Bass fishing is the most popular fishery in Wheeler Reservoir. Largemouth bass are the primary species, but smallmouth bass are common from Decatur to the west end, especially from Elk River down. The northern subspecies of spotted bass are also common, and spots are found primarily near the main channel.

This reservoir is home to quality fishing for a variety of fish. Catfish fishing is excellent; and William McKinley caught the previous world record blue catfish, 111 pounds, from Wheeler Reservoir on July 5, 1996. Bream (bluegill, redear sunfish, and longear sunfish) fishing is excellent, also. Crappie grow exceptionally fast here. Sauger run upstream during the winter and early spring, and are caught below Guntersville Dam. Striped bass, hybrids and white bass make spring runs, and can be caught schooling during the summer.

Sampling: Electrofishing in April, 2008, revealed a largemouth bass population consisting primarily of fish from 12 to 15 inches in length. Numbers of bass above 15 inches are below the Alabama reservoir average. Bass anglers can expect better than average catch rates of bass up to lengths of 15 inches or 1 - 1.5 pounds, but anglers will have to work hard to find larger fish. Fast growth from these plump 12- to 15-inch bass should result in better than average numbers of 15-inch and larger bass in 2009.