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Weiss Lake Fishing Report

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

The Crappie Capital of the World: the Coosa's fertile first lake in Alabama.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Gauge
563.05 ft
Air / High
76 / 76 F
Wind
NE 5 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 02399500, 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.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Weiss Lake offers the kind of conditions this water was made for. The gauge reads 563.05 ft, 0.95 ft below pool, easing 0.21 over the week. Today brings clear skies, wind NE around 5 mph, steady pressure near 1021 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 9:46 PM-11:46 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Largemouth bassGood

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)Good

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.

CrappieFair

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

White bassFair

Summer and early fall schooling season over open water; follow the shad, and try live bait on the bottom at night.

Tomorrow: Similar at 74 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 COOSA RIVER AT LEESBURG AL.

Gauge height, last 30 days

USGS gauge 02399500. Conservation pool is 564 ft.

563.02563.41563.81pool 564563.05 ft09/2310/0310/1310/23

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp76 F
High / Low76 / 50 F
WindNE 5-5 mph
Pressure1021.1 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset06:54 / 17:58
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 Weiss Lake this week

The best day on Weiss Lake this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 5 out of 5, against 3 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€” Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
9:18 AM-11:18 AM and 9:46 PM-11:46 PM
Minor period
3:40 AM-4:40 AM
Sun
06:54 to 17:58
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Clear, 11 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Weiss 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.

White bass illustration

White bass

Best: the spring run up the tributaries, then summer surface schools

A silvery temperate bass of rivers and large reservoirs, also called sand bass, that schools in open water after shad and runs up tributaries to spawn in early spring. Summer and early fall schooling season over open water; follow the shad, and try live bait on the bottom at night.

When to come: the Weiss 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)
White 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 Weiss 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 77 F, wind to 9 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

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 76 F, wind to 7 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 74 F, wind to 9 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

Crappie: 10-inch/30 (AL). Bass 5/day. Confirm with ADCNR; GA rules above the line.

Access

Little River Marina, Yellow Creek, Leesburg Landing, JR's; county ramps throughout.

About this water

30,200 acres on the Coosa, Cherokee County, AL. Alabama Power, impounded 1961.

Fishing Weiss Lake: the full guide

The title-holder

Weiss wears its title legitimately: the Coosa's nutrients pour into 30,000 shallow acres that grow crappie fast and thick, with spring spider-riggers filling the flats and fall dock-shooters working the deep ends. Spotted bass run the river channel, largemouth the bays: but here, crappie is the economy, the culture and the point.

Spider-rig season

February-April is the title defense: spider-riggers crawl the Coosa flats with eight poles of minnows, intercepting pre-spawn waves at 8-14 ft. The river channel edges at Little River and Yellow Creek load first: fronts push fish shallow and back daily: our pressure panel is the Weiss tell.

After the spawn circus

Summer crappie drop to the channel ledges (dock shooting shade at midday); the bass program steadily delivers on riprap and grass; and fall's second crappie run rebuilds the flats. Winter draws the lake down 6 feet: fish concentrate in the channels and the pros fill livewells in peace.

Common questions

Why is Weiss the Crappie Capital?

Coosa fertility + shallow structure + culture: the lake grows 2-lb white crappie at factory pace and the town runs on them. The proclamation is Alabama law; the fish keep ratifying it.

Winter drawdown crappie

Weiss' six-foot winter drawdown is the crappie insider's season: the lake shrinks to its channels, schools stack in the bends at 12-18 ft, and December spider-riggers work water that summer boats cross without a glance. The drawdown also exposes the lake's structure for scouting: photograph the bare flats in January and you own the spring bite's map.

Is there a walleye history at Weiss?

Yes: the Coosa strain persists and Alabama has worked on restoration: winter jig bites near the dam still surprise crappie anglers. A conversation piece more than a target fishery today.

Is fishing good at Weiss Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Neely Henry Lake30 miLake Guntersville44 miNickajack Lake56 miLake Allatoona59 miCarters Lake63 miLogan Martin Lake63 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 02399500 β€” COOSA RIVER AT LEESBURG AL
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 19:15 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 34.2020, -85.6621 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.
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 guide was drafted with AI assistance. Unlike our newer pages, it does not yet list the official pages its facts were checked against: that audit is under way, and anything it cannot verify will be 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.