Issue link: https://alabamapower.uberflip.com/i/705219
18 a p c s hor e l i n e s.c om | 2016 Vol :2 "I like bream fishing because anybody can do it," Keel said as his boat drifted on the peaceful waters of Yates Lake on a late afternoon in May. "I like to expose kids to bream fishing. It's not a hard fish to catch. It makes for an exciting day of nonstop action. "It doesn't require a lot of expensive tackle. You don't have to have a big boat. You can just catch fish and enjoy it." Keel typically puts down his bass tackle and picks up his ultralight bream rigs when the weather heats up and the bass start to shut down. He looks for a water temperature of about 80 degrees. Working as a contractor for Alabama Power's Shoreline Management Team on Martin, Yates and Thurlow lakes, Keel knows the water well. Yates, a 2,000-acre impoundment sandwiched between Martin and Thurlow, is a hidden gem. It features two boat landings, one at the dam and one at Coon Creek, said Clint McKelvey, who works in Shoreline Management. "I come down here to do surveillance and sometimes I don't see a boat all day long," Keel said. Today's quarry is bream, although Yates' cold water also offers good fishing for stripers as well as largemouth and spotted bass. Unlike Martin, which is lowered 7 feet for its winter pool, Yates fluctuates fairly often but little more than a foot at a time, Keel said. The fish hardly notice that and the steady water level allows them to stay in the same locations. Keel is primarily targeting two sunfish or bream species, bluegill and red-eared sunfish. The latter is better known to Alabama anglers as shellcracker. He alternates between red worms and crickets as bait. He is using open-faced ultralight reels on 5-foot flexible ultralight rods with 4-pound test line. Both are rigged with slip corks that allow him to vary the depth at which he fishes. The cricket rod has a round cork and a long-shaft No. 10 hook with no weight. The hook is about 18 inches behind the cork. With no weight, the cricket floats on top of the water behind the cork. "When I get in the real shallow areas, I throw a cricket without a Above: Photo by WynteR ByRd – Dwayne Keel targets two bream species: bluegill and red-eared sunfish.