Alabama means the Tennessee River grass lakes, and Guntersville is the crown: 69,000 acres of hydrilla flats and current-swept ledges that have decided national championships. When TVA pulls current, the whole lake turns on.
Reports current for Friday, October 23
Every one of the 18 Alabama waters we cover has a live read this morning. 6 are scoring 4 out of 5 or better, and none is slow. Water runs 62 F to 78 F. Pressure is holding steady on most of them, so the day comes down to water temperature and wind. Wind touches 18 mph on the roughest of them.
Best right now: Bankhead Lake 4/5, Cedar Creek Reservoir 4/5, Dauphin Island 4/5
Live verdicts from this morning's reports.
Alabama's largest lake: 69,100 acres of Tennessee River milfoil, hydrilla and current from Nickajack Dam to Guntersville Dam.
Gulf Shores: Alabama's Gulf beachfront at Gulf State Park, whose fishing and education pier is open 24 hours.
The Crappie Capital of the World: the Coosa's fertile first lake in Alabama.
Wheeler Lake: the TVA reservoir on the Tennessee River that runs 60 miles from Guntersville Dam to Wheeler Dam, with largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass, catfish, crappie and bream.
Pickwick Reservoir: a three-state TVA lake below Wilson Dam that Alabama's biologists rate for its smallmouth bass.
Alabama's deep, clear striper canyon, with spotted bass that changed the record books.
Wilson Lake: a 15,500-acre Tennessee River reservoir at Florence and Muscle Shoals where smallmouth must measure 15 inches.
Alabama's clear-water playground: 44,000 acres of pine-and-granite islands where spotted bass school deep and stripers run the lights.
Alabama's barrier anchor: the rigs' inshore edge, flounder gigging lights and a fishing rodeo island guarding Mobile Bay's mouth.
Lay Lake: a 12,000-acre Alabama Power reservoir on the Coosa River south of Birmingham, best known for spotted and largemouth bass (ADCNR).
Cedar Creek Reservoir: a 4,200-acre TVA flood-control lake west of Russellville, run for recreation by the Bear Creek Development Authority.
The Coosa’s spotted-bass arena: Logan Martin runs current through 15,000 acres of dock-lined water that fights above its weight.
An 11,235-acre Alabama Power reservoir on the Coosa between Weiss Dam and Gadsden, where ADCNR rates the spotted bass among the state's best.
A Corps of Engineers lake where the Black Warrior meets the Tombigbee near Demopolis, best known to ADCNR for largemouth bass, with crappie and hybrid striped bass behind.
Mobile Bay: Alabama's big estuary, fed by the Mobile Delta and home to the jubilee that ADCNR says occurs in only two places in the world.
Bankhead Lake on the Black Warrior: 9,200 acres of largemouth and spotted bass, with hybrids and trout in the Smith Lake tailwater.
Alabama's longest free-flowing river, with 135 fish species and the largest known stand of Cahaba lilies at its wildlife refuge.
Tallapoosa River: a 235-mile Piedmont river through four Alabama reservoirs, with redeye bass in its upper reaches.
Species activity across the state's covered waters. Peak of the year: April.
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.
Seasonal surface curve for this state's dominant water type (estimated).
| Water | Type | County | Live gauge | Peak month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Guntersville fishing report | Reservoir | Marshall | modeled | Mar |
| Gulf Shores fishing report | Coastal | Baldwin | modeled | Sep |
| Weiss Lake fishing report | Reservoir | Cherokee | USGS | Mar |
| Wheeler Lake fishing report | Reservoir | Limestone | modeled | Mar |
| Pickwick Lake fishing report | Reservoir | Colbert | modeled | Mar |
| Lewis Smith Lake fishing report | Reservoir | Winston | USGS | Mar |
| Wilson Lake fishing report | Reservoir | Lauderdale | modeled | Mar |
| Lake Martin fishing report | Reservoir | Tallapoosa | modeled | Mar |
| Dauphin Island fishing report | Coastal | Mobile | modeled | Sep |
| Lay Lake fishing report | Reservoir | Shelby | modeled | Mar |
| Cedar Creek Reservoir fishing report | Reservoir | Franklin | modeled | Mar |
| Logan Martin Lake fishing report | Reservoir | Talladega | USGS | Mar |
| Neely Henry Lake fishing report | Reservoir | Etowah | USGS | Mar |
| Demopolis Lake fishing report | Reservoir | Marengo | USGS | Mar |
| Mobile Bay fishing report | Coastal | Mobile | modeled | Sep |
| Bankhead Lake fishing report | Reservoir | Tuscaloosa | USGS | Mar |
| Cahaba River fishing report | River | Bibb | USGS | May |
| Tallapoosa River fishing report | River | Randolph | USGS | Mar |
North Alabama's TVA chain (Guntersville, Wheeler, Wilson, Pickwick) is the state's fishing spine: current-driven grass lakes where largemouth grow heavy and smallmouth thrive in the tailraces. Guntersville remains the flagship: 69,000 acres of hydrilla ledges with a national reputation. Central Alabama adds the Coosa chain's spotted bass (a native strain that fights above its class), and the coast at Gulf Shores compresses a full saltwater menu into 32 hard-fishing miles.
Spring: everything, everywhere: lipless baits over emerging grass at Guntersville, spotted bass on Coosa points, pompano in the surf. Summer: TVA generation schedules become your bible: ledges when current runs, grass mats when it stops. Fall: shad migrations turn creeks on across the state. Winter: the tailraces (Pickwick's smallmouth below Wilson Dam) fish best exactly when everything else slows.
The combination of huge grass acreage and river current: fish position predictably when TVA generates, and the grass grows giants. Check generation schedules like tides.