Thread: Weiss Lake - What needs to be done to make it better ?

Originally Posted by Snapperking

There is one way everyone is over looking that would help save a lot of Crappie Year round on Weiss . Remove the stripped bass. Not going to happen but before they were introduced by the real intelligent biologist that thought they could not reproduce in Weiss(oops forgot about that big spring in the upper end called little river and the gravelly bottom it has ) the lake held its own even with the garbo fishermen from up north filling several freezers yearly. But once the population of the stripers exploded the crappie population has slowly declined. Same intelligent biologist said they don't bother the crappie fry just the shad, guess they never bothered to look inside one stomachs of a 10lb
Striper. Maybe some of the strippers needed glasses so they wouldn't get them mixed in when on a feeding frenzy. About the only way to reduce the strippers would be to figure out a way to keep them out of the feeder creeks and small rivers that are spring fed so their spawning would not work, but then you wouldhave some irate guides and homeboy Stripper fishermen not happy and I would not blame them . Just my worth .... and for the record I know a tiny bit about fishes , I am a Biologist myself

The Stripper are on the down side about a month ago I received a e-mail from the state wanted to know if I was in favor of restocking the Stripper in Weiss lake. I voted not to restock, I wonder how many others got this request


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Hello Folks! First off, thanks for any insight you can share with me. I am a novice fisherman at best, but I have just booked a home on Weiss Lake for this August. We will be staying near the Spring Creek area. We will have access to a couple of canoes and a kayak. We will be using basic fishing gear, nothing high end. I also realize that August may not be a prime time to be fishing but if you could share any advice or even some really pretty places we could explore we would really appreciate it! THANKS!

Yellow Creek falls, Little Rock City, August is by far the hottest and humid month of the year. All we want is Air Conditioner and lots of it.


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I have never fished this lake but wonder is the fishing really declining? Is there hard evidence that there is over harvest? It would seem that if that were the case, Alabama Fish and Game would adjust the rules. We have very few restrictions here in Georgia and have incredible days crappie fishing. They are amazingly prolific and it seems the biggest determining factor on success is skill.

Originally Posted by Maurice Van Hal

I have never fished this lake but wonder is the fishing really declining? Is there hard evidence that there is over harvest? It would seem that if that were the case, Alabama Fish and Game would adjust the rules. We have very few restrictions here in Georgia and have incredible days crappie fishing. They are amazingly prolific and it seems the biggest determining factor on success is skill.

On this lake during the late winter and early spring you can pull into a small creek and see 25-50 boats already there. Once someone locates some fish everyone wants to come and catch them. This goes on 7 days a week for months.

My goodness I had no idea the pressure was that concentrated. I think I will fish elsewhere ....

This is a very complicated problem. I agree with reducing the limit to 15 per person, HOWEVER many business owners and guides who I am friends with worry about loss of revenue. The lake is responsible for a lot of the revenue raised for Cherokee County. I also agree with enforcement but there are only 2 game wardens assigned to the county. Adding enforcement would require the state legislature to appropriate more money for enforcement and ask most people if they want taxes raised to pay for it. Last but certainly not least is the invasion of cormorants. These birds are an invasive species and eat huge numbers of fish. I heard renowned angler and TV host, Jimmy Houston state that these birds are the greatest threat to recreational fisherman and fisheries. Of course they are a protected species. Some members of the Weiss Lake Improvement Association are working with the U.S. Dept of Agriculture who is in charge of these species and were close to having an eradication program. A program that me and my shotgun would gladly participate in But PETA got involved and has complicated the issue. I urge all Alabama citizens and others to contact their state legislators and U.S. Congressmen and Senators to address this problem.

Well 6 years ago when this thread was started Weiss was on a down time. Now it seems to be better. Seems like everyone wants it like it was in the 70s an 80s. I just don't think that's ever going to happen. There's to many fishermen now. I'm half the age of a lot of guys on here but I remember as a kid not seeing boats in every creek. The main problem is the amount of people. Weiss is doing pretty good for all the problems it has.

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