Weiss Lake is the Crappie Capital of the World — 30,200 acres of Coosa River impoundment that out-produces every Alabama lake for crappie and stacks ledge bass and winter striper on the main channel.
Weiss Lake earns its nickname. The 30,200-acre Coosa River reservoir in Cherokee County — closed by Alabama Power in 1961 — is the single most productive crappie water in the South, and the annual Weiss Lake Crappie Rodeo has weighed two-pound-plus papermouths every March since the 1970s. Bass fishermen know it too. The lake fishes shallow and stumpy up the Little River and Chattooga River arms, then deep and rocky on the main body below Cedar Bluff. Largemouth push into the flooded cypress in spring, spotted bass stack on the river-channel rock in summer, and stripers run the Weiss Dam tailrace all winter. Towns are thin around the lake, which is part of the appeal — Centre, Leesburg, Cedar Bluff, and a handful of fish camps. If you want tournament crappie or a quiet weekend on underused bass water, Weiss delivers without the Guntersville crowd.
“Weiss Lake holds fish in patterns you can set your watch to. The bite isn't a secret — it's what most fishermen don't know about where the grass thins onto a hard ledge.”
Alabama Fishing Atlas Editorial
Fishing Weiss Lake on video
Weiss Lake, AL with Chris Bright | Season 12 Episode 3 | BrushPile Fishing
BrushPile Fishing
Weiss Lake Alabama Structure Breakdown | Brush, Humps & River Swings
Simplistic Fishing
02 · Live
Today's Bite
—
Bite Score
Unavailable
Based on water temp, barometric pressure, moon phase & solunar window.
Major and minor solunar windows shift daily with the moon’s transit. Fish the windows above, or check the Seasonal Playbook below for Weiss Lake’s current pattern.
USGS pool level: Gauge 02399499 — current readings direct from USGS.
03 · The Calendar
Seasonal Playbook
March through May is crappie season on Weiss — this is what the lake is famous for. Water temps climb from the 50s into the 70s, papermouths push from deep brush to the shallow willow trees in two to six feet, and the Weiss Lake Crappie Rodeo every March brings 1,500 boats to Cedar Bluff. Dip minnows or Bobby Garland jigs vertically around submerged brush in Little River arms — the Alabama side of the state line outproduces Georgia most years. Bass run the same calendar but one move behind. Pre-spawn largemouth hold on stumpy transitions in 6-10 feet, move to flooded cypress banks in April, then sit on outside grass lines post-spawn. Spotted bass stage on rocky points in the main lake below Highway 68. Spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, and wacky worms cover the spring pattern if you can't find the crappie.
June through August on Weiss the crappie push deep — 18 to 25 feet on main-lake brush piles and submerged road beds. Early morning bass bite on grass lines at the mouth of Spring Creek and Little River, then the ledge bite takes over. Spotted bass concentrate on Coosa channel rock from Cedar Bluff down to the dam in 12-22 feet. Football jigs, deep crankbaits, and shaky heads are the working baits. Striper fishermen run live shad on downrigger rigs over 30-40 foot main-channel structure. Night fishing under lights for crappie and stripers is the summer move for anyone who doesn't want to fight the weekend ski traffic. The Weiss Dam tailrace stays cool enough to hold fish all summer — heavy current, oxygenated water, concentrated baitfish, and a reliable striper bite most mornings through July.
September into November Weiss sees the crappie come back to shallower cover. Water drops through the 70s into the 60s, shad migrate from the main lake into Little River and Chattooga arms, and papermouths follow them into 8-14 foot brush. Long-line Bobby Garlands at 1.0 mph to cover water, then stop and vertical jig when you mark a school. Bass fishing in the fall goes underrated here — creek-mouth grass and shallow points hold largemouth chasing shad, and a ChatterBait or lipless crank in shad color produces from dawn until the sun gets high. Spotted bass stay on main-lake rock but slide shallower as water cools. White bass school on main-lake points at first light — small jigging spoons and shad-colored jerkbaits. October is prime month. Tournament pressure thins out after crappie season ends, and locals have the lake to themselves.
December through February Weiss gets quiet and cold — and that's when a handful of locals absolutely empty the lake. Crappie stack on main-lake brush in 20-28 feet near the Chattooga and Yellow Creek channels. Tiny 1/32-ounce jigs tipped with minnows are the cold-water deal; fish slow, fish vertical, wait for the tick. Bass push onto steep rocky banks and channel swings below Cedar Bluff. Alabama rigs, blade baits, and suspending jerkbaits are the only reliable cold-water patterns. Stripers run the Weiss Dam tailrace hardest in January and February — live shad on a Carolina rig or a big swimbait pitched into the boil produces 15-pound fish most weeks. Pick sunny afternoons after a warm-up and fish the north banks where the sun has had time to work on the water. Crowds are measured in single digits.
12-month calendar
Tap any month to expand pattern notes. Legend: B = Bass · C = Crappie · S = Striper · Cf = Catfish.
Tournament pros have been decoding Weiss Lake for five decades. Every tip on this card is cited to the original weigh-in recap or angler interview — no paraphrased fluff, no invented quotes.
