Category: Neely Henry Logan Martin Lakelife

Expert anglers reveal their
favorite fishing spots

Story by Loyd McIntosh
Photos by Michael Callahan
Submitted Photos

Few things in life are as secretive as people who fish often. Seriously, getting a fisherman – or fisherwoman – to give their closely-guarded secrets is like trying to track the whereabouts of Jimmy Hoffa.

However, in this issue of Discover St. Clair, a handful of local fishing experts are divulging their secret fishing holes on Logan Martin, Henry Neely and the Coosa River for the first time in recorded history (may be an exaggeration, if only slight one). Many of them will even tell you about the gear they use to catch fish after fish in our area. Take notes, people.

Zeke Gossett

A former standout for the Pell City High School fishing team and current star on the Jefferson State team, Zeke Gossett is familiar with many areas of Logan Martin but finds particular success fishing the back half of Rabbit Branch Creek in the spring and early summer months.

“There’s just a great population out there. It has a lot of good clay points, with shallower banks,” says Gossett.

The area is really successful for him in April and May due to the abundance of docks. “There are a lot of fish coming off the bank, and they like to hang out around those floating peers, so I really like fishing close to the docks in April, especially when it’s sunny outside.”

Gossett also says he really enjoys fishing in the Shoal Creek area on Neely Henry Lake during the spring, especially on the lower end near the dam. However, he says he adjusts his approach depending on Alabama Power’s generator schedule.

“When the water is running on that lake, and I’m going to fish up the lake around the City Dock area up around Gadsden, I would like current toward the bottom end of the lake,” he explains. “It helps, but I don’t need it as much as I do up the river.

“When you go up the river, it turns into a skinnier river about 100 yards across and not even that in some areas,” he adds. “So, current is a big must up the river, that time of year especially.”

Hayden Bartee

Gossett’s partner on the Jefferson State fishing team, Hayden Bartee, is another young and talented competitive angler with loads of experience fishing on area lakes.

Discussing his favorite locations during the first warm stretch of the year in mid-February, Bartee says Cropwell Creek near the city baseball fields has been a productive spot for him as of late.

“It’s been pretty good here the past couple of weeks,” says Bartee. “I caught a big fish out there a couple of weeks ago, and there’s always a good population of bait fish as well as bass.”

Bartee says that area of Logan Martin is great for sight fishing when the water is clear. In this situation, he uses a bait by Big Bite Baits called the Warmouth on a 7’4 Heavy Duce rod. Bartee also says the grassy areas around Riverside can be productive and has a certain technique that he uses when fishing that area. “You can catch them on a swimming jig,” he explains. “I’ll throw a Big Bite Baits swimming crawl as a trailer for my swim jig with Vicious 60-pound no-fade braid on my 7’4 heavy Duce. That’s another good way to catch them, especially this time of year.”

Joey Nania

A fixture on the BASSMASTER professional angler circuit since 2011, Pell City resident Joey Nania is well-acquainted with the ins and outs of Logan Martin and Neely Henry. Nania also operates his own fishing guide service and has fished in almost every nook and cranny in the area, and says spring is a great time find fish in shallow spots on Neely Henry.

“The key in the spring is the fish are going to be shallow, and so fishing in the grass is important,” Nania says.

“Canoe Creek has a lot of fish that live in it,” he adds. “You go to the back of Canoe Creek, and there’s a ton of grass and a lot of docks, and that can be really good fishing in the backs of the shallow pockets.”

Nania says he prefers to fish in areas on Neely Henry that aren’t disturbed by the currents caused by the generators near the dam. “The backs of the creeks and the shallow fishing areas aren’t really affected as much if the water level stays stable, and they don’t suck the water out and drop the water out of the grass,” Nania says.

While he doesn’t want to give up too much information, Nania will say the hard bottom areas of Logan Martin are good spots to find bass. “A lot of those main lake bluffs are really good,” he says. “Finding hard bottom is really important, like roadbeds, gravel humps, that kind of thing.”

When operating his guide service, Nania takes people all over both Neely Henry and Logan Martin and says his clients are more successful when paying attention to fish behaviors rather than focusing on locations. “People want to learn different patterns, and learning patterns is really more important than individual spots,” Nania says.

