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Columbus Lake Fishing Report

Updated Mon, Sep 14, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

A Tenn-Tom pool: Columbus Lake holds bass, crappie and catfish on the Tombigbee.

3/5
Fair. Fish early or late.Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows.
Flow
20 cfs
Air / High
87 / 94 F
Wind
S 2 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 02441390, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Monday
14
September 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 early or late.Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows.

Columbus Lake serves up more heat: the productive hours are the dim ones. The river is running 20 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings clear skies, wind S around 2 mph, steady pressure near 1018 hPa and a high of 94. Water sits around 84 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing crescent, the solunar majors run 1:11 AM-3:11 AM and 1:11 PM-3:11 PM: plan around them and beat the heat.

The plan, species by species

Catfish (blue, channel)Good

Anchor on 20-30 ft baited holes with punch bait or cut shad. They keep biting through the heat when everything else quits.

Largemouth bassFair

Topwater at first light on points and seawalls, then slide out to 12-25 ft brush and points with a Carolina rig, deep crank or drop shot. The bite is dawn, dusk or deep.

White bassFair

Early schooling action over humps; slabs and small spinners under the birds.

CrappieSlow

Straight down on bridge pilings and deep brush at 15-25 ft. Minnows outfish jigs in hot water; move until the graph shows them stacked.

Tomorrow: Warmer at 99 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Tue, Sep 15, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Water and weather

Live readings from TOMBIGBEE RIVER AT STENNIS LOCK AND DAM, MS.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 02441390.

4911,3652,23920 cfs08/1508/2509/0409/14

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp87 F
High / Low94 / 72 F
WindS 2-4 mph
Pressure1017.8 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 5%
Sunrise / Sunset06:36 / 19:01
MoonWaxing Crescent, 8%
Water temp (seasonal)~84 F est.

Bite planner

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

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Next 7 days

Tap a day for the detailed outlook.

Mon Sep 14 · Overcast, 94/72 F, wind 9 mph, rain 5%

Fair or better. A 9 mph breeze puts a working chop on the banks it hits: fish the wind-blown side.

Species guide

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

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: spring and fall

The headline act on most American reservoirs. Relates to cover: docks, brush, grass edges and points. Topwater at first light on points and seawalls, then slide out to 12-25 ft brush and points with a Carolina rig, deep crank or drop shot. The bite is dawn, dusk or deep.

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: Nov-Mar

Brush piles, bridge pilings and standing timber. The fish fry favorite. Straight down on bridge pilings and deep brush at 15-25 ft. Minnows outfish jigs in hot water; move until the graph shows them stacked.

Catfish (blue, channel) illustration

Catfish (blue, channel)

Good year-round

The most reliable bite on most southern waters. Blues run big; channels fill the cooler. Anchor on 20-30 ft baited holes with punch bait or cut shad. They keep biting through the heat when everything else quits.

White bass illustration

White bass

Best: Mar-May run

River-run spawners and open-water schoolers. Fast limits when you find them. Early schooling action over humps; slabs and small spinners under the birds.

When to come: the Columbus 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 84 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~84 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 Columbus Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Sun, Sep 13

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Catfish (blue, channel) led the card at excellent. High of 91 F, wind to 8 mph.

Sat, Sep 12

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Catfish (blue, channel) led the card at excellent. High of 93 F, wind to 12 mph.

Fri, Sep 11

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Catfish (blue, channel) led the card at excellent. High of 90 F, wind to 9 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used to send you this water's report each week. No spam, ever.

Before you go

License

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

Regulations

Mississippi license. Bass, crappie and catfish limits per current MDWFP regulations.

Access

Public ramps and Corps recreation areas around the lake near Columbus.

About this water

A roughly 8,900-acre Tombigbee River pool on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, Lowndes County, Mississippi.

Fishing Columbus Lake: the full guide

A navigation pool

Columbus Lake covers roughly 8,900 acres on the Tombigbee River in Lowndes County, Mississippi, impounded by the John C. Stennis Lock and Dam as part of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. It is a river-lake with a navigation channel, oxbow cutoffs, backwaters and standing timber, holding largemouth and spotted bass, crappie, catfish, bream and white bass.

Bass in the backwaters

The old river runs, the cutoff oxbows and the flooded timber hold largemouth, taken on plastics, spinnerbaits, jigs and topwater. The main navigation channel is less productive than the backwater areas off it, which is where local anglers spend their time. Current from the lock releases positions fish along the seams.

Crappie and catfish

Crappie hold the timber and brush and are strong in spring and again in fall, taken on jigs and minnows. Blue and channel catfish grow large in the river channel and the tailwater below the dam. White bass school and chase shad in open water, particularly in spring around the current.

Lowndes County logistics

Public ramps and Corps recreation areas serve the lake, with Columbus providing full services and Mississippi State University twenty minutes west. Barge traffic uses the navigation channel: keep clear and watch for wakes. Water levels are managed for navigation and stay comparatively stable.

Common questions

Where do I fish?

The backwaters, cutoff oxbows and flooded timber off the navigation channel, not the channel itself.

Is there barge traffic?

Yes: this is a working waterway. Keep clear of the channel and watch for wakes.

Are levels stable?

Comparatively: they are managed for navigation rather than flood control or irrigation.

Is fishing good at Columbus 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 early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows.

Nearby waters

Bankhead Lake66 miCedar Creek Reservoir72 miBay Springs Lake72 miOkatibbee Lake72 miGrenada Lake77 miDemopolis Lake78 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 02441390 — TOMBIGBEE RIVER AT STENNIS LOCK AND DAM, MS
Read from waterservices.usgs.gov/nwis/iv. Latest value timestamped 2026-09-14 at 10:45 station time.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 33.5175, -88.4894 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
Written and reviewed by a person against the sources above. Errors are published in the verification log, not quietly corrected.

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.

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