On The Fly Freshwater
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Featured photo by Jimmy Jacobs: Sunrise on the Coosa.
January 2024
By Claude Preston
We all have busy lives and there are times when it can be much busier than others. The second half of 2023 was one of those times for me. My real job has been super busy, I have a daughter in the house who is in her senior year of high school, plus my wife is a teacher where the work never stops. So anytime I can get away, even for just a few hours I am pretty willing to move some things around.
One particular week this past October I was having a hectic week when I got a call from my good friend Tim Barr, owner and operator of Coosa Fishing Company, asking if my schedule allowed me to break away for a few hours the next morning. After quickly checking the calendar and moving a meeting around I told him yes, I am free until around 1 p.m. Tim replied, “Perfect, me too,” and with that a stealth mission was born for the following morning.
I have known Tim for about five years now. He and I were introduced through a mutual friend of ours and have grown into good friends ever since. Tim is someone that is the life of any party, and always appreciates being in the moment, which is a characteristic that ranks highly on my list. Tim is a storyteller and there is never a dull moment when he is around.
Tim hails from the great state of Georgia and moved over to Alabama about 30 years ago, settling on Logan Martin Lake. Like a lot of folks growing up in the south, his was an outdoor oriented family with one exception – no one in his family fished.
Once Tim moved to Alabama, he was surprised by how many bass tournaments were held on the chain of lakes that make up the Coosa River system. Bass fishing in reservoirs has always been popular in the south, but some folks are born with a desire to fish in moving water and that is where you can find some of the stronger species like stripers and spotted bass. Not long after moving to the area a neighbor of Tim’s invited him to go fishing and took him fishing for stripers. It was not long after that the desire to learn found purchase with Tim and he was determined to learn all he could about the striper and the Coosa fishery. Tim says today that all he has learned over the years has been from good honest hard work and spending time on the water.
The morning of our stealth mission I volunteered to bring breakfast. After swinging through Jack’s for some much-needed fuel, I met up with Tim at the boat ramp at 7:00 a.m. Tim showed up at the same time pulling what I think to be the ultimate rig for river fishing: a customized G3 tunnel hull with a jet prop. This boat can get super shallow and is super easy to negotiate and slide in and around any rocks or structure you are fishing.
We hammered down a couple of biscuits and we were headed out within 20 minutes. Today we were targeting a stretch of the Coosa that had recently been fishing well. After a 10- to 15-minute run, we arrived where we were going to start the morning. I had rigged my G-loomis NRX with a 6-foot tapered leader with 30-pound fluorocarbon tip. Stripers are generally feeding on gizzard or threadfin shad, so we picked out flies to match those. They can range from Spot-on-Shad, to Gamechangers and weighted Clouser Minnows in shad colors.
The sun was rising and we were beginning to see fish explode on the top of the water. Tim instructed me to cast up across the current and let the fly swing down with the flow across the submerged rocks. It was not long and “boom,” fish-on. I had caught a freshwater drum.
Tim is a teacher at heart, and he understands how these fish react and how to present the fly so it looks like a dead or dying baitfish. He is always teaching and willing to offer advice on casting weighted flies and how to work those flies to entice a strike.
Not long after that first fish, I came tight on another that had some weight to it. This fish took to the air and I quickly brought to hand about a 4-pound spotted bass. Such a great fish! As the morning passed, we enjoyed each other’s company and caught some great fish. Timmy B. also caught a really nice 8-pound striper. Those things get quickly into your backing. We had a great morning. In just 3 hours of fishing, I caught three species and saw a beautiful sunrise. As promised, Tim had me back in time for a meeting at one o’clock.
Tim is a master of this fishery and offers guided trips on the Coosa River system year-round. While each season can provide a great trip, Tim prefers the spring. Once the water begins warming, the fish get energetic and are super hungry after being cold and lethargic through late January and February.
It is not uncommon to come home from a trip with Tim during that time with very sore arms. Tim’s clientele is about 80 percent fly fishing. It is a different and exciting way to target these fish. Also, how often do you get to fish 8- to 10-weight gear without making a longer, more expensive trip down to the salt?
Located an hour and a half from Atlanta and only about 30 minutes from Birmingham, a day on the Coosa is easily accessible. I highly recommend reaching out to Tim and getting on his books for the 2024 season, you will not regret it.
Tim Barr can be found on Facebook at Coosa Fishing Company or he can be reached through email at tbarr215@gmail.com or by phone at (205) 296-7122.
