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Wilson Lake is a public lake in Lauderdale County, Colbert County and Lawrence County, Alabama, managed by Alabama DCNR / Wildlife & Freshwater Fisheries. It is public water managed for fishing by the Alabama Department of Conservation & Natural Resources. Public access confirmed via marquee water.
Wilson Lake (15,500 ac) between Wheeler and Pickwick dams — deep, current-swept water that grows the biggest smallmouth in Alabama (and some of the biggest in the country). Also largemouth, striped bass, sauger, and the Wheeler Dam tailrace below it is a legendary catfish and striper spot.
Wilson Lake covers about 15,535 acres in the Tennessee Valley region. Anglers here mostly fish for largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, spotted bass, striped bass; hybrid striped bass, white bass, sauger, black crappie are also on record. The nearest other mapped waters on PiscaMaps are McKiernan Creek and Shoal Creek.
Species from ADCNR fishery-management data.
Night fishing: No statewide night-fishing closure in Alabama. Trotlines, limblines, jugs and slat traps are legal on most public fresh water with the right licence and gear tags. ADCNR State Public Fishing Lakes have posted hours and are closed at night; some also close one or two days a week.
Boats: The TVA, Alabama Power and Corps reservoirs have no horsepower limit; idle-speed / no-wake zones are marked near ramps, marinas, bridges and dams, and the tailrace areas below dams have restricted zones. ADCNR State Public Fishing Lakes limit boats to trolling motors or small outboards (often 10 hp or less) and rent jon boats. An Alabama boater-safety certificate is required for operators 12 and older.
Bank & bivvy camping: Camp at Alabama state parks (alapark.com), TVA and Corps of Engineers lakeside campgrounds on the Tennessee and Alabama rivers, and the Bankhead and Talladega national forests. WMA camping is limited to designated areas and hunt seasons. The Mobile-Tensaw Delta and the blackwater rivers have an informal sandbar-camping tradition.
Tackle: Statewide bass daily limit is 10 in aggregate (largemouth, smallmouth, spotted, redeye), only 5 of which may be smallmouth and none under the lake's size limit where one applies; 30 crappie on most reservoirs; catfish have trophy-protection limits on the Alabama River and some others. Guntersville, Eufaula and several Coosa lakes have their own bass size limits — check the current ADCNR regulations for this water.
Boat ramps: 13 mapped — Boat ramp, Alloys Park Boat Ramp, Wilson Dam Reservation Boat Ramp, Boat ramp, Boat ramp, Lock Six Boat Ramp and others nearby.
Camping: 2 sites mapped nearby — Earl Trent Assembly, Camp Westmoreland.
Source: OpenStreetMap contributors.
Anyone 16-64 needs an Alabama fishing licence — resident annual freshwater is about $14, non-resident annual about $56, and non-resident 7-day (~$32) and 1-day (~$12) licences are sold. There is no trout stamp — the freshwater licence covers the Sipsey Fork, Alabama's only trout water. A Wildlife Management Area licence is needed to fish WMA lakes and streams. Alabama residents 65+ fish free with a Senior exemption. Buy from Outdoor Alabama. An Alabama fishing licence covers this water. The border reservoirs — Eufaula/Walter F. George and West Point (GA), Weiss (headwaters in GA), Pickwick (MS/TN) — are fished lake-wide on a licence from any of the adjoining states.
Every water carries species, bank & boat access, current regulations and live water conditions — and members get Swim Mapper, Catch Logger and Trip Planner. It's the only US map with a dedicated carp-water layer.
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