Stocked Trout the Life Blood of any Tailrace

 



 

 

 

 



I know I’ve shared with you guys on numerous occasions about the trout that is stocked in our Sipsey Tailrace here; but I’ve never really shown you the exact way the trout get released into the tailrace.

First stop after they are loaded into the refrigerated tanks for transfer to a tailrace or lake, in this case the Sipsey Tailrace at the base of Smith Lake Dam. All the trout that are released into the Sipsey are either from Dale Hollow Hatchery in Tennessee or from the Steelville Hatchery in Missouri. The best stocked trout come from Steelville, simply because of the size and health of the fish once they arrive at the Sipsey. The Dale Hollow hatchery delivers the same numbers, but a bit smaller than the Steelville Hatchery. The number of trout released vary from month to month; the most could be 3000 and the least could be as few as 1500. 

After being released from the tanks the trout travel over a 100 feet down through a 10” pvc pipe to drop 40 plus feet into the cold waters of the tailrace. You would think that this ordeal would kill most of them, but 99% survive. The water temps in the heat of the summer never get above 60 degrees and in the winter in the low fifties. Stocking occurs every month, so there is always an abundance of trout for the angler to land. A lot of trout reach the 18” mark which is considers a prize. My largest taken on the Sipsey has been a 16” who knows I may reach that 18” mark one day.

The following clip shows you the size trout that comes from the Steelville Hatchery in Missouri.   

This clip shows the size trout from the Dale Hollow Hatchery in Tennessee. This truck was going to deliver 3000 trout to the Sipsey Tailrace the following week. The clip shows the Dale Hollow Hatchery truck releasing trout at the dam at Center Hill Lake. My son-in-law filmed this segment while we were waiting on our guide to join us in his drift boat to fish the Caney that morning. This tailrace is fantastic to fish because it is stocked with browns, rainbow and brook trout. I try to fish this place at least three to four times a year.   

  



The Trout like Variety This Morning

My plan today was to be at the tailrace at 7 AM, but that just didn’t happen. I sit up the night before and watched the Cowboys, a 1972 John Wayne movie that didn’t end until 12:30. I could have recorded it but it was just too good to stop watching for the second time. I finally made it to the waters edge at 9:30 the next morning.

The humidity had already kicked in even at 9 AM, causing a haze of fog to cover the water surface. If one is on the tailrace early the fog is the main obstacle you have to contend with in the heat of summer. At times it makes it really difficult to see your indicator or dry fly. So the 9:30 arrival was kind of blessing in disguise.

The water today was extremely low with a slow flow most of the way up the channel. The generators had been turned off at 4 AM so the water had settled down quite nicely. I really like to fish this place when its low like today, because it give me a chance to fish areas on the other side of the channel that I never get fish.

My first trout of the morning on a beadhead nymph, which I thought was going to be my pattern for the morning; not the case. The trout today were into a smorgasbord of food choices. I must admit I’m not up on my Entomology aside from recognizing a midge, mayfly and possibly a gnat, but trust me none of those were on the menu. After the bead head went dead, experiment time set in.

Super clear water made it easy to see trout moving from deep pockets to current seams. The seams are where I had the most success. Feeding would decrease as the sun broke through the cloud cover. I am not a fan of fly fishing in the sun!!!

This rainbow was a little camera shy after a size 14 soft hackle was removed from his mouth.

I had plenty of company around me all morning. Some fishermen would leave and others would show up to try their hand at landing some rainbow. I talk to fly fishermen from Tennessee, and numerous cities all over the state. One guy traveled from the Alabama Gulf Coast just to fish the Sipsey.

Sorry for the bad camera work, which doesn’t do the colors on this trout justice? Most all the stock trout on the tailrace have very little color, this one was an exception. The size 20 renegade got its attention. Numerous trout were brought to hand today on various patterns throughout the morning which proved to me if the bite is slow keep experimenting.

