Bluegills on the Talopossa River in Alabama

The Talopossa River in Alabama has some great warm water species fishing. Not long ago I did a float trip down the Talopossa with Drew Morgan of East Alabama Fly Fishing “EAFF” guide service. We met at Horseshoe Bend just South of Alexander City and floated down toward Lake Martin. Within a few minutes we were catching Bluegill Bream and just a little further down river we were catching the Alabama native species Red Eye Bass and Spotted Bass and Large Mouths. The scenery on this river is unbelievable. Large rocks jutting up from the river and rapids to navigate in a way that would make you think you were somewhere in one of the Western States. We used mostly the Boogle Bugs, popping them across the surface on a slow retrieve with a 4wt rod and 3x tippet. The fish would come out of nowhere from under the rock outcroppings and slam the poppers and I love how those small Redeyes and Bluegills put up such a furious fight. It is a shame so many people here in the South East miss out on great fly fishing opportunities with these warm water species. When I tell people that I am passionate about fly fishing around here I often get the response “Don’t you have to travel out West for fly fishing?” Or people often flat out tell me there are not good opportunities for fly fishing in this part of the country. That could not be further from the truth and in fact I have been on lakes and rivers pulling in fish as fast as I can certain times of the year while watching spin casters come up empty. Fighting in a big Bluegill on a 2wt rod can provide a lot of action and what a pretty fish. The Talopossa also offers great opportunities for catching Stripped Bass as they come up from the lake and spawn. I do love fishing for all kinds of species on the fly, from Tiger Fish on the Zambezi, Tarpon off the coast of Islamorada Florida, to big Browns in New Zealand and Spain , however I like to spend my Summer and Spring days here in Alabama catching Bluegills on light weight tackle. You can’t beat it in my opinion.