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Home › Waters › Alabama › Millers Ferry Tailwater
Tailwater · Wilcox County, the Alabama River immediately below the Millers Ferry Lock and Dam near Camden, at the lower end of William Dannelly Reservoir in the Black Belt · Alabama

Millers Ferry Tailwater Fishing Guides

The Alabama River tailrace below Millers Ferry Dam near Camden, a hard-current fishery for big catfish, white bass and stripers in the Black Belt.

A mountain stream running over mossy rock through eastern hardwoods
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

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About the Millers Ferry Tailwater

The Millers Ferry Lock and Dam sits on the Alabama River in Wilcox County, holding back William Dannelly Reservoir and discharging into the river below near Camden. The tailwater here is a classic southern big-river tailrace: broad, often turbid, running between low wooded banks through the Black Belt, with a concrete apron, scour holes and long rock training walls below the structure. It is a working river, with a lock passing barge traffic, and the fishery it supports is built entirely on the current that comes through when generators are running and water is passed downstream.

This is primarily a catfish and white bass tailrace, and a very good one. Blue catfish reach serious size in the scour holes below the dam and are what most anglers come for, with channel and flathead catfish along the rock and in the deeper edges. White bass school in the turbulence on moving water and can be thick in spring, and striped bass run the river and hold below the structure through the cooler months. Largemouth and spotted bass work the slack water behind the training walls and the eddies along the bank. Most fishing is done from boats anchored or held in the current.

The gauge at the dam reports stage, a river level that rises and falls with what the dam is passing, and that single reading is the one to check before making the drive. A tailrace with no water moving through it is close to dead, while a generating dam concentrates bait and turns the fishery on within the hour. Read the stage trend rather than the absolute number: a rising level means water is being passed and the fish will be working. High sustained discharge makes boat handling below the apron genuinely hazardous, so treat a hard release as a reason to fish further downstream.

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Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

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You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

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4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

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Posting to Millers Ferry Tailwater.

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The name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Access

Camden - the nearest town, with services, lodging and tackle.
Millers Ferry Lock and Dam - the structure itself, with the tailrace and the public ramp below it.
William Dannelly Reservoir - the reservoir upstream, with ramps, marinas and crappie fishing.
Millers Ferry - the community at the dam, with the closest access to the tailwater.
Claiborne Lock and Dam - the next structure downstream, with its own tailrace fishery.
Selma - the larger city upriver, with full services and guides.
Prairie Creek - the Corps recreation area and campground near the dam, with a ramp.

Seasons

Spring: the strongest season, with white bass schooling in the tailrace and blue catfish feeding hard on heavy flows.
Summer: catfish carry the fishery, fished deep in the scour holes whenever water is moving, early and late for comfort.
Fall: cooling water and steadier releases bring striped bass and white bass back below the dam.
Winter: the best season for large blue catfish and stripers, fished slowly and entirely around generation schedules.

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Questions

What species can you catch on the Millers Ferry Tailwater?

Anglers target Blue Catfish, Channel Catfish, Flathead Catfish, Freshwater Drum, Largemouth Bass, Spotted Bass, Striped Bass, White Bass on the Millers Ferry Tailwater in Alabama.

Where can you access the Millers Ferry Tailwater?

Camden - the nearest town, with services, lodging and tackle. Millers Ferry Lock and Dam - the structure itself, with the tailrace and the public ramp below it. William Dannelly Reservoir - the reservoir upstream, with ramps, marinas and crappie fishing. Millers Ferry - the community at the dam, with the closest access to the tailwater. Claiborne Lock and Dam - the next structure downstream, with its own tailrace fishery. Selma - the larger city upriver, with full services and guides. Prairie Creek - the Corps recreation area and campground near the dam, with a ramp.

When is the best time to fish the Millers Ferry Tailwater?

Spring: the strongest season, with white bass schooling in the tailrace and blue catfish feeding hard on heavy flows. Summer: catfish carry the fishery, fished deep in the scour holes whenever water is moving, early and late for comfort. Fall: cooling water and steadier releases bring striped bass and white bass back below the dam. Winter: the best season for large blue catfish and stripers, fished slowly and entirely around generation schedules.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Millers Ferry Tailwater?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Alabama agency site: https://www.outdooralabama.com/fishing/