Lake Norman has been a melting pot for non-native species of fish since its beginnings in the early 1960’s. By 1970, striped bass, Arkansas blue catfish and white bass had been introduced. The white and striped bass were stocked to enable Norman to compete with South Carolina’s fabulous fishing on Lake Murray and Santee Cooper. Arkansas blue catfish, which aren’t considered a game fish, were added to control what was thought to be an overabundance of shad, a forage fish at the time. As it turned out, blue catfish are the largest fish swimming in the lake today. There are those who believe a 100 plus pounder will be taken sooner or later.

Photo of Josh Egan holding a spotted bass, courtesy of Capt. Gus


During the 1980’s, yellow perch, a popular pan fish, died off. Rising water temperatures and lower dissolved oxygen levels at the Cowans Ford Dam were blamed for their demise. At the same time, flathead catfish were being caught. Whether they were accidentally stocked with the blue catfish, or relocated from other rivers and lakes by well-intended fishermen, is unclear. Regardless, this non-native and invasive species was well established by the end of the decade. Unlike other catfish, which are scavengers, flatheads are predators that feed on bream and other live fish. The flathead is the same catfish taken by “Noodlers” on the television show, “Hillbilly Handfishin”.

Recreational fishing declined in the nineties to the point that Lake Norman was given the unflattering nickname, “The Dead Sea”. That changed around the turn of the century when concerned anglers took it upon themselves to begin a stocking program of their own. One group stocked spotted bass, a member of the black bass family, while another put alewives, a deep swimming forage fish, in the lake. The spotted bass adapted quickly to Norman’s deep water environment. As their population grew, so did the number of bass tournaments. While the average spotted bass is smaller than the largemouth bass, it makes up for size with its tenacity.

The white perch, an invasive saltwater species, was first noticed about 1998. As their numbers increased, the white bass population declined. Within a few years, the aggressive perch population had devoured so many white bass eggs, fry and fingerlings that white bass were no longer a viable fishery. Today, white perch are so plentiful, that they do not have a size or creel limit. Anglers can keep all they want, even when taken in a cast net.

The new millennium brought with it rising lake water temperatures that eventually exceeded the striped bass’ tolerance level. Higher temperatures and other factors caused massive fish kills which eventually reduced the striper stocks to the point of extinction. Again, concerned anglers took it upon themselves to supplement an ailing fishery by stocking a much hardier fish. Millions of hybrid striped bass were stocked over several years before the NCWRC agreed to an annual stocking program of their own in 2013. This year’s stocking will mark the third year NCWRC hatchery trucks will place 162,500 hybrid striped bass in Lake Norman. While the jury is still out on their adaptability to Lake Norman’s harsh water conditions, early indications are that hybrid striped bass are popular with boat and bank fishermen.

Today, Lake Norman has fish for everyone from bream and channel catfish for the children, to crappie for the catch and fry crowd, as well as, black bass, hybrid striped bass and big catfish for the sport fishermen.

See you out there!

Tips from Capt. Gus: To lure crappie, experiment with different colors and types of jig tails. At times, they prefer twister tails over tubes, or jigs dressed with Marabou hair. When all else fails, use a plain jig-head tipped with a live minnow.

Upcoming Events: Free Fishing Seminar - “Fun Fishing for White Perch and Crappie” - I will conduct this ninety minute session at 6:30 p.m. on March 18^th at Gander Mountain, Exit 36, Mooresville, NC. For more information, call 704 658 0822.

Hot Spot of the Week: Hybrids, stripers and perch are hitting in the main river, while bass are hitting off deep creek and river channel points. Crappie are biting around covered docks and in deep brush, but haven't moved to the banks to spawn yet. Catfish are hitting a variety of fresh cut baits and chicken parts in and around the hot holes. Bass, hybrids and a few stripers are chasing bait to the surface at daybreak in the Marshall Steam Station in the discharge channel.

Lake Conditions: The surface water temperature varies by location, but is mainly in the forties in open waters not affected by power generation. The water level is about 3.0 feet below full pond on Lake Norman and 3.4 feet below full on Mountain Island Lake.

Capt. Gus Gustafson of Lake Norman Ventures, Inc. is an Outdoor