More from the Tallapoosa

This time, above lake Martin. Put in at Horseshoe bend and took out at Jaybird Creek. Five miles of rocks, shoals, rapids, and fun. This was my oldest's first paddle in some whitewater.





We found the bass in different spots here compared to below Tallassee. Instead of finding them in the structure along the banks, here you'd catch them in the swift water either right below the rock shelf drops, or where the deeper water started below the rapids. In this pic, you can see the change to deeper water out in front of my friend's kayak. You drop a small spinnerbait or beetlespin in the water and let it tumble into the deep water, and about on the second crank they'd hit it.


It's my opinion that swift water fish fight a lot tougher than their slow water counterparts. I watched my pal fight this one in from a few boat lengths away, and I couldn't believe my eyes when he got him to the boat. He may have been small, but man did he tug on the line.


Saw a few patches of Cahaba Lily. Pretty neat.


Lunch on a sandbar, anyone?


This one nearly turned my ultralight inside out.

Looks like a lot of fun. I've never been in a kayak but I believe my back would give up in just a few minutes.

I'll get up with you in a few days, Tree.

How hard of a trip is this? 5 Miles of fishing, eating, and swimming probably took you 6-8 hours?



The wife and I have been canoeing the Cahaba all summer. Fishing is great and there's nothing better than a sandy beach shore lunch after paddling in the hot sun. Maybe a beer or two......

Finest eating fish in the State come out of the Tallapoosa River.

that looks like a good time.

Took us a little over 5 hours. Lots of shoals to maneuver. I never had to walk my kayak, but I did have to push off rocks and shallow falls with my paddle a few times. I pegged on a few big submerged rocks a few times. My son laughed at me a lot, since he weighs 90 pounds and only had about 2 inches of draft. He floated right over most of them.

I use to make that trip with a buddy several times a year in my Coleman crawdad. We would catch some nose spots in the shoals. Hung several nice fish.

Way more comfortable than you think, Marlon! Mine has what amounts to a chair for a seat, with suspension webbing to make it exactly how I want it, and raises me about 8-10 inches above the deck. I can sit in it and fish all day VERY comfortably. The kayaks that have you sitting on the plastic of the inner hull; those are the uncomfortable and punishing ones...not to mention the ones that will give you the wet ass! Look at the kayaks that have a folding, removable, seat. Ascend, Old Town, Hobie, Pelican, Lifetime...all of the bigger names make them, at varying price points. Prepare to get way up off of your checkbook for a Hobie, like upwards of $3K, while Pelican will put you into a real comfortable boat for $850.

Probably killing all the geese along the way. 😁