Lake Eufaula (Walter F. George Reservoir)

Lake Eufaula is a 45,181-acre reservoir located on the Chattahoochee River along the border of Alabama and Georgia. This US Army Corps of Engineers reservoir stretches from Phoenix City, Alabama, to the Walter F. George Dam at Ft. Gaines, Georgia. Eufaula National Wildlife Refuge, an 11,160-acre refuge on the edge of Lake Eufaula, provides excellent opportunities for public boating, fishing, hunting, hiking, and wildlife viewing. Numerous public access areas, marinas, campgrounds, and parks are available to facilitate boating, fishing, picnicking, and other outdoor activities. Lakepoint State Park is located adjacent to the refuge boundary, approximately 7 miles north of the City of Eufaula. The City of Eufaula is situated on the Alabama side of the reservoir; and it contains a number of hotels, restaurants, and shopping centers, as well as several historic places of interest. Lake Eufaula has had a national reputation for excellent largemouth bass fishing. Bass fishing continues to be the most popular sport on this reservoir, with anglers catching mostly largemouth bass and occasionally spotted bass.Lake Eufaula also supports an excellent black crappie fishery. Anglers especially enjoy high catch rates on crappie in the spring when the fish are spawning.Catfish are also abundant at Lake Eufaula, with angler catches consisting mainly of channel catfish with lesser numbers of blue catfish. Hybrid striped bass and white bass provide a great deal of excitement, especially in the spring when the fish are concentrated in the upper stretches of creeks.

Crappie will be concentrated along submerged trees and other shallow structures in the back of creeks such as Cowikee, Barbour, and White Oak Creek. Crappie can be caught year round by anglers who find the right depth and type of structure the fish are holding around. Summer fishing at night is often productive, usually by anglers fishing at night fairly deep with minnows underneath lights. In the late summer and early fall, schools of white bass and hybrids often chase shad on large sandy flats adjacent to deep channels such as the areas around Old Creek Town Park and near the W. F. George Dam. Many anglers enjoy good catch rates for sunfish (bream) by fishing with worms or crickets along submerged shoreline structure during the warmer months.