By Marty Dixon/Staff Correspondent
Let’s get started with a river report. The Coosa has stabilized somewhat and is starting to clear to its normal color. The pockets are mostly clear, with the river improving each day. The water temperature in the coves are in the mid-60s, and with the new moon this week, a new wave of spawners have started their business. A full moon is coming up and should bring in another wave of spawners.
The past week was a mixed bag of fishing and home improvement. All day Saturday was spent installing two sliders and three screen doors. I was little to no help to my nephew, Austin Scott, on the sliders. Austin can rock and roll on the installation of any kind of door or window. I did feed Austin well, and my wife Texann was extremely happy with the results.
I spoke with my man Eric Hubbard, who dropped by in his boat to see if I could slip off with him since he was on a good bite and had a nice stringer slinging a crankbait. Unfortunately, I could not get away. I fished off and on during the day on Sunday and managed a one or two dinks. There was nothing much swimming, but Brother Butch slapped a couple of good ones in the face, with one over five pounds.
After being disgusted with myself on Sunday, I took Monday off and volunteered to help Texann clean the house. You can imagine that I was a bad way if I was scrubbing floors instead of fishing. I fished for four hours on Tuesday before getting bit on a swim jig and managing to lose a good fish because I had accidently loosened my drag to the point that when I set the hook, I peeled off six feet of line. That ain’t the first time I’ve done that, and it was typical of my fishing over the past several months.
Later on Tuesday, I managed a few more fish, including a 3.5 pounder. After that, of course, the fishing curse resumed. I had my flipping stick explode in my hand while setting the hook, and when I finally boated the fish, I had three-piece rod. The rod sounded like small arms fire when it blew up. On Wednesday, I fished one pocket for two hours while searching for good spots for this weekend’s tournaments. I did find a few to come back to for the 5 Alive Tournament on Sunday and the Gadsden Super Tournament on Saturday.
The grandkids stayed over Tuesday night, and my son Tanner brought them back over to play in the sandbox, so had to motor on in for that. Hurricane Anna decided we needed to fish, so we went in the boathouse. We did land a few crappies, so she was stoked and carried them around before the ceremonial release. Anna can already reel a spinning reel left-handed, so we’re getting there. Next is the cast. Her Pops hooks them and hand her the rod and reel to finish the job.
I’d like to give a plug to Bucks Island. I had won what I thought was a big cooler in a drawing in The Loft at their tackle store. The manager went to see if the cooler was still there, and it turned out that it was large Engel cooler, one of those Yeti types. So big thanks to the guys at The Loft for looking out for me. They have an excellent selection of tackle, so stop in or visit Pat (who is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet) in the parts department. Also thanks to Brian Robertson for reinstalling the transducer on the boat I bought from him. Brian is a good guy, so look him up on Facebook if you’re looking for a used boat.
In Tuesday’s tournament out of 23 boats, Sonny and Walter took first place with 8.5 pounds, Jim and Greg took second place with 8.44 pounds and Lynn Johnson took third place with 8.43 pounds and a big fish of 4.53 pounds. In Wednesday’s tournament, Joe Mincee finished first with 8.89 pounds, second place went to Brian Davenport with 8.53 pounds and third was Steven and Robert with 8.00 pounds and a big fish of 3.97 pounds. Once again, many thanks to The Chief for running things and getting me results. He is indeed the man.
Until next week, keep your lures wet and your lines tight. See you out on the river.
Marty Dixon is a 1982 Sardis High School grad-uate and retired high school educator and coach. He was head coach of the Gadsden State women’s basketball team from 2015 to 2019. He and his wife Texann live in Gadsden. He can be contacted at fishn4funin02@yahoo.com and the Neely Henry Bass Fishing page on Facebook.