Fishing Aliceville

Saturday - February 28, 2009 - Day 59

Cloudy, windy, cold day, water 56 yo 58 degrees

Got up at 1:55 AM, left at 2:30 AM and drove 233 miles to Tuscaloosa
to meet Steven to fish Aliceville for a AON article. We drove about
40 miles to the river and it was as high as he had ever seen it, and
muddy. They had flooding rains Friday. His truck thermometer showed
58 degrees.

Aliceville is on the Tombigbee River on the Mississippi line west of
Tuscaloosa. It was dammed in 1980 and is mostly river with lots of
sloughs and backwater flats flooded. A lot like Demopolis.

Put in shortly after daylight and headed back into some backwaters way
off the river. First little pocket he fished the current had pushed
muddy water into it. I stayed in the bottom of the boat taking notes.

He quickly went into an old oxbow lake and found some clear water. He
was throwing a XR2 and I threw a Secret Weapon spinnerbait. We worked
down one bank - lots of dead grass in the water - but no hits. Worked
across to the other side and found muddy water coming down it from the
wind - wind was very cold and getting colder.

Steven turned and threw across the mud line in the middle of the
slough and caught a small keeper, then another. I caught two on my
spinnerbait and he caught three more, then I got the best of the day,
close to 3 pounds. He got one more before we left there. There was a
big area of hydrilla where we caught the fish - water was about 4 feet
deep. Fish were holding on the mudline in the grass.

Next slough same thing - near the back it was clear and had grass on
the bottom out in 3 to 4 feet of water and he caught three, one about
2.5 and another keeper. I caught one keeper there.

By now the air was much colder. We looked at spots for the article and
fished several of them but no more hits. Left at about 2 PM Central
time - back at the truck it was 49, temp dropped nine degrees since 6
AM.

I headed home - got home at 7:30 PM - 17 hours after I left.

Called my wife on the way home - said it was in the 70s and sunny. I
guess the rain and clouds and cold followed me - got up Sunday morning
after sleeping 12 hours to rain that turned to snow. Temp dropped
from 46 at 10:00 AM to 36 at noon then below freezing pretty quick.
Had about three inches of snow on the ground by 3 PM when I went to
the farm.

On Sun, 1 Mar 2009 19:21:26 -0800 (PST), Ronnie
backed into a tree whilst ridin inna park
then wrote:

Saturday - February 28, 2009 - Day 59

Cloudy, windy, cold day, water 56 yo 58 degrees

Got up at 1:55 AM, left at 2:30 AM and drove 233 miles to Tuscaloosa
to meet Steven to fish Aliceville for a AON article. We drove about
40 miles to the river and it was as high as he had ever seen it, and
muddy. They had flooding rains Friday. His truck thermometer showed
58 degrees.

Aliceville is on the Tombigbee River on the Mississippi line west of
Tuscaloosa. It was dammed in 1980 and is mostly river with lots of
sloughs and backwater flats flooded. A lot like Demopolis.

Put in shortly after daylight and headed back into some backwaters way
off the river. First little pocket he fished the current had pushed
muddy water into it. I stayed in the bottom of the boat taking notes.

He quickly went into an old oxbow lake and found some clear water. He
was throwing a XR2 and I threw a Secret Weapon spinnerbait. We worked
down one bank - lots of dead grass in the water - but no hits. Worked
across to the other side and found muddy water coming down it from the
wind - wind was very cold and getting colder.

Steven turned and threw across the mud line in the middle of the
slough and caught a small keeper, then another. I caught two on my
spinnerbait and he caught three more, then I got the best of the day,
close to 3 pounds. He got one more before we left there. There was a
big area of hydrilla where we caught the fish - water was about 4 feet
deep. Fish were holding on the mudline in the grass.

Next slough same thing - near the back it was clear and had grass on
the bottom out in 3 to 4 feet of water and he caught three, one about
2.5 and another keeper. I caught one keeper there.

By now the air was much colder. We looked at spots for the article and
fished several of them but no more hits. Left at about 2 PM Central
time - back at the truck it was 49, temp dropped nine degrees since 6
AM.

I headed home - got home at 7:30 PM - 17 hours after I left.

Called my wife on the way home - said it was in the 70s and sunny. I
guess the rain and clouds and cold followed me - got up Sunday morning
after sleeping 12 hours to rain that turned to snow. Temp dropped
from 46 at 10:00 AM to 36 at noon then below freezing pretty quick.
Had about three inches of snow on the ground by 3 PM when I went to
the farm.

Nice report Ronnie. Too bad the weather didn't cooperate.
I bet the farm is a beautiful place when it is snowing. I can just
picture it with big flakes falling through the trees.
I'll try to push some warmer air up your way. :}
---

Dan TOASTY in Florida for now

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