Editor’s Note: Russell Jones of Coker, Alabama, is a USCG Certified Guide on the Black Warrior River in Tuscaloosa County, as part of the Alabama Guide Service. When fishing on the Black Warrior River, Tailrace fishing below Bankhead and Holt dams can be outstanding during certain times of the year because you can catch a wide variety of fish at night, as well as during the day. The success of tailrace fishing is dependent on how much current is being generated by the hydroelectric plants, the spillways and/or both. The amount of current and the color of the water in the tailraces will dictate how you should fish, and what lures you should use. You can contact Russell Jones at 205-454-7313; www.alabamaguideservices.com; and Facebook –https://www.facebook.com/AlabamaGuideService/.
The Alabama Rig holds five jig heads with a soft, plastic swimbait attached to each jig head. In Alabama, you can use all five jig heads on your Alabama Rig. However, in other states, you only may be able to use two or three jig heads. I’ll place 1/4-ounce shaky head jigs on each one of the five wires of the Alabama Rig. Some anglers prefer a lighter jig head, but I like the 1/4-ounce to get the rig down quicker to where I think the fish are holding, as well as keeping it off the bottom, by reeling fairly fast. I use either 3.5 NetBait Little Spanky swimbaits on the jig heads or True Bass Hollow Body swimbaits. The True Bass swimbaits are tougher than the Little Spanky ones and somewhat more expensive. When I’m fishing with the Little Spanky ones, I like the bright, pearl-colored bodies. When the river’s water is clear, I like the True Bass colors that resemble a shad better than the Little Spanky ones.
I fish the Alabama Rig on a flipping stick big frog rod that’s either 7’6” or a 7’11” long. I use 50-pound-test braided line. Some people prefer to use a monofilament line, but I’m more comfortable using braided line, like Berkley’s Power Pro braid. The secret to catching fish on the Alabama Rig in the tailrace is to reel it fast enough to keep it from getting hung in the bottom, yet slowly enough to get it down close to the bottom. The first time I start throwing it, I may get hung-up a couple of times, but I usually can pop my line and get the rig off of whatever it’s hung.
For instance, if I’m fishing a 20-foot bottom, I want the Alabama Rig to be between 15 – 20 feet deep, possibly 18 feet. If I’m fishing in 8-10 feet of water, I try to keep the Alabama Rig in 6-7 feet of water. The Alabama Rig also has blades on it that give the bait a lot of flash. Using this bait, I catch a wide variety of fish. I’ve caught 20-pound catfish, 15–20 pound stripers, hybrid striped bass – often two or three at a time – largemouth bass, spotted bass, drum and skipjacks (hickory shad). However, I’m really targeting spotted bass and have caught three spotted bass on one Alabama Rig before at the same time. The biggest was a 3-pounder, and the other two were 12-14 inches long. I’ve also caught two, 4-pound spotted bass on the same Alabama Rig at the same time.
Editor’s Note: Adam Hollingsworth is the president of the University of Alabama Fishing Team and explains, “I went back to college because I spent the first years of my life after high school in the military and as a police officer. I eventually want to be a U.S. Marshal. I currently have a degree in criminology and plan to start my master’s degree at the University of Alabama in the fall of 2022.”
In the future, the City of Northport, Alabama, while working together with others, is hoping to build a facility where 200 boats can launch and have a bait shop, as well as offer many parking spaces.
Right now, several boat ramps are close together on the lower end of Holt Lake. Rock Quarry Boat Ramp (https://www.recreation.gov/activitypass/4baaca95-f6a4-11ea-ab86-ea94e31cc891) and Rocky Branch Launch (https://www.recreation.gov/activitypass/cb0dde80-f6a4-11ea-bc4c-a2c064eb4d04), that’s larger than Rock Quarry, are only one mile apart. Deerlick Creek Campground (https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/232571) is located in-between these marinas and isn’t as big. When you come out of Rock Quarry Boat Launch you’ll see Eagle Cove Marina (https://marinas.com/view/marina/7ecqx9v_Eagle_Cove_Marina_and_RV_Park_Cottondale_AL_United_States), which is where anglers generally will meet to start a tournament. When you combine the capabilities of all the marinas right now, 100 boats can be launched for a tournament.
