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Pickwick Lake Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Pickwick Reservoir: a three-state TVA lake below Wilson Dam that Alabama's biologists rate for its smallmouth bass.

4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Water temp
~74 F est.
Air / High
77 / 78 F
Wind
ENE 4 mph

Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

4/5Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Pickwick Lake sits in the sweet spot of the season: active fish and workable weather. Today brings clear skies, wind ENE around 4 mph, falling pressure near 1020 hPa and a high of 78. Water sits around 74 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:28 AM-11:28 AM and 9:56 PM-11:56 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Largemouth bassExcellent

The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

Catfish (blue, channel)Excellent

Spawning season from late May into summer: Iowa DNR suggests drifting bait under a float along riprap and snags where males guard nests in cavities.

Smallmouth bassExcellent

Post-spawn and summer feeding: cover rock, wood and current breaks with crankbaits, jigs and tubes, and use live crayfish, minnows or hellgrammites where bait is the plan.

CrappieGood

Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

Tomorrow: Similar at 77 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

Alabama requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $17.00 for residents. What a Alabama licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing largemouth bass here? Check the size and bag limits with ADCNR before you keep anything. The season dates for Alabama, read off the agency, are on the Alabama seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~74 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp77 F
High / Low78 / 47 F
WindENE 4-7 mph
Pressure1020.0 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:04 / 18:07
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~74 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Pickwick Lake this week

Today is the pick of the week on Pickwick Lake, at 4 out of 5.

Best day this week: today, Oct 23 β€” good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Good

Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Solunar majors
9:28 AM-11:28 AM and 9:56 PM-11:56 PM
Minor period
3:50 AM-4:50 AM
Sun
07:04 to 18:07
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Clear, 6 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Pickwick Lake: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: the spring pre-spawn and the fall feed

A warm-water sunfish of lakes, reservoirs, ponds and slow river backwaters that holds tight to cover: weeds, logs, rock ledges and docks. In Texas, TPWD surveys rank it "by far" the freshwater fish anglers most want to catch. The main feeding season after the spawn: work moving baits along weed edges, points and wood, and follow up with a soft plastic where a fish swirls.

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: the spring spawn; summer around docks, brush and the thermocline

Two slab-sided panfish, the white crappie and the black crappie, that gather around submerged timber, brush piles, docks and bridge pilings in lakes, reservoirs and slow river backwaters. Texas Parks and Wildlife counts crappie as the state's most popular panfish. Early in this band crappie are spawning in protected coves; afterward they move to docks, brush piles and standing timber near deeper water.

Catfish (blue, channel) illustration

Catfish (blue, channel)

Year-round, best at dusk and after dark

Three big catfish share most of the country's rivers and reservoirs: the channel catfish, the most widespread; the blue catfish, the largest; and the flathead, which hunts live fish. All feed mostly on or near the bottom. Spawning season from late May into summer: Iowa DNR suggests drifting bait under a float along riprap and snags where males guard nests in cavities.

Smallmouth bass illustration

Smallmouth bass

Best: spring and fall, when bigger fish come shallow

A bronze-brown black bass of clear, cool streams and rocky lakes, with dark vertical bars instead of a side stripe. Michigan DNR says its southeastern coast, from Port Huron to Lake Erie, is known nationally for both the size and the number of its smallmouth. Post-spawn and summer feeding: cover rock, wood and current breaks with crankbaits, jigs and tubes, and use live crayfish, minnows or hellgrammites where bait is the plan.

When to come: the Pickwick Lake calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Largemouth bass
Crappie
Catfish (blue, channel)
Smallmouth bass
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 74 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~74 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Pickwick Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Largemouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 80 F, wind to 6 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Largemouth bass led the card at good. High of 79 F, wind to 6 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Largemouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 79 F, wind to 8 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Alabama requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Fish under the license and rules of the state whose water you are in. Alabama: see ADCNR regulation 220-2-.122 for the reciprocal waters. Tennessee waters (TWRA): 5 black bass a day, 15-inch minimum on largemouth and smallmouth, no length limit on spotted bass; crappie 30 a day, 9-inch minimum; sauger 10 a day, 15-inch minimum.

Access

Bank fishing on the south side at Sheffield and Muscle Shoals and on the north side at Florence (McFarland Park) and Waterloo (ADCNR); Pickwick Landing State Park in Tennessee (TWRA). Wilson and Pickwick locks connect to the neighboring lakes.

About this water

A TVA mainstream reservoir on the Tennessee River in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee: 43,100 acres per TWRA, 47,500 acres at full summer pool per ADCNR.

Fishing Pickwick Lake: the full guide

Three states, one reciprocal agreement

Pickwick runs about 50 miles from Pickwick Landing Dam in Tennessee up to the Shoals below Wilson Dam, according to Alabama's fisheries division. TWRA puts it at 43,100 acres, about 6,159 of them in Tennessee, with a summer pool of 414.0 feet and a winter pool of 408. A reciprocal agreement among Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee covers impounded water from Pickwick Dam up to Tennessee River Mile 224.8 at the mouth of Bear Creek, not including Bear Creek or Yellow Creek above the Highway 25 bridge; anglers must follow the rules of the state whose waters they are fishing.

Smallmouth in the current

Alabama's fisheries division says the reservoir's greatest reputation is its smallmouth bass, and names the Shoals, from Wilson Dam down to the end of Seven-Mile Island, as a popular smallmouth area where generation from the dam creates strong current; several IGFA line-class records have come from the lake. Its advice: current is the key, so be in position when TVA opens the turbines. Largemouth and smallmouth make up most of the black bass catch, and some spotted bass are present.

Crappie, sauger and catfish

In Alabama, most crappie fishing happens in spring in the Bear Creek and Second Creek embayments, where anglers drift jigs and minnows along creek channels. Sauger move into the Wilson Dam tailwaters to spawn in winter, and blue and channel catfish are plentiful in summer; in Tennessee waters TWRA says blue catfish are the catfish anglers harvest most.

Common questions

Does my license cover the whole lake?

On the reciprocal waters, from Pickwick Dam up to the mouth of Bear Creek, a license from Alabama, Mississippi or Tennessee is honored, but you must follow the regulations of the state whose waters you are in. Bear Creek and Yellow Creek above the Highway 25 bridge are not covered.

Where do anglers look for smallmouth?

Alabama's fisheries division points to the Shoals below Wilson Dam, down to the end of Seven-Mile Island, especially when the dam is generating.

How much does the lake drop in winter?

TWRA lists a summer pool of 414.0 feet and a winter pool of 408 feet.

Is fishing good at Pickwick Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Nearby waters

Cedar Creek Reservoir27 miWilson Lake28 miBay Springs Lake29 miWheeler Lake58 miDuck River75 miLewis Smith Lake79 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 34.9021, -88.0372 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 8, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 8, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.