Robbey Stanford

A member of the Iron City Kayak Anglers, Robbey Stanford gets a different view of the lakes, creeks and streams in the area. A resident of the Liberty Park community in Vestavia Hills, Stanford’s mother-in-law lives in Riverside, which is where he likes to take his kayak into places the big boats can’t reach.

“I love to fish a lot of the creeks that run into the Coosa River,” Stanford says. “I like to take my kayak up there and paddle into some of those back waters.

“The great thing about fishing in a kayak is you get to go where the bass boats aren’t,” adds Stanford. “It’s just a whole different angle of fishing.”

While fishing from a kayak provides anglers with an unprecedented level of maneuverability, Stanford cautions that safety must be a concern, especially for a newcomer to kayak fishing. “The main thing is always wear your life jacket. It’s not like regular fishing because you’re in a boat that can easily tip over and you can easily hit your head and drown,” he says. “I’ve seen it happen.”

Bre Wyatt

Former state champion with the Pell City High School fishing team and now a member of the Faulkner University Bass Fishing Team, Bre Wyatt is one of the first female anglers to earn a scholarship to fish in college. Whether fishing for fun or competition, Wyatt spends a lot of time on Neely Henry and Logan Martin and goes to those tried and true spots any time she’s fishing in the area.

I “have a stretch on Neely Henry about 800 yards long that’s like a rock with docks on it,” Wyatt says, “and we go there every time we fish.”

Wyatt says she likes to fish in the grassy areas around Riverside, as well as near docks and old concrete bridges. She also likes brush piles and finds them to be a good source of bass depending on the current.

“On Logan Martin, if they’re running water, we’ll go upriver and fish the current with spinner baits,” she says. “Downriver, we fish mainly brush piles, but they’re scattered around, but right there in front of Lakeside (Landing) is always good, although that’s pretty much a community hole,” Wyatt says.

Curtis Gossett

Well-known in town as the head coach of the Pell City High School fishing team, Curtis Gossett has taught many young people not only how to fish, but to recognize where the fish are biting. One of his favorite spots to toss in a line is Cropwell Creek on Logan Martin. “We fish it from spring to summer,” Gossett says. “It’s an area that always holds fish.”

Gossett says he ventures over into the Talladega County side of Logan Martin regularly, particularly in the Stemley Bridge area, although good luck finding out exactly where, since he’s not even sure what many of these holes are called. “There are a lot of sloughs up through there that we fish that don’t really have a name,” he says.

 One spot that Gossett can point to with certainty is Poorhouse Creek, which he says can be very successful in the spring. “The fish move up into that shallow water to spawn and, on the other hand, it has good creek channels where, if we have a cool snap, they can drop back off to those channels,” Gossett says. “All that together equals some good fishing.”

As for Neely Henry, Gossett does have one spot near the dam. But ever the competitor, he’s not tipping his hand as to exactly where that spot is. “That’s one we don’t talk about much because we don’t want people flooding up there,” he says.

On a serious note, Gossett says some of those areas near the dam can be dangerous for even the most experienced anglers. “There are shoals all up in there, and we have seen people run up and just ruin boats and their motors,” he says. “It’s really bad in there. You have to know where to run or you’re going to be in trouble.”

Editor’s Note: Congratulations to the Pell City Panthers Fishing team for winning the first ASABFA Regional Qualifier at Lake Jordan for the 2018 season!

Eclectic business living up to its name

Story by Elaine Hobson Miller
Photos by Michael Callahan

A man walked into Local Joe’s Trading Post near the Rainbow City/St. Clair County line one day and slammed his hand down on the countertop. “I just found out something about my wife,” he said, startling employees and customers alike. “For the past four years, she has not cooked turkey and dressing at Thanksgiving. She’s been buying it here. She even brings her own casserole dish for you to put the dressing in!”

While Jodie and Karen Stanfield, owners of Local Joe’s, don’t advocate trying to fool anyone, they are happy to supply smoked turkey breasts and all the accompanying fixings for Thanksgiving or Christmas. In fact, they serve smoked turkey, mouthwatering bakery goods, barbecue and four other meats, along with the traditional barbecue sides, all year ‘round. When you combine the food with all the locally-made items on their shelves, you come up with the smells and tastes of a barbecue joint and the feel of an old country store.

