Tips for fishing the Cahaba River in Alabama - UPDATE IN OP

Which part of the Cahaba? It stretches from Trussville to Selma. I've paddled and fished several sections rom Grants Mill Road to Helena and another stretch from West Blocton down to some bridge we took out at. If the water is low it's not worth the trip, too much dragging. We use rooster tails and beetle spins or an occasional frog into weed beds further downstream where it widens.

You'll be surprised by the diversity of fish in that river too. Smallmouth, bream, gar in deep pools, perch, catfish, even an occasional gator.

Link to a map of put in and take outs.

LINK

LINK

Check water depth & flow rate at different locations here: LINK

Hellgrammite patterns should work well

Not Alabama but maybe this helps

I hunt in centreville/marvel, where are y’all at?

I live just south of Centreville. I don't do a lot of fishing, but it has rained like a mother fudda around here. You won't have to worry about the water being low. Muddy is your issue. I have creek that borders my property that feeds the Cahaba. It is up and down with all this rain. It manages to clear up quickly, but when I crossed the river today it was a bit muddy.

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Muddy is your issue. I have creek that borders my property that feeds the Cahaba. It is up and down with all this rain. It manages to clear up quickly, but when I crossed the river today it was a bit muddy.

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Yep, I'm about 1 mile from the cahaba and have 2 creeks that feed my pond, then the cahaba with the run out.

I'm about 30.minutes north of Centreville.

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There aren't

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Not native. But it has stockers

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Paging Aubie Spr96. He's on the Cahaba a bunch.

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I’d hate to think how many days a year I’m on it. I love to fish and my wife does too. It’s her favorite place to go, so we go all the time.

I’m a big fan of that Centerville section of the river. We go there a handful of times a year, typically during the lily bloom. You are way passed that, but if you ever come back, Mothers Day to Fathers Day is peak bloom season and it’s a must do trip.

I’ll recommend four trips, three I’ve done many times and one I’ve never done.

1. Cahaba Refuge to Pratt’s Ferry. This is the Cahaba Lilly trip. It’s about 8-9 miles, has numerous shallows shoals, plenty of beaches, and isn’t very technical.
2. The Glades Preserve down the Little Cahaba to Pratt’s Ferry. The Little Cahaba is way different than the big Cahaba. It’s clearer and the rocks are way different.
3. Pratt’s Ferry to Centerville. This is pretty uneventful until the shoals at Centerville.
4. Below Centerville. The river changes from rocky shoals to flat sandy beaches with meandering turns. This is the one I haven’t done, but is on my list. I almost went this past weekend.

There is a put in and take out map for all of these on the Cahaba Blueway map Here. There is also a fly fishing guide that does shore lunches and the whole nine yards.

Fishing is amazing. It’s not uncommon to catch 30/person on a day trip. There are three bass that comprise the fishery: spots, largemouth, and redeye.

The redeye are smaller. A redeye over a pound is a moose. They are hyper aggressive and will be concentrated in the swifter water. Small topwaters and spinnerbaits work best.

Spots are the dominant fish. They are the most prevalent and the largest. A three pound spot is a good one and a five or better is a moose. Contrary to what another poster said, low water is good. Lower the better. In the summer, if you have low, clear water, throw topwater all day: spook, buzzbait, pop-r. Full sized ones. If the water is up and off color, spinnerbait or a jig would be my choice. Spots will be current related, but not in it like the redeye. Eddies just out of the current and areas just before a shoal and just after a shoal are your best bets.

Largemouth are unicorns. They live there but don’t thrive. I’m convinced we catch them when ponds overflow. With that said, it’s not uncommon for us to catch a three plus largemouth in one of the many pools. They will be in the slack water areas.

The bream fishing is also very good. I think this is because no one really targets them. Hand sized or better bream are common.

My wife has two baits tied on all year: 1/8oz buzzbait and a 1/8oz spinnerbait. I’ll have three: a full size pop-r, a 1/4oz spinnerbait, and something to bream fish with. If the water is low and clear, I’m wasting my time fishing behind her for bass.

I hope this helps. Not much to do around Centerville I’m afraid. Curious how yall ended up there. If I could only bass fish one place the rest of my life, it would be the Cahaba River with a topwater bait.

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Contrary to what another poster said, low water is good. Lower the better.

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This is the same for the rivers I hit in GA. Spots, Shoal Bass and the rare LG or striper.