Summer Fishing on Lake Wedowee/Harris

I get a lot or requests for fishing information on Lake Harris. Its the kind of lake that has very little information posted on the Internet due to few fishing guides (other than Reeds Guide Service), little or no bass tournament info and Lake Harris is far from any major city in Alabama.

Anniston, Al. is the closest big city, about 30 miles away. You do have a small (but growing) town only 5 miles from the lake, the town of Wedowee, Al. Motels are available in both towns.

Lake Harris was impounded in 1983. Before it was impounded, the natural flow of the Tallapoosa River and the Little Tallapoosa River created a set of rocky shoals, white water rapids, and back then, this rocky swift water, was the headwaters of Lake Martin (impounded in 1926).

Lake Harris is Alabama's youngest lake. Lake Harris could just be the last waterway to be impounded (into a man made lake) in Alabama for many years to come.

Unknown to many anglers, there have been many huge, largemouth bass taken from Lake Harris in the last 20 years. Noted Taxidermist (in the Birmingham, Al. area) and T. V. Host, Archie Phillips, has mounted many of those trophy sized largemouth bass, taken from Lake Harris in recent years. Many of those huge bass weighed from 10-16 pounds, some close to state record status.

Birmingham Newspaper columnist Mike Bolton will tell you, he has written about state record bass many times and Lake Harris has been mentioned several times in his yearly updates. There have been at least a half dozen largemouth bass, all weighing over 15 pounds, taken out of Lake Harris in recent years.

The biggest largemouth bass on record to date (caught out of Lake Harris), weighed 16 pounds 3 ounces, only a few ounces away from being a new Alabama State Record Largemouth Bass. Even a deceased largemouth bass was found floating in the lake many years back, weighing a little over 17 pounds.

So how do you fool these huge bass when it gets hot? Summertime is not the time records are broken, but there are still largemouth bass (some weighing in excess of 10 pounds), taken during both day and night fishing excursions when it gets hot. Patience is the key. For they are not caught in numbers, like previous records show. Usually when the biggest bass are taken, is from January through March.

During summer, schooling bass can be found lake wide and these bass in the 1-3 pound range can provide lots of action. For the angler on the move, searching as he cruises the lake, will reveal these surfacing bass, usually found feeding on baitfish early and late in the day. Small pockets and cuts, the mouths of creeks, and flats found out of the main lake's swift water, will show places to consider. Always look for lots of baitfish and feeding bass.

Lures for these summertime Lake Harris schoolies can be topwaters to dragging spoons and soft plastics across the lakes bottom. Experiment with big topwaters like Zara spooks or Pop-r's, to smaller topwaters like tiny torpedoes, baby torpedoes, crazy shads or other small prop-baits.

Shallow to deep diving crankbaits in shad colors, are good choices.
Make long cast's with crankbaits past the schooling bass and bring your lures right through the surfacing schools, rather than throwing right on top of them, like when using topwaters. This retrieve method also goes for rattling lipless lures like Rattletraps, Cordell Rattling Spots, Rapala's Rattlin' Raps and Spro's new Viv Series lipless lures. Floating and suspending jerkbaits also fall in this schooling technique.

Fish all of these lures on 14-15 pound test line and always make as long a cast as possible, so you will not to spook these very skittish bass. Cut your motor off and troll in close. If a school of bass stops feeding, move on and look for more schoolies, or return later to give these bass a chance to regroup and start feeding again.

Keep in mind, although many bass in this schooling situation are small, the bigger, more lazy largemouth's, may be lurking just below, picking off injured baitfish that fall beneath the main school. Not only will lures that look like baitfish, such as lipless lures, shad imitations on jig heads, grubs or jigging spoons, fool these big bass, but soft plastics, such as big and small shad imitations, tube baits, worms, lizards and jig combos get the big bass bite as well.

Have fun and be safe fishing Lake Harris this summer. There is a 13-16 inch slot limit on Lake Harris, so please keep only bass under or over this length limit. The water patrol will check for fish limits and creels, life jackets for each boat occupant, boat registration, throw cushion, charged fire extinguishers and fishing licenses. When night fishing, you must have lights on for and aft of the boat, whether your running in the boat or sitting still fishing, its the law!

Need help fishing Lake Harris? Bass up to 12 pounds have been taken (by the angler that is fortunate enough to land them) while fishing with Reeds Guide Service in years past. Always call on Reeds Guide Service...first! "Over 30 years guiding on every lake in Alabama for bass and stripers." Several boats and guides available year round for multiple parties and corporate trips.

This report provided by:
Reed Montgomery / Reeds Guide Service
Producer / Host "Fishing Alabama" With Reed Montgomery Radio Show
"6 Years on the Radio  / Jan 2005"
Birmingham, Alabama
Call Reeds Guide Service...First! (205) 787-5133
"Over 40 Years Fishing Alabama for Bass and Stripers"
E-mail: ALABASSGYD@aol.com
Website: www.FISHINGALABAMA.com

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