Flooding slows freshwater fishing, but Carolinas coast is hot
While flooding has created extremely dangerous conditions on the Piedmont area lakes, angling action rates excellent along the coast.
The Catawba River chain of lakes – from James downstream to Wylie – are in especially poor shape.
“There are trees and logs measuring 60 feet floating out there,” Boots Beasley, a veteran angler who lives on the shore of Lake Norman near Mooresville, said Wednesday. “If a bass boat or other relatively small boat hit one of them at much speed, it could be very, very bad.”
Beasley and David Clubb of Mooresville, a long-time guide on the Catawba reservoirs, estimated that it will be “at least four or five days” before boating and fishing conditions improve.
Meanwhile, coastal anglers are scoring sensationally. There are plentiful whiting in the surf and at piers, big reds in the surf at Ocracoke Island and limits of blackfin tuna, dolphin and wahoo offshore.
LAKE NORMAN: Very high and discolored water traceable to last weekend’s record rainfall in the foothills slowed. Before the rains, there was fair to good action for largemouth and spotted bass in the backs of creeks on spinnerbaits and flukes. It was good to excellent for crappie around docks and shallow brush, mainly on minnows. Catfish were being taken in the coves on cut baits and pieces of chicken marinated in garlic powder.
LAKE WYLIE: Also high and discolored. Once the water returns to normal, the catch should resume for crappie around docks and shallow brush and largemouth along the banks on floating artificial worms and other soft plastic lures.
MOUNTAIN ISLAND LAKE: Very poor conditions with much debris floating.
UNION COUNTY LAKES: Excellent at Lake Lee for largemouth to 8 pounds. Fair to good for crappie at the others – Cane Creek Park, Lakes Monroe and Twitty.
RANKIN LAKE, GASTONIA: Fair for bass, bream and catfish.
YADKIN/PEE DEE RIVER LAKES: High and muddy at all reservoirs – High Rock, Tuckertown, Badin, Tillery and Blewett Falls. Despite the heavy influx of water, American shad and blue catfish continue to be caught at the Blewett Falls tailrace.
LAKES JAMES, RHODHISS, HICKORY: Heavily flooded and discolored.
FONTANA LAKE: Good to excellent for smallmouth and spotted bass on shiners and topwater jerkbaits cast to the shoreline, especially in late afternoon. Walleye on artificial worms and crawlers worked around pockets with patches of floating debris such as small sticks. Bass, trout and walleye on spoons trolled along the main channel from the dam to Big Island.
LAKE WATEREE: Floodwaters rushing down the Catawba River are likely to create conditions similar to those further up the chain of impoundments.
LAKE MURRAY: Continuing good for striped bass from the mid-lake area to the dam on practically all methods of fishing, from using live baits on downlines to casting bucktails to schools, which are feeding best just after sunrise. Good for crappie 12-15 feet deep around bridges, brush and cocks. Fair to good for largemouth on soft plastic lures.
LAKE THURMOND: Action remains good for largemouth and spotted bass on flukes and swimbaits around the points. Stripers, hybrids near the dam and at creek mouths on live herring trolled under planer boards.
SANTEE COOPER LAKES: Largemouth are still in 6 feet of water and less and hitting soft plastics and spinnerbaits. Crappie are 6-8 feet down around brush.
LAKE HARTWELL: Stripers, hybrids on live baits worked around shallow points. Largemouth in the shallows on soft plastics and topwater lures.
LAKE KEOWEE: Some flooding likely because of runoff from mountain rains. Depending on developments, largemouth and spotted bass could continue to be caught on soft plastics cast to the secondary points.
LAKE JOCASSEE: Flooding also expected following heavy rains last weekend in mountain areas across the state line in North Carolina.
OUTER BANKS: Nags Head area: Blues in the 3-pound range in the surf and at piers. Good “runs” of whiting at piers; Oregon Inlet: Good to excellent offshore for blackfin tuna, wahoo and yellowfin tuna offshore; Hatteras Island: Limits of good-sized dolphin along with blackfin tuna, dolphin, wahoo and large grouper offshore. Black drum, blues, croaker, flounder, sheepshead and whiting in the surf from Rodanthe to Hatteras Village; Ocracoke Island: Red drum to 50 inches in the surf along with lots of good-sized whiting and black drum; Morehead City area: Plentiful blues along the beach. Black drum, blues and whiting at piers. Blackfin tuna and wahoo offshore. Black drum and sheepshead at the artificial reefs.
SOUTHEASTERN N.C. COAST: Good numbers of keeper-sized flounder in the backwaters, along with puppy drum and trout. Large wahoo offshore at the Swansboro Hole. Black drum, blues, flounder and whiting at piers.
S.C. COAST: Little River/Cherry Grove area: Fine numbers of whiting in the surf and at the pier; Grand Strand area: Excellent for whiting in the surf and at piers, along with blues. Gray trout at the 3-Mile Reef. Wahoo offshore; Charleston area: Good for reds in the backwaters on mud minnows and chunks of blue crab cast to the edges of marsh grass; Beaufort/Hilton Head area: Plentiful sheepshead on fiddler crabs worked 5-15 feet deep around jetties and pilings.