“We slow-smoke our turkey, chicken, ribs, pork butt, ham and sausage on site in cast iron smokers that were custom made by HBT Smokers in Guntersville,” says Jodie. “We do it Southern style, with no rotisserie, no fire beneath them and no additives.” He sells 500-600 four-pound turkey breasts every Thanksgiving to people like the anonymous wife above.

It will take all your willpower to pass by Local Joe’s without stopping for a bite when that pit smoke is floating on the breeze. If you could gain weight just by looking at sweets, you would be too big to waddle out after scanning the array of cookies, scones, cake balls and baked pies in the bakery case. While waiting on your order, you can browse through the general store section, with its wide-planked pine floors and walls covered in old-fashioned metal and wooden signs. That’s where you’ll find the local honey and produce, wine jellies and sauces, candles and kitchenware that gave Jodie the idea for the name of his store.

“We named it Local Joe’s because we buy from local-Joe farmers,” Jodie explains. “We buy their produce and homemade items. We also make some in-house products, like pimiento cheese from the hoop cheese we sell, and fried pork rinds.”

Karen rattles off a handful of local product examples, like the spiced peaches and hot crackers made by Smokehouse Crackers in Boaz, the Augustine Coffee that is ground in Etowah County, and the cheese straws made in Athens. They also buy seasonal plants such as poinsettias, mums and hanging baskets from the greenhouse of Rainbow Omega, a home for mentally and physically challenged adults in Talladega.

It becomes apparent that “locally” goes beyond the county line. Still, all except a few items are made in Alabama. Jodie likes to support small businesses, including Nancy’s Fudge Company in Meadows of Dan, Virginia.

Although the Stanfields opened Local Joe’s eight years ago, its history and general-store tradition date back to 1940. Henry Bowling built a two-bedroom house and operated a general merchandise store called H.D. Bowling’s Grocery out of it. He also had a barbershop there, charging 10 cents per haircut, and sold Shell gasoline at pumps in the front, according to his nephew, Henry Jester.

“My aunt told me that when they put the roof on the house, she had saved enough nickels in one year to pay for that roof,” Jester says. “My uncle also cut hair at Camp Siebert, a military base that was located down Pleasant Valley Road near Attalla during World War II. “His merchandise included barbed wire and nails.”

Jester says his uncle cut hair for many famous people at Camp Siebert, including boxer Joe Lewis and movie star Mickey Rooney. “Elvis stopped there at the store and drank a Coca-Cola when I was six or seven years old,” Jester recalls. “It was the year he got out of the army.”

Henry Bowling sold his business in the late 70s to Thomas Peterson, who renamed it Peterson’s. The Stanfields have their pecans cracked by Peterson’s widow. “We also buy from individual pecan orchards,” Jodie says.

Lead caterer Rebecca Killey and cashier Lori Shaw are responsible for the homey feel of Local Joe’s. Enamelware bowls and mugs, metal salt and pepper shakers, wire baskets and wooden signs with sayings such as “Sweet Home,” “Farm to Table” and “Farm Fresh Eggs” are displayed on shelves and hanging from the walls. Herbed soup and dip mixes are showcased in metal bins, and a photo of Lucile Ball as Lucy Ricardo rests on top of a Pepsi-Cola case. “We sell bottled soft drinks, and it’s cool watching a grandpa showing his grandchild how to open one,” says Jodie.

Two signs that bring on lots of giggles are, “Fanny’s Rest Stop, Eat Here and Get Gas,” along with a more modern proclamation, “What happens here will be posted on Facebook.” The large hoop cheese slicer is more than 100 years old and is still in use. Tshirts are sold bearing the outline of the state of Alabama, with the latitude and longitude of Rainbow City and Alexandria prominent, because there’s a Local Joe’s in each city.

The farmhouse decor includes a table lamp with an old-fashioned electric mixer and bowl at the base, and another one with a replica of a wringer washing machine. Everywhere you turn, there are iron pigs. A customer can buy anything off the walls or shelves, or Karen will refer them to its source. “All of our decor is for sale,” she says. “If it doesn’t sell, it remains as decor.”

