North Alabama Adventure

[wmw4]

Left pensacola headed north friday night. Saturday morning we stopped by deep south outfitters in Birmingham to pick up some last minute extras. I really recommend stopping by the shop if you happen to be in the area. After the quick pit stop it was off to our destination. Got there and hit the heck of a hike to the bottom to be greeted with views like this

Managed to catch a couple of fish down there fairly quickly. Mostly small but with the scenery like it was you weren't going to catch me complaining.

Got what I was after with my first redeye of the trip. Came on a sneaky pete which was suggested by one of the forum members.

Even managed to catch a couple on a gartside soft hackle I tied myself.

Headed back out and had a nice dinner near the hotel. The next morning we hit a different trail. Unfortunately there was a lot of this

The river was incredibly low. All of the major falls and the pocket water had dried up. The major pools were still there but often separated by a decent rock hopping journey. Eventually we found some water and a few more fish.

Also got to do some rock climbing. Spooked everything but it was cool being able to watch them swim around the pool.

Called it a day and tried to decide what to do on Monday. We decided to start heading back home. Made it about halfway and decided to hit a couple more hikes. Happy we did because one of them provided the best fishing of the trip. The other provided creek chubs and hornets... But we won't mention that one. More good views.

And on to the fish. Tied on a worm dropper and had equal hits on it and the popper.

Also managed to put my girlfriend on her first redeye bass here

Well that concludes the report. Special thanks to all of you that took the time to reply to my thread asking for advice.

 

[GrtLksMarlin]

Great report, thanks for posting it here!

B.E.F.

 

[mtaag3]

Glad to hear you had a great time.

Rob at Deep South in Birmingham is a great guy. Lots of good knowledge and information.

If you pass through Birmingham again, I would recommend Oak Mountain State Park. The lakes there are "no engine" and the lakes are pristine with plenty of fish.

 

[mcnerney]

Great report with lots of beautiful photos, thanks for sharing!

 

[kentuckysteve]

Great report and some really nice views of the scenery.Thanks for posting.

 

[Flyfisher for men]

Great report. looks like a neat place to fish.

 

[bmbailes]

my favorite place to fish around here and for my favorite species! the coosa bass is a beautiful lil fish......I even prefer them over the smallies that live in the creek by my house. I can only hope all those lil guys make it in this drought we are in!

 

[wmw4]

my favorite place to fish around here and for my favorite species! the coosa bass is a beautiful lil fish......I even prefer them over the smallies that live in the creek by my house. I can only hope all those lil guys make it in this drought we are in!

It's one of my favorite places as well. We try to make it up there a couple times a year. You can tell the drought has hit the system hard but the fish that made it into the larger pools should be ok but hopefully it rains up there soon. I've actually never had the chance to chase smallies but they are on the list for next year along with shoal bass in Georgia.

 

[bmbailes]

yeah I was in hopes they found the deep holes to ride out the drought in! same with the smallies....I've left both species alone for awhile and hope next spring they have ample water.

btw in the pic with the lady, was the hole downstream of this big pool dried up?

 

[FlySouth]

Awesome report!
Can't wait to go there one day

 

[wmw4]

Flysouth, its pretty funny how the grass is always greener somewhere else. There are a couple of places in texas that are quickly moving up on my list of trips to make. And bmbailes if you are talking about the one with the big tree laying from the bank into the water on the left side looking up stream it was still there. Didn't pull anything out of there though.