 

Fishing the Tail end of May’s Bluegill Spawn

I am falling behind on my bluegill fishing this year, mainly because of the weather and the fertilizing of Walker County Lake. Heavy rains and cold fronts have put a damper on the bluegill fishing as well at Smith Lake. I will continue my quest, but I have to admit it will be tuff to reach my 50 fish limit for this year. If I do make the limit all the fish will come from Smith Lake. I found out yesterday they have dumped another two tons of fertilize in Walker County Lake, so that will ruin my chances there for the rest of the summer. They fertilize every six weeks.

With all said I did manage to land some nice gills at the end of this full moon spawn on Smith recently. Most all the beds I found in the coves were vacant with the exception of one or two bluegills at times still guarding beds. Those were the ones I targeted with my popper. 

I spent very little time in one area, because I was looking for as many productive bedding areas as I could find. This particular place was kind of unique in that the bluegills had selected a small area between these two boulders to spawn. There were only 5 beds here with only one big bull still guarding a bed. I could see the fish in the super clear water, but getting him to take the popper proved a challenge. The fish would swim up to the popper for a few seconds and then back to guarding his bed. I finally decided to just let the popper sit for a while, which I assume annoyed him enough until he finally nailed it. I wish I had this one on film; he put up an epic fight on the 3 weight.

It was like him saying “get the hell out of my space”!!!!

Under the tree limbs and next to the rock wall is a favorite bedding place for bluegills on this lake. I picked up one nice bluegill here with only 3 beds showing. I have found it very strange that only a few bedding bluegills will occupy areas in this lake. Usually when one finds bluegills bedding you can bet there are lot of beds with numerous fish guarding them, but not on Smith.

The three big bulls on top were worthy of the count today, with some small fish as an added bonus. Even the smaller fish can make you think you got a counter on for a while using the 3 weight. That is why I love fly fishing so much it gives the angler a chance to experience the thrill of the fight a bit longer. I never overkill when fly fishing, I always try to match my tackle to the prey I am pursuing. With today’s catch I am now 42 away from my quest.



Enjoying the Grandchildren This Past Week

Good times were had this past week with the grandchildren and our daughter. The zoo, pool activities and of course a trip to the lake for some live bait fishing was on the schedule. When my wife and I have the grandchildren to visit, everything is centered on them having a good time, which is the way it is supposed to be. Very little blogging, chores, and gym time were all put on the whole for four days. For all you guys who have grandchildren, just remember they are only little once, enjoy every minute you are given to enjoy them.



Bryson reeling in the largest sunfish I’ve ever seen landed from Smith Lake

One proud little Man!!

Bryson had a time landing this catfish using the microlight; 4lb test line, strip drag a few times, which really got him pumped.

Look out boaters Bryson is on the water; got to add a little learning to drive the boat into this trip

It won’t be long before Laelyn will be making some fishing trips with Pops. She didn’t like getting left behind on this trip; both found out that frozen fish are easier to handle than live ones.

Jenny and Bryson doubled out with two nice gills. Glad Jenny got to go with me again; I can remember taking her on numerous fishing trips when she was little.
  

Saving on the Fluorocarbon Leaders

Back in 2011 I did a post concerning the advantages of using the fluorocarbon leader. At that time I was using a traditional mono leader, which was giving me problems with line twist at times; also the mono could be seen in really clear water. The fluorocarbon solved both those issues for me. My only complaint with the fluorocarbon leader was the price ranging from 13.00 to 25.00.

 

I did save some when I starting using the tippet ring, which enables me to use the same leader for a year. The only part of the leader that is replaced is the tippet end of the leader. I simply tie in 2 ½ ft. of tippet into the ring and I am good to go. I use a lot of tippet because every time I tied on a new fly I lose tippet. I use a 9 ft. leader and like to keep the leader as close to 9 ft. as possible. After I have lost nine to ten inches I am ready for another tippet.

