Fishing Fast Moving Water

My daylight fishing trip this week on Tuesday, May 8, fell through so the Sipsey Tailrace was my second choice, which proved to be the best choice. Here in Alabama we are finally getting those warmer days with some humidity mixed in. That is what Sam and I encountered Tuesday, a warm comfortable day with clear blue skies and a slight breeze in the gorge. Sam is the college student I met as I was suiting up. He told me he had never fished the tailrace; so I offered to let him fish along with me for the 4 to 5 hours we had to fish before the generators were turned on. I’m glad the trout were active and he got to experience landing a bunch of trout using his 6 weight and my 3 weight. He told me after we completed the trip that his next fly rod purchase would be a 3 weight.

One of many rainbow trout Sam landed before we left the gorge that afternoon; notice the two fly rods.

Reverting back to the title of this post, I showed Sam how to fish in fast moving water today. We fished some of the fast runs that I had fished before. The key to attracting a take when fishing water this fast is no drag at all. Some of the runs can be 10 ft. to 30 ft. long or more. I like to fish all the runs here standing where the fast water begins and letting the nymph float though the run as I release fly line to keep the nymph drag free. The current is going sink your indicator a lot in the form of false takes but the reward is when you connect with a true trout take. The lesson here is never take you eyes off your indicator when fishing any fast moving runs. I landed numbers of trout today in runs that was no wider than 2 ft. and as shallow as 2 to 3 ft. deep. I lost a lot of trout today because I had to play the trout back to my position at the start of the fast water. If I had waded to the trout to land them, then I would have scared the rest of the very trout I was fishing for. So to give me a landing advantage on my next trip I will be using my 4 weight to add a little more muscle to steer the trout to my net. The wading staff is a must when navigating the current to get into position to drift your nymph.

  Colorful gill plate on this bow; I remember hooking this trout at least 30 ft. down the run from where I was standing. It went airborne several times before I netted it.

What a fitting way to end the trip on this great tailrace today. We are blessed here in Alabama to have a place like the Sip to land rainbow trout!!

 

 

The Quest Begins

I finally get to fish between the heavy rains, we have been experiencing here in Alabama. What a great day to start my bluegill quest for this season. The temps were in the seventies with the water temp reading 65 which is on the verge of the spawn. Some of the big gills were on the move and staking out areas close to cover in water four to five feet deep just off the shaded banks.

My first nice bull of the morning was taken hugging the shaded bank in the brush pile. The Black Gant got its attention. I’m glad I was using my 9 ft. 4 wt. otherwise I would’ve had trouble landing it.

I felt like the top image could grace the wall of any den, with its lush green canopy of trees lining the banks of this nook. RFD's FlyBox Foam Butt Caddis would get a savage hit on the other side of the sunken tree; again shade and cover was the ally for this nice gill. I thought I had found the honey hole, but again the fish were not bunched to spawn; one fish and keep casting. 

I would end the day landing numerous small bluegills and this fighter on my 3 weight. I feel good about actually accomplishing this year’s quest because I’m back on my home waters; 23 away from the finish.

 

Another Productive Day on the Sip!!

Believe me when I tell you guys that today’s visit to the Sipsey was special not only for the trout caught, but to meet these two young fly fishermen. They were headed down the tailrace to fish the really deep sections. I hope they had success, it pleases me to see the youngsters with a fly rod in hand.

My first cast and my first trout that was to be one of many that I would touch on a cloudy overcast day. The two-hour trip consisted of casting nymphs early and closing out the trip with the Gnat. Sorry guys for the bad image; I'm a work in progress when it comes to camera work.

One of the things I love about this place besides landing the trout is all the handy rock stools. They are positioned up and down the gouge for; let’s say the “seasoned fly fisherman.”

Overcast skies, a slight breeze out of the west and a huge rain front in the forecast for Thursday morning told me to wet a fly on the Sipsey today.  

Fishing the Micro Light Spinning Rod



The blooming of the Dogwood Trees are always the sign that the crappie has begun to spawn here in the Deep South. I’ve been noticing the Dogwood buds but no bloom yet. That didn’t keep me from joining one of my fishing buddies the other day to test the waters for some slab crappie.

My 7 ½ ft. microlight spinning rod paired with the Pflueger President XT spinning reel is perfect to handle big crappie. I’m using 4 lb. test vanish line with a small curly tail shad jig to duplicate small minnows. The balance of this rod makes it effortless to cast for distance and accuracy. Using the micro light combo parallels the light 7 ½ to 8 ft. fly rods.

The dark male crappie is one beautiful fish in the early spring.  All the crappie today was landed using the micro. I had the 4 wt. fly rod with me but the wind was too strong to get a dissent case in place; in other words, my patience has worn thin dealing with the gust coming from all directions.

The in results, using my new fish cleaning table from Bass Pro Shops; these ten beauties yielded 40 mouth-watering fillets.

Flexing the Muscle of the 2 Weight

My second trip fishing with my 2 weight medium action fly rod today was awesome! I believe all the fish I landed today enjoyed its action as well. The 6X leader combined with the 2 weight fly line enabled the flies to touch the water as if they had dropped from a tree limb near the bank. How many times have you guys experienced that situation? Be ready because the fish will usually explore on your offering. I experienced that a number of times today absence the tree limb.
The Redington medium action fly rod paired with the Redington Drift reel yields one fantastic day on the water.

Even bluegills and bass this size can make one think they’re fighting a super bull gill or quality size bass. The 2 weight gives the fish a fighting chance and at the same time test the landing skills of the angler. 

Ralph’s Foam Butt Caddis was the winner of the flies tossed today, so realistic on the surface film. I’m still in search of the quality bluegill to begin my quest; another enjoyable practice day in the books!  

  

First Warm Water Fishing for 2018

As most of you know Walker County Lake is one of my favorite fishing destinations. I’ve landed huge bluegills here from its waters that equal those I’ve caught on my beloved Smith Lake. To say I was excited to fish its waters again after a two-year absence was an understatement.

Cathey and I are still trying to adjust to the move out of state and back to Alabama; in fact, it will take us the rest of this year to complete the cycle of the move. Our lot we are planning to build on is saturated with rain almost daily.  It will take weeks before any construction can start sometime in March. The building process will last at least 6 months if the weather cooperates. In the meantime, we will stay dry in our rental home, which houses my Pelican boat in the carport. No way was I going to store my Pelican and miss spring fishing on some of the smaller lakes I fish here. Sorry to veer off subject, back to Walker outing: This is the earliest I’ve fished this lake, but the forecast pulled me like a magnet to its waters today. A high of 80 degrees is somewhat unusual even for the northern part of Alabama this time of the year.

The water was somewhat stained because of all the rain making me think I was going to fish dark small to medium poppers. So I had a game plan and I hoped it would work. The water temp was 58 which is a long way from the spawning season for the big bull bluegills.

My first bull bluegill in one of the small nooks near the levee; this fish nailed a Betts popper sitting still. It was a hoot to land so many bluegills this afternoon after being absent from this lake for a while.

The warm temps have started to produce buds on some of the trees along the lake's bank. I have a feeling we are in for an early spring here in Alabama.

The blue Booglebug popper attracted a lot of bass today. It’s not your average popper; it becomes submerged when worked along the surface film. All the bass I landed today nailed it submerged. There would be no Redeye bass landed today.