2024 · spring
Zeke Gossett & Ethan King
Alabama Bass Trail 100 Event 2 (Weiss Lake)
We kept it old school today and took off the graphs and just went fishing shallow.
The pattern: Gossett and King won the 2024 ABT 100 event on Weiss with 18.75 pounds by turning their electronics off and fishing shallow grass, wood, and pockets — a Strike King Sexy Frog in black and a Strike King swim jig in brim color did the work on a cloudy day. Fish moved shallow on the Coosa under cloud cover. First-place winnings over $30,000.
2020 · spring
Mark McCaig & Tim Hurst
Alabama Bass Trail North Division — Event 2 (Weiss Lake)
I felt like a lot of fish were still spawning but had expected this to be a post spawn bite with most of the fish out deep. Once we realized it wasn't a deep bite this morning, we started running around fishing similar areas upriver all the way down to the dam.
The pattern: McCaig and Hurst took a six-pound margin-of-victory with 22.60 pounds of all largemouth on Weiss by abandoning their deep-water practice plan once they caught 3½ and 5-pounders in the morning. They didn't catch a fish over two feet deep all day — a textbook read on still-spawning Weiss fish.
We caught everything we weighed in on a white spinner bait, but the key was for us to throw a different size — a 1/2 oz. and a 3/8 oz. Throwing different sizes allowed us to target the whole water column.
The pattern: Tucker and Green took the $50,000 first-place check with 31.74 pounds over two days on Weiss by rotating spinnerbait sizes to hit different depths instead of committing to one bait. Day-two bag of 19 pounds was the biggest of the event.
One of our key baits was a Shad Rap that we fished really fast in areas that looked good to us. We covered lots of water, and because of the cold front, we noticed we got lots of short strikes where the fish missed the bait, but we didn't give up.
The pattern: Knight and Goggins rode Shad Rap and a 9/16-ounce ADL flipping jig to second place at 28.50 pounds on Weiss — targeted wood and docks, fished fast through the cold-front short-strike window, and never quit on the missed bites. $10,000 payout plus bonuses.
2026
Darrell Baker
Weiss Lake Crappie Guides — published seasonal tactics
I use a variety of different methods for catching slab-sized crappie; from dock shooting, to long line trolling in the Spring, to spider rigging brush and fishing river channel ledges in the Summer and Fall. I work hard to keep up with year round crappie movement.
The pattern: Baker runs two boats year-round on Weiss and rotates technique by season — dock-shooting in cooler months, long-line trolling through the spring push, spider-rigging brush and fishing river-channel ledges through summer and fall. Jan-April and late Sept-December are his published trip windows.
Weiss Lake, AL with Chris Bright | Season 12 Episode 3 | BrushPile Fishing
Source: YouTube, BrushPile Fishing
Around the lake
Weiss Lake Alabama Structure Breakdown | Brush, Humps & River Swings
Source: YouTube, Simplistic Fishing
06 · Planning the Trip
Stay & Eat
Where to Stay on Weiss Lake
Lodging near the ramps. Some links below are affiliate partnerships (Booking.com, VRBO) — they cost you nothing extra and help keep the Atlas free. Full disclosure →
Little River Marina & Lodge
resort · Cedar Bluff · $$
1780 County Road 102, Cedar Bluff, AL. 29 lakefront hotel rooms, 40 dry-storage units, wet slips, boat launch, bait and tackle shop, fish cleaning station, restaurant, and on-site guide services — direct access to the Little River crappie arm.
21 air-conditioned hotel rooms plus A-frame lake house, Fishermen's Cabin, and RV/campground facilities. On-water gasoline, bait and tackle shop (256-927-5443), marina slips, and crappie charter referrals on site.
Privately-owned rental homes on Weiss Lake in Leesburg — listed by Pirates Bay Waterpark as the neighboring lakeside resort 0.5 miles away. Families can walk or short-drive to Pirates Bay in season.
Services: Wet slips · On-water gasoline · Bait & tackle shop (256-927-5443) · RV camping · Inn rooms · Crappie charters · A-frame lake house · Fishermen's cabin
130 County Road 112, Centre — 21 air-conditioned hotel rooms plus A-frame lake house, Fishermen's Cabin, and RV/campground. Full bait and tackle shop, on-water gasoline, and crappie charter referrals.
Fishing Piers
Cedar Bluff Community Fishing Pier
200 ft · Cedar Bluff city waterfront · Free
Lighted · Parking · Accessible approach
Little River Marina & Lodge Fishing Pier
140 ft · Little River Marina & Lodge, 1780 County Road 102, Cedar Bluff · Free for marina guests
Covered section · Lighted · Near fish cleaning station
Bay Springs Country Inn & Marina Pier
150 ft · Bay Springs Marina, 145 County Road 379, Centre · Free for marina/inn guests
Lighted · Adjacent to on-water fuel dock
Camping
Stateline Marina Campground
private · 60 sites (RV + tent, waterfront)
Lakefront sites · Gas dock walkable · Store · Ramp
Longest-running campground on Weiss — books heavy March through October.
