By Marty Dixon/Staff Correspondent
It has been an eventful week with the Coosa, from flood waters upriver to no water downriver. We’re rolling mud again on the main river. More rain and severe weather were expected all day Thursday. We will see how much rain and mud was added for the weekend fishing.
The seasonal afternoon tournaments resumed this past week. Eleven boats participated on Tuesday. I have to give those guys props, because the wind got up for about an hour before dark. It blew everything off my porch, so I know the water was rough and fishing even rougher. David took first place with five pounds and big fish of 2.84 pounds. Second place went to tournament director and all-around good guy The Chief with his partner LaDon with 4.8 pounds. On Wednesday with 18 boats participating, first place went to Brian Davenport with 9.65 pounds and big fish of 4.06 pounds. Josh and Todd took second with 4.54 pounds, with The Chief and LaDon rounding out the top three with 3.89 pounds.
I have a mixed bag of reports on how fish are being caught in local waters. On Wednesday, the jerk bait and rattle trap was king. I caught one on my one-hour trip with a swimbait. Brother Butch caught a few shallow on the old chatter bait. One of my former students (and future General Patton) Derek Smith rounded up a couple of fish on a two-hour trip on a crank bait and paca craw down river. If he could fish better, Derek would have caught two more on the craw (insert heavy dose of sarcasm here).
Eric “The Alabama Hammer” went old school and broke out the lizard for a few fish midday. He’d better find some fish, since I’ll be fishing with him in the Gadsden City Tournament on April 3. Eric has a big hill to climb with this albatross of a fisherman in the boat with him.
As you can see, I receive reports from several places, and all seem to be doing something a little different to catch a fish. The best I can tell you is to cover water and fish something you’re confident in.
On a lighter note, I picked the grandkids up from day care earlier this week, and the first words from Hurricane Anna was, “I want to catch a fish.” Once we got home, we had to go immediately to the boat house and fish. Unfortunately, Hannah does not understand that when the water is muddy and pulling three turbines, it is hard to keep a crappie jig in the water and catch said fish. It didn’t matter, though; we fished and had fun. Carry them fishing when they ask to, so they’ll keep asking. That, way it can be passed down to the next generation.
I probably won’t be on the river this Saturday (March 27), since we are planning to carry the grandchildren to the aquarium (if everything works out). Rest assured, I will be out on the river some time on Sunday in order to keep my frustration streak alive. It is always interesting to see what will add said frustration on each trip. As an example, Wednesday’s frustration was compounded by my feeble attempt to keep the boat straight in the boat house so that I could use the lift. The frustration then multiplied when I broke my Costa Reader sunglasses I’ve had for over five years. Sometimes you can’t win for losing.
See you next week or on the water. Chunk and wind!
Marty Dixon is a 1982 Sardis High School graduate 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.