Hurry up Spring.....

[AL trout bum]

I had not fished in a while, and it was killing me. Of course as usual, that's the weekend the forecast looks the worse. Tornadoes and thunderstorms lead to swollen rivers. Oh well, had to find a back-up plan. Saturday I headed over to check on a creek I had not fished since last June, and lucky for me, it was crystal clear. Didn't know how active warmwater fish are yet, because the water was definitely not warm.


Took me a while to get it dialed in, but I found a fly that worked and caught this:


I love this little creek. It's easy to access, and reminds me a lot of a trout stream.




It has all the classic riffle, run, pools. Unlike a trout stream, the pools are the most productive. I have a favorite, and it's a grab bag of fish species.


It has the most of the main species on this creek, red-breasted sunfish.


You'll catch a bluegill every now and then, some creek chubs, I've seen gar, several types of suckers and of course largemouth bass. The bass are extremely finicky here, you will see them everywhere, but they will not bite!  :evil:  I have caught 2 largemouth (on the same day) in the half a dozen trips to this creek. Doesn't mean people don't try. I found this in some debris in the middle of the creek.


Apparently a bank fisherman thinks huge largemouth live here. That freakin' spinnerbait was monstrous. The biggest bass I have seen or heard of caught here is 2lbs. The water in most places, at its deepest is a couple of feet. I just don't get it. It looked brand new, so the poor guy probably lost it on his first cast ending his hopes and dreams of catching that BIG one!

I kept fishing, and something slammed my fly. I thought, "This was it, I got a bass on!" Finally got the fish where I could see it, and I think (I need ID help) it was a nice shellcracker. It had a very faint red border to the flap on the gill plate. I don't know what else it would be, never caught one here before, but it doesn't surprise me. What isn't in this creek. There are also mussel shells EVERYWHERE. Weird that I only caught one though.


Well, it was weird until my next cast....


I wish I could have gotten into a bunch more, but the bite tapered off after that. It was a fun day, but I have to figure out how to make the largemouth eat! I guess I shouldn't have made that comment a while back about how boring largemouth bass fishing is.

Today (Sunday) some of the rivers had slowed down and cleared up a bit. Wanted to try out a crawfish pattern a buddy showed me me recently.


This creek was still very swollen, but somewhat clear. I basically had to fish from the bank, and there wasn't much of one that wasn't a pile of debris. Piles of debris = snakes, especially here. I made probably a hundred casts. I stripped fast, stripped slow, let the fly hang in the current, literally everything I could try.

Finally, I said for the last time, last cast. Cast out into some swift water and stripped slowly back into a pool. BAM! Fish on! After quite a few aerial acrobatics I got the first bronzeback since last July.



I thanked him for saving my day and sent him back.


After that one fish, I was content (and tired of casting), so I called it a day. When I got back to my car, I saw a familiar sight on my windshield..


Or at least I think it was a caddis, never seen one anywhere other than a trout stream.

Now if I could just fast forward to next Friday......

[Woolly Bugger]

very nice

[jwhop3]

Try poppers for creek bass. Maybe with a crawdaddy dropper.

[kylemc]

I am so ready for smalljaws!

[overbrook]

I am so ready for smalljaws!

X2 !!   gonna try to hit the Savannah next sat. for some...followed by a striper/trout venture on Sun.

Nice report ATB ....I often call the redeye bass in the Savannah our "southern brokkies"

I crossed the Buttahatchee (sp?) yesterday in Al.   and that stream damn sure looks like a trout stream.

[AL trout bum]

I crossed the Buttahatchee (sp?) yesterday in Al.   and that stream damn sure looks like a trout stream.

Whereabouts? I don't recognize it, but we only have one trout stream here in AL, and that ain't it. I have yet to catch my first redeye bass, but it's high on the to-do list this spring/summer!

[snagaluffaguss]

I am so ready for smalljaws!

FNA

[overbrook]

I crossed the Buttahatchee (sp?) yesterday in Al.   and that stream damn sure looks like a trout stream.

Whereabouts? I don't recognize it, but we only have one trout stream here in AL, and that ain't it. I have yet to catch my first redeye bass, but it's high on the to-do list this spring/summer!

On US278 just east of Hamilton....north west portion of bama. Damn good lookin stream for Alabama....no offense or anything.

[AL trout bum]

I crossed the Buttahatchee (sp?) yesterday in Al.   and that stream damn sure looks like a trout stream.

Whereabouts? I don't recognize it, but we only have one trout stream here in AL, and that ain't it. I have yet to catch my first redeye bass, but it's high on the to-do list this spring/summer!

On US278 just east of Hamilton....north west portion of bama. Damn good lookin stream for Alabama....no offense or anything.

None taken. Most are muddy rivers and creeks. However, there are a few that not many AL natives even know about. They are nice, and crystal clear and loaded with fish. However, for trout, I don't even bother with our one stream. I go to TN (mainly) or NC (occasionally) for a trout fix.

[bullship]

I am so ready for smalljaws!

me dos

[overbrook]

Most are muddy rivers and creeks. However, there are a few that not many AL natives even know about. They are nice, and crystal clear and loaded with fish. However, for trout, I don't even bother with our one stream. I go to TN (mainly) or NC (occasionally) for a trout fix.

Theres also a pretty nice stream on the east side of birmingham.....don't know what kind of fish any of them hold....but they look like the scenery would be pleasant.

[Stone-Man]

Al Trout Bum

  The Flint River and the north end of Euwfala has Red Eyes (cousae Bass) plus it has shoal bass also.
Might wanna add those two to your "caught on a fly " list   

  JT

[AL trout bum]

Al Trout Bum

  The Flint River and the north end of Euwfala has Red Eyes (cousae Bass) plus it has shoal bass also.
Might wanna add those two to your "caught on a fly " list   

  JT

Yea, I'm making a trip for redeye with a buddy this summer on probably the best red eye water in AL. I didn't know the Flint had 'em? Interesting.....I'll do some more investigating! Thanks!