One of the best bass-fishing locations as you come out of Rock Quarry Marina and go north toward the Lock 17 Dam, is Red Eye, found on the right-hand bank as you go upriver and only a 10-minute ride. You’ll go past a coal chute where coal is loaded on barges. Generally, barges are parked on the other side of Red Eye. Several sandbars come off of this spot, and one of them is very shallow. On the weekends, many pleasure-boat riders will park there and have a party. I’ve found that the outside edge is a good place to catch fish, and that the sandbar usually produces best when there’s a current coming through the lake.
Editor’s Note: Adam Hollingsworth is the president of the University of Alabama Fishing Team and explains, “I went back to college because I spent the first years of my life after high school in the military and as a police officer. I eventually want to be a U.S. Marshal. I currently have a degree in criminology and plan to start my master’s degree at the University of Alabama in the fall of 2022. I love to fish for bass.”
At night when the power plant at the Lock 17 isn’t running, I can catch bass there with either a buzzbait or a spinner bait. Some of the best tournaments in the hot months are held at night when the spillways aren’t running current. Also, you can dodge the heat of the day then, making bass fishing more fun. Most of the night tournaments begin just before dark and continue until after midnight.
My two favorite lures for fishing below Lock 17 at night are the Crusher Pro Buz buzzbait just before dark, and the Crusher Lures Moon Crusher spinner bait after dark. I prefer this spinner bait because the Moon Crusher increases my hook setting ratio. I also like its big thumper blade that triggers more bites when calling bass from long distances with the vibrations it gives off.
The two colors I like are black/hot pink and crushed tequila. I fish the Crusher Lures Moon Crusher on the edges of grass and over logs and other debris. I’ll fish this lure on a 7’ or a 7’3” iROD Lone Star Special in a medium-heavy action with a Lews Tournament Pro 7.5:1 gear ratio reel and PowerPro 20-pound-test braided line.
Editor’s Note: 27-year-old Jalen Conner is a native of Tuscaloosa and has been fishing Tuscaloosa County’s Holt Reservoir for eight years. A criminal justice student at Tuscaloosa’s Stillman College, Conner fishes two bass tournament trails – the S.A.B.A and the Jim Austin.
I’m often asked, “Why aren’t more bass tournaments held on Holt and Oliver reservoirs?” I think many Alabamians don’t even know where Holt or Oliver are located and probably never have read about where we fish, and what lures we use for bassing there. We’re not like Guntersville Lake in North Alabama or Lake Eufaula in Southeast Alabama that have been publicized on TV and in magazines and social media. Holt and Oliver are like hidden gems on the Black Warrior River and are more community lakes that no one, except the community, knows about or fishes. Local anglers know about the great fishing available on the Warrior River in Tuscaloosa County at Holt and Oliver reservoirs. But, they don’t tell anyone else, although some club tournaments are conducted here.
Another reason I believe other tournaments don’t come to this section of the Black Warrior River is because most of our boat ramps are single or double. I realize that big tournaments generally are held in regions with at least five ramps and parking for 200 or more vehicles and trailers. I’d really like to see a fishing facility built here like the ones at Lake Guntersville and Lake Eufaula that bass fishermen could launch more than one or two boats from at a time and offer parking for spectators and participants.
If I could create a fishing facility for Tuscaloosa County, I’d like a pavilion for contestants to bring their fish in their livewells on their boats to the weigh-in and then be able to drive their boats and vehicles to a parking lot with 200-300 parking spaces for boats and trailers. Also, I’d like to have access to restrooms near the boat launch and/or pavilion. In addition, there needs to be easy access to return the bass back into the water after each bag of fish is weighed.
