Tallapoosa River

Type
Freestone river, Alabama (South)
Designation
Agency-named bass water
USGS gauges
4 live
Guides
None listed
Shops
None listed

Today on the Tallapoosa River

Reading the gauge…

Regulations & access Guides & shops

The Tallapoosa 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.

More about the Tallapoosa River

4 USGS gauges on the water report flow; Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division lists 6 species, including crappie, largemouth bass and redeye bass.

Updated · Sources: Rivers and Mobile Delta: WFF river fishing pages that feature black bass, Rivers and Mobile Delta: WFF river fishing pages that feature black bass, USGS Water Data

Representative photograph of similar water; not a photograph of this place.
Representative photograph, not this water.
Where it is

Tallapoosa River is a freestone river in Alabama.

Flow now at 4 gauges
Reading the gauges…

Follow Tallapoosa River for flow alerts

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.

Follow this water

Signed in: one step. Otherwise we email a confirmation link first. Every alert has one-click links to stop it.

Where to fish

About this

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.

Tallapoosa River on the map

About this

Gauges, shops and guides within 40 miles

Map of Tallapoosa River: gauges, shops and guides

Map of Tallapoosa River with 4 USGS gauges.

Restrooms near Tallapoosa River

Restrooms near Tallapoosa River

Restrooms within 2 miles of Tallapoosa 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.

More water near Tallapoosa River

  • The Cahaba River running over flat rock ledges below a wooded ridgeAgency-named bass water
    Photo credit

    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

    Alabama · about 69 mi

    Largemouth bass & panfish

  • The wide Tombigbee River with a sandy bank and trees on the rightAgency-named bass waterRepresentative photo · not Hatchet Creek
    Photo credit

    The Tombigbee River at Demopolis, Alabama. Photo: Altairisfar (Jeffrey Reed), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Hatchet Creek.

    Hatchet Creek

    Alabama · about 45 mi

    Largemouth bass & panfish

  • The Sipsey Fork glimpsed through yellow autumn leaves in the Bankhead National ForestAgency-named bass waterRepresentative photo · not Coosa River
    Photo credit

    The 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 Coosa River.

    Coosa River

    Alabama · about 46 mi

    Largemouth bass, panfish & striped bass

  • The Chattahoochee River at Cochran Shoals flowing between green, wooded banksAgency-named bass waterRepresentative photo · not Terrapin Creek
    Photo credit

    The Chattahoochee River at Cochran Shoals, Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. Photo: Thomson200, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Terrapin Creek.

    Terrapin Creek

    Alabama · about 60 mi

    Largemouth bass, panfish & striped bass

  • The Toccoa River below Blue Ridge Dam, flowing past a gravel path and wooded bankAgency-named bass waterRepresentative photo · not Shades Creek
    Photo credit

    The Toccoa River just north of (downstream of) Blue Ridge Dam, Georgia. Photo: Thomson200, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons Not Shades Creek.

    Shades Creek

    Alabama · about 73 mi

    Largemouth bass

  • Little River near its source at Three Forks, a small boulder stream in deep forestAgency-named bass waterLittle River in Tennessee · not this reach
    Photo credit

    Little River at Three Forks, Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Photo: Brian Stansberry, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Not this reach.

    Little River

    Alabama · about 76 mi

    Rainbow trout & largemouth bass

Regulations

About this

Seasons, limits, special regulations and closures for each reach are on the agency pages below. Read them before you go.

Official designation: Agency-named bass water

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.

The water on the map

About this

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.

Length
201.4 mi (152.3 in AL)
Drains
2,910 sq mi
Drop
643 ft · 3.2 ft/mi
Watershed
Upper Tallapoosa, Middle Tallapoosa

Public land along it

About this

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.

3.9 of 196.6 mi on public land

  • Horseshoe Bend National Military ParkNational Park Service · 3.7 mi · restricted
  • Georgia-Alabama Land Trust Easement #680Non-Governmental Organization · 0.1 mi · restricted

Nothing on this page grants or implies access.

Guides and shops near Tallapoosa River

About this

Listings marked Unclaimed are built from open map records and the business's own website: confirm licensing, rates, dates and hours directly.

Guides

No guide within 40 miles yet.

Shops nearby

No shop nearby yet.

How these are chosen

Guides whose own website names this water come first, nearest first. Distances are straight-line.

Shops: fly shops first. A distance is shown when the shop’s website gives its location (within 60 miles); otherwise the shop is in one of the towns within 25 miles of the water.

Guide and shop listings come from the Legendary directories.

Species and hatches

About this

The species the agency lists here; presence varies by reach and season.

Listed by the state agency

  • Redeye Bass
  • Spotted Bass
  • White Bass

Plan a trip here

About this

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

Gear checklist

About this

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.

An angler stands on a boulder at the edge of a fast forest stream and fishes the run

Small mountain streams

7′6″–8′6″ rod, 3–4 weight, floating line · Brook, cutthroat, rainbow and brown trout

Open the checklist
Videos for this water (5)

Watch: reading a trout stream

About this

Seams, 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.

  • How I Learned to Read Water (Fly Fishing)Embedded from YouTube · Mad River Outfitters · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube
  • How To Read The Water with Tom RosenbauerEmbedded from YouTube · The New Fly Fisher · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube
  • Reading the Water to Successfully Locate TroutEmbedded from YouTube · Orvis Guide to Fly Fishing · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube

Not sponsored All videos on reading water

Watch: nymphing basics

About this

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.

  • 90° Nymph RigEmbedded from YouTube · Huge Fly Fisherman · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube
  • Casting with an Indicator & Better Nymphing TechniquesEmbedded from YouTube · The New Fly Fisher · not affiliated with Legendary Fly Gear. Watch on YouTube

Not sponsored All videos on nymphing

Fish Tales

About this

Trip stories anglers chose to share publicly and tagged with Tallapoosa River.

No stories from here yet.

Sources for this page

Not a statement of access, fish presence or conditions.

Something wrong?

All 15 sources and dates

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 TALLAPOOSA RIVER AT MALONE, ALABAMA. Water type is our own classification.