been spotted. Those trout are extremely weary and harder to land due the constant pressure in that part of the tailrace. Streamers are the choice of flies there and it will present a challenge for me to fish this pattern because I seldom ever fish a streamer. My trip Tuesday proved to be another work in progress as the images below will show.

I arrived with the usual fog and mist on the surface due to the tremendous amount of humidity in the air meeting the cool water surface of the tailrace--really a peaceful view early

My first rainbow of the morning using Alan's Bomber, I am sooooo impressed with this pattern

One of many log jams in the fog one has to encounter while either wading or walking the banks. Some of the larger rainbow hang out right below this structure. A dry works best in and around these logs because you can't get much of drift here with a nymph.

This flower is native to this area, I don't know what it is called but I wanted to see if I could get a good image in the flower mode---better than I expected

The Bomber comes through right before I called it quits. I never landed a fish all morning on nymphs.

Drift wood everywhere in this place--did you guys know people pay big bucks for a chuck of wood like this?

Looking up hill from down below only a few feet from the cool waters edge. Once you descend down into the gorge the temps drop 15 degrees. This is what makes coming to place really nice especially in the hot humid days of August.

Tailrace Fishing can Really be a Challenge

Fishing trips for me is always a learning experience, especially if the trip doesn’t turn out the way I imagined before I leave the house. The tailrace today was the ultimate learning experience. I left the house with the intention of using a variation of the Mayfly patterns; all reports indicated on the Sipsey Forum that the Mayfly was the success fly. After arriving at the waters edge with a guy from Huntsville tagging along beside me, I made it to my first honey hole, where he moved on up the tailrace about 100 ft. to another great hole that I was going to try if my first choice didn’t work out. ( so much for fishing along this morning) I decided before I ever made a cast that my dry pattern wasn’t going to be successful, no rises. In fact it was kind of strange in that there was absolutely no surface action at all. So being the optimist I made my first cast and as the fly landed in a fairly fast run I thought I just had to get a take on this cast because the drift was so perfect. Just goes to show perfect cast and excellent drifts don’t always produce. I finally gave up on a variety of dries after realizing I was wasting valuable time with a limited amount of shade fading fast. I didn’t move although I wanted to go up and try a couple more holes before the sun got them, but I knew the trout were here. I switched to my go to nymph which was the Zebra Midge using an indicator on a 5X tippet. I made a couple of cast with no success, and decided to move the indictor up on the leader about 10” to get a little more depth on my midge. I proceeded with another cast and finally got the drift I was looking for and ever so slightly the indicator moved and my first bow of the day was netted. I have to say the trout made its presence known on the 3 wt. I continued to make cast after cast with no more success, so I moved on up to one of my holes near the dam. As I approached the area I was going to fish I notice there was still no rises at all in fact as I walked the bank up to the hole I saw no activity. I continue with the Midge pattern and on the second cast I set the hook on another nice rainbow that went straight down stream. I landed the trout by bringing it to the shore and not using my net, because it was easier and quicker going to the shore as opposed to the net. I can’t explain why the bite was over after this fish but it was like someone turned out the lights and everyone went to bed. Sometimes it doesn’t take a lot of fish to satisfy and today was the case. Just being here was a plus and today’s trip will continue to make me come back here time and again because I want to keep learning about this great sport? 

The Zebra Midge did the trick with this nice rainbow   

Ancestry Report + Trout Fishing the Bomber Dry Fly

Wednesday the 25^th I left for Mississippi to work on our family’s Ancestry tree and got back last night. I am trying to finish up both sides of the tree before fall and then have the information published. Ancestry will proofread and published all the material you have in your tree for an extra charge, but for me, it is worth it. This has been an ongoing project of mine for the past two years. I decided not to research your typical tree diagram where you have endless names of your decedents. I wanted my children and their children to remember what their grandparents and great grandparents were like so I wrote backgrounds and profiles of all the decedents. In other words, I was only interested in the direct descendants of the Trussells and Daves families. To do this I had to talk to individuals who were older than me and get them to tell me what their grandparents were like. The libraries in the different small towns they all live close to had a lot of information telling what life was like back in the early 1800s which was extremely helpful. Former Governor J. P. Coleman researched and wrote a book telling what life was like in the late 1700s and 1800s. This has to be one of the most interesting things I have ever done. I am really glad I started this project because it has given me a chance to see what my decedents went through during that time and how they survived on just the land they lived on. O.K. I have bored you enough-----------------