I believe that realistically, this dream of mine and other Tuscaloosa County fishermen could come true in the next three or four years. The City of Northport is working to try and find enough available land to build a fishing facility like I’ve described and to work with the appropriate individuals or organizations that help secure the funds to build this type of facility. The facility will be for Tuscaloosa County residents and also attract larger bass-tournament trails to come here, fish in our waters, stay in our hotels and motels, eat some of the finest Southern food anywhere and meet some of the friendliest people in the world. Regardless of whether the actual site is, a fishing facility like this will help all of Tuscaloosa County.
Editor’s Note: Adam Hollingsworth is the president of the University of Alabama Fishing Team and explains, “I went back to college because I spent the first years of my life after high school in the military and as a police officer. I eventually want to be a U.S. Marshal. I currently have a degree in criminology and plan to start my master’s degree at the University of Alabama in the fall of 2022.”
If you put your boat in at Rock Quarry Boat Ramp and go north, away from Holt Dam, you’ll go around a bend, then on up a straightaway, and at the next opening on the right, that will be Pegasus Creek. You’ll see a point and a shoal at the mouth of the creek. Bass like to stack-up at that point during the summer months. There’s a main channel in this creek and two secondary creeks that feed into Pegasus on the right as you go up the creek. Then, you’ll see that Pegasus opens-up into a big flat. Often, the bass will stack-up in those shallows chasing shad. You can catch bass on that bank. The main part of the channel is about 15-feet deep in the summer, and I’ll primarily fish a Rapala DT-6 or a DT-8 crankbait there.
Less than a mile from Pegasus Creek, continuing north on the left-hand side of the river, you’ll see plenty of grass that’s a productive place to fish for bass, if the current is running and pushing the bass into the grass there. An underwater stump field is in that grass, and I usually come off-plane, so I won’t hit those stumps. You can fish the grass and the stump row all the way down that grass line for bass.
The next-productive spot I like to fish is about 2-miles upstream at Davis Creek – on the right-hand side of the river. I think that Davis Creek may be fed from a cold-water creek because there’s usually a lot of clear water there. If the river’s muddy, you can go into Davis Creek and identify where the muddy water and the clear water start to mix. A small ledge right at the mouth of Davis Creek is where the two, different-colored waters often mix. That’s where I like to cast a crankbait. After I fish that area, I’ll go up into Davis creek and start fishing a swim jig.
When you come out of Davis Creek and go north, be sure to run your side-scan sonar to learn where old Lock 16 was located. Or, you may be able to find this old dam with your lake map or other up-to-date mapping functions. There are all types of underwater rubble where the dam blew out. You can fish the upcurrent side or the downcurrent side of old Lock 16. I like to fish with a jerkbait there. I’ve also enjoyed some really-good action fishing at night around this underwater dam.
You can tell when you’re getting close to old Lock 16 because a boat ramp is on your right with a small swimming area. You can see some concrete on the right-hand side above the swimming area that once was a part of the old lock and dam. On the left-hand side is some concrete leftover from the bridge that was once there. The underwater rubble from Lock 16 is about 16- to 25-feet deep that provides an underwater current break where the bass like to hold and ambush baitfish as they come over the top of the underwater dam. I’ve caught spotted bass before in the middle of the dam at old Lock 16 and largemouths on either side of the dam near the bank.
When you leave old Lock 16 and continue upriver, you’ll see Lock 17. When the power plant at the dam is generating current, that’s when you can fish that current and catch some very-nice spotted bass.
Fishing in Tuscaloosa County
Editor’s Note: 27-year-old Jalen Conner is a native of Tuscaloosa and has been fishing in Tuscaloosa County’s Holt Reservoir for eight years. A criminal justice student at Tuscaloosa’s Stillman College, Conner fishes two tournament trails – the S.A.B.A and the Jim Austin.
I like to fish the lower end of Oliver Lake during football season, when the University of Alabama plays its home games because the water in that section of the Black Warrior River tends to be a little-more stained at that time of the year. When most people are either at Alabama football games or deer hunting here in Alabama, my fishing coach and I can catch spotted bass all day long at Oliver. We may be the only boat on that section of the river at that time of the year.
