Need Some Tips For Lake Norman

[bclark7b]

Hey there,

I'm taking a trip this summer to lake Norman in NC. I've never fished there before, but I've rented a house on the lake that also has a boat. The house is in Mooresville. I've looked at a map of the lake which is a little overwhelming since I'm used to fishing the finger lakes. Any tips on places to fish or baits to throw would be great. I'll be there the last week in July.

 

Thanks,

Ben

[PAGreg]

Coldsvt and I are heading there at the end of this month. We're in northern pa and fish the finger lakes too. We'll report back on what we had luck on. We'll be fishing north of route 150 for the most part.

[Chuck D]

Depends on when you are coming here.  Early summer fishes a lot different than late summer.  Boat traffic is a real factor here from May - Sept and the fish get conditioned to eat at night which means you have a great early topwater bite, it slows way down during the day, and then gets going again in the evening and on through the night.

 

There is o vegetation in the lake so plan to fish docks or open water which is tough due to boat traffic.   

 

Lower end is clear and full of millions of spotted bass so you can get tons of bites there but you likely won't catch a giant.  Uplake is more "river like" and holds largemouth more and also is typically more stained color wise.  So depending on the boat you have, does it have a trolling motor, can it get in tight spots, etc that will determine where you can fish.   Uplake around the Duke Power State park is fairly calm water and has a lot of shoreline cover that if you are staying N of the Hwy 150 bridge would be a good place to explore.   Downlake, I'd get in to Davidson Creek and find some really long cuts/pockets and go find calm water to fish and stay out of the boat traffic.

 

Not knowing when you are coming specifically I'd say the top 3 daytime summer baits you need to bring are a 3/8 or 1/2 oz jig that you can skip under boat docks, a solid body soft plastic swim bait that can also be fished weedless and put up under the docks like a reaction innovations skinny dipper, and a shakey head with a 7" straight tail worm.  Best colors are green pumpkin and watermelon.  Use chartreuse dye to "tip" your baits as the spotted bass like that.

 

Night time baits are chatterbait, colorado blade spinner bait, big worms with ribbon tails, and topwater (spooks, sammy, gunfish, pop-r, etc).

 

I use a local tackle maker here; True South Custom Lures run by John Martin.  I have no affiliation to his business but recommend him regularly as he makes top quality baits which we all want at great prices but he makes baits specific to Lake Norman and Lake Wylie that you may want to talk with him about.  http://www.truesouthlures.com/   Check him out, he'll get you the right stuff and you'll have a more productive trip

[buzzed bait]

Depends on when you are coming here.  Early summer fishes a lot different than late summer.  Boat traffic is a real factor here from May - Sept and the fish get conditioned to eat at night which means you have a great early topwater bite, it slows way down during the day, and then gets going again in the evening and on through the night.

 

There is o vegetation in the lake so plan to fish docks or open water which is tough due to boat traffic.   

 

Lower end is clear and full of millions of spotted bass so you can get tons of bites there but you likely won't catch a giant.  Uplake is more "river like" and holds largemouth more and also is typically more stained color wise.  So depending on the boat you have, does it have a trolling motor, can it get in tight spots, etc that will determine where you can fish.   Uplake around the Duke Power State park is fairly calm water and has a lot of shoreline cover that if you are staying N of the Hwy 150 bridge would be a good place to explore.   Downlake, I'd get in to Davidson Creek and find some really long cuts/pockets and go find calm water to fish and stay out of the boat traffic.

 

Not knowing when you are coming specifically I'd say the top 3 daytime summer baits you need to bring are a 3/8 or 1/2 oz jig that you can skip under boat docks, a solid body soft plastic swim bait that can also be fished weedless and put up under the docks like a reaction innovations skinny dipper, and a shakey head with a 7" straight tail worm.  Best colors are green pumpkin and watermelon.  Use chartreuse dye to "tip" your baits as the spotted bass like that.

 

Night time baits are chatterbait, colorado blade spinner bait, big worms with ribbon tails, and topwater (spooks, sammy, gunfish, pop-r, etc).

 

I use a local tackle maker here; True South Custom Lures run by John Martin.  I have no affiliation to his business but recommend him regularly as he makes top quality baits which we all want at great prices but he makes baits specific to Lake Norman and Lake Wylie that you may want to talk with him about.  http://www.truesouthlures.com/   Check him out, he'll get you the right stuff and you'll have a more productive trip

 

 

THIS IS A GREAT POST.......  Great info, especially about the boat traffic......

[ColdSVT]

PAgreg and I will certainly post up our findings when we get back from out end of march trip!