• Lake Norman Fishing Report - NC

    Fishin' With Gus
    (704) 617-6812 http://www.fishingwithgus.com/index.php Gus@LakeNorman.com
  • With Capt. Gus you will learn fishing techniques that will improve your fishing and allow you to catch more fish on you own boat. Light tackle is used to maximize the excitement of lake fishing. Guide boats can accommodate from one to six anglers. Fishing guides are available year round. They fish daily, including weekends and holidays.

  • Lake Norman Fishing Report - NC

    It has taken a few years, but hybrid striped bass are now being caught with some regularity by Lake Norman fishermen. Recent weeks have brought nice catches by anglers fishing the main river channel from Marker 18 north to the Buffalo Shoals Road Bridge. Other reports are coming from Mountain Creek to as far south as Ramsey Creek. While many of the hybrids taken measured longer than the legal size of sixteen inches, and a few above twenty inches, the majority range from twelve to fifteen inches in length.

    The twelve to sixteen inch hybrids most likely came from those stocked by the NCWRC in 2013. The bigger and older ones were probably stocked by local anglers in previous years. Hybrids have a reputation for growing quickly in the right conditions, so based on growth rate, it appears that they fancy Lake Norman’s habitat. One of the biggest concerns about their viability in Lake Norman was erased earlier this summer, when no hybrids died in a fish kill that took the lives of hundreds of catfish, striped bass and carp.

    Photo Credit Rob Lynch
    Ben Lynch (13) holds a hybrid striped bass caught while fishing with his dad Rob on an August Lake Norman fishing trip


    The majority of hybrids caught during July were, incidentally, caught by anglers fishing for bass and perch at suspended depths to forty feet around steep edges, ledges and drop-offs. To the surprise of many, hybrids fight very hard, stay deep, and have broken the lines of inexperienced anglers many times.

    As the word spread about the size and quantity of hybrids in Norman, anglers have begun to target them with a combination of tactics used in the past to catch striped bass. Deep water trolling with Alabama rigs, Roadrunners and long lipped crank baits has been successful, as have deep jigging and live baiting.

    For those not acquainted with fresh water hybrid striped bass, here are a few things you need to know.
    * The hybrid is a cross between a female striped bass and male white bass, conceived under laboratory conditions at a fish hatchery.
    * The hybrid seldom reproduces in nature, so must be stocked annually for the fishery to prosper.
    * The size limit is sixteen inches in length.
    * The creel limit is four in combination with striped bass.
    * The fish’s profile is similar to that of a white perch, but the hybrid has broken lateral black lines on the sides.
    * The hybrid striped bass is called a Hybrid or Bodie Bass in NC, a Wiper in Tennessee and a Sunshine Bass in Florida.
    * The state record for a hybrid striped bass is 17 pounds, 7 ounces, caught in Lake Chatuge in Western North Carolina on March 15, 1996.
    * Current plans call for the NCWRC to stock 162,500 hybrid striped bass annually in Lake Norman.
    * Anglers are looking forward to the day when ten pound plus hybrids can be caught in Norman.

    Upcoming Events:
    “How to Navigate Lake Norman Day or Night” will be the topic of a free safe boating class to be held at The Peninsula Yacht Club, 18501 Harbor Light Blvd, Cornelius, NC 28031 on September 10th at 6:30 p.m. Becky Johnson and I will cover “Understanding LKN’s Channel Marker and Buoy System”, “How to Avoid Shallow Water”,” The Ten Most Dangerous Spots”, and “Interpreting Lake Maps”. For more information, call Ashley at 704 892 7575.

    Free Fishing Seminar: “How to Use Topographic Maps to Improve Your Fishing” is the topic for discussion at Gander Mountain, Exit 36, on Wednesday, September 17th at 6:30 p.m. Jake Bussolini and I will discuss the basics of interpreting topographic maps and will pin point some of the best fishing locations on Lake Norman. Contact 704-658-0822 for additional information.

    Tips from Capt. Gus! Check the webbing of your landing net. If it is tattered or torn replace it before a big bass, striper or hybrid breaks through it.

    Hot Spots of the Week: Anglers using Alabama, Sabiki and other tandem lure rigs are getting strikes from bass, hybrids, stripers, along with some rather large white perch when fished in deep water.
    Spotted bass continue to hit top water lures cast toward channel points throughout the day. Best lures are Super Pop R’s and Rio Rico’s. White perch continue to please those fishing waters twenty to fifty feet deep with minnows and Sabiki rigs. Catfishing is excellent.

    The surface water temperature varies by location, but is mainly in the eighties in open waters not affected by power generation. The water level is about 3.0’ below full pond on Lake Norman and 2.8' below full on Mountain Island Lake.

    Capt. Gus Gustafson of Lake Norman Ventures, Inc. is an outdoor columnist and a full time Professional Fishing Guide on Lake Norman, NC. Visit his web site, www.Fishingwithgus.com or call 704-617-6812.
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