Issue link: https://alabamapower.uberflip.com/i/705219
29 Shor e l i n e S | 2016 Vol :2 State Champion at H. Neely Henry in 1999. According to Bassmaster magazine, Horton said Logan Martin and Neely Henry are the two best dock lakes in Alabama. For Alabama Power, it's all part of the plan. "To obtain the license to operate any dam, Alabama Power is charged with developing a recreation plan," said Sheila Smith, Alabama Power's land supervisor for Corporate Real Estate. The company developed four public access areas for H. Neely Henry: Ten Islands Historic Park in Ragland, Tillison's Bend boat launch north of Gadsden, and two tailrace fishing access points just below the dam. "They generate thousands of users throughout the summer season," said Smith. "No electric power company has made possible more recreational centers for fishing, hunting, swimming, boating, skiing, and camping than the Alabama Power Company," wrote Zipp Newman of The Birmingham News, according to Leah Atkins' seminal book "Developed for the Service of Alabama." Aside from its power generation, the Coosa River holds a special place in Alabama Power's heart. The company's first president was William Patrick Lay, a Coosa riverboat captain (as were his father and grandfather). In 1903, Captain Lay sold his first small dam in Attalla, just east of Gadsden, in order "to devote my entire time to the Coosa," according to Atkins' book. Ninety-six years later, a Plant Gadsden employee began cleaning up debris from the water, an effort that caught fire and became Renew Our Rivers. Since that day, more than 11 million pounds of trash has been picked up by 75,000 volunteers from Alabama's waterways. None of this history may have been on the minds of the tailrace fishermen gathered along the railing that hot May morning like birds on a wire. But they knew the conditions were right for some big scores. "I caught a 40-pound catfish last year," said Sherman Lane of Lincoln, who has fished these waters for 60 years. "Hope I can catch some more." — JOHN HER R Above: Photo by ted tuCkeR — The dam is constructed of gravity concrete and earth fill and has 7,630,000 gallons per minute capacity.