Now for the trout fishing trip, I made on Tuesday the day before I left. I wanted to make a trip before I left because I knew I wouldn’t have another chance to fish until this next week. I was trying some of the Bomber flies I had Alan to tie for me at Small StreamReflections. I am so impressed with this pattern because of its ability to stay afloat so well and ride high on the surface and two how well it gets the attention of the trout. I arrived at the water’s edge around 7 AM and started casting these little flies a few feet upstream. The water surface still had fog but I could still see the bomber as it floated down a fairly fast run across from me. The very first cast produce a take but I missed the hookset because I wasn’t expecting to connect that fast. On the third cast I managed to set the hook on a nice rainbow. For the next couple of hours, I stayed with the bomber because it was my producing fly for the morning.

The third cast produced this beauty with the Bomber--I missed about as many as I landed. For some reason I was either too late on the set or the trout was missing the fly. I tend to think it was my late hook set.

I think the colors on this stocker trout are less vibrant as opposed to the colors on native trout. Don't get me wrong they are still amazing to view. Sorry for the poor image, I am still in the learning stages.

As I said this pattern has got to be one of the best I have ever fished here. During the week is the best time to fish this area because one has the water to themselves, and today it was just me and my Bomber pattern. Thanks, Alan for making this a great trip.

Gone But You Guys Are Not Forgotten

Hi Guys
Been gone this week and not onto the blog as I should be. I have a number of interesting post coming in the next couple of days. Stay tuned!!!

Experimenting With Scent Attractors for Fly Fishing

There were several things going on during my fishing trip Saturday. One was trying to reach my 100 super bluegill quest, during the spawn, two was trying a land a quality Spot, and three was trying out a scent attractor on flies for bluegills and bass. The first goal I didn’t accomplish, because I think most of the big bull bluegill had move into deep water at least 30 to 40 ft. The second goal was missed with only one small largemouth brought to hand using the size 4 Boogle Bug. I discovered right after I launched the boat that the lake was falling contrary to what the report had said. Sometimes one can’t put a lot of trust in the generation schedule for Smith Lake. As most of you know water falling on any body of water can put a damper on the catch ratio. Fish tend to go deep during this period and stay deep until the water level stabilizes. I did manage to land fish but just not the quality bass.

Now for the third goal; I have said I learn something every time I am on the water and today was no exception. I wanted to try a product that claims to entice the bite for bass and bluegill so I had my small little bottle of bass attractant. I only used it on a couple of wooly buggers. I can’t say for sure that the scent attractor work to get more hits, but it seem to add a little more confidence on a slow morning. The attractant didn’t effect the action of the bugger because I didn’t add it to the tail of the fly, just the body. I didn’t try it on any dry fly. I am wondering if any of you guys have experimented with scent attractant on flies.

Sorry awful image but you get the drift with the Boogle deep in the throat the only bass of the morning

All of these guys were caught on a couple of small poppers, and the rest on the wooly bugger. I have to say none will qualify for my quest. They were a lot of fun on the 3 wt. As stated in the post the bass scent attractor was used and I would like to think it help me land more fish on an extremely slow morning-----falling water

The Hat Makes the Fisherman or Does the Fisherman Make The Hat?

I don’t know if you guys notice that I am more of a hat guy than a cap fisherman. I use to wear a cap all the time back when I was younger and didn’t mind the sun and could tolerate the heat more, but as I got older I wanted to avoid a lot of sun on my ears and face so the hat was born. Since switching to the hat I’ve become more aware of the comfort and looks for me. I don’t know why but I have always related the hat more to fly fishing than your traditional cap. I guess over the years seeing some of the greatest fly fishermen ever wearing a hat while fly fishing convinced me of the connection. The hat really had its resurgence when the movie “A River Runs Through It” came out. This movie not only revitalized fly fishing but it also helps sell a lot of fly fishing hats during that time. After seeing the movie I knew then that the hat had found its permanent home in fly fishing. I own three different hats that I use while fishing and one straw hat I wear while I am moving the yard. I have convinced myself that I need a new felt fly fishing hat for this winter. I did a Google search recently and came up with a lot of choices. I thought that you guys might want to take a look at some of my favorites I found.  

