Sweetwater Creek-Stalking

blink

Senior Member
I decided to hit up Sweetwater Creek State Park today to do some creek stalking. I had not been to this place to fish. I have fished the lake, but not the river/creek.

It was a bit of a hike, but very nice. I was not the only being to walk this trail today, but the only human.

sw 01

This made me wish i had my skateboard kinda.... its the spillway on the bottom end of the lake. It kinda makes a little canyon, and then drops into the creek, where i fished mostly.

sw 02

I had my trusty bitsy minnow tied on, and first cast i hook into something and it spits the hook before i see it. a few minutes later i hook up again and its a bigger fish, pulling my drag and making me falter a bit as i adjust to not break him off. he throws the hook as well....when i brought my bitsy up, both trebles had straightened out hooks. i guess i horsed him a bit too much. At this point i still dont know what these fish are... i am thinking big catfish maybe.

I did a bit of exploring. Some nice trails along a river.

sw 03

Anyhow, i came back and threw some more, and hooked up again. another drag puller. i landed him.
a nice 13" or so spot.

sw 04
sw 05

i am gonna have to come back with a bit more time soon.
This is a nice place to fish, and to hike.
 

jsimages

Senior Member
That place is so nice this time of the year. Havent never fished there but have been there hiking and doing photography. Thanks for the post
 

blink

Senior Member
from what i have read there are spots, shoalies and lmb in it, maybe some bowfin..... i am going to try it again with a bit heavier setup. i was using my 5'-0" ultra light setup today and only brought my little creek and trout lures. i am going to bring my 6'-6" medium setup next time with some bass gear. i may go back tomorrow afternoon.
 

tone357

Senior Member
Me and my friends used to fish there as kids. There are giant bream in there, or were there years ago. We would walk out on the rocks, drop a cricket in an eddy, and hold on! Really nice bream!
 

Alan in GA

Senior Member
I fished it in the 1970s....and...

Let me just say....bring you BASS GEAR next time! YES, there are 5lb class largemouth in the slower waters just above the shoals area. We used ultra light [2 and 4 lb] spinning for the longest time. Tossed Panther Martin dressed treble hooks [hair] and then used 2" Rapalas. The Rapalas brought bigger fish, some nice 2 lb class shoal/spots. Then my buddy took his baitcasting rig, spinnerbaits and crankbaits [shallow running] when a rain started to JUST come and start running tinged water into Sweetwater from the feeder creeks. Wham! caught 3 to 5lb largemouth AND Bowfin. Lots of Bowfin but you have to walk upstream from the shoals/whitewater area by the factory and get into the slow water a few hundred yards upstream.
Go stealthily and look ahead. If the water is clear you can see fish because it is shallow in some areas.
I've not been in 30 years [before it was a park] and I'm interested in what you find!
Be CAREFUL, those rocks are covered in whale snot and owl fecal material! [Really, best go with a friend for safety].
 

blink

Senior Member
Thanks for the info Alan. I am definitely going to explore this place further. The trail gets tough upstream of the spillway, but i am going to try and figure it out.
 

blink

Senior Member
Today i went back with some bass gear.
It was very cold this morning, and i think it turned them off a bit.

I get to the spot at the bottom of the spillway, and there were three (lets call them good ol boys for now) fishing with worms and livers at the spot. They tell me they aint having any luck and maybe i will do better with lures, so i threw out my KVD 1.5 sexy shad crankbait and pulled up a nice spot. maybe a bit fatter than the one from yesterday.
sw cr 01
sw cr 02

The "good ol boys" were like DANG!!! I felt bad for fishin their spot so i went downstream for about 30 minutes or so. When i came back the guys were gone but they left all of their trash. two worm containers, a liver container, plastic bags, candy wrappers, lure wrappers, etc.... it was crazy that just 3 dudes could have made this big of a mess. Now lets just call them dumb feral woodlums. I put all their trash in my pack (and got some liver juice on it) and carted it out.

Anyhow, only bite i got was that spot, second cast.... still fun!
 

Cletus T.

Senior Member
I love “stalking fishing”……and those creeks you walk look so pretty! That spot is pretty too and that’s a heck of a fish out of skinny water like that!

Thanks for sharing your adventure with us!
 

boonhogganbeck

Senior Member
Great fishing out there! I haven't really fished the creek, but I have fished the lake with mixed results. I need to get back out there!
 

Chris at Tech

Senior Member
I may have to give that area a shot since I'm only 10 min from there. Launching my boat in the lake has never produced great results so perhaps the stream will be the ticket.
 

Alan in GA

Senior Member
also....

a friend who has passed on brought crickets one time. Fished in a deep run just UPstream from 'the falls'. Caught a BUNCH of 1-3 lb channel cats!
That was in the late 1970s. Hopefully Sweetwater Creek is 'cleaner' by now. Pollutants used to be found in the water back then. Downstream from the Clark Thread factory I guess.
 

BankBassMan

New Member
Today i went back with some bass gear.
It was very cold this morning, and i think it turned them off a bit.

I get to the spot at the bottom of the spillway, and there were three (lets call them good ol boys for now) fishing with worms and livers at the spot. They tell me they aint having any luck and maybe i will do better with lures, so i threw out my KVD 1.5 sexy shad crankbait and pulled up a nice spot. maybe a bit fatter than the one from yesterday.
sw cr 01
sw cr 02

The "good ol boys" were like DANG!!! I felt bad for fishin their spot so i went downstream for about 30 minutes or so. When i came back the guys were gone but they left all of their trash. two worm containers, a liver container, plastic bags, candy wrappers, lure wrappers, etc.... it was crazy that just 3 dudes could have made this big of a mess. Now lets just call them dumb feral woodlums. I put all their trash in my pack (and got some liver juice on it) and carted it out.

Anyhow, only bite i got was that spot, second cast.... still fun!

This was a good article, until you let your bigotry get the best of you. Let's just call you a "racist", for NOW. I'm surprised the moderator condoned that racist comment you made, by leaving it intact for 6 years. You could have just called them "litterbugs" for NOW!
 

61BelAir

Senior Member
The only person in there whose race I'm pretty sure about is the one who started this thread as he's pictured several times. I didn't take anything he wrote as being about the litterbugs' race. In fact, as I read it I was picturing 3 "good ole boy" white rednecks in my head. Is it racist for one white guy to call three white guys "good ole boys" ? If the three "good ole boys" weren't white then how would anyone know what race they were to even be offended?
Maybe I'm wrong, but it just seems that many people (of all colors) are just looking for something to cry racism about. Even the "LGBT"s who aren't a race at all.
 
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TripleXBullies

Senior Member
Obviously they were looking for something to bring up. This thread is 6 years old!!! I didn't even realize that... Jeeeeeezz.
 

ambush80

Senior Member
"Woodlums":rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

When he first started I though Mexicans, then I thought white guys, but that's because I'm racist.
 
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