Well........ We took one smallmouth trip last year and were moderately successful. We went to Florence, AL and took the short trip down Cypress Creek. We had some bad luck with the weather and had some thunderstorms that stained the water on us. I had been wanting to get back and give the wife a good smallmouth experience and we knocked it out of the park on Shoal Creek.

Friday: Took the day off. Got my gear together and headed out to check-in and scope out the take out. Easy drive up 65 to north Alabama.


The take out we used was at Goose Shoals just north of Florence, Al on County Rd 8. Parking was adequate and there was a decent dirt road down to the creek.




I wasn't concerned with the put-in as it was a canoe park located in Iron City, TN. The total mileage on the trip was 8 miles. I was concerned about water flow, but even with our lack of rain, the creek was running hard and there was no dragging on the trip.

Tried booking at the GunRunner Hotel, but they were packed as usual. We love the Strickland and stayed there again. Recommend it highly to anyone as it is in the middle of downtown and everything is walkable.

Florence puts on their first Friday event where they close off parts of downtown and bring in bands, vendors, etc, etc. It was well run and well attended. Wife and I ate dinner at Yumm and called it an early night.



There are a ton of police at this event. Wonder if they've had issues before?



The bar in the basement of our hotel. Fun place with a bunch of college kids and a mini bowling alley.

Pics of fish?? Florence has a bunch of law enforcement at everything. Every time we played florence in football (whether there or at home) there'd be 20+ cops around. Compare that to our normal home game with 1 or 2 city officers and a couple county deputies. Was filming in braly once and had 1/2 dozen dressed in swat gear come thru like they were on a mission.

Saturday:

I was anxious about getting going early. As per usual, there isn't a whole lot of information on this trip of any value. I saw a couple of YouTube videos on the trip, but they didn't offer much practical information. We got up early, drank coffee, and started the shuttle service from Iron City to Goose Shoals.

Sunrise in Iron City, TN


The put-in was awesome. It was on a large gravel shoal and you could drive right out to the creek at this water level and drop the canoe right there. No dragging or hauling. Very nice.


Even better was Iron City Deli. They were open early and had hot coffee and breakfast. Highly recommend the fried bologna with egg and cheese. There was a group of older gentlemen in there having a lively conversation about whether or not squirrel hunting was better than coon hunting. Not sure who won....


Shoal Creek is beautiful. Possibly one of the prettiest trips we've ever taken. Fall has taken hold and the leaves were changing. The creek is primarily gravel bottom with very little trees in the water. I think the canoe scraped the bottom once or twice? The paddling required is very basic. There were a bunch of islands and shoals where stopping to eat or swim would be great. The water was crystal clear and didn't change until close to the end where another feeder creek stained it a bit. The water was also way warmer than I had anticipated. There were a number of bluffs

The take off:


Bluffs:



My wife was OBSESSED with these bald eagles that followed us down the creek. We see this all the time with ducks, but I guess eagles do it too. Once you scare them off, they fly about a half mile or so down the creek. There they wait for you to come by so they can fly down the creek again. We chased a pair of them all day. Every time, the eagle would fly off when my wife wasn't looking and she'd scramble for her phone. She finally got a decent photo and video of one of them. We also had an otter play around us in the river. It sure was cool watching him play and swim around. Didn't get a good pic of him.




Saw this near the end of the trip. Not sure what's going on here, but it was interesting.

The take out at CR8:


Goose Shoals is the last big shoal on the creek before it enters Lake Wilson. We could have paddled through and gone on to the marina right below the shoals, but I wasn't willing to do that. We were on the water at 8AM and we were off the water by 430PM. We fished hard and doubled back on some of the better spots. We also stopped for lunch.




The fishing? Well, it was amazing. It started slow and picked up in both numbers and size as we got to closer to the lake. Neither one of us had been on a good smallmouth trip. We changed that. The wife crushed them again. With the water down, the fish were in very predictable places. When she's on with her topwater bait, there isn't much the guy in the back of the boat can do. Her best five would have pushed 14 lbs. Her big fish was just over 3.25 lbs. I couldn't tell you how many she caught, but it was a bunch. Not sure if that's an average day out there or a special day, but we can't wait to go back and find out. Oh, we saw two people fishing first thing that morning. They were taking their time and we never saw them or anyone else the rest of the day.

One of the 3 lbers:


Just a pretty 2 lber:

Thanks for sharing your adventure!! Great pics and narration

Yeah man!

Outdid yourself again! Much enjoyment you provide to this site!

Awesome pics, Thanks for sharing!

Great pics and story, as we’ve come to expect. I really appreciate you taking us on your trips with you through the story and pics. I’ve found myself coming to the fishing forum first to see if you have shared a new adventure. Thanks again!

Nice pics and story

Another great trip!

Done that float several times and it is a fun one. There is a little inlet creek to the right on your way down, I would say about 1/2 way to the bridge. We always stopped and waded up that lil creek. It opens up after a short distance and there is a bluff on the left. Caught our best one there a lil over 4lbs on a pop-R. Sucker went down stream jumping and putting on a show. I couldnt stop it taking drag and my buddies saw that plug with those hooks hanging out as it headed towards them. They were walking on water to get the heck out of the way. LOL

Butler Creek? It was running hard when we passed it. Caught a couple of nice ones where it entered Shoal. Probably had time to go up it a ways, but it was getting beer 30 by the time we got there and I was getting tired of getting my ass kicked.