BY KADIE VICK
THE LAFAYETTE SUN
CHAMBERS COUNTY — The Chambers County Lake reopened in February 2025 and is providing a fishing location for locals this summer.
“The Chambers County Lake has been closed since 2020, they redid the dam and the spillway,” said new operator Alan Franks. “It was closed in 2020, and it reopened in February of this year. Me and my wife interviewed last year to take it over and operate it, and we were the ones chosen to take it over and run it.”
Franks said the Chambers County Lake is stocked with fish for visitors to fish for but that a fishing license is required to do so.
“It’s a fishing-only lake, and it’s stocked with bass and bluegill,” he said. “They stocked it with 900 to 1,000 bass. They put in the F1 Florida Bass and the Northern Bass, and they reproduce and make the Tiger Bass. They also put in about 400,000 bluegill, and that’s all that’s in the Lake right now. We’re going to put in catfish at the end of this year, but bass fishing is doing real great right now.”
Visitors at the Chambers County Lake can utilize a variety of amenities, as well as the option to rent a boat or use their own.
“We have picnic areas, grills where you can come grill out, and you can come spend a day,” Franks said. “We got boat rentals — you can rent 14-foot aluminum boats, and we have the trolling motors and batteries, so you can rent it as a package deal. We have a bait and tackle shop that we run inside the store where we sell refreshments, food products, sandwiches, hot dogs, crackers, snacks and drinks. We rent out fishing stuff, rods and reels. We got live bait, crickets, minnows, worms and anything you need to go fishing.”
Karen Franks said she enjoys working at the Chambers County Lake because of the people who come to fish, and that she enjoys hearing the fishers talk about what they caught that day.
“I enjoy the people, I’m passionate about working with people. and I enjoy when the new people come in,” she said. “I’ve learned a lot. The anglers come in and talk to us and tell us about what they caught. Everybody’s extremely excited that the lake opened back up and very appreciative that we decided to do this.”
Visitors will need a $5 daily fishing permit to fish at the Chambers County Lake as well as an Alabama fishing license. Visitors can purchase a daily pass and a temporary out-of-state public fishing license at the Chambers County Lake, but will need to purchase an Alabama fishing license online.
“We’re open Thursday through Sunday, four days a week, sunrise to sunset, February through November,” Alan said. “So we close two months out of the year.”
Karen said that she and Alan try to keep the Chambers County Lake store stocked with items that people will use and enjoy. They listen to visitors so that they can order the tackle that visitors like.
“We have a playground, and we sell stuff for if somebody wants to cookout, and we try to provide plenty of snacks and drinks,” Karen said. “We try to keep our tackle well stocked, and the kids enjoy the little tackle boxes. We try to order tackle that people are asking about and use, and we listen to the people mainly.”
Alan said that the Chambers County Lake is a great place for local fishers to visit and have a relaxing time.
“It’s the best lake to go fishing in probably a 60-mile radius,” Alan said. “It’s a great fishing lake. You ain’t got boats running around going 50 miles an hour. We ain’t got waves knocking the boat around. It’s a nice leisurely way to just enjoy the day.”
