Alabama "Brook Trout"…..well, sort of
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I have been trying to stick a little closer to home this summer. The only way I can get my mountain fishing fix is to chase redeye bass. Left for a tiny stream in north Alabama the other day hoping to find the water in good shape.
I’ll have to come back on a Saturday night….
I arrived to the stream and was blown away at how much it resembles a smokies stream…
However, it looked snakey and it definitely was. As I was wading, I would see snakes slide out of trees and plop down into the water disappearing into the depths. It made me a little uneasy for sure.
It didn’t take me long to find my intended quarry…
I am in awe of how beautiful these fish are. Yes they are small, and most do not get it, and that’s cool with me. I caught one more before deciding to hump it on up to a steeper incline.
I had decided to stop fishing and work up to the steeper section, and I would hit any good looking water on my way back down. I finally made it to my intended starting point…
I wanted to fish this pool good before I went sloshing through it, and on my first backcast I hooked a tree limb. No big deal, a few LIGHT yanks and I hear the dreaded SNAP!
If TFO heard the things I said about them, I would be banned from owning another one of their rods. That is the second time in 6 months I have broken this rod. At least I could combine shipping with my 3wt I also have to send back to them.
At this point, I have hiked a good ways up and try my best to salvage the trip by fishing tenkara-style. It wasn’t happening and what few strikes I had I couldn’t set the hook properly. Oh well, that was fun, time for the grueling hike of shame back out. At least the scenery was nice…
The next morning, I hot up one of my favorite spots in Alabama. Nothing like it nowhere. The tube hatch was out in full force….
However, a little hiking, swimming, and falling and you can get away from all that. It wasn’t a stellar day, but I caught some redeye and a gazillion green sunfish and redbreasted sunfish. I hooked into one redeye that had to be 10 inches or better and very chunky. I lost him right at my feet. I would go on to lose some other smaller ones before I could get a pic, but I did get a few.
This place is heaven on earth, but man is it tough on the feet, boots and shins.
These were everywhere on the rocks. It would be cool to catch a hatch there…
Back to back weekends in this place, what was I thinking? Left home at 5am to get an early start on what I hoped would be a very productive fishing day. First, I wanted to hit up some skinny water where I had spooked some nice sized redeye last year. Where I wanted to wade was blocked by a family and their rock chucking. So I opted to fish downstream. It was slow. Maybe the super moon had something to do with it? After a couple of missed hooksets and LDRs, I finally caught a Bama brookie. This redeye was one of the bluest I have ever caught.
Caught him out of the pool above the rock dam
I couldn’t move anymore fish, so I decided to hike back out to the trail and walk up a ways to get to some better water. I followed the trail for about a mile and a half and I seemed to just keep moving further and higher from the water.
I did find a cool cave
And some ripe blackberries
And came across a nice rocky field at the top of the mountain…
At this point, I decided to check out some scenery and make my way to the crappy hike to meet up with some buddies that were fishing in the area today as well.
Found the other guys working back to the trailhead and since they were working downstream, I decided to see if I could pick up any scraps they left upstream.
Found several small mayflies coming off, but I still couldn’t get any topwater love.
As I came to this pool I decided I was going to catch a fish from it, so I just kept casting until I did.
After about the 27th time I said, “last cast,” my persistence paid off.
Man these fish are something special.
Thanked the little guy for making my hike down worthwhile and sent him back to the drink.
This was the only fly of the 3 or 4 different ones I tried that got any love.
As always, the scenery is worthwhile….
Another cave
Supposedly this is the base of the chair lift that used to be there.
Great post Matt! That Midget Match sign is hilarious. Do you do any caving? Might be worth a return trip in the winter when those bellycrawlers have gone to sleep.
Zach
Great pics Matt. I miss the fish and fishing in Alabama Rivers, but I don’t miss the heat and humidity.
Strategy without Tactics is a Slow Route to Victory, Tactics without Strategy is the Noise Before Defeat - Sun Tzu
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