I live in Morganton NC in the foothills. Lake James is 30 minutes from me. It's a tough but good fishery. It has Brown fish, Green fish, Walleye, and I have heard, Musky. It's colder deep water.
My home lake Rhodhiss is primarily Green bass water. It's a little fickle but a decent fishery. It's 15 minutes from me.
Lake Hickory is a good lake but gets busy from Memorial day through Labor day. There are good numbers and size and there are some DD's swimming around this lake. It's 30+ minutes from me.
Norman is an hour + away. Read above about the fishing.
There's plenty of trout fishing an hour or two away.
Edit: from May until sometime in September I usually fish at night. It's cooler and the boat traffic is much lower.
