Sixbury begins his fishing day by casting topwater lures to the bank. He recommended arriving early, as the surface action ends on clear days when the sun hits the water. Overcast skies or wind helps to keep bass feeding shallow, but these conditions are rare in June.

"The topwater bite is good through June and produces big fish," he noted. "It's how Tyler caught his big fish."

To find bass willing to attack a surface plug, Sixbury focuses his efforts about midway into a cove. He said depth is not critical, but believes the location is important because it holds baitfish.

"Ninety percent of the time it's not water depth," Sixbury revealed, "but it's the distance into a pocket where the bass are holding. Often, if you start fishing at the mouth of a pocket, the first strike will not occur until you are 100 yards in. Then, five casts may produce three fish.

"If you move directly across the pocket, usually, you will pick up another fish. I have not caught a fish in the back of a pocket."

Sixbury moves into sloughs by following the creek channel. He says each slough has a channel, and the bank closest to the channel holds the most fish.

Once in position, he casts either a Devil's Horse or a Zara Spook to the bank. The former has props on each end, so Sixbury uses a stop-and-go retrieve; the latter is a stickbait that he retrieves with a walk-the-dog rhythm. He always works the plugs all the way back to the boat, as he's had many strikes occur when the lure is a few feet from his rod tip.

When the topwater bite ends, Sixbury transitions to the pattern he works for the remainder of the day: fishing that stretch of creek channel running between 8 to 15 feet deep with a 6-inch Zoom lizard. He said baitfish use the creek channel to migrate to and from the sloughs. So Sixbury's transition is as easy as switching rods and casting in a different direction as he departs the slough.

"Keep your boat on either side of the channel," he advised, "and cast across the channel so the lure covers the shallow water and dropoffs on both sides, and the deep water in between. This will allow you to develop a pattern regardless of where the fish are holding."

The only boat ramp on the reservoir is located at the end of Howell's Ferry Road, and daily permits cost $5 at the ramp. There's about 15 feet of limestone spanning the distance from the end of the ramp to the low water.

CLAIBORNE LAKE
Claiborne Lake is the last down-stream reservoir in the chain of lakes on the Alabama River. The lock and dam, which is about 15 miles northwest of Monroeville, controls water levels and allows navigation on the 5,930-acre lake. The dam, which does not generate electricity, did little to change the look of the great river, as it failed to flood the river's steep banks.