The Cahaba River is a freestone river in Alabama, listed as Agency-named bass water by Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division.
4 USGS gauges on the water report flow; Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division lists 6 species, including bluegill, chain pickerel and crappie. 1 guide nearby are listed here.
The Cahaba River at Cahaba River National Wildlife Refuge, Alabama (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Cahaba River is a freestone river in Alabama.
Pick one of its USGS gauges and hear from us when the flow moves into or out of its usual range for the date, or crosses a flow you set. We check the public USGS reading every 2 hours and email only when it crosses, at most once every 6 hours. Flow alone is not a fishing forecast or a safety call.
Signed in: one step. Otherwise we email a confirmation link first. Every alert has one-click links to stop it.
Start from the agency's public access map. Nothing on this page grants or implies access: check the agency map, posted signs and landowner permission before you fish.
Nothing on this page grants or implies access.
Gauges, shops and guides within 40 miles
Map of Cahaba River: gauges, shops and guides
Map of Cahaba River with 4 USGS gauges.
Restrooms within 2 miles of Cahaba River in a straight line, nearest first, with what anglers found when they went. The map says a restroom is there, not whether it is clean or open today.
No restroom mapped within 2 mi yet — add one you know.
Campgrounds, fishing access sites and boat ramps often have one that isn't on the map yet.
Restroom locations and map details: © OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License, read Oct 24, 2026. Ratings, answers and photos are members' own; who shared them is never shown, and every photo is reviewed before it appears. Visits older than 18 months no longer count. Distances are straight-line miles, not driving. Nothing here grants access to private land. Community guidelines.
Agency-named bass waterRepresentative photo · not Shades CreekThe Sipsey Fork west of Route 33, William B. Bankhead National Forest, Alabama (USDA Forest Service). Photo: Forest Service Photography, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Not Shades Creek.
Agency-named bass waterRepresentative photo · not Fivemile CreekThe Tombigbee River at Demopolis, Alabama. Photo: Altairisfar (Jeffrey Reed), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Fivemile Creek.
Alabama · about 15 mi
Agency-named bass waterRepresentative photo · not Coosa RiverThe Chattahoochee River at Cochran Shoals, Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. Photo: Thomson200, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Coosa River.
Agency-named bass waterRepresentative photo · not Little Cahaba RiverThe Toccoa River just north of (downstream of) Blue Ridge Dam, Georgia. Photo: Thomson200, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Little Cahaba River.
Agency-named bass waterRepresentative photo · not Mulberry ForkThe lower Hiwassee River at Charleston, Tennessee (downstream of the trout tailwater). Photo: NPS National Trails Office, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Not Mulberry Fork.
Agency-named bass waterRepresentative photo · not Locust ForkThe Caney Fork just below Center Hill Dam, from the Buffalo Valley ramp. Photo: Brian Stansberry, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Locust Fork.
Alabama · about 43 mi
Seasons, limits, special regulations and closures for each reach are on the agency pages below. Read them before you go.
Each comes from the agency's own published list; where the list names a reach it is quoted. A designation applies to the listed reach, not necessarily the whole water. Listed in the finder under bass.
On the Rivers and Mobile Delta: WFF river fishing pages that feature black bass list (Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division, read 2026-10-24). All waters with this designation
Measured from the NHDPlus High Resolution (flowlines and waterbodies) (U.S. Geological Survey, read 2026-11-04) for this water’s own mapped feature. Rounded figures; they describe the channel, not today’s conditions.
Areas the Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), public access (U.S. Geological Survey, Gap Analysis Project, read 2026-11-05) lists as owned or held in easement and open to the public, crossed by the mapped channel. Boundaries are mapped, not surveyed. Nothing on this page grants or implies access: check the agency map, posted signs and landowner permission before you fish.
2.7 of 189.2 mi on public land
+1 smaller areas
Nothing on this page grants or implies access.
Listings marked Unclaimed are built from open map records and the business's own website: confirm licensing, rates, dates and hours directly.
Mountain Brk, AL · 6 mi
Float trips · Saltwater & ocean charters · Bighorn River
Nearby
No shop nearby yet.
The species the agency lists here; presence varies by reach and season.
Listed by the state agency
Species guide
Largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), illustration by Duane Raver for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Photo: Duane Raver, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Species guide
A bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus), photographed by Ryan Hagerty for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Photo: Ryan Hagerty/USFWS, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
None of our destination hubs is within 40 miles in a straight line. The trip planner builds a trip around the water itself: the guides and shops listed within 40 miles of it, its gauges and its nearest towns and airports.
No hub within 40 miles
A practical checklist for fly fishing small mountain trout streams: a short 3–4 weight rod, light line, a few buoyant dries and simple wet-wading gear, with estimated prices and where to buy.
7′6″–8′6″ rod, 3–4 weight, floating line · Brook, cutthroat, rainbow and brown trout
Open the checklistSeams, shelves and soft water, shown on real rivers.
Public YouTube videos from established channels, chosen by us to support this page. Not sponsored; the creators are not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear.
Not sponsored All videos on reading water
Indicator rigs, depth and detecting the take.
Public YouTube videos from established channels, chosen by us to support this page. Not sponsored; the creators are not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear.
Not sponsored All videos on nymphing
Trip stories anglers chose to share publicly and tagged with Cahaba River.
No stories from here yet.
Not a statement of access, fish presence or conditions.
A water page organises discovery. It does not assert public access, legal access, current fish presence, guide availability or fishing conditions.
Flows, gauge statistics and flood stages come from USGS and the National Weather Service when the page is shown. Regulations, stocking, species and season statements link to the agency that publishes them; this page copies only the species names and the quoted sentences. Guide and shop listings come from the Legendary directories. Position: the USGS gauge CAHABA RIVER NEAR CAHABA HEIGHTS AL. Water type is our own classification.
Agency-named bass waterRepresentative photo · not Shades CreekThe Sipsey Fork west of Route 33, William B. Bankhead National Forest, Alabama (USDA Forest Service). Photo: Forest Service Photography, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Not Shades Creek.
Running well nowRepresentative photo · not Fivemile CreekThe Tombigbee River at Demopolis, Alabama. Photo: Altairisfar (Jeffrey Reed), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Fivemile Creek.
Running well nowRepresentative photo · not Coosa RiverThe Chattahoochee River at Cochran Shoals, Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. Photo: Thomson200, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Coosa River.
Alabama · about 23 mi
Largemouth bass, panfish & striped bass
2,930cfsFlow now · normal for the date
Agency-named bass waterRepresentative photo · not Little Cahaba RiverThe Toccoa River just north of (downstream of) Blue Ridge Dam, Georgia. Photo: Thomson200, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Little Cahaba River.
Alabama · about 28 mi
Largemouth bass & panfish
72.1cfsFlow now · normal for the date
Agency-named bass waterRepresentative photo · not Mulberry ForkThe lower Hiwassee River at Charleston, Tennessee (downstream of the trout tailwater). Photo: NPS National Trails Office, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Not Mulberry Fork.
Agency-named bass waterRepresentative photo · not Locust ForkThe Caney Fork just below Center Hill Dam, from the Buffalo Valley ramp. Photo: Brian Stansberry, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Locust Fork.
