The final stop of the ABT 2023 regular season was held at Wheeler Lake in Decatur. Two hundred and twenty-five teams from the north division competed for the top prize of $10,000.
Allen and Danny blasted off as boat number 216. ABT photo
Pickwick Lake in North Alabama has long been a stronghold for smallmouth bass for years. The stocking of the Florida strain of largemouth bass by Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee fisheries agencies indicates a possibility for the consistent over-10-pound class of largemouth bass in Pickwick.
Reported By Don Gowan
Southern Fishing News Field Staff
The Alabama Department of Public Health; Alabama Department of Environmental Management; Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources; and TVA have released the “2023 Alabama Fish Consumption Advisories”. (Area 1 covers North Alabama beginning on page 13 through page 17. Not all streams in the Decatur and Morgan Counties had fish consumption testing conducted.)
Charlie Brewer originated “finesse fishing. Slider’s products not only continue to produce the popular Slider Heads and finesse plastics but have added an extensive line of crappie lures and more multi-species lures. Visit sliderfishing.com and browse the product selection.
Invasive Asian Carp: the Feral Hog of Alabama’s Waterways
Asian carp have long been a problem in other parts of the country, but these fish are now working their way into Alabama. Because of the threat posed by Asian carp, the Fisheries Section of the Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries is working to protect the state’s aquatic resources from this invasive species.
Silver carp, known for their tendency to jump when disturbed, have been found in increasing numbers in Pickwick Lake in northwest Alabama. WFF photo
The Shoals Youth Bassmasters youth anglers, fifty-eight strong, launched their fourth tournament of 2023 from the First Creek Ramp on Wheeler Lake. Fishing on Wheeler has been tough of late due to the hot weather, pressure, or a plain reluctance of bass to respond to lures this time of year.
If you’re in the water near a dam, powerhouse or lock, you need to be aware of some potential hazards and familiarize yourself with the systems TVA uses to communicate them to you.
“Aquatic nuisance species, or ANS, threaten many of our waterbodies around the state,” said Jim Page, WRD Aquatic Nuisance Species Program Coordinator.
Help keep Aquatic Nuisance Species like Northern Snakeheads out of Georgia.
By DAVID RAINER Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
“The first documented sighting was at Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge (near Decatur) in 1964,” Chuck Sykes, Director of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries (WFF) Division, said. “They’ve been in north Alabama for a long time.”
An American alligator was recently sighted in the Huntsville area, which many people consider to be beyond the home range of the animal. Outdoor Alabama photo