The Stanfields employ 55 people at their two locations, including Executive Chef Damon Wynn, often found in the kitchen making Alabama Caviar (black-eyed peas and corn relish). Pit master and chef, Nathan Nolin, is Le Cordon Bleu Culinary-trained and is married to the baker, Hilary McMahon.

 McMahon bakes multiples of sweet treats almost every day, including Granny’s Baked Pies. Jodie’s Mom, aka Granny, used to bake the pies herself, and she helped Jodie establish the business. The recipes are a combination of Granny’s recipes and those of local customers. Flavors include apple, peach, blueberry, strawberry, coconut, pecan and s’mores. “They look and taste like the traditional Southern fried pies, but they are baked instead of fried,” Karen says. McMahon also makes a variety of scones, such as white chocolate, orange cranberry and chocolate chip, plus several types of cake balls.

“Damon prepares a Farm-to-Table Dinner using our facilities,” Jodie says. “He buys all his meat and produce locally, sells tickets, and holds them at different venues.” The next one will be at Local Joe’s on the new side porch that has just been built.

Along with adding the porch addition, the Stanfields have been knocking out walls for the past few months and making improvements to add to the customer experience. Most of the remodeling has been handled by Shane Elmore, aka Elmo, who owns S&K Home Improvement.

The tables where customers eat are made of barn wood by a friend, Steven Lang of Albertville, who also made the red planter boxes outside the store.

The former front bedroom of the old Bowling house is becoming a conference room with a six-foot diameter copper-topped table on a wrought-iron base that came from a former Greek restaurant in Homewood. Occasionally, you’ll find customers eating lunch in that room when a catering consultation is not in session.

As catering managers, Karen and JoAnna Duckett are responsible for the 60-plus weddings Local Joe’s caters each year. Because they have the use of the kitchens at both locations, it is not unusual for them to have three or four weddings or other large catering events per weekend.

“Our highly experienced catering staff love what they do, and it shows each and every time they serve anywhere,” Karen says. In the past few years, they have also catered four large community events: The Mayor’s Ball, which benefits the Boys and Girls Clubs of America; The Mardi Gras Magic Party, which benefits the Family Success Center; The Paws for St. Paddy’s, which benefits the local Humane Society Pet Rescue & Adoption Center; and The Girlfriend Gala, which benefits the Success by Six program in coordination with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. “We cater at various large manufacturing plants, which employ from 100 to 1,700 people,” states Jodie.

Often Jodie and Karen will have their staff make extra goodies when they cater an event, and serve those extras on Sample Saturday, a special, un-advertised event they hold periodically for loyal customers.

All of these services led to Jodie being named Alabama’s Small Business Person of the Year in 2017, which garnered the couple a free trip to D.C. and a meet-and-greet with the other 53 state winners from across the nation, along with President’s Trump’s SBA Director Linda McMahon, Vice President Mike Pence and First Daughter Ivanka Trump. Local Joe’s also was named the 2017 Retailer of the Year by the Retail Association of Alabama.

“We honestly and truly know where our blessings come from – and we are thankful that God has continued to bless Local Joe’s and allows us to pass on those blessings to our employees and the community,” Karen says. “We are in the people business, but food is what we do.”

A special store on the shore of Neely Henry

Story by Carol Pappas
Photos by Wallace Bromberg Jr.

The front door of a nondescript building fronting US 411 near Ashville on one side and Canoe Creek on Neely Henry Lake on the other doesn’t prepare you for what you’ll find on the other side. The door swings open, and “Boss, AKA Big Head,” sits patiently waiting for your response.

It may be a gasp at just how big his head is – he’s a mastiff – or if you’re a dog lover, the natural instinct kicks in, and petting is surely on its way. At least, Boss seems to hope so.

Welcome to Big Head’s Bait Shop. Amy Jean Pruett owns it. But make no mistake about it, Big Head is the Boss. He’s everywhere. He swaggers around on four legs, checking out the customers. His face (the shop’s logo) can be spotted in any direction on anything that advertises the business.

But the real story stands behind the counter, Boss just plays a role in it.

