Fishing and Floating Sepulga River
The Sepulga River is a long coastal river with headwaters beginning in Lowndes County near the town of Fort Deposit. The Sepulga River watershed encompasses 470 square miles covering seven Alabama counties along the south central portions of the Coastal Plain province. The Sepulga is a large subdrainage of the Conecuh River and enters this river about 7 miles south of the Brooklyn community at the border of Escambia and Conecuh Counties.
The Sepulga River is quite small in width and is more like a creek than a river. Despite its size, this river has some class I rapids, which are easily run in a small jon boat or canoe. The Sepulga is a fairly clean, clear body of water with a watershed that is over 97% forested, making it one of the best protected river systems in Alabama. Folks out for a scenic day trip of fishing will be equally impressed with the lush greenery lining the banks. The river winds through deeply cut sandstone banks lined with dogwoods, magnolias, and scrub pines mixed with ferns that make for a beautiful river float fishing trip unique to south Alabama.
Anglers will find that the fishing is good, but sometimes challenging due to the very clear, clean water typical of this river. The habitat changes quite a bit from slow deep waters with sandy bottoms to brisk flows across rocky cobbles and boulders. Fish species that you may expect to catch here include largemouth bass, Alabama spotted bass, bluegill, warmouth, fliers, and shadow bass. Fish tend to be scrappy and can be caught on light tackle with a variety of small artificial lures such as beetle spins, rooster tails, and curly-tail jigs. Small crawfish and wiggler worms make for excellent live bait used on a small float and very light line.
For more information on the upper and eastern portions (Lowndes, Butler, Crenshaw, Covington Counties) of the Sepulga River, please contact the District IV Fisheries Office. For information on the lower (Monroe, Conecuh, Escambia Counties) portion of the river, please contact the District V Fisheries Office.
