Recent rains have raised Weiss Lake to near summer levels, which has brought in fishermen for the spring crappie fishing.

Jason Tucker, a co-owner of J.R.’s Marina in Cedar Bluff said if business got any better he didn’t know what he would do.

Tucker, who is also a fishing guide, said he and his clients have been catching their limit every day.

Gina Warren, a spokesman for Alabama Power Co., which operates the Weiss Lake Dam, said the company got a variance from the Army Corps of Engineers to keep levels higher than normal because of last year’s drought.

Weiss Lake was at 563.05 feet above sea level on Monday, which is slightly shy of summer pool, which is 564 feet above sea level.

“We’re cautiously optimistic,” she said recently.

Warren said the power company assesses the situation daily as it manages its lake and dam system.

The lake is in better shape going into the spring and summer than it was last year, she said.

State climatologist John Christy said the drought was so long and so deep that the lakes and rivers were slow to fill up despite heavy winter rains.

"There was not much runoff. Only recently have we started seeing changes in the lakes and rivers," he said.

Cherokee County has had more than 10 inches of rainfall in the past couple of months. "You're pretty close to normal," he said