In another life, Amy was operations manager for an investment company for 18 years. “I loved my job and the people I worked with. That was the hardest thing about doing this,” she said, motioning around the cozy bait shop full of mementos – signs and fish-themed knick-knacks people have given her.

She had a dream to follow, though, and when the bait shop went up for sale, she couldn’t resist the lure.

“I have been dreaming about this since I was 4 years old,” she said. “I was in an out of bait shops as a young girl with my dad. I loved the bait shop atmosphere … the stories … they were right up my alley.”

To the little girl, the fishermen were “laid back. I loved talking to all those old fellas,” she said.

She caught her first fish on Neely Henry, said her father, Paul Pruett, who helps out around the shop and acts as a fishing guide. And now she’s back where she started, barely over the toddler stage.

Originally, she thought she would open a bait shop on the coast, but “this place in particular tugged at me.” She had promised herself that before she was 40, she would have a bait shop to call her own. “Forty came and went, and I made peace with it,” Amy said.

Then, she was going to work one day and stopped to get gas across the street from the bait shop and noticed the ‘for sale’ sign. “I worked out a month and a half notice at the investment company,” and she headed toward living out her dream.

“I signed the papers on my 44^th birthday. I laughed thinking about my 4-year-old self” and the promise she made about age 40. “I thought, she wasn’t too far off.”

That was a year ago. Now, Amy said, “I feel like I’m aging in reverse. I still wake up looking for my business clothes. I can wear a bathing suit now if I want to.”

She spent the early days figuring everything out and getting used to a newfound calm that has overtaken her, the slow pace of just selling bait over the demands of the investment world. Her greatest challenge in her new life was figuring out how to keep the bait alive.

“I felt like the mad scientist.” She rounded up old deep freezers people had thrown out, rigged up a thermostat for each, and the minnows seemed quite content swimming in the chill of winter in their balmy, 70-degree water. Her friend, Scott, helped with the thermostats for the tanks.

That’s not the only bait she sells. Check out the chalk board out front, advertising everything from the usuals – Shiners, Toughies, Night Crawlers, Crickets – to Rooster Livers and Live Shad. Don’t be fooled by her petite look. She casts for and catches the shad herself.

And don’t be surprised that a ‘girl’ in a typically man’s world knows her fishing. She encounters a few male skeptics at first. But it doesn’t take them long to discover “I know what I’m talking about. I tell them what to fish for, where to go, what to use, and they come back over and over again. My nephews think I’m the coolest now. They think it’s the most awesome place in the world.”

Her advice for others living their dream? “Don’t let it consume you. Set hours and stick by them. Get your plan together and stick by it. Listen to your customers’ suggestions, but don’t feel like you have to have everything all at once. Every day is a learning experience—learn.

She’s quick to point out that she hasn’t done it all on her own. She talks about the help and encouragement from her dad who works with her, her friends – Shelby Little and Shane Moland — who help out on weekends – and then, there’s Boss.

“He really saved me,” she said. A friend had texted her the photo of this giant rescue who had been in a crate for six months, and she set out to Bardstown, Kentucky, to claim him. “When I saw his face, I just knew I had to have him.” She was going through a difficult time in her life, and “he motivated me. He got me out of my funk.”

Together, they run quite a booming bait business and seem to savor every minute of it.

What’s the next dream? “By 50, I want to catch an alligator with The Swamp People,” she said, noticing an episode flash across the TV. “I’ll be 45 this month. I guess I better get on the ball, huh?”

Big Head Bait Shop

114 photos

There’s a saying around these parts: “You never know how many friends you have until you own a lake house.” It’s true. The water seems to have a way of drawing people in, and Realtors on Logan Martin and Neely Henry know why.

Story by Carol Pappas
Photos by Wallace Bromberg Jr.
and Michael Callahan

There’s a saying around these parts: “You never know how many friends you have until you own a lake house.” It’s true. The water seems to have a way of drawing people in, and Realtors on Logan Martin and Neely Henry know why.

With thousands of acres of water forming their back yard, both lakes are hot properties for housing. From cabins to mansions to everything in between, Logan Martin and Neely Henry Realtors say they have just the right spot to fit any lake lover’s budget.

The best amenities, of course, are of the natural kind.