I’ve recently discovered another way to save on the tippet spools I am always buying to supply my seven fly reels. I have started using the Berkley Vanish fluorocarbon fishing line. One 250 yard spool will last for years and at eight bucks a spool that is a bargain. I have been using the line for a couple of months and really impressed with its performance. I can’t see the line in the waters at the tailrace, which is what got my attention. Another thing that impressed me was the limp low memory characteristic the line possesses.  I use 5X, 3X and 1X tippets which are 4, 6 and 8 lb. test line; these 3 spools will last me much longer than a few tippet spools, with line left over for my spinning reels; what a saving.    
 

A Reprieve from my Last Outing



 

After trying to fish the slim cover waters of Walker County Lake last week I wanted to fish some crystal clear waters this past Thursday. The Sipsey Tailrace was just the ticket, to rid me of the horror I experienced last week, while trying to bluegill fish on Walker Lake.  

Fishermen always have a plan in place when venturing out on the water, and my plan today was to get on the water by mid afternoon and hopefully experience some type of hatch. In fact I was so confident of some sort of hatch; I didn’t even rig my fly rod until I actually got to the waters edge. As I approached the fast water at access four I notice a few midges here and there but nothing significant enough for me to tie on a dry. So I started with a soft hackle, because a few trout were feeding just below the surface. A soft hackle usually will generate a take if the drift is near perfection when the subsurface activity is happening. I stayed with the perfection drift soft hackle for a while with no results; so plan B was put into play, which was dead drifting a nymph. I hoped I could land some quality rainbow on the swing part of the drift. This same technique has produced some of my best rainbows this season on the tailrace. 

 

The dead drift yielded this rainbow on the swing. This technique places less emphasis on mending and more emphasis on feel.   

While viewing this rainbow, I imagined seeing these spots on the backs of future browns that may be stocked one day in the Sipsey.

 

The last rainbow of the afternoon was taken using a copper john dropped under an indicator. A few minutes after landing this trout the generators came on and cut short what looked to be an even more promising afternoon.

 

 

 



I Can’t Believe I Fish This Water

I had to want to fish really bad Tuesday to wet a fly in this messy slim and brown film cover water on Walker Lake. I drove up to the bait shop to get my fishing permit and really didn’t pay that much attention to the lake water, because I had big bull bluegills on my mind. The caretaker told me that he had fertilized the lake fourteen days earlier, so I thought surely it had cleared up some since my last visit the week before, man was I wrong. As I approached the launch I saw that the water looked a little cloudy, but that didn’t alarm me so I proceeded to launch the Pelican and troll to the east side of the lake as I always do. As I approached the east side I kept noticing the slim was getting thicker and the brown film was covering much more water surface, in fact the entire east side of the lake was completely cover with the brown film. With no wind the film would only move if it was broken with the fly, fly line, paddle, or the boat moving. In fact after I got home I had to wash both lines in soapy water to remove the slim. One would think fish would not hit anything in this slimy miss.

This would be the only bluegill I would land in the 20 minutes of misery I would spend in this place today. This is killing my bluegill quest!!!

It takes a dedicated fisherman to endure fishing in this over fertilized water. I will not wet another fly in this place until the lake is clear.   



B.T. and I on the Caney Fork

Fishing with a guide is always a plus when one is trying to land quality trout. Friday’s outing was one of those guide trips that had quality trout as well as numbers brought to hand. David of Southeastern Fly had B.T. and me on trout from the start of the half-day trip to the finish. The weather was good with low humidity, and some rain, which took a back seat to the fish action.  Generators were off giving the Caney tailrace a natural flow with all the familiar pockets, seams, and some fast water; which would test our skills landing the trout as well as getting that perfect drift.

Some of the many trout B.T. landed while fishing the Pheasant Tail nymph in some slow to fast water. B.T. and I have made a number of trips with David of Southeastern fly and always had great trips. Fishing with someone who loves the sport as much as I do makes the trip special. Our daughter found a winner in B.T. Cathey and I consider him our second son!!

 My second favorite tailrace to fish; the Caney has some awesome browns and rainbow swimming in its waters. B.T. and I enjoyed fishing with David, hope we can make a trip again next year.