Sipsey Fork below Smith Lake - Trout Fishing

Fishing the Sipsey Fork (Smith Lake Tailwaters) Alabama's Only Year-Round Trout Fishing

The deep waters leaving Smith Lake provide a fishery unique within Alabama. The Sipsey Fork of the Black Warrior River below Lewis Smith Dam remains in the fifty to sixty-five degree range all year. Water temperatures too cold for native fish populations to thrive provide an opportunity for anglers interested in rainbow trout to test their skills. The tailwaters also provide a seasonal fishing for skipjack herring (March-April) and fishing for both large "saltwater" striped bass and white bass / striped bass hybrids (also known as wipers). The Alabama record hybrid striped bass came from the Smith Lake tailwaters.

Rainbow trout are stocked by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service through a cooperative agreement with the Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division. The Dale Hollow Fish Hatchery usually stocks 3,000 to 3,500 rainbow trout every sixty days, with an extra load in the spring. The plan is to stock 3,500 rainbow trout on February 4, 2010. Trout are usually stock the third or fourth week of January, March, April, May, July, September, and November. Trout are released at the dam and slowly move downstream.

To fish the Sipsey Fork for trout, all you need is some basic light tackle and a cooler to take your fish home. This makes for a good day of family fishing. Anglers must always be prepared to go to a safe (high) location when water is released from Smith Dam. Little warning is given. The fishing is available from the bank or by wading. The use of waders, float tubes or canoes will expand the opportunities to catch a trout. The limit is five trout per day. The normal fishing license requirements apply; no special stamp is needed.

This trout fishery is located in a tailwater, and water is released to generate power on an as-needed basis. The water levels in the Sipsey Fork can fluctuate and fluctuate very quickly. For information about intended release times, call 1-800-LAKES-11 (1-800-525-3711). Remember these release schedules are subject to change without notice. When water is released, one should IMMEDIATELY get out of the stream and to a point of safety above the vegetation line.

Many anglers fish the Sipsey Fork so they can fly fish for trout. These trout will often rise to very small midges. Fly fishers use light rods usually 5 Weight or smaller 8-foot or longer in length. The flies change seasonally and can be as big as a #10 Woolly Bugger and as small as a #24 CDC Caddis Midge.

The non-fly angler will be most effective on two to six pound test line. Small spinners, spoons, or 2-inch sinking lures may work. Salmon eggs or special trout bait works well, as do worms and crickets. A size 8 egg hook is used with enough weight 18- to 24-inches above the line to cast. Cover your hook with bait. Many lure or bait anglers fish from the bank.

A skipjack herring fishery exists during the spring. Skipjack herring swim upstream to spawn, and spawning progress is impeded by Lewis Smith Dam. Schools of herring cruise the Sipsey Fork. Anglers enjoy fighting the fish by hooking them on anything that moves quickly. Shiny lures are best, but the lure movement seems to be what catches a skipjack's attention. Skipjack herring are acrobatic fighters, but their flesh is oily and bony.

For access on the east side of the Sipsey Fork, a paved road runs north off Hwy 69. For 2 miles to the Birmingham water pumping station, this road has many access points to the river. To fish above the pumping station, dirt road can be hiked by walking around the pumping station. Anglers need waders with felt sole boots because of the water temperature and the slick algae-covered rocks. This area is close to the dam, and the water may rise very quickly without warning. Anglers can also fish at the dam from the west side of the river with access provided by Alabama Power Company. Boat access is available downstream off County Road 22 near the town of Sipsey.

Radio tagging studies by Alabama Power Company indicate fish that have been in the river a while move downstream this far and farther. Some swim up the Mulberry Fork.

Link list:

No special trout stamp is needed. Fishing license information may be found at: www.outdooralabama.com/fishing/freshwater/license/

Possession and creel limits for Alabama public waters are listed at: www.outdooralabama.com/fishing/freshwater/regulations/

Nearby, the US Forest Service has the Bankhead National Forest including the Sipsey Wilderness Area and Corinth, Houston and Clear Creek Recreational Areas, see: www.southernregion.fs.fed.us/alabama/ .

Local information is available for:
Birmingham at www.birminghamal.org/
Cullman at www.cullmanchamber.org/attractions.htm
Jasper and Walker County at www.walkerchamber.com/

Regional information may be found at the north Alabama regional tourism site, www.alabamamountainlakes.org/, call (800) 648-5381, or email info@northalabama.org. For resort and camping accommodations, look for Bremen, Crane Hill, Cullman, Cullman County and Double Springs under the page www.northalabama.org/Pages/Outdoors/outmain.html, for motels under "southeast region" of www.alabamamountainlakes.org/, and also in their bed-and-breakfast page under "Lodging."

Talk with anglers that fish the area at www.al.com/forums/fishing.
Fishing reports are posted at www.1flyfish.com

Contact the following guides:
Brandon Jackson, Riverside Fly Shop, riversideflyshop@gmail.com, 256-287-9582, www.riversideflyshop.com
Tim Key, (205) 522-5708, and Mike Key (205) 221-7419, sfo@sipseyforkoutfitters.com, www.sipseyforkoutfitters.com

Click here for an aerial view of the Sipsey Fork below Smith Lake.

The land on the bottom of the stream and land adjacent to the stream may be privately owned, and permission must be obtained from the landowner prior to crossing or wading these areas. Limited access can be obtained from county road bridge right-of-ways crossing the creek. Land above Hwy 69 is owned by Alabama Power Co., and they have been allowing angler access.

The Fisheries Section's District Supervisor can answer specific questions about the Smith Lake's tailwater fishing by sending mail to: Keith.Floyd@dcnr.alabama.gov.

Articles include: www.thinkmichael.com/trout.html

Rainbow trout may also be caught during the special winter rainbow trout fishery at Madison County Public Fishing Lake northeast of Huntsville, Alabama. The season begins the Friday after Thanksgiving. Fish are stocked in November, December and January. During December and January, Madison County Public Fishing Lake is open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. A daily $5 permit is required in addition to normal fishing license requirements.

Trout cookie by Shannon Andress
Alabama Cooperative Extension System

"It shall be unlawful to intentionally stock or release any fish, mussel, snail, crayfish or their embryos including bait fish into the public waters of Alabama under the jurisdiction of the Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries as provided in Rule 220-2-.42 except those waters from which it came without the written permission of a designated employee of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources authorized by the Director of the Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries to issue such permit. The provisions of this rule shall not apply to the incidental release of bait into the water during the normal process of fishing."

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Prepared by: Fisheries Section, Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. This site is presented for information only the Fisheries Section cannot be responsible for the quality of information or services offered through linked sites, disclaimer. To have your site included, send your URL, email address, or telephone number to the Fisheries Web Master, doug.darr@dcnr.alabama.gov. The Fisheries Section reserves the right to select sites based on relevant and appropriate content of interest to our viewers. If you discover errors in the content or links of this page, please contact Doug Darr. Thank you.