Moving to North Carolina...

[JoeDrums]

Hello, fellow members of Bassresource. I hope you're all doing well in these wild times. I'm currently working towards getting my ducks in a row, so I can get myself a truck that will one day tow a bass boat behind it. For many years, I've day dreamed about having my own boat, and fishing some of the classic waters in the South East. Becoming a resident in an eastern state with great bass fishing seems like a logical step, since being a Colorado resident is a geographical disadvantage in that regard. 

 

I've considered many places, but I think North Carolina would make a fine home state if I were to venture East. Now, I have a question for all the North Carolina resident members. Where would you recommend one live in NC, to access some great waters for the green, and the bronze fish?? I'm also a musician, so a balance of city/country life would be great.  Hoping to be in close proximity to a large b.o.w. like Norman or be able to visit Wylie in SC often. 

 

This is the beginning of my research so I'm open to any insight, information, and advice you may have. I hope you'll welcome me as a fellow bass angler, once I decide to make the move East. Thank you! 

[D_Stephenson]

I live slightly east of Raleigh, so the main lakes most people know and fish are Jordan, Falls and Harris.  Great fisheries.  I don't have much knowledge of lakes west of there.  For small mouth, I've only read about a few lakes to the north and west having them.  I read often about New River having a good population of them.  I have spent most of fishing life in salt water and just now getting back into fresh water.  Mostly kayak fishing.  Loving that.  I hope to have time to explore more water in the future.  My middle son is going off to ECU in a few weeks.  He's joing the Bass Club competition team there and I'm sure that will take him many places.  So I'll probably tag along on those trips as well.  Fishing is something new daily.  I've learned more and seen more this year than ever.  Much of it has come from talking to other anglers I've met at spots and them telling me about a creek / mill pond that I'd never heard about.  I got and fish it, meet another angler, tells me about another one... and it's kept repeating.  Been a really fun year so far.

[JoeDrums]

Very cool. I appreciate your response! It sounds like you guys have a lot of opportunities for great fishing close to home out there, with much more within a couple hours drive. I also know you guys have a longer season, and more attainable year round fishing for bass compared to us in Colorado. Would you mind if I shot you a PM, with a couple questions kind of off topic from fishing? Thanks.

[VolFan]

I lived in Denver CO for five years - great, diverse fishing out there. More green fish here, and some dandy brown as well. I live in Charlotte now - it just depends on what you want to fish for and how you want to live. Yoi could live in/around Denver NC on the north end of Lake Norman and have great access to that fishery, and an hour or two drive to great smallmouth fisheries. You could live near Jordan Lake, and be on a world class largemouth lake with DDs every year, but further from the brown fish (but closer to blue ones). Its all in what you want - pm me, I travel around the state and am happy to answer anything.

[D_Stephenson]

On 7/2/2020 at 4:21 PM, JoeDrums said:

Very cool. I appreciate your response! It sounds like you guys have a lot of opportunities for great fishing close to home out there, with much more within a couple hours drive. I also know you guys have a longer season, and more attainable year round fishing for bass compared to us in Colorado. Would you mind if I shot you a PM, with a couple questions kind of off topic from fishing? Thanks.

Sure, no problem.  You can PM me.

[lo n slo]

On 7/1/2020 at 5:36 PM, JoeDrums said:

Hello, fellow members of Bassresource. I hope you're all doing well in these wild times. I'm currently working towards getting my ducks in a row, so I can get myself a truck that will one day tow a bass boat behind it. For many years, I've day dreamed about having my own boat, and fishing some of the classic waters in the South East. Becoming a resident in an eastern state with great bass fishing seems like a logical step, since being a Colorado resident is a geographical disadvantage in that regard. 

 

I've considered many places, but I think North Carolina would make a fine home state if I were to venture East. Now, I have a question for all the North Carolina resident members. Where would you recommend one live in NC, to access some great waters for the green, and the bronze fish?? I'm also a musician, so a balance of city/country life would be great.  Hoping to be in close proximity to a large b.o.w. like Norman or be able to visit Wylie in SC often. 

 

This is the beginning of my research so I'm open to any insight, information, and advice you may have. I hope you'll welcome me as a fellow bass angler, once I decide to make the move East. Thank you! 

i’m from Mooresville. Norman is ok i guess but there is MUCH better fishing a little further East, towards the Raleigh/Durham area, say around Salisbury or Asheboro. you have the Yadkin Chain lakes (High Rock and Badin) plus Randleman to the North, then Jordan, Harris and Falls lakes near Raleigh. all primo

 

plus both Norman, and especially Wylie are too close to Charlotte and traffic is terrible within a 25 mile radius of that place. Norman is over run with everything from cigarette boats to wake boats and is basically un fishable after Memorial Day. 

 

hope this helps a little 

[PiedmontAngler]

Check out Fort Mill, SC. Right over the border from Charlotte. Many people who live here work in Charlotte. There’s lots of new construction or newer resale homes at prices cheaper than Charlotte.

 

Not sure how much of a concern it is but I heard there’s an area around Norman (Mooresville?) that has reported an uptick in cancer cases. Just something to be aware of. 
 

