I was hot, worn out and paddling back to the truck after nearly wiping out on a cornering rapid. Recovering from the near-disaster, I picked up my fly rod and made half a roll cast to clear the line off the deck. My attention was still on the rapid when I noticed a subtle sip as my Stealth Bomber was pulled underwater.
Fall in Love with Shoal Bass: Expert Tactics for Shoalie Success
I stripped the line and lifted the rod tip, but the line didn’t move. I thought I had snagged in a rock. Then, the fish came to life and surged out into deeper water. The flash of brown tiger stripes is one of my favorite fishing memories.
Once I had the fly line on the reel, the fish dove into the rocks. Shoal bass are experts at rocking up; I’ve lost too many battles to a boulder.
I put on just enough heat to keep her from swimming under the ledge. The fish changed tactics and swam for the surface to make a head-shaking leap out of the water. Slowly, I worked the bass to the kayak before slipping a net under the fish.
At 22 inches long, the shoalie was a true trophy and my biggest catch. Taking my personal best with a fly rod was the golden stamp on a great experience. I released the big fish and hoped we would meet again.
Shoalbass are a species of black bass found only in a few rivers in the Southeast. Native to the Apalachicola drainage they were only found in the Chattahoochee and Flint river basins before being introduced into the Ocmulgee River.
These hardy little scrappers thrive in moving water and rocks. They cover the water column from hunting crawfish on the bottom, and baitfish schools in the mid-water to slurping a floating dragonfly or cicada off the surface.
The aggressive fish will take a spinnerbait, topwater, jig or worm and always puts up a dogged fight.
They don’t like stagnant reservoirs, which is why shoalies only inhabit certain areas in the Chattahoochee River. The pristine shoals in the Flint River, with shoal lilies blooming, are more their style.
In the spring, shoal bass swim miles to return to the same rocky, swift-water spawning grounds.
Of course, a fish with a specialized habitat is susceptible to environmental threats. One of the biggest problems is cross breeding with invasive spotted bass. Shoalies are also losing river to their favorite shoals filling in with silt.
In 2025, two large dams central to the shoal bass population will be removed. Anglers are unsure whether this will help the species or be the last nail in the coffin for local shoalies. After dams were removed in downtown Columbus, Georgia, the healthy shoal bass population all but disappeared. For those of us who remember the good old days in Columbus, the threat of losing another shoalie river is heartbreaking.
To pursue this swift-water marauder, I bring my A game. The aggressive fish will take a spinnerbait, topwater, jig or worm and always puts up a dogged fight. These river-bred and raised fish will use the current to their advantage and head straight for the rocks.
In my opinion, shoal bass are pound-for-pound the toughest fighting black bass. Look for the fish in moving water, where they like to hide in the pressure wave on the upstreamside of rocks.
On a bright sunny day, I look for a dark shadow below an overhanging rock. When a beautiful, brown, tiger-striped monster grabs hold of my bait, it also grabs a piece of my heart. Many anglers, like me, are consumed with targeting shoalies. As more anglers fall in love with this fish, the shoal bass population has a better chance of surviving.
The golden child of the bass family. | Feature photo: Chris Funk
