Sipsey Fork Fishing Spot
- Elevation: 579'
- Last Modified By: vinny60 on 09/14/09 08:32 PM
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To fish the Sipsey Fork for trout, all you need is some basic light tackle and a cooler to take your fish home. This makes for a good day of family fishing. Anglers must always be prepared to go to a safe (high) location when water is released from Smith Dam. Little warning is given. The fishing is available from the bank or by wading. The use of waders, float tubes or canoes will expand the opportunities to catch a trout. The limit is five trout per day. The normal fishing license requirements apply; no special stamp is needed. Fly fishers use light rods usually 5 Weight or smaller 8-foot or longer in length. The flies change seasonally and can be as big as a #10 Woolly Bugger and as small as a #24 CDC Caddis Midge. The non-fly angler will be most effective on two to six pound test line. Small spinners, spoons, or 2-inch sinking lures may work. Salmon eggs or special trout bait works well, as do worms and crickets. A size 8 egg hook is used with enough weight 18- to 24-inches above the line to cast. Cover your hook with bait. Many lure or bait anglers fish from the bank.
Sipsey Fork Description
The Sipsey Fork of the Black Warrior River is located in Alabama, USA, and is formed by the junction of Thompson and Hubbard Creeks in the Sipsey Wilderness of Bankhead National Forest. The deep waters leaving Smith Lake provide a fishery unique within Alabama. The Sipsey Fork of the Black Warrior River below Lewis Smith Dam remains in the fifty to sixty-five degree range all year. These temperatures are too cold for native fish populations to thrive, but the cold water provides an opportunity for anglers interested in rainbow trout to test their skills. The tailwaters also provide a seasonal skipjack herring fishery (March-April) and a fishery for both large "saltwater" striped bass and white bass / striped bass hybrids (also known as wipers). The Alabama record hybrid striped bass came from the Smith Lake tailwaters. For access on the east side of the Sipsey Fork, a paved road runs north off Hwy 69. For 2 miles to the Birmingham water pumping station, this road has many access points to the river. To fish above the pumping station, dirt road can be hiked by walking around the pumping station. Anglers need waders with felt sole boots because of the water temperature and the slick algae-covered rocks. This area is close to the dam, and the water may rise very quickly without warning. Anglers can also fish at the dam from the west side of the river with access provided by Alabama Power Company. Boat access is available downstream off County Road 22 near the town of Sipsey.
The Sipsey Fork of the Black Warrior River is located in Alabama, USA, and is formed by the junction of Thompson and Hubbard Creeks in the Sipsey Wilderness of Bankhead National Forest. The Sipsey Fork discharges into the Mulberry Fork.[1] The Sipsey Fork below Smith Lake is one of the few places within the state to catch rainbow trout.