Wheeler Lake Day Tournament at Joe Wheeler State Park

Joe Wheeler State Park hosts a spring day tournament on Wheeler Lake on Saturday, May 9, 2026, giving anglers a full morning-to-afternoon window on one of North Alabama’s most storied fisheries. The 69,700-acre Tennessee River impoundment has earned its reputation across decades of regional tournament history, and a May morning here, with mist lifting off the water and the tree lines coming into full green, is as compelling a setting as bass fishing in the South has to offer.

The water and what lives in it

Wheeler Lake rewards those who know how to read it. The deep water and rock bluffs near Wheeler Dam hold strong populations of smallmouth, and the tailwaters just below the dam once produced a former world record catch. The broad Decatur flats, thick with milfoil, deliver the kind of big largemouth fishing that draws comparisons to nearby Guntersville Lake. For anglers who prefer quieter, more sheltered water, First Creek and Second Creek, both accessible directly from the park, offer excellent largemouth, catfish, crappie, and bream in calm, protected conditions that feel a world apart from the main channel.

The park and its facilities

The 2,550-acre state park sits two miles west of Rogersville off U.S. Highway 72, roughly 50 miles west of Huntsville, making it a straightforward drive from most of North Alabama. A full-service marina, multiple boat ramps, and the large TVA/Wheeler Dam ramp with spacious parking and nighttime security lighting give tournament participants everything they need for an early launch. Pontoon and fishing boat rentals round out the on-water options for those arriving without their own vessel.

Staying on the water

Ten lakeside cottages sit right at the mouth of First Creek, each offering two or three bedrooms, fireplaces, full kitchens, and wide windows that frame uninterrupted lake views. They are the kind of accommodations that make it easy to justify arriving a day early and leaving a day late. The Earl Stone-designed 18-hole championship golf course rolls across Tennessee River hillside terrain for those who want to stretch their legs between time on the water, and shoreline hiking trails thread through the park’s quieter edges at a gentler pace.

After the weigh-in

Tournament mornings end with dock talk and weigh-in stories, and The Restaurant at Joe Wheeler offers a natural next stop: solid Southern fare served with panoramic lake views Thursday through Sunday, the kind of unhurried meal that a day on the water earns. Wheeler Lake also sits along the Great Loop, the continuous waterway circling the eastern United States, meaning sailboats and cruising yachts share the channel alongside bass boats, lending the whole scene a quietly cosmopolitan quality that catches first-time visitors off guard.

The broader Tennessee River Valley

Athens lies 22 miles to the east and Florence 27 miles to the west, and both cities offer a full range of dining, history, and culture for those inclined to extend the trip. The Tennessee River Valley in May is a particularly rewarding place to be, and a weekend built around a morning tournament at Joe Wheeler has a way of quietly expanding into something much larger than the fishing itself.