Alabama Fishing

By: Barry Brasher
I know you hear a lot about fishing in creeks, but have you ever tried it? There are a lot of different kinds of creeks and they all hold fish. Basically a creek is a tributary off the main body of water on any lake. They can range in size from very skinny and shallow to wide and deep. All fish use these creeks as a place to spawn, eat and live year round. I have caught bass, crappie, stripe, brim, red eye bass, catfish, carp, and even gar in creeks. The main thing you want to know about creeks is how, when, and where to fish them. So I am going to try to clear this up for you. Lets start off with bass. Bass are territorial and really don't move all over the lake like lots of fish. They will move in order to eat or follow bait fish, but they will stay in a general area for weeks or even months at a time. The only complicated thing about bass in creeks is where and how deep. Time of year plays a big part in this so you will have to go fishing to learn the better parts of the water, like deep banks, road beds, flats, bends in the creek, and even some of the bigger creeks have sloughs. Fish what you are accustomed to, just like you would in a lake or river. Just remember the further you go up the creek the colder the water will be, which is the key to success. Now lets talk about crappie. These fish will move. You can sit in one spot and catch a hundred and the next day you might not catch even one. The only time I fish for them is in the spring and fall. I will go to the shallowest part of the creek, the shoals, starting in February. Fishing only a couple feet deep with a jig and cork will produce every time you go. Fish the lay downs as you move up the creek to see how far they have moved. Crappie will spawn in faster moving water, but they will do so in the eddies, where the water is backing up or swirling instead of flowing free. This backing up motion can be caused by any type of structure in the water, like lay downs, rocks or even a bend in the creek. Fish these areas out good because they do not like to fight the current. Stripe on the other hand use creeks for spawning, food, and cold water habitat. Starting in March the stripe will start their run to spawn. These fish can move as much as twenty miles in a day. If the water stays the right temp for them to spawn they will go forward; on the other hand if a cold front comes through they will move completely out of the creek. The more you fish the better success you will have. Let me tell you if you hit that magical moment it will be a fish on every cast. The best bait for this type of fishing is a grub with a one-eighth, to one-quarter ounce head, depending on how fast the water is moving. I also fish for stripe in the hottest part of the summer with live shad. And the salts and hybrids are a whole other story that you can get on my website. As far as the rest mentioned, these fish are just an added bonus to what you might catch in the creek. Let me say my favorite creek to fish is Chocolocca Creek on Logan Martin Lake, where the world record red eye bass was caught. So you never know what you might catch. I have also found this is a great way to beat the wind when cold fronts come through. I have fished creeks with the wind blowing twenty miles an hour and never checked up. You might get blown around a little bit, but most of the time it is easy fishing. Just remember creeks have lots of hidden dangers and shallow shoals so be careful and have fun. Any questions contact Ed or me at BamaBassFishing.com.