This was one of my first choices. What I really like about this hat is the mesh opening and of course the solid top, this hat is from AdventureHat

This was one of my first choices. What I really like about this hat is the mesh opening and of course the solid top.

This could be my winter felt hat it comes in dark green, tan and brown. The only thing this hat is missing is the small quail feather in the band. It is from Orvis

Although I am not in the market for a straw hat this one really got my attention, I really like the flat top and the compress brim. This one is from Villagehatshop

Another good looking straw hat that is in the form of a Stetson design--this hat is also from Villagehatshop

The crushable feature is what got my attention here with this hat, it is from Villagehatshop

The Aussie Wool Crusher is an awesome looking felt hat with the leather band it is from Adventure Hat

I am not in the market for an all-leather hat, but I thought some of you guys might be interested --it is from Adventure Hat

I know this post is about hats but I was so impressed with this cap. In fact I order one for the fall, it is a little too hot for it now. It is from Cafepress

Revisiting One of my Favorite Trout Areas

I wanted to try an area closer to the dam on the tailrace the other day. I had fished this area a couple of years ago and found it to be absolutely beautiful. The place had not changed with the exception of the newly constructed access point that had been built there. The water in this area is a cool 58 degrees and there are no fast runs but more of a slow flow. It is perfect for dry fly action early and late in the afternoon. Unfortunately that was not the case with the dries, there was very little action on top. In fact there was a little or no hatch.

The early morning mist made it difficult to see your offering, but I wasn't complaining because it was so cool in the water and the swamp and forest smell of the area just added to the experience.

My first rainbow of he morning with what else the Zebra Midge

A Mother/son team taking a break to change patterns. This boy doesn't know how lucky he is . She had taught him well in the casting department, he was making some exceptional cast---he was 10 years old.

I found a nice blonder to sit on while I changed patterns, notice I am using the wind-up leader in the L-connect system. This is really a handy set-up in that you can have your fly already tied on your leader and all you have to do to change flies is to connect the orange connect into your fly line connect of the system---for more info on the L-connect check out this link   these leaders are hard to find and the last ones I purchased was in Canada--sorry not USA!

All you do to change flies is unwind the leader off the spool and insert the connect end into your fly line connect. Another handy accessory I have to save on leader purchase is the Tippet Ring. I did a post on the ring sometime back and have found that it is extremely useful when extending the life of your leader. Since going with the ring I have only changed leaders once this season.

 

I tried a number of these nymph patterns before the midge proved to be the winner

Everyone that fly fishes likes to gets that take on top, and I for one go along with the crowd here. I started with a PMD early but as stated earlier had trouble seeing the fly. Not to be outdone I changed to a Gnat, Padams and finally realize that the top action wasn't going to happen.

Trust me the trout is there in my hand ---today was an enjoyable morning even if I only brought 3 to hand. I met some nice trout fishermen/ladies and learned a few things along the way.

This was my access point to enter and leave, notice the concrete embankment, this sort of structure is needed when you have 8 to 10 ft. water rise on release

One needs to be in pretty good shape to make his way up the steps and on up to the top of the ramp.

Reaching That 50,000 Viewer Mark!!

I consider today a milestone for me in that I reached the 50,000 viewer mark with my blog activity. When I started this blog some 2 ½ years ago I didn’t realize at the time that it would be so addictive. My sole purpose at the time was to create this blog to mainly keep a fishing log of all my trips. I thought it would be nice to look back and see when, how, and the tackle I used to land that particular species of fish. Little did I know that I would meet and share information with so many fishing buddies? I wonder sometimes why I keep blogging; well I found for me it is the enjoyment of being able to share a love of fishing with individuals who like it as much as me. All of us like to communicate with others who have the same interest as ourselves and this blog gives me that opportunity. Here is a special THANKS to all you guys who visit Fishing Through Life on a regular basis and to those who occasionally stop by.