We like to fish the creek mouths in the Moundville section of the Black Warrior River. When currents coming through Oliver Lake in the fall, bass like to hold in the creek mouths at that time of the year. They’ll be feeding on shad and worms being brought to them by the upriver current. We can consistently catch 2–3-pound spotted bass and often even bigger spotted bass in the fall at Oliver.
Fishing in Tuscaloosa County
Editor’s Note: 34-year-old Adam Hollingsworth is the President of the University of Alabama Fishing Team and explains, “I went back to college because I spent the first years of my life after high school in the military and as a police officer and eventually wanted to become a U.S. Marshal. I currently have a degree in criminology and plan to start my master’s degree at the University of Alabama in the fall of 2022.”
When it comes to fishing in Tuscaloosa County, to catch summertime bass at Tuscaloosa County’s Holt Reservoir, my primary lure is a Megabass Ito Vision 110+1 Jerkbait in a GP Pro Blue II color that I keep on my rod almost all year long. I’ll be constantly casting and retrieving. This jerkbait runs about 10-15 feet deep, and I’ll use a jerk-jerk-pause type of retrieve and keep the bait moving, until I get a strike. That tells me what cadence the bass want and whether they’ll attack while the lure is moving or sitting still. I’ll work this lure on an iRod Genesis II jerkbait-exclusive rod that’s a medium-action 6’10” long rod. It has a soft tip that helps give the bass a little more of the lure when the bass is jumping and shaking the bait. My reel is a Lew’s HyperMag reel with an 8.3:1 gear ratio, and my line is 10-pound Seaguar Tatsu.
Another of my favorite lures is the Jackal Gavacho in a gill pattern. Since the bluegill are spawning during the summertime in shallow water, you’ll see this bait I’m holding has numbers of bass teeth marks on it. I’ll fish this lure with an iRod Croaker Crusher series, a technique-specific rod, 7’8” long that’s heavy action. I’ll pair that with Lew’s HyperMag 7.5:1 gear ratio reel. So, if I hook into a 5-pound bass, I can winch it out of the cover. I’ll fish with 50-pound test Power Pro braided line and tie the braid straight to the lure. I don’t use a fluorocarbon leader.
I’ll also fish in Tuscaloosa County in the summer at Holt with a Megabass Uoze Swim Jig with a 3/8-ounce head. If I’m fishing another lake somewhere with bigger bass, I’ll use a 1/2-ounce head. I put a Rattlin’ Chunk from Googan Squad and sometimes a Googan Squad Krackin’ Craw as a trailer on this lure. I like the iRod Genesis III that’s a stone-cold swim-and-vibrating jig rod. At Holt, I’ve caught bass weighing 5+ pounds, while using this set-up. My line is 20-pound-test Seaguar Tatsu, and my reel is a Lew’s HyperMag with a 7.5:1 gear ratio. I fish lures in a bluegill pattern, since bluegills are spawning in the shallows during the summer months. I’ll cast the Megabass Uoze Swim Jig right up against the bank in the summer. If the grass is scattered, I’ll do what’s called an “Alabama Shake,” as I retrieve the bait. I’ll also use this same lure on a steady retrieve because the lure has legs that kick as you retrieve it. This lure has a spinner on it, and I’ve caught bass with and without the spinner.
When I’m fishing in Tuscaloosa County deep in the summertime, I’ll use the Rapala DT 8 that goes down further than 8-feet deep – sometimes to 12 feet when I fish it on 12-pound test Yozuri Hybrid Copolymer line. The color pattern is the Ike’s Custom Penguin color. My rod will be the KVD 7’4” long, medium-heavy, moderate-action, made by Lew’s. I also like Lew’s Tournament MP Baitcasting Reel with a 6.8:1 gear ratio.
I like the shakey head jig and the drop shot rig that I fish on a medium-action, 7’1” iRod Genesis III Finesse fishing rod. I’ll also fish a Zoom Baby Brush Hog and dip the tail in chartreuse dye with garlic in it. Sometimes I’ll fish the Baby Brush Hog with a steady retrieve, and other times I’ll let it fall to the bottom and use a steady retrieve, while waiting for the bass to grab hold of it. I feel like I always can pick up this lure and start catching bass with it.