Fort Mill is next to Lake Wylie and the bottom of the dam in the Catawba is great if you have a kayak. Norman is less than an hour away then you have the Santee Cooper lakes a few hours away and Charleston if you wanted some saltwater. 
 

It’s also reasonably close to various mountain trout waters if you’re into that. 

[JoeDrums]

On 7/10/2020 at 7:19 PM, lo n slo said:

i’m from Mooresville. Norman is ok i guess but there is MUCH better fishing a little further East, towards the Raleigh/Durham area, say around Salisbury or Asheboro. you have the Yadkin Chain lakes (High Rock and Badin) plus Randleman to the North, then Jordan, Harris and Falls lakes near Raleigh. all primo

 

plus both Norman, and especially Wylie are too close to Charlotte and traffic is terrible within a 25 mile radius of that place. Norman is over run with everything from cigarette boats to wake boats and is basically un fishable after Memorial Day. 

 

hope this helps a little 

Awesome. This is the kind of information I'm after. It seems like Norman isn't really worth the time for the most part, especially since I've done more research after reading your comments. Wylie has been on my list since I saw Takahiro Omori win the classic there when I was a kid, so it deserves a visit at the least. It seems the fisheries you mention as primo, are the ones worth investing some time learning if I decided to relocate to that area. Especially once I own a boat ?

 

You guys have many fun pond/river bank fishing opportunities out there as well? River smallies are fun, and farm pond largemouth are classic. 

 

Thanks to all for any info, if you decide to chime in. 

On 7/12/2020 at 5:01 PM, PiedmontAngler said:

Check out Fort Mill, SC. Right over the border from Charlotte. Many people who live here work in Charlotte. There’s lots of new construction or newer resale homes at prices cheaper than Charlotte.

 

Not sure how much of a concern it is but I heard there’s an area around Norman (Mooresville?) that has reported an uptick in cancer cases. Just something to be aware of. 
 

Fort Mill is next to Lake Wylie and the bottom of the dam in the Catawba is great if you have a kayak. Norman is less than an hour away then you have the Santee Cooper lakes a few hours away and Charleston if you wanted some saltwater. 
 

It’s also reasonably close to various mountain trout waters if you’re into that. 

Interesting info on the cancer cases, huh. That's over my head for now!

 

Mountain trout waters are something I'll miss, leaving Colorado so that's a good point. Santee Cooper rings a bell, so that's some more research I can do. I also have friends in Asheville, but I know that's 3 ½+ hours West of the areas we're talking about.  

[VolFan]

There's great mountain trout fishing here as well, but the bigger fish are usually browns not cuts or mysis-fat bows. A ton of put and take fisheries as well as various private waters. Norman is a good fishery, but not without a boat. Plenty of smaller rivers here to chase brown bass.

[PiedmontAngler]

On 7/25/2020 at 3:58 AM, JoeDrums said:

Awesome. This is the kind of information I'm after. It seems like Norman isn't really worth the time for the most part, especially since I've done more research after reading your comments. Wylie has been on my list since I saw Takahiro Omori win the classic there when I was a kid, so it deserves a visit at the least. It seems the fisheries you mention as primo, are the ones worth investing some time learning if I decided to relocate to that area. Especially once I own a boat ?

 

You guys have many fun pond/river bank fishing opportunities out there as well? River smallies are fun, and farm pond largemouth are classic. 

 

Thanks to all for any info, if you decide to chime in. 

Interesting info on the cancer cases, huh. That's over my head for now!

 

Mountain trout waters are something I'll miss, leaving Colorado so that's a good point. Santee Cooper rings a bell, so that's some more research I can do. I also have friends in Asheville, but I know that's 3 ½+ hours West of the areas we're talking about.  

Asheville is 2 hours from Fort Mill. Many mountain trips can be day trips. 

I use a kayak in Wylie and the Catawba. Both are completely different but have great opportunities. Was just out on a pond at a local greenway this morning and caught my PB. 

 

[whitwolf]

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.

[mhone]

I live in the Winston Salem area and there are good opportunities in the area. Belews Lake, Yadkin River, Ararat River, Dan River, all have LM bass and some have SM bass, sunfish, and in some areas stocked trout.

Many communities have local fishing ponds like Kernersville lake and Salem lake, King pond, and CG Hill pond in Pfafftown. And I’m sure there’s many more too!
The mountains to the west have areas of wild trout and to the east there is Jordan lake where a friend does a lot of Crappie fishing.  Also we’re about 4 hours to most NC beaches which has awesome surf fishing. I try to go to the beach twice a year so I can surf fish.

I love it here! Hope you find a place right for you!

[Seth Swartz]

On 7/31/2020 at 6:11 PM, whitwolf said:

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.

I'm also from Morganton. James is definitely a tough fishery but it has some great fish one you figure it out, just this yeas someone caught a 8.2lb walleye! We have plenty of creek and river smallies around here. The Linville river that feeds into James has some great smallies. Steele creek also has some good ones. Although we don't have a lot of musky we do have them, hooked into my first one this year on Jons river but sadly lost him as i was trying to get him in the boat.