“The crappie fishing is great on Neely Henry,” said Realtor Lyman Lovejoy of Lovejoy Realty. “And it’s a scenic lake. There are some places with high rock cliffs that are more than 100 feet high. It’s absolutely gorgeous.

He noted that Neely Henry is not a flood control lake like Logan Martin, so levels stay the same all year long. “It never floods. You can build right next to the water.”

If he had to rate it, Lovejoy said buyers can find a “pretty good lot” at $65,000 and a “good lot” at $100,000. Lovejoy Realty has just opened a new subdivision on Neely Henry in the Canoe Creek area, Canoe Harbour. Located on the grounds of an old Baptist camp, it has 40 lots for sale – 10 off water and 30 waterfront. They are level lots with deep water, and part is on a peninsula with water views from both sides.

While Neely Henry is not as developed as Logan Martin, it does have its advantages – less crowded, being one of them. “You can be at Publix in Rainbow City in 10 minutes. You can go by boat to restaurants like Top of the River and have dinner.” He also noted that the new Canoe Creek Park opening this summer will be an asset, which will give more public access to the lake, will be state-of-the-art and will bring more major fishing tournaments to Neely Henry.

“Neely Henry’s the best kept secret in Alabama, and that’s the truth,” Lovejoy said.

Logan Martin isn’t as much of a secret, according to Realtor Dana Ellison with LAH. Development has been ongoing over the years.

Ellison has been selling real estate on the lake for nine years and knows the value in the investment there. “I’ve helped buyers, listed homes, helped stage, I’ve done it all. I love working with buyers,” she said. Many of her lake buyers are retirees who have moved out of Jefferson County who want to “live where they play, that’s what they tell me.”

She sees more and more Georgia buyers, who find Logan Martin closer and more easily accessible than lakes in metro Atlanta. “Logan Martin is that happy medium between Georgia the mountains and the beach, and it’s more affordable than Lake Martin, Smith Lake and Lay Lake,” she said. “You get more bang for your buck.”

She noted that interest rates are still relatively stable, and this is a good time for those looking to buy a home on the lake.

The bestselling price range she is seeing is in the $375,000 to $500,000 range, she said.

Ellison encouraged would-be homebuyers to get pre-approved. “It speeds up the process much more quickly. In 45 days, you can close and enjoy the summer.”

Broker and owner of ReMax Hometown Properties in Pell City, Sharon Thomas, agreed. “If financing is needed, get pre-qualified by a lender before starting the search. Do your homework. Decide what part of the lake you want to live on and what amenities are important.” Her advice can apply to both lakes. “Try to use local sources that are experts on lake property. Choose a local Realtor and use them as your resource for all your lake home purchasing needs.”

Thomas has seen her share of markets during her 17 years as a Realtor. “As recovery continues from the recession, not only lake homes but residential homes as well, are steadily increasing in value. We are seeing the market normalize,” she said.

Pricing can go from $170,000 to more than $1 million on Logan Martin. “In the past six months, I have more and more homes in the $400,000 range.”

But, she added, “There are still homes on the lake available in the $250,000 to $350,000 range.”

Lot prices vary according to location and size and whether or not there is year-round water. “I have seen them as high as $350,000+ on Lake Logan Martin.”

If you’re selling a lake house, Thomas offers this advice: “Declutter your home. Pack away things you don’t use. Spruce up flower beds and give it curb appeal. Touch up paint or repaint, whichever is needed. To get top market price for the home, the home has to be move in ready.

“Spruce up the waterfront and make it appealing. Many people see their dream home while riding in a boat!”

Josh Kell, a 12-year veteran Realtor at Kell Realty, knows the value in a lake home. His company is developing a subdivision on Neely Henry called Willow Point as well as maintaining a number of listings. Willow Point is a lakeside neighborhood of garden homes – smaller lots, less to manage. But even though they are smaller, they are approved for boathouses, he said.

Willow Point originally had 30 lots but only a handful remain. A new construction house in Willow Point is listed at $269,900.

What draws would-be lakeowners to Neely Henry? Kell said one of the main benefits is the consistency of the water level. He also noted that the southern end of the lake in St. Clair offers large, open water that particularly benefits recreation.

And, of course, “there’s very good fishing.”