The Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division is not the permitting agency for tournaments. The Alabama LEA Marine Patrol requires permits for any marine event “that interferes with marine traffic or creates a potential safety hazard” (including bass tournaments). Click below to download the Alabama Marine Patrol free tournament application. NOTE: Applications are free of charge and must be submitted to at least 15 days prior to the event.
Alabama’s angling community has a proud history of stewardship. Alabama is widely regarded as the home of competitive fishing. Since the 1960s, the state has been at the forefront of organized tournaments, hosting competition at every level across its diverse lakes and river systems.
To build on this success, the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) is encouraging a shift toward even more fish-friendly tournament formats.
A Modern Approach to Competition
While traditional weigh-ins have long been the norm, ADCNR recommends transitioning to Catch-Weigh-Release (CWR) or Catch-Measure-Release (CMR) formats. These modern methods offer several key advantages:
Tools for the Next Generation
Adopting CWR or CMR has never been easier. With a wide variety of certified scales, precision measuring boards, and specialized tournament software available, clubs can enjoy a seamless, competitive, and professional event experience.
By embracing these recommendations, Alabama’s tournament anglers can continue to lead the way in protecting our world-class black bass populations for generations to come
The objective of the program since its inception has been to gather information on bass populations by combining the efforts of bass club members and state fisheries biologists. The BAIT Program summarizes catch data on reservoir bass populations that are collected and provided to us by participating clubs. This information is used by state fisheries biologists in combination with data from other sources as a basis for fisheries management decisions. Bass anglers use the report to establish future tournament sites, or to locate a reservoir that provides a particular type of fishing.
Bass Clubs in Alabama and neighboring states have submitted their tournament results to help us manage their resource. We appreciate this help from anglers! Your bass club can be a member of BAIT by submitting tournament catch data online, email, or by mail. Click below to learn more about the BAIT program.
Click the button below to view an interactive map of all current public boat ramp access points managed by the Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries (AWFF) Division on Alabama's public bodies of water. NOTE: Public access point not managed by AWFF Division will not be noted on this map.
We've also included a link to download a KML/KMZ file of this list to a GPS device of your choice.
The annual Alabama Hunting and Fishing Digest contains information on freshwater fishing creel and size limits and is available online.Click below to view current freshwater fishing regulations.
Fisheries biologists with the Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries (WFF) routinely receive requests to stock sport fish species, such as largemouth bass, in specific public water bodies to improve the fisheries. Unfortunately, the utility and expectations of fish stocking are often grossly misunderstood by the angling public. Click below to learn more about about fish stocking practices.
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Support freshwater habitat enhancement, aquatic wildlife species protection and restoration, conservation education, bass genetic research, sport fish disease research, invasive species management, and public water fish stockings.