Weiss Lake Landing RV Park
rv park · 40 RV sites
Water/electric · Dump station
Quiet bay access near Centre.
Little River Marina Campground
private · 25 sites
Lakefront · Marina facilities
On the Little River crappie arm.
Great Escapes RV Resorts Chesnut Bay
rv park
Lakeside sites · Pool · Walk to Pirates Bay Waterpark (0.4 mi) · $10 Pirates Bay Mon-Wed passes for guests
On Weiss Lake in Leesburg — listed by Pirates Bay Waterpark as the 0.4-mile RV partner resort. Families staying here get discounted weekday waterpark passes. Verify site types and hookups directly with the resort at booking.
Accessibility
ADA ramps: Cedar Bluff Boat Ramp (accessible courtesy dock)
ADA piers: Cedar Bluff Community Fishing Pier (accessible approach)
Accessible docks: Little River Marina courtesy dock
Parking: ADA-designated spaces at Cedar Bluff ramp and Little River Marina.
ADA infrastructure on Weiss is thinner than Guntersville. Cedar Bluff is the most fully-equipped access point.
Where to Eat
The Fishin' Hole RestaurantLakefront
500 Clarence E Chestnut Jr Bypass, Centre, AL 35960 · Steak, chicken, seafood, family
Major summer draw on a hilltop overlooking Weiss — tube slides, body slides, pools, splash playground. Open daily late May through early August, weekends through Labor Day.
Sandstone cliffs and bouldering above Weiss Lake with panoramic lake views — camping, hiking, and climbing. Rainy-day or spouse-day backup from the water.
First full weekend of March at Cedar Bluff Community Center — the biggest crappie tournament in the Southeast, running since the early 1970s.
Cornwall Furnace Park
historic
Cedar Bluff, AL (Cherokee County)
5.5-acre historic park preserving an 1862 water-powered cold blast iron furnace — considered the best-preserved cold blast furnace in the Southeast. Nature trail and picnic area on the Weiss Lake shoreline.
Around Weiss Lake
Launching at Little River Marina & Lodge at 1780 County Road 102 in Cedar Bluff, call 256-779-6461 to confirm slips, grab minnows at the on-site bait shop, and hit the fish-cleaning station after weigh-in. Weiss Lake Tackle & Outdoors at 910 Cedar Bluff Road in Centre (256-927-2294) carries live bait, jigs, crankbaits, and Bobby Garland plastics by sunup. Bay Springs Country Inn & Marina at 145 County Road 379 in Centre (256-927-3618) runs on-water gasoline and a tackle shop on site. Nearest ER is Cherokee Medical Center in Centre on Highway 411; urgent care runs out of Fort Payne forty minutes east. Dinner after weigh-in: Jake's on the Lake for tacos and burgers on the water, Lake Weiss 360 Bar & Grill in Cedar Bluff, or drive twenty minutes into Gadsden for Top O' the River catfish. Rain-day backup: Cherokee Rock Village overlook above the lake, or DeSoto State Park east toward Fort Payne.
07 · Launch Day
On the Water
Boat ramps
concrete rampOpen
Cedar Bluff Boat Ramp
Cedar Bluff
Parking
60 spots
Fee
Free
Main-lake access at the town boat landing — largest lot on the lake.
15 per day combined temperate bass (striped + white + hybrid)
Alabama Power publishes tailrace release schedule — check before launching near the dam.
Alabama fishing license — border lake reciprocity with Georgia applies; confirm before fishing east of state line. Always verify current rules before your trip.
The lake has consistently produced higher catch rates and heavier average-per-fish crappie weights than any Southern reservoir since Alabama Power closed the dam in 1961. ADCNR creel surveys have documented 40-plus fish per angler day during peak March runs. The annual Weiss Lake Crappie Rodeo at Cedar Bluff has weighed two-pound-plus fish every spring for more than five decades.
It depends where you're fishing. Little River Marina and Stateline Marina serve the upper-lake cover; Cedar Bluff ramp puts you on the main-lake rock and the dam tailrace. All main Weiss ramps are free public access — no fees, no state park gates.
Thirty crappie per day, 9-inch minimum under Alabama regulations. Bass combined (largemouth, spotted, smallmouth) is 5 per day with the statewide 12-inch minimum; striped/white bass combined is 15 per day. Verify current limits with ADCNR before keeping fish.
First full weekend of March each year at Cedar Bluff Community Center. The event has run since the early 1970s and draws 1,500+ boats competing for the heaviest single crappie. Registration and payout details come through the Weiss Lake Improvement Association.
Yes — underrated compared to Guntersville or Smith. Spotted bass dominate the main-lake rock from Cedar Bluff down to the dam; largemouth push into the flooded cypress and creek arms in spring. The Alabama Bass Trail has held multiple circuit events here.
Fishing regulations, water conditions, and seasonal patterns change. Alabama Fishing Atlas provides informational content only. Verify all regulations with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources before fishing, keeping any fish, or launching watercraft. We are not liable for decisions made based on information published here. Full disclaimer →
