By J.L.Culberson
Weiss Lake in Alabama
September brings cooler nights, shorter days, and the beginning of the fall crappie Season. Shad start schooling and moving into the creeks and coves and the crappie will follow to fatten up for winter. It’s time to clean up the boat, organize the tackle box, change the line on your reels and stock up on your favorite hooks, sinkers, and jigs. It is now prime time to hunt and fish for those beautiful, feisty, and great tasting crappie; our family’s favorite sport fish.
Weiss Lake, located in Cherokee county, in northeastern Alabama, is my home lake and favorite fishing hole. Thanks to my Dad, I began fishing Weiss Lake in 1961 when the lake was first filled; over what use to be prime river bottom farm land, and one time home to the Cherokee Indian Tribes. I am personally acquainted with most of the million plus stumps in Weiss Lake.
Starting in mid-September and running through November, the crappie start moving along the channels of Little River, Chattooga River, and Coosa River following baitfish as they begin moving into creeks mouths and coves. I usually have pretty good luck slow trowling minnows and/or jigs with a ¾ ounce to one ounce bell sinker in 12 to 18 feet of water, from mid-September through October.
By mid-October, the water has cooled down enough for the crappie to stack up on man made stake beds, tree tops, and docks with 5 ft. or more of water depth. I really enjoy “shooting” small jigs under shoreline docks close to deep water. Sometimes you can catch 50 crappie or more under one dock as they school up. You may fish several docks with little luck and then find one dock loaded with crappie.
If you can’t find fish; then consider hiring one of the many Crappie Guides that call Weiss Lake their home… The Cherokee County Camber of Commerce, located in Centre, Alabama (256-927-8455), can provide county and lake maps, motel information, a list of campgrounds, tourist sites, restaurants, bait stores, tackle shops, crappie guides, and provide a wealth of visitor information.
Weiss Lake has white, black and a hybrid black nose crappie. The daily creel limit is 30 fish per angler with a 10 inch minimum size limit. You will catch a lot of 8 “ and 9” fish and enough 10” fish for an enjoyable day on the water. You might even catch one of those 3 lb plus fish that made Weiss Lake known as “The Crappie Capital of the World “ during its’ hay day in the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s.
Due to three years of drought (1998 thru 2000), fishing became tough, as it did on many southern lakes. However, an abundance of rainwater the last couple of years produced good crappie spawns. The Weiss Lake Improvement Association, with community support, stocked 100,000 Crappie in 2002 and 100,000 in 2003 and the result is now showing with plenty of Crappie in the lake. The Crappie stocking program will continue in 2004 and again in future years if and when needed… If you have not fished Weiss Lake lately, you need to try again, and the time is now through November.
You will also meet some of the nicest folks in the world. Weiss Lake is Cherokee County’s most valuable natural resource and we are very proud of it. All tourists, including crappie, bass, stripe, and catfish anglers are welcome. Give Weiss Lake a try, you’ll be glad you did………….Good Fishing…!!!!!!!
