Fishing at Sportman Lake, Cullman County, Alabama

• Overview

  Set in Cullman County, Alabama, this is Sportman Lake. The surface lies 794 feet up. Surface area is around 30 acres, which gives you real water without needing a boat. Some 1.5 miles away sits Cullman, the nearest settlement. Huntsville sits 40 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. The nearest boundary is well away, so one set of rules covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Sportman Lake

  We hold no depth figure for this one. A reservoir gives you a hard edge, a shelf, and not much else. Points where the flooded channel swings in are the reliable ones. Public wildlife records from this area list black crappie, blacktail redhorse and blueback herring. Treat it as evidence of what swims in the area. At Sportman Lake the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Seasonal averages run from 39°F in January up to 78°F in July. The surface stays open the year round. The first and last hours carry the summer; the middle is slow. April and May are the settled weeks, with October close behind. Sportman Lake fishes to that pattern most years. The first frost of the year slows things for a few days.

• Tackle & Baits

  Ownership and access are not documented in what we hold. Parking is close: a car park sits half a mile from the bank. A jetty or pier is mapped about 130 yards from here. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Rules for this water may differ from the county norm. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. For a change of water, Hayes Lake is 1.3 miles distant. Treat access at Sportman Lake as something to verify.