My wife will probably kill me for this one, but I'll post it anyway.....

This is the trip we take the most by far. Why? Well, the launch at Grants Mill Rd is closest to the house. However, during the warmer months, it gets overrun with all sorts of people and you can easily get blocked in parking there. On a trip out of there earlier this year, we just missed getting blocked in by Irondale Fire n Rescue because some dude drowned just before we left. The crowds make the Leeds to Grants Mill and Grants Mill to Overton sections of the river unusable for us. Which is a shame because they might be the two prettiest sections of the river near Birmingham. Oh well, we just fish them in the Fall and Winter when the water gets too cold for the clowns to be out there.

Hoover is the least attractive section of the river. It also has the most trash on it. I presume this is because the river goes under Hwy 280, Interstate 65, and Hwy 31 on that course. The launch we use is behind Hoover East ballpark. This is gated and a decent way from the parking lot. We have a set of wheels that we can strap to the canoe making it possible for one person to roll the canoe down to the water. Highly recommend that here. The gates will be locked, but this is to keep the high school kids out. They like to drive their trucks down there and hang out. Normally that isn't a problem, but they got to trashing the place so they shut it down. Anyway, here's the start and the pedestrian bridge that goes over the river there:


I really didn't want to go, but my wife really, really wanted to go so we went. The rains from Saturday had the water up a bit (discharge was around 200cfs). The muddy water was what I was worried about. We had a good day, but not a great day. I will say this, the fishing here is usually exceptional. Why? We've never seen another boat on this trip. Never. Not one time in 6 yrs. I expect this to change going forward. Vestavia is putting in a Cahaba River Park with the land around Altadena. The City of Hoover is putting in a Cahaba River Park with the land around the old concrete plant near Riverchase. When these two facilities go in, I expect the river traffic to go WAY up. Which will be good/bad.



There aren't many shoals on this stretch of the river. The main concern here will be trees. After a heavy rain or storm, there will always be new trees to deal with. The river really transitions from the upper stretches in that Hoover has more muddy/sandy banks than the upper parts and even the lower parts around West Blockton.



I like pan fishing especially behind the wife. She's a vacuum cleaner on the bass. My only hope is to fish for things that she isn't.


Hwy 31 bridge.


There's a lot of trash on this section. While I hate the thought of the traffic picking up, hopefully a good outcome from that will be people picking up the trash. The wife and I always take a bunch home with us. Yesterday we recovered 3 soccer balls and a half dozen plastic bottles. Oh, and the river goes by Patton Creek Treatment Plant. They dump the 'clean' water back in the river. It has a pronounced chlorine smell. Also, we absolutely see more deer on this section that any other we've been on. The urban sprawl has eliminated the habitat down to just the area around the river. Twice yesterday, we had does literally stand up as we got within 10 yds of them. Scared us to death both times.



The take out sucks. This is a muddy/sandy hill that goes almost straight up for about 40 yds. I'd suggest a long rope and pulling the canoe/kayak up this hill. It's far easier than trying to wrestle it up the hill.


On the water at 10AM. Off the water by 5PM. Stopped for lunch and meandered up some side creeks fishing.

nice picks

Great pics and descriptions. I appreciate them ?

Nice!

I live in the neighborhood right where the river goes under the 65 bridge. I’ve fished that part of the river for the last 10ish years and it’s extremely full of bass,catfish, and gar. You’ve probably passed by me while I was fishing the riverbank lol.

cool

Great pics, and thanks for posting! I'm surprised at how little interest there is in creek/river fishing. I've always enjoyed it much more than reservoir fishing.

That takeout reminds me of the takeouts further down the Cahaba where I grew up. Our boats back then were homemade, wooden, and extremely heavy, and we had use chains to get them out pulling with a truck. Somebody had to walk along with the boat as it was being pulled up the bank to make certain that the bow stayed up. If it ever got down and got caught in the ground something was gonna break.

It was always a relief to see it clear the slope.

Seriously, I could count on two hands the number of people we've seen down there. It's an amazingly under utilized resource. But that will all change over the next couple of years as they add those two facilities. Maybe it will take some pressure off the Grants Mill launch and we can start using that again.

It has always been my favorite too. I have always enjoyed it more than big water

Thanks for Great write up as usual!

That looks like a float I might do, Where about is the pullout located?

River looks pretty clear there, I was down above centerville yesterday and the water was like chocolate milk.

https://www.cahabablueway.org/blueway-map/



Here's the put in map. We went from Hoover East to Bains Bridge (Old Lorna Rd).

Thanks for sharing. Fishing small creeks has always been my favorite. And the fish fight twice as hard seems like