Share your catch
US

Tallapoosa River Fishing Report

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

Tallapoosa River: a 235-mile Piedmont river through four Alabama reservoirs, with redeye bass in its upper reaches.

4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Flow
317 cfs
Air / High
67 / 76 F
Wind
E 5 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 02414500, 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.

Tallapoosa River sits in the sweet spot of the season: active fish and workable weather. The river is running 317 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings clear skies, wind E around 5 mph, falling pressure near 1022 hPa and a high of 76. Water sits around 74 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:18 AM-11:18 AM and 9:45 PM-11:45 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.

Striped bassExcellent

Use electronics to find shad schools in open water, and watch for birds working over bait.

Tomorrow: Similar at 73 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 from Tallapoosa River at Wadley.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 02414500.

445684922317 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 103 years of October 23

At 317 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 02414500 (Tallapoosa River at Wadley) is at the 15th percentile for the date: below normal. In half of the 103 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 677 cfs; the highest was 4,190 cfs and the lowest 51 cfs.

p10 263median 677p90 2,000

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 02414500; today’s reading is the latest instantaneous value. Classes follow the ones the USGS used on its WaterWatch maps (retired at the end of 2025): below 10th, much below normal; 10th–24th, below; 25th–75th, normal; 76th–90th, above; over 90th, much above.

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp67 F
High / Low76 / 44 F
WindE 5-7 mph
Pressure1022.0 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset06:53 / 17:59
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 Tallapoosa River this week

The best day on Tallapoosa River this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 5 out of 5, against 4 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 β€” excellent at 5/5, 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
9:18 AM-11:18 AM and 9:45 PM-11:45 PM
Minor period
3:39 AM-4:39 AM
Sun
06:53 to 17:59
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 Tallapoosa River: 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.

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.

Striped bass illustration

Striped bass

Best: spring and fall inland; on the coast, during the seasonal migrations

The largest of the temperate basses, a sea-run fish of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts that now also lives in reservoirs across much of the country after hatchery stocking. Inland, it follows schools of shad and herring through open water. Use electronics to find shad schools in open water, and watch for birds working over bait.

When to come: the Tallapoosa River 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
Catfish (blue, channel)
Striped 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 Tallapoosa River today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

5/5 Excellent. Go now. Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor. Largemouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 78 F, wind to 8 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Striped bass led the card at excellent. High of 77 F, wind to 4 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

5/5 Excellent. Go now. Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor. Largemouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 77 F, wind to 6 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used if we need to ask you about your report. No mailing list, no spam.

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

Alabama fishing license (required at Horseshoe Bend too). Black bass: 10 a day in any combination of largemouth, smallmouth, spotted, Alabama, shoal and the former redeye species (including Tallapoosa bass), no more than 5 smallmouth. Lake Martin: no more than 2 striped bass over 22 inches and no culling June 15-Oct. 15; Yates and Thurlow: no more than 2 over 22 inches, only 1 over 30 (ADCNR, updated Aug. 28, 2026).

Access

Miller Bridge Boat Ramp, Horseshoe Bend National Military Park (Highway 49): the park's only shore-fishing site. The Harold Banks canoe trail covers 25 river miles through Tallapoosa and Chambers counties.

About this water

A 235-mile river (15 percent of its drainage in Georgia, 85 percent in Alabama) with a 4,675-square-mile watershed; USGS gauge at Wadley, Randolph County, Alabama.

Fishing Tallapoosa River: the full guide

Georgia to the Alabama River

Outdoor Alabama describes a river that rises in Georgia 40 miles west of Atlanta, enters Alabama in Cleburne County and runs 235 miles, passing four impoundments (R. L. Harris, Martin, Yates and Thurlow) before joining the Coosa at Fort Toulouse, between Wetumpka and Montgomery, to form the Alabama River. The watershed is mostly Piedmont and low in natural nutrients, so the river and its reservoirs are often clear but less productive than many Alabama waters.

Bass by reach

Above Harris, the Tallapoosa and Little Tallapoosa hold largemouth, redeye bass and Alabama spotted bass; ADCNR's regulations now call the Tallapoosa drainage's redeye the Tallapoosa bass. Below Harris the river runs free again under hydroelectric control, holds more and larger catfish than the upper river, and can fish well for white and striped bass below Irwin Shoals in March and early April.

Wadley and Horseshoe Bend

The USGS gauge on this page, Tallapoosa River at Wadley (02414500), is on that middle reach below Harris Dam. Downstream, Horseshoe Bend National Military Park allows shore fishing only at the Miller Bridge Boat Ramp on Highway 49, where the National Park Service says the river is very rocky and depths and currents depend on Lake Martin.

Common questions

Which bass live in the Tallapoosa?

Largemouth, redeye (Tallapoosa) bass and Alabama spotted bass in the upper river, with spotted, largemouth and striped bass through the reservoirs, per Outdoor Alabama.

Where does the Tallapoosa end?

At Fort Toulouse, between Wetumpka and Montgomery, where it joins the Coosa to form the Alabama River.

Can I fish from shore at Horseshoe Bend?

Only at the Miller Bridge Boat Ramp, with an Alabama fishing license, according to the National Park Service.

Is fishing good at Tallapoosa River 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

West Point Lake25 miLake Martin29 miLake Harding41 miLogan Martin Lake46 miLay Lake52 miNeely Henry Lake61 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 02414500 β€” Tallapoosa River at Wadley
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 15:15 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 33.1200